REBUILDING BRITAIN.*
THOUGH recent events have affected some of the problems considered in this survey, it remains a most valuable book, as might be expected from the credentials of the writer, who adds to his equipment as a distinguished barrister and jurist long experi- ence in education, culminating in his appointment as Vice- Chancellor of what is perhaps the greatest of the New 'Universi- ties. It should be noted that the survey is confined to the rebuilding of Britain : Imperial reconstruction is omitted ; and even within these limits two great problems are left untouched— the settlement of Ireland and the place of woman in the new order.
Sir Alfred Hopkinson deals with his subject under the three headings of Peace, Retrenchment, and Reform, though wisely insisting on a modern interpretation of these Victorian watch- words. More important still is his insistence on the spirit in which we must approach our task. We must have faith in the people, we must trust thorn more than the Government have done in the war, but " we must not flatter those whom we trust"; it is good policy as well as honesty to tell the truth plainly. Ho lays down three conditions necessary to make democracy a blessing and not a curse. It must have a sense of responsibility, a law-abiding spirit, and a clear ideal. Arbitrariness is as great a danger in democracies as in absolute rule. You can execute a bad King ; you cannot execute an unrestrained majority. The war has in the main confirmed our faith in human nature ; it has also shown us that we have not to rebuild ab initio. There are some foundations well and truly laid. To sum up, we need conscience, duty, and love in their high meanings, not as misinterpreted to suit private interest, obstinacy, and jealousy.
The proposal of a League of Nations—as a means of restraining the " will to power " in nations who have plucked the fruit of the tree of knowledge for the destruction of mankind—forms the principal subject matter of the section on " Peace." Argument is useless against the German theory that justice is the interest of the stronger : the Central Powers can only be admitted if they surrender it. The great crux is the difficulty of enforcing agreement against war. Sir Alfred Hopkinson carefully examines the alterna- tive sanctions (in the legal sense of definite penalties inflicted on the wrongdoer), and finds fatal objections to the maintenance of an international force or police as laid down in Lord Parker's scheme—viz., " Certain members of the League, to consist of the chief military and naval Powers, should agree, if required to do so by a resolution of the League, to commence and prosecute war against the guilty nation until it shall have accepted terms which shall be approved by the League." Sir Alfred maintains that we ought never to consent to an engagement which might in circum- stances, the real character of which no one can foresee at present, compel us to undertake a war at the bidding of others. He declares in favour of the other alternative, the " economic boycott," in the sense that " without going to war the nations should cease to have dealings with the wrongdoer and forbid all intercourse of their subjects with the country which invades or violates neutral territory." But no League of Peace can be a sufficient guarantee against a highly organized Power desirous of war. A change of government in Germany is necessary : but we should not look for a disruption of settled and orderly government in Germany (this was written some months ago) ; again, " we desire not the destruction but the regeneration of Germany." Our aims must be pure and free from commercial jealousy. The final conclusions reached are the need for suoh a League in view of the destructive possibilities of another war ; the need of the economic boycott ; the end of secret diplomacy ; self-determination, provided the peoples concerned have established or can establish a peaceful and organized government, without affecting the safety of contiguous countries ; the maintenance of Arbitration Tribunals ; and the attempt to secure at least partial disarmament. On the difficult question how the nations of the League should vote in coming to any decision Sir Alfred is silent. Turning to political peace at home, Sir Alfred Hopkinson discusses the position of the Crown, the Lords and Commons. He has a reasoned belief in the stability Of the Crown ; he is a Second Chamber man : he admits that the Commons, with certain reservations, have deserved well of the oountry, but sees a new and serious danger in the prospect that, " instead of national policy being controlled by legislation, settled by a regular constitutional body elected according to definite rules and representing the nation, the real power of initiative and real directing force may pass to some other body or bodies unknown to the law and representing only a class, or even to certain Veritent in the popular Press-" He has good hopes of Britain's sanity, but he reminds us that democracies can be aggressive, • Rebuilding Britain : a Surrey of the Problems of Reconstruction after the World War. ity Sir Alfred Ifoplilason, K.C. London : Cassell and Co. fes. net.]
and quotes Dr. Campbell 'Morgan's gloss ,on President Wilson's saying " It is said we want to make the world-safe for democracy. What we really need is to make democracy safe for :the world." For the securing of industrial peace he relies on Industrial Councils in which real representative working men would supersede agitators and politicians " on the make " ; he believes in shortening hours of labour ; wages are too low in normal times, too high in war ; and he utters a wise caveat against the false ideal of an educational ladder by which all will proceed from the elementary to the second- ary school and thence to the University, as tending to produce an intellectual proletariat. Increased production ,is indispensable if we are to hold our own ; but it can only be attained " first by willing and vigorous work on the part of the workman aiming at producing as much as possible in the hours during which labour can be efficiently carried on without detriment to health or depriving the labourer of the opportunities of enjoying a life outside his daily routine ; and secondly by the increased use of the best machinery • and labour -saving appliances and working. such machinery to its fullest capacity." Under the head of " Religious Peace " Sir Alfred Hopkinson dwells on the need of comprehension, of accentuating points of agreement, exchange of pulpits, and the creation of Theo- logical Faculties at the Universities. The duty of- the Churches is not to legislate, but to create an atmosphere and influence working for harmony. The chapters on Retrenchment are chiefly concerned with the best means of restoring effective control of national expendi ture. To this end the writer urges the framing of definite estimates by the spending Departments, and the regaining of control by the Cabinet, the Treasury, and the House of Commons. Revenue might be increased by enhancing Legacy Duties on bequest to indirect beneficiaries—collateral relatives ; the State might take the whole property in cases of intestacy if there were no relatives within the third and fourth degrees. Sir Alfred Hopkinson would impose an export duty on coal, and readjust the Excess Profits Tax by making it an Excess Dividends Duty. The relief of the middle classes is urgent : the rapid accumulation of huge fortunes by nouveaux riches is a real danger. In regard to the nation, -wiser rather than reduced expenditure should be our aim.
The chapters on Reform are prefaced with a list of twenty-nine suggestions. Most of them appear in the programme put forward by the Prime Minister. We have not space to deal with them in detail, but may note that under the head of Law Reform Sir Alfred Hopkinson advocates the alteration of the procedure in the House of Commons and the establishment of a Ministry of Justice, but no mention is made of redressing inequalities as between the sexes. In this context it is worth recalling that Lord Salsbury once seriously contemplated the abolition of primogeniture and entail. The need of the purification of public life prompts some excellent sug- gestions as to the bestowal of honours and contributions to Party funds, enlivened by some striking anecdotic illustrations. Finally, we have some weighty last words on Union and Regeneration. Germany's moral downfall was due not to autocracy but to the absence of a " just will." Another warning is against excessive reliance on State organization. A third bids us be on our, guard against the voices in our midst—some echoes of the German spirit we have been fighting to exorcise, others " of the still more fatal anarchic spirit that makes a lawless democracy the most deadly foe of liberty and ordered progress." With this warning, even more timely now than when it was written, Sir Alfred Hopkinson con- cludes a most valuable and helpful book, in which wisdom and sanity are allied to goodwill and a good hope of the future.
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