s own base.

The surprising thing is that it can be called upon to extend financial
help to its allies. But everybody except Germany was caught absolutely
unprepared. The war was early on French soil, tying up the resources
of some of the richest provinces of France. Russia had so little
thought of war that, as I have previously explained, she had deposited
from her great gold reserve so that it had been loaned out on time and
therefore was not available for the start of the war. Hence we have
the spectacle of Russia gathering up 8,000,000 pounds sterling in gold
and sending it to the Bank of England and, on this basis, borrowing of
the Bank 20,000,000 pounds sterling.

Of course, this is good banking and good business and a good alliance.
The Allies are bunching their war orders and credits, and England is
entitled to hold the bag since she is carrying the financial burden.

England's war finance is not wholly measured in her expenses or loans
to other countries. In a single issue of a London paper you can count
daily reports of more than a dozen charitable funds connected with the
war-work. These funds range all the way from "Aid to the
Mine-Sweepers," "Gloves for the Soldiers," and the "Servian Relief and
Montenegrin Red Cross Funds" up to the "Prince of Wales's Fund."

This last was over $20,000,000 before Christmas. The suddenness of
this war may be illustrated by this fact: A friend of mine, who is
managing director of a big English concern, has assumed the
responsibility for seven years past of keeping in England one year's
supply of everything that his company was likely to require from the
Continent. This was at a cost to his company of many thousands of
dollars. With dogged determination he stuck to the same policy for
1914, although in January of that year it was clear to him that Germany
could not afford to go to war. While he was happy over his judgment,
he admitted in conversation with me in December, 1914, that in January,
1914, the outlook was less indicative of a general European war than it
had been for many years.

Thirty per cent of the workmen of his factory had gone to the war and
his company was providing 250,000 pounds sterling a year to maintain
the wages of the workmen at war up to the same amount as they would
receive if they had stayed at home. He said that in one of his
offices, of 80 men eligible for the work, 78 had enlisted, and, what
was wonderful, the women were glad to