and war is another, but
he wouldn't see it and persisted in doing and saying and thinking things
which were bound to land us in a national disaster. He had no respect
whatever for the Pass Memo., his central and sole idea being to push
along with the elimination of the Bosch. When he wanted something done,
he just went to the Top-man of the department, called him "I say," and
went straight to the point. The Top-man had never been asked to do
business this way before.

He put up with it a dozen times or so, but finally he had to take steps.
So he wrote a little note on a Buff slip and addressed it, very rightly
of course, to the Top-man but one; and the Top-man but one read it and
passed it very carefully to the Top-man but two; and so, with that
inevitability which is the hall-mark of the system, it was passed and
passed and passed until it came (in less than a week) to the office of
the ancient Lieutenant on the opposite side of the street. And it ran:
"Lieutenant So-and-So should be notified that it is neither necessary
nor desirable that he should call personally at this office to transact
his business. Matters should be put forward by him through the usual
course of correspondence." The ancient Lieutenant, who wouldn't hurt
anybody's feelings for the world, felt that it was up to him to put the
matter right. So he stepped across to the Top-man's office, and when the
Top-man asked him, somewhat pointedly, if he had received his note, the
Ancient very genially replied, "Yes, thank you," and explained that he
had just looked in personally to acknowledge receipt of same.

It sounds as if a dreadful quarrel would be raging between the Ancient
on one side and on the other the Top-man, the whole series of
under-Top-men and all persons in any way representing the military
system. You'd expect to hear that the Ancient's conversation at mess is
insubordinate, rebellious, or at least bitterly sarcastic. No such
thing; the old gentleman becomes a more ardent militarist every day;
wants to see once for all an end of all lawyer-politicians, and all
so-called "business-men." "We have made a poor show of being civilians,"
is his point; "let's try being soldiers for a generation or two."

On the whole he thinks we should find it easier to carry on as a British
Empire in uniform than as a German province in mufti. He says that
what's wrong with Prussian Militarism is that it is Prussian; to
succeed, the thing has to be run by gentl