JOHN BULL'S CONVALESCENCE

Otago Witness, Issue 3400, 14 May 1919, Page 7

JOHN BULL'S CONVALESCENCE

A CASE FOR CAREFUL NURSING. THE FINAL STRAIN OF WAR. After 12 months of absence from England I noticed at once how severe had been the final strain of war on that country and how slowly tho people are recovering from it, says Mr P. Wilson, in the New York Tribune of February 7. At Liverpool there was no boat train for London, no taxis from the landing stage to Lime Street Station, and we had to pile our bagga-ge on a horse wagon, which happened to put in an appearance At Limo Street Station a woman porter, who liad been at it three years, handled my bags. She was good humoured and capable. When we reached Willesden Junction another woman, took the tickets. There was no nonsense about her, and she tackled the Tommies with equal firmness. Khaki was everywhere. Streets, restaurants, stations are crowded with troops, drifting hither and thither, many of them, I suppose, on well-earned leave. Their faces are patient, sunburnt, strong; and aged by. endurance. Many of these men have fought continuously for years. With the pressure lifted they, and indeed the whole nation, have to find their bearings afresh. Demobilisation is proceeding, but only at a prudent pace, for peace has yet to be signed" and the world is restless. Broadly, I should say that "Britain, and Europe doubtless as well, is like a man in a hospital after a severe operation in surgery, whose wounds tend to be septio and to give him a temperature. It is a case for careful nursing. NO SUGAR FOR LONDON. There is, I suppose, enough food, but, after America, diet here suggests privation. The popular restaurants are so understaffed that clerks and typists often get no lunch at all. Tea, which means so much in England, is poor. For coffee many people use little books of "sweet-leaf or prepared paper, the size of postage stamps, which are supposed to serve as sugar. At London streets I was astonished. Iney were three-quarters clear of traffic, borne private automobiles are said to be running, but up to date I have not seen one. Motor buses are few and far between, and usually full before they reach you. Occasional taxis and resuaoitated horse-drawn-vehicles complete the picture. Naturally, the sidewalks are orovvded with people wno have to use their own feet. The tubes also, with much reduced schedules, are packed with straphangers. Yet amid it all the people go quietly on with their accepting inconveniences as part of the job to be finished, and supporting the Government of the day with astounding readiness. Many of them look worn. Even the young have left youth behind. But there is no perceptible wavering. _ . Of the women it i 3 hard to write without seeming ta exaggerate. There is little! obtrusive mourning, but scarcely a costume shows bright colours. T "°l ;l " sands and thousands are wearing old clothes, with stoical indifference to feminine coquetry, and the entire demeanour of these subdued, grave-faced heroines suggests that they have no time and no energy to thmk of their looks. They proceed on their errands, quickly, determined to manage things somehow, and expecting constant perplexity. Manv. of them know that the war has deprived them of any hope of a husband and home of their own, -which means that they have become in a sense brides of their native with a patriotism more intense than a man's because it is the one emotion left. For these women no work is too hard. The idea of saving hands and complexion has long vanished in the crucible of war. DEEP AND TERRIBLE ANGER.

There is quite a famine in houses. I could sell . mine for hundreds of pounds more than it cost to build. Furniture, too, is' at a premium. With manufacture suspended and import difficult, everybody is short of everything that wears out. Also, after so many -war weddings, young people are wanting to set up homes. And they must make use of second-hand goods. The demand for labour is enormous. One catering firm alone could employ another thousand waitresses. The mere overdue painting of ordinary dwelling houses would keep that trade going for years. Apparently, the State will find no difficulty in selling munition factories for conversion into private industries. Great commercial activity is expected, provided always that labour avoids cessation of work. Against Germany there is a deep and, in its way, a very terrible anger. It is a. passion as remote from mere revenge as the awful fulminations *of the old Hebrew prophets. The incorrigible cynicism with which Germans have sent noma our prisoners, to die on arrival from maltrcatmont and malnutrition, simply solidifies the country for stern justice. Men with a lifelong reputation for gentle behaviour and a merciful disposition talk of Germany's moral responsibility in tones of unalterable resolution, and women set their laces like adamant. In his election speeches Mr Lloyd George undoubtedly play jd on these sentiments, which are largely responsible for his immense majority. But he did not create such feelings. They are inevitable. And lam assured that, while the financial claims of Britain on Germany are 24,000,000,000 dollars or thereabouts, all our responsible leaders are agreed _ that we stand after France, Italy, Belgium, and Serbia. I don't suppDse that in- the end we shall receive a cent.

Americans who still suppose that Britain is "stronger than she ever was" and richer, must allow me to dissent from their view. By every material test she has made an immense sacrifice, and no colonies added to South Africa or Australia will be the slightest economic compensation. I believe that the nation will gradually recover its fortunos, but it will be by hard work and' a continuance of strict self-denial. Doubtless there have been profits made in certain industries which taxation has not yet recovered for the community. Under State regulated prices of food the grocers and other retail dealers seem to have done handsomely. Where commodities have been free from rations and selling- schedules the natural instincts of mankind have led di». tributors at times to exploit tho necessities of their neighbours. An income of 5000 dollars boforo the war is now worth 2000 dollars, and I know of one case where a highly salaried official had sold his house and his automobile and gone into what Americans call an apartment dwelling. That Instance must be typical of _ many others, and journals which speoialise on advertisements of country estates for salo are fall of attractive offers.