on of other
things, and in increasing inability to buy abroad. And so we go down and
down.

It does not follow that because a course is the manifestly right and
advantageous course for the community that it will be taken. I am
reminded of this by a special basket in my study here, into which I
pitch letters, circulars, pamphlets and so forth as they come to hand
from a gentleman named Gattie, and his friends Mr. Adrian Ross, Mr. Roy
Horniman, Mr. Henry Murray and others. His particular project is the
construction of a Railway Clearing House for London. It is an absolutely
admirable scheme. It would cut down the heavy traffic in the streets of
London to about one-third; it would enable us to run the goods traffic
of England with less than half the number of railway trucks we now
employ; it would turn over enormous areas of valuable land from their
present use as railway goods yards and sidings; it would save time
in the transit of goods and labour in their handling. It is a quite
beautifully worked out scheme. For the last eight or ten years this
group of devoted fanatics has been pressing this undertaking upon an
indifferent country with increasing vehemence and astonishment at that
indifference. The point is that its adoption, though it would be of
general benefit, would be of no particular benefit to any leading man
or highly placed official. On the other hand it would upset all sorts
of individuals who are in a position to obstruct it quietly--and they
do so. Meaning no evil. I dip my hand in the accumulation and extract
a leaflet by the all too zealous Mr. Murray. In it he denounces various
public officials by name as he cheats and scoundrels, and invites a
prosecution for libel.

In that fashion nothing will ever get done. There is no prosecution,
but for all that I do not agree with Mr. Murray about the men he names.
These gentlemen are just comfortable gentlemen, own brothers to these
old generals of ours who will not take off their spurs. They are
probably quite charming people except that they know nothing of that
Fear of God which searches by heart. Why should they bother?

So many of these after-the-war problems bring one back to the
question of how far the war has put the Fear of God into the hearts of
responsible men. There is really no other reason in existence that I
can imagine why they should ask themselves the question, "Have I done my
best?" and that still more important question, "Am I doing my be