the "Brave Allies" were mentioned on every pamphlet issued during the
war.

Of course, there were a few oversights regarding the Allies.

For instance, in an exhibition of manufactured goods, only the
"Australian-made" were given any prominence. There may have been some
"made by the brave Allies," but they were not very conspicuous.

It was also an oversight forgetting the "Brave Allies" when the U.S.A.,
taking the occasion of the stoppage of trade with Europe, joined hands
with the Australian Governments in encouraging trade across the Pacific.

But the "Brave Allies" were mentioned in all the after dinner
speeches--till the end of the war.

Then came a change. The manufacturers dropped their cloak of hypocrisy
and made a straight-out appeal--"Only Buy Goods Made in Australia." The
"Brave Allies" were dropped. Heavy duties were requested on all imported
goods, whether they were made in Britain, Belgium, Bagdad or
Beloochistan.

But the manufacturers were too late. They should have played that
trump-card nine months before. Their first duty should have been to
Australia. Their battle-cries from the beginning should have
been--"Australia First"; and: "By being true to ourselves we can best
contribute to Empire solidarity"; also: "The increased strength of the
units will mean the more powerful whole."

Then the soldiers began to return from Europe. They found the same
trouble their comrades were meeting in England, most of the jobs they
had left had disappeared.

Many of the employers who had loudly boasted that the jobs of those who
enlisted would be kept waiting for them, had done practically nothing to
keep their promise.

During the war, when they should have been busy keeping the wheels
moving, they had lost confidence.

They had forgotten that the times called for the best in every man and
woman; that the first duty of those who could not go to the fighting
line of Europe was to get in the fighting line of business at home; that
full speed at home was absolutely necessary not only to keep a level of
prosperity that would, at the end of the war, find the country well
prepared to meet the inevitable heavy taxation, but to keep business at
full strength so that when our soldiers returned they would have found
places ready to be filled.

They had forgotten that slump is often only a mental attitude, and that
even bad times can be bettered by putting an extra ounce into every
pound of business energy. They