"It is caused simply by an unfair distribution of wealth. We always knew that, but what we did not know was that it could be so speedily remedied. We thought it would take a long time even if the nation were willing to tackle the problem seriously, which it has not yet shown any anxiety to do. We were afraid of drastic experiments of a social nature, with the consequent displacement of capital, the shock given to that very delicate entity, the national credit, and so on. "Go more slowly, was the universal cry. Give us breathing space. These drastic changes one after the other--all in the direction of making the rich pay more into the pockets of the poor--are very dangerous. You are impairing public confidence; do wait awhile before you attempt anything further. You are imposing a tax on industry which is certain to hinder productiveness. "And we were wrong, the whole lot of us--Kaiser, German Bureau, British Tories, hesitant Liberals, landowners, bankers, manufacturers, shopkeepers, taxpayers generally, and probably the proletariat, too. It is nothing short of amazing. Here we are hurling our accumulated stores of wealth into hell, the hell of war, and the workers as a whole were never so well off. "We are able to pay, and we do pay, without complaining. We are doing it without suffering very greatly, without hearing the cry of hunger going up from our congested areas as it has too often done in time of peace, and without the slightest apprehension that we are drawing near to the end of our strength. "We shall be able to go on doing it for years if need be. The savings of the working classes have hardly yet been touched for national purposes, and if report speaks true there has been a not too creditable increase in the purchase of cheap luxuries--and luxuries not commonly accounted cheap, too, such as pianos--among a section of these, unskilled laborers especially. They are not unpatriotic, but is it to be wondered at that they should suddenly feel themselves well-to-do and fail to realize that war is economic wastage as well as wholesale murder? "'Three pounds a week, and no 'usband!' a lady engaged in munition work is credited with saying--'Wy, it's 'eaven!' There is humor in the sentiment, one must confess, though it was not complimentary to the absent husband. "We have withdrawn not less than four million men from productive occupations and set them to smash and kill instead.