Chapter II: Part 2

In former times, the danger inherent in immigrations was the hostility of the tribes in occupation of the new lands—the problem was a military one. To-day, the difficulty is not military, but financial. To-day, it is no longer bows and arrows which restrict immigration, but money. To-day, it is not profitable to tackle a land owner with a rifle, and nearly all land worth owning is owned; instead the settler must buy the land, or be sufficiently skilled to dispose of his labour at a profit.

Our present-day unemployed have no money and little skill. To send such people to the Dominions is no true solution of the unemployment problem, for it only shifts the unemployed from one place to another, and this does not solve the problem. In 1914, Germany attempted to gain the French Colonies, not because she wanted to shift to them the vagrants of Berlin and Hamburg; but, because the possession of these Colonies would have enabled thousands of well-to-do Germans, the small capitalists and skilled workers of the middle classes, to enrich themselves without loss of nationality. Incidentally, as these people emigrated, room would be made in Germany for the under-dog. Competition would have decreased with a decrease in not the unemployed, but in the employed population. Wages would have increased in proportion and, by degrees, the greater percentage of the under-dogs, through increased wealth, would have raised themselves into the middle class as small capitalists.

To-day, there is no necessity for us to covet the territories of other nations. We possess ten million square miles of sparsely-populated land in which Englishmen will not be lost to the Empire. To-day, we see this problem mentioned in every paper, but writers will persist in thinking in terms of the _unemployed_. It is the _employed_ we must shift, not only because at home room will thus be made for the unemployed,[4] but because it is the skilled man or the small capitalist who can thrive in the Dominions and Colonies and the unemployed normally cannot.

Footnote 4:

It may be considered by some that this will mean that we in England
shall be left with the unworkable dregs of society. Such a view is a
gross libel on the bulk of the unemployed. Before the War, seventy per
cent. of the recruits for the army enlisted because they were
unemployed. During the War these men were universally proclaimed
heroes, and such they were. I can personally testify, after
twenty-seven years of service in the army, that less than five per
cent. of the men in any unit of regular soldiers would make
undesirable citizens if vocational training were fully established.
If, however, men are kept unemployed for years they will eventually
become unemployable.

THE PROBLEM OF POWER

To move we must not only possess the means of movement, but the will to move; for, without this will, all the means in the world are but scrap iron and dead timber. The men who first tamed the camel and the horse must have had ideas in their heads—visions which impelled them to do what they did. It may have been sympathy for his wife as she carried his load which induced men to jump on a horse’s back, but much more likely was it her low carrying power and possibly also to get away from her restless tongue.

In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, the will to move is stimulated by material gain. To possess something easily, cheaply, and, if possible, for nothing, is the urge of both commerce and robbery, twins of Fear and Greed, forces of vice as well as of virtue, the forces of the growth of the human world, and forces not to be set aside lightly.

The nomadic hordes surged out of Asia in the search after food. It was the desire to fill their stomachs which moved them. They trickled over Europe until they met the sea, and then, as years passed by, they conquered the ocean and swept into the New World. What will happen when the Americans begin to swarm, it is difficult to say. Will they once again set out to pursue the setting sun? Who knows?

So also with the wars of the world, as with these slow but steady human inundations, it has nearly always been a material goal, however shadowy in form, which has provided the urge. Security, what is this? The shield of Prosperity and Liberty—a desert, a river, a range of mountains, or a feeble neighbour; in one word, a secure frontier to shield a people, so that they may enjoy the fruits of peace; this has been the urge of war.

Then, from war, which so often is but robbery on a national scale, to turn to barter, amicable warfare; and from barter to turn to commerce, amicable war on a national scale, what has been the urge? A gold field, oil wells, land where corn will grow or cattle will breed; in one word, the possibilities of wealth, which is the loadstone of movement.

The potential wealth of the Empire is stupendous, and potential wealth is power asleep, power awaiting to be roused from its slumbers, the power of coal, of oil, and water, of the air and the sun’s rays, of the tides and of the atoms themselves. The whole world is a gigantic battery of power, and our Empire covers a quarter of this world, and all that is needed is to detonate it, and it can only be detonated by the will of man.

The Romans conquered by building roads, the modern world, by building railways. Yet both are but a one-dimensional means of movement, and, in type, so near related, that even to-day the gauge of our railway lines is the gauge of the Roman chariots. Suppose now that these roads and railways could suddenly expand laterally, so that from a few feet broad they could expand to a few yards in breadth, then to hundreds of yards, miles, and hundreds of miles, until it is as easy to move over the surface of the earth as over the surface of the sea. A second dimension would be given to movement; a new world would be born, since a stupendous sleeping power would be awakened. Stephenson improved the chariot. In place of taking three weeks to go from London to Edinburgh we can now travel there in eight hours. He conquered Time rather than Space. The storming of the Bastions of Space, this is the problem of the future, and one of our engines of conquest is the cross-country machine.

PROBLEMS OF MOVEMENT

Economic movement may be divided into five great categories, namely, movement by air, by water, by rail, by road and by pack. Each may be divided into two sub-categories. Thus, air movement by transport lighter and heavier than air; water movement into sea transport and inland water transport; railway movement into broad and narrow-gauge lines; road movement into transport by wagon and lorry, and pack movement into human and animal porterage or carriage.

I do not here intend to examine movement by air and water, and, as regards the other three categories, I will limit my examination to their use in undeveloped countries, more particularly within the Empire, and I will start with the railway.

_The Railway._ The country through which a railway is built may be divided into three economic areas:—

(i) A belt about eighty miles in width, through the centre of which the railway runs.

(ii) Two belts, each about twenty miles wide, extending on the flanks of the central belt.

(iii) The whole of the country concerned, excluding the above three belts.

Whether the prosperity of the country is based on minerals, cattle, or cereals, the first belt is normally prosperous, the second two less prosperous, and the remainder of the country unremunerative. To bring the whole country up to the prosperity of the first belt demands a railway every eighty miles.

Obviously, in an undeveloped country, to build railways every eighty miles is prohibitively costly, but as nearly every nation in the world is prepared to spend millions of pounds on the construction and maintenance of railways and rolling stock, and often with little reference to the law of supply and demand, it is advisable, I think, briefly to examine the question of cost.

The cost of a railway decreases as the load increases; the load must, consequently, be sufficient to pay for the capital expenditure entailed in constructing the line and also its maintenance. The cost of the Nigerian railways was £11,000 per open mile; the estimated cost of new construction in the Gold Coast lies between £13,000 and £17,000 per mile. For railways costing as much as these, and the figures are not abnormally high, to pay, the country they traverse must not only be fertile or rich in minerals, but thickly inhabited.

I have already examined the question of population in the Dominions, all of which are to-day sparsely inhabited, so I will now turn to another area, namely, British Tropical Africa, a potentially immensely rich country covering some two and a half million square miles and occupied by forty million inhabitants. To run railways through this country would be similar to running railways through Great Britain less its present elaborate system of roads[5] and with a population numbering about two and a quarter millions. In such conditions railways would most certainly not pay, and would only begin to do so when road feeders had been built and the country had become thickly populated.

Footnote 5:

There are 178,000 miles of road in Great Britain.

_The Road_. As economically the railway is length with little breadth, in undeveloped countries it can only be looked upon as an artery, depending for its freight on the roads and tracks which converge on it. If these roads and tracks be few in number, generally speaking, freights will be insignificant, and the railway, in place of fostering wealth, will swallow it up or stifle it. The railway must, therefore, be skirted by a network of roads.

The cheapest form of road is a rough cart track, and where the country consists of grass land and the rainfall is low, as in South Africa, extensive use can be made of bullock wagons for purposes of transportation. The bullock wagon has reached, however, the zenith of its evolution, and is by no means suited for countries where grazing is difficult. If fodder has to be carried in bulk, it at once becomes an uneconomical means of movement.

If the country to be traversed is unsuited to this means of transport, we are left with the lorry, and though light box-cars, such as Ford vans, can use rough tracks and frequently move across country, the load carried is so small, that, unless it is of a particularly valuable nature, or distance is short, the cost of carriage becomes prohibitive. We are left, therefore, with the heavy lorry, varying from three to six tons burden.

These vehicles obviously demand macadamized roads, which not only are extremely expensive to build, but in a sparsely inhabited country prohibitively expensive to maintain. Here in England, we spend yearly £50,000,000 and more on road repair.[6] In Jamaica, £1,000,000 is spent on the maintenance of lorry roads. In both countries this means that each inhabitant has to pay slightly more than £1 a year to meet the road repair bill. In tropical countries, where torrential rains fall and vegetation luxuriates, the macadamized road is out of the question, so also is it in desert land where the sand is apt to silt over the roadways.

Footnote 6:

In 1914–1915 the maintenance of roads cost £19,000,000, in 1921–1922
this sum had risen to £45,500,000.

If the road will not suit the vehicle, the vehicle must be made to suit the road. Here again the difficulty is economically almost insuperable. Balloon tyres, the use of light trailers and of multi-wheel vehicles will partially overcome the difficulty; but rubber rapidly deteriorates in tropical countries, and though a vehicle, such as the Renault six twin-wheel car, has carried out some wonderful performances in the Sahara and elsewhere, the maintenance of twelve balloon tyres practically rules it out of court in most undeveloped countries.

If the bullock wagon is restricted to certain areas, and if the lorry demands a road which is prohibitively expensive, the only remaining sources of transport which can feed the railway are the pack animal and the human porter.

_The Pack Animal._ In examining this last system of transport, I will begin with the human pack-animal, the native porter. Not only is this means of carriage the most primitive of all, which renders it somewhat of an anachronism in the twentieth century, but it is extravagant in the extreme. Economically it is unsound, since the human pack-animal stands in the way of the development of his country. In the first place his productive work is lost, and in the second, the load carried is so small as to offer little encouragement to the producer. Last, and by no means least, unlike the railway, as the amount increases, so does the cost per ton mile increase with it.

On a large scale the system is impossible, and the substitution of pack animals for porters is but little less uneconomical, except in mountainous countries and desert lands, and in the latter, it would seem that the reign of the camel is approaching its end, since in most places where a camel can go a car can follow.

TWO-DIMENSIONAL MOVEMENT

The above, I admit, is a very brief summary of an immense and complex subject, namely, the bridging of the gap which exists between the producer and the arterial railway, or the producer and his market, if it be a distant one. Ruling out pack and porter as being too uneconomical to be used on a large scale, we are left with the wagon, the lorry and the light railway. All these three means can cover great distances, but they do not solve the problem, because the solution does not only lie in power to traverse distance, but in ability to cover the largest area in the shortest time.

The difficulty so far has been that the wheel demands a road and destroys a road, and that, whilst it is easy, though frequently very costly, to make a road which will suit a wheel, it is most difficult to make a wheel which will not damage a road; for failing a cheap and simple form of Pedrail wheel, a system of multi-wheels has to be resorted to, and this system leads directly to the tracked machine, which not only can dispense with roads, but, what is equally important, can make its own track, just as the feet of a man form a path by frequently crossing the same piece of ground.

This is not the place to examine in detail the technicalities of roadless vehicles; but to-day there are two main types of these vehicles; an all-tracked machine of the tank type, and a half-tracked machine which has wheels in front and tracks in rear. The first is more suitable for heavy loads, and the second for light.

In the manufacture of these vehicles three main problems must be solved:

(1) The vehicle must be able to use roads without damaging them; nor must it damage the surface of the ground it travels over.

(2) It must be able to move across country without damaging itself.

(3) The cost per ton-mile must be equal or lower than that of existing vehicles.

It may seem a paradox to lay down that the first requirement of a roadless vehicle is that it can negotiate roads, but, in fact, it is not so; for it stands to reason that, when prepared tracks do exist, it is only wasting time and energy to travel across country. Further, if the tracks of the vehicle are so constructed that they do not damage roads, they will not damage the surface of the ground, and, consequently, by continually travelling over the same ground, they will compact and consolidate its surface and rapidly form a road of their own which will require no metalling. This advantage is one of the great secrets of its success.

As movement across country entails traversing rough ground, the tracks of a roadless vehicle must permit of the absorption of obstacles. This absorption is attained by springing the tracks. In an unsprung machine, obstacles are either crushed into the ground or the vehicle has to lift itself over them. In both cases the result is injury to the machine, and loss of power and discomfort.

It stands to reason that the vehicle must be durable, simple and easy to maintain; also that the ton-mile cost must be low. As regards this latter requirement, experimental machines have so far proved that this is a possibility. A one-ton roadless Guy Lorry recently travelled from London to Aldershot, and its ton mileage was fifty-two to the gallon. It has also been worked out that the cost per ton-mile of the Sentinel tractor, “including overhead charges, depreciation, interest on capital and all running charges, and allowing for a 20-tons net load for a reasonable number of working days in the year,” will be slightly under twopence per ton-mile.

SENTINEL TRACTOR

[_Face p. 80_
]

In the future, the types of roadless vehicles are likely to be great as the surface of the ground differs in various countries; also fuels of all kinds are likely to be burnt, such as petrol, oil and coal, and in tropical countries, where these fuels are scarce or expensive, producer gas is almost certain to become the main motive power.

The most remarkable achievement as yet carried out by roadless vehicles is undoubtedly the crossing of the Sahara from Touggourt to Timbuctoo, during the winter of 1922–1923, by Citroën motorcars fitted with half tracks invented by Monsieur Kegresse. The distance travelled was three thousand six hundred kilometres, and the time taken was twenty days, that is on an average one hundred and twelve miles a day. All machines returned safely, and the total journey there and back was over seven thousand kilometres.

The nature of the country crossed was by no means uniform, for it was sandy, rocky, mountainous and, in the neighbourhood of the river Niger, covered with tropical vegetation. To build a railway from Touggourt to Timbuctoo would cost, at the lowest reckoning, a thousand millions of francs—possibly much more; this alone accentuates the importance of the achievement and its interest to us, for the Empire contains thousands of square miles of roadless country.

I fully realize that, though the roadless vehicle can replace the motor-car, it cannot replace the railway, if the railway is an efficient one. This is, however, not the problem. The problem is, first to bridge the gap between the producer and the railway, and secondly to create in undeveloped countries sufficient wealth to enable more railways to be built. Co-operation with existing railways, this is what must be aimed at.

CROSSLEY-KEGRESSE CAR

[_Face p. 82_
]

For purposes of illustration, I will take British East Africa as an example. A railway runs from Mombasa via Nairobi to the Great Lakes. Forty miles on each side of this railway, generally speaking, is commercially remunerative. This is the first belt I mentioned above, the second two belts are productively a gamble for any but capitalist pioneers, and the remainder of the country is but the playground of rich colonists who can afford to speculate on likely railway extensions in the future, or else of simple fools.

I will now suppose that a reliable roadless vehicle exists which can transport across country five or ten tons of produce. What do we see? We see the first belt extending from forty miles on each side of the railway to a hundred miles, and the second two belts being pushed out, in vastly improved circumstances, fifty to a hundred miles on each side of the new central belt. In fact, we have more than doubled the central belt and trebled the belts adjoining it, and, in doing so, have more than doubled the commercial prosperity of the country.

What now is our next step in the evolution of economic movement? It is, out of the wealth resulting, to extend from our main Mombasa-Nairobi railway, metre gauge lines in herringbone fashion up to the confines of the new central belt, and at the termini of these to build receiving depôts. In place of metre gauge lines, huge roadless machines, carrying and hauling from a hundred tons upwards, will in the end, I think, prove more economical. Once these depôts have been established, the smaller machines belonging to the farms and stations can bring produce to them and dump it. Thus, by degrees, will the central railway be fed by a prosperous area some four to five hundred miles in width.

MORRIS ONE-TON LORRY

[_Face p. 84_
]

To take another example. A transportation problem which faces every farmer is that of rapid door-to-door delivery. To-day, especially in such countries as Canada, what do we see? We see chain-tracked machines used for agricultural work, but we seldom see movement of the produce grown carried out save by horse-drawn vehicles, which can negotiate cultivated land if it be fairly dry.[7] Two horses cannot pull much more than a ton over a heavy field to the farm itself. At the farm, which may be fifty miles from a railway, the produce has either to be transported by cart to the station, which may take three days and two to return, or loaded into a lorry which, unless the roads are good, will take one day each way. The loss of time is considerable, and the roadless vehicle would appear to be the only practical solution. It can be loaded at the extremity of a field in any weather and condition of ground, and moved direct to the railway either by road or across country at a normal lorry speed, and carrying from three to ten tons according to size. Delivery is from door to door, and the only limitation as to load would appear to be the factor of safety of the bridges which may have to be crossed.

Footnote 7:

In Canada, snow offers a serious difficulty to movement by wagon or
car during the winter months; there should be no great difficulty in
producing a roadless vehicle which will cross snow almost as easily as
grass land.

In waterless, as well as roadless areas, such as exist in Australia, wagons and lorries are frequently useless, and the roadless vehicle is again the solution, for it does not require a road to move along, or a well at which to seek refreshment. It carries its own roadway and its own water supply, and, if necessary, water for man and beast in districts where water is scarce.

In mining countries, such as Chili and South Africa, and in oil-producing countries, such as Mexico and Persia, the need for a weight-carrying, roadless vehicle is much felt, and in these countries, where again roads are few and bad, and water frequently scarcer, it would prove as useful as in agricultural lands.

VULCAN TWO-TON LORRY

[_Face p. 86_
]

THE ELYSIAN FIELDS

To conquer the Elysian Fields we must establish new industries at home, we must move our surplus population to the lands which are underpopulated, and we must be prepared to secure our Empire against foreign aggression. All these problems can the roadless vehicle help us to solve.

First, the vehicle itself is a new type of machine which will demand an industry of its own. Twenty-five years ago, as many of us remember, it was a rarity to see a motor-car; yet there were men who, even then, could see them in legions, and one of these men was Mr. (now Earl) Balfour. “In the House of Commons on Thursday, May 17, 1900, Mr. Balfour said he sometimes dreamed—perhaps it was only a dream—that in addition to railways and tramways, we might see great highways constructed for rapid motor traffic, and confined to motor traffic, which would have the immense advantage, if it could be practicable, of taking the workman from door to door, which no tramcar and no railway could do. Is it possible for Mr. Balfour’s dream to be realized?”—_Pall Mall Gazette._

To-day, this question is apt to make us smile, seeing that the motor-car industry is one of the largest and richest in the world; that in 1924 there were half a million cars in this country and nearly fourteen millions in the United States,[8] and that hundreds of millions of pounds have been spent on motor roads.

Footnote 8:

In 1924 there was one car to every eight people in the U.S.A., and one
to every seventy-four in Great Britain.

Surely then, if I be right as regards the powers of the roadless vehicle, its future should be as great as that of the motor-car, possibly greater, seeing that most of the world is still in a roadless condition. Surely, here is employment for many men, and a source of wealth which can only be guessed at in thousands of millions of pounds.

GUY TWO-AND-A-HALF-TON LORRY

[_Face p. 88_
]

And this machine will not only create industrial wealth, but agricultural prosperity, for it will enable the farmer to settle in lands which to-day are but wilderness and waste. The old means will continue, but will be pushed more and more into the beyond. The porter will bring in his small load and so will the pack animal. These loads will be collected and loaded on small roadless machines which will convey them to the depôts from which the giant machines work backward and forward to the railway, which will carry its hundreds of thousands of tons down to the sea. We shall see less porters, less pack animals and less wagons, but more railways and more ships, and these demand men to work them. The waste lands will become fertile; townships will spring up; industries will be created, and the energy of millions of men and women will be profitably expended.

Now follows a curious sequent. If, commercially, we want to expand the Empire, strategically we want to contract it. Our object is not to maintain an immense army to pursue a course of foreign wars, but to maintain law and order throughout the Empire and safeguard its existence. The fewer men we employ the less will the army cost, and, be it remembered, military expenditure during peace time is unremunerative.

To contract the Empire is not to abandon large tracts of country, this is to cut the Gordian knot in place of unravelling it; but, instead, to move over it quicker than we can to-day. What we want to contract is time and not space, the time taken in moving over ground and particularly over roadless country. The roadless vehicle will help us to solve this problem. A battalion may march a hundred miles in a week, but if carried in roadless vehicles this distance can be multiplied by seven; and what is even more important, for long periods a line of communication can be dispensed with, because the battalion can carry supplies with it for several weeks.

DAIMLER THREE-TON LORRY

[_Face p. 90_
]

The main strategical importance of the roadless vehicle lies, however, in the fact that it will, by degrees, fill the Dominions and Colonies with virile men. Australia with a population of twenty-five millions has little to fear from Asiatic races; with fifty millions—nothing. All these changes and many others will be discovered in an Empire recreated by a little iron, a little thought, and much perseverance.

THE WINGS OF PEGASUS

The wings of Pegasus are the wings of imagination—that telescope of the mind which magnifies the glimpses of the future; and, once we have focussed these glimpses, we must bring them down to earth, and chart out their anatomy, so that we and others can set to work.

Rudyard Kipling mounted Pegasus when he said: “When a nation is lost, the underlying cause of the collapse is always that she cannot handle her transport. Everything in life, from marriage to manslaughter, turns on the speed and cost at which men, things and thoughts can be shifted from one place to another. If you can tie up a nation’s transport, you can take her off your books.”

Shifting of thought, this is our first need, for the Great War destroyed an epoch, yet we still hark back to this epoch. A new world requires new ideas, and in the first half of this little book I have shown how ideas, a hundred years ago, were throttled by the protean stupidity and ignorance of man. To-day, these vices continue, but in their senile forms of apathy and indolence. Every government is faced by trade depression, unemployment and the cost of security, yet each in turn, whether Liberal, Conservative or Labour, turns from these problems and deflates itself on some patent shibboleth—protection, free trade, capital levy, etc., etc., until it is pushed out of office by a blind, but aggravated country.

F.W.D. THREE-TON LORRY AND TRAILER
(Six tons useful load)

[_Face p. 92_
]

The crucial problem to-day is movement in all its forms. If to-morrow you can move twice the speed you can to-day, you will have twice the time at your disposal to work in. It is not gold standards and other such humbug which produce wealth, it is work; and if, to-morrow, you have twice as much time to work in as you have to-day, your existing wealth will be doubled.

This is the problem which George Stephenson saw quite clearly, and solved within the limits of the conditions he worked in. He gave the world a one-dimensional movement of a superiority never dreamt of before his day, and this superiority recreated the civilized world. To-day, we can expand this movement to cover two dimensions and recreate the world again. One day it will be done, because the world is a roadless planet, but for us, as an Empire, it may be done too late. No government minds spending millions of pounds on some pet hobby—doles, pensions, cruisers, naval bases, worn-out coal pits, etc., etc., but no government so far has spent sixpence on roadless vehicles. A hundred thousand pounds or so judiciously expended on research and experiment might well result in the production of half a dozen efficient types of cross-country machines. Has no government the intelligence to understand this, or the imagination to see what it may lead to?

Pegasus without his wings is a very ordinary animal; with them—most extraordinary, for he flew to Olympus, a land fit for heroes to live in, and not one in which no one but a hero can survive. Why not follow his example, why not look around us and discover the pivot of our difficulties, and then, why not from the mountain top of reason gaze into the future and conjure up the images of things to be? Then, let us descend into those tumultuous and dismal valleys below, and to Laughter and Perseverance add Wisdom. With this trinity to lighten our way, surely will our way grow straight and broad, and the clouds which are gathering around us, disperse; and surely then shall we discover those Fortunate Islands which to-day we are so blindly seeking.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Each, pott 8vo, 2/6 net_ _Occasionally illustrated_

TO-DAY AND

TO-MORROW

This series of books, by some of the most distinguished English thinkers, scientists, philosophers, doctors, critics, and artists, was at once recognized as a noteworthy event. Written from various points of view, one book frequently opposing the argument of another, they provide the reader with a stimulating survey of the most modern thought in many departments of life. Several volumes are devoted to the future trend of Civilization, conceived as a whole; while others deal with particular provinces, and cover the future of Woman, War, Population, Clothes, Wireless, Morals, Drama, Poetry, Art, Sex, Law, etc.

It is interesting to see in these neat little volumes, issued at a low price, the revival of a form of literature, the Pamphlet, which has been in disuse for 200 years.

_Published by_
KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO., LTD.
Broadway House: 68–74 Carter Lane, London, E.C.4

_VOLUMES READY_

=Daedalus=, or Science and the Future. By J. B. S. HALDANE, Reader in
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essay is brilliant, sparkling with wit and bristling with
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“Predicts the most startling changes.”—_Morning Post._

=Callinicus=, a Defence of Chemical Warfare. By J. B. S. HALDANE.
_Second impression._

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=Icarus=, or the Future of Science. By BERTRAND RUSSELL, F.R.S.
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=Cassandra=, or the Future of the British Empire. By F. C. S.
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Just published. The book questions the power of the British Empire
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D.Sc., author of “Selenium, the Moon Element,” etc.

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brilliant common-sense.”—_Observer._

=Hypatia=, or Woman and Knowledge. By MRS BERTRAND RUSSELL. With a
frontispiece. _Second impression._

An answer to _Lysistrata_. “A passionate vindication of the rights
of women.”—_Manchester Guardian._ “Says a number of things that
sensible women have been wanting publicly said for a long
time.”—_Daily Herald._ “Everyone who cares at all about these things
should read it.”—_Weekly Westminster._

=Thrasymachus=, the Future of Morals. By C. E. M. JOAD, author of
“Common-Sense Ethics,” etc.

“His provocative book.”—_Graphic._ “Written in a style of deliberate
brilliance.”—_Times Literary Supplement._ “As outspoken and
unequivocal a contribution as could well be imagined. Even those
readers who dissent will be forced to recognize the admirable
clarity with which he states his case. A book that will
startle.”—_Daily Chronicle._

=The Passing of the Phantoms=: a Study of Evolutionary Psychology and
Morals. By C. J. PATTEN, Professor of Anatomy, Sheffield University.
With 4 Plates.

“Readers of _Daedalus_, _Icarus_ and _Tantalus_, will be grateful
for an excellent presentation of yet another point of
view.”—_Yorkshire Post._ “This bright and bracing little
book.”—_Literary Guide._ “Interesting and original.”—_Medical
Times._

=The Mongol in our Midst=: a Study of Man and his Three Faces. By F.
G. CROOKSHANK, M.D., F.R.C.P. With 28 Plates. _Second Edition,
revised._

“A brilliant piece of speculative induction.”—_Saturday Review._ “An
extremely interesting and suggestive book, which will reward careful
reading.”—_Sunday Times._ “The pictures carry fearful
conviction.”—_Daily Herald._

=The Conquest of Cancer.= By H. W. S. WRIGHT, M.S., F.R.C.S.
Introduction by F. G. CROOKSHANK, M.D.

“Eminently suitable for general reading. The problem is fairly and
lucidly presented. One merit of Mr. Wright’s plan is that he tells
people what, in his judgment, they can best do, _here and
now_.”—From the _Introduction_.

=Pygmalion=, or the Doctor of the Future. By R. MCNAIR WILSON, M.D.

“Dr Wilson has added a brilliant essay to this series.”—_Times
Literary Supplement._ “This is a very little book, but there is much
wisdom in it.”—_Evening Standard._ “No doctor worth his salt would
venture to say that Dr Wilson was wrong.”—_Daily Herald._

=Prometheus=, or Biology and the Advancement of Man. By H. S.
JENNINGS, Professor of Zoology, Johns Hopkins University.

“This volume is one of the most remarkable that has yet appeared in
this series. Certainly the information it contains will be due to
most educated laymen. It is essentially a discussion of ... heredity
and environment, and it clearly establishes the fact that the
current use of these terms has no scientific justification.”—_Times
Literary Supplement._ “An exceedingly brilliant book.”—_New Leader._

=Narcissus=: an Anatomy of Clothes. By GERALD HEARD. With 19
illustrations.

“A most suggestive book.”—_Nation._ “Irresistible. Reading it is
like a switchback journey. Starting from prehistoric times we rocket
down the ages.”—_Daily News._ “Interesting, provocative, and
entertaining.”—_Queen._

=Thamyris=, or Is There a Future for Poetry? By R. C. TREVELYAN.

“Learned, sensible, and very well-written.”—_Affable Hawk_, in _New
Statesman_. “Very suggestive.”—_J. C. Squire_, in _Observer_. “A
very charming piece of work. I agree with all, or at any rate,
almost all its conclusions.”—_J. St. Loe Strachey_, in _Spectator_.

=Proteus=, or the Future of Intelligence. By VERNON LEE, author of
“Satan the Waster,” etc.

“We should like to follow the author’s suggestions as to the effect
of intelligence on the future of Ethics, Aesthetics, and Manners.
Her book is profoundly stimulating and should be read by
everyone.”—_Outlook._ “A concise, suggestive piece of
work.”—_Saturday Review._

=Timotheus=, the Future of the Theatre. By BONAMY DOBRÉE, author of
“Restoration Drama,” etc.

“A witty, mischievous little book, to be read with delight.”—_Times
Literary Supplement._ “This is a delightfully witty
book.”—_Scotsman._ “In a subtly satirical vein he visualizes various
kinds of theatres in 200 years time. His gay little book makes
delightful reading.”—_Nation._

=Paris=, or the Future of War. By Captain B. H. LIDDELL HART.

A companion volume to _Callinicus_. “A gem of close thinking and
deduction.”—_Observer._ “A noteworthy contribution to a problem of
concern to every citizen in this country.”—_Daily Chronicle._ “There
is some lively thinking about the future of war in Paris, just added
to this set of live-wire pamphlets on big subjects.”—_Manchester
Guardian._

=Wireless Possibilities.= By Professor A. M. LOW. With 4 diagrams.

“As might be expected from an inventor who is always so fresh, he
has many interesting things to say.”—_Evening Standard._ “The mantle
of Blake has fallen upon the physicists. To them we look for
visions, and we find them in this book.”—_New Statesman._

=Perseus=: of Dragons. By H. F. SCOTT STOKES. With 2 illustrations.

“A diverting little book, chock-full of ideas. Mr. Stokes’
dragon-lore is both quaint and various.”—_Morning Post._ “Very
amusingly written, and a mine of curious knowledge for which the
discerning reader will find many uses.”—_Glasgow Herald._

=Lycurgus=, or the Future of Law. By E. S. P. HAYNES, author of
“Concerning Solicitors,” etc.

“An interesting and concisely written book.”—_Yorkshire Post._ “He
roundly declares that English criminal law is a blend of barbaric
violence, medieval prejudices, and modern fallacies.... A humane and
conscientious investigation.”—_T.P.’s Weekly._ “A thoughtful
book—deserves careful reading.”—_Law Times._

_VOLUMES JUST PUBLISHED._

=Euterpe=, or the Future of Art. By LIONEL R. MCCOLVIN, author of “The
Theory of Book-Selection.”

Shows the considerable influence which commercial and economic
factors exert on all branches of art—literature, painting, music,
architecture, etc. It analyses the various factors responsible for
the present low standard of popular taste and suggests methods for
improvement.

=Atlantis=, or America and the Future. By Colonel J. F. C. FULLER,
author of “The Reformation of War,” etc.

In the turmoil and materialism of the United States the author sees
the beginning of a new civilization which, if it can find its soul,
is likely to exceed in grandeur anything as yet accomplished by the
civilizations of the Old World.

=Midas=, or the United States and the Future. By C. H. BRETHERTON,
author of “The Real Ireland,” etc.

A companion volume to _Atlantis_. Four main sections deal with the
U.S.A. as a Melting Pot, the Future of American Government, the
Future of American Character, and the Intellectual Future of
America. The conclusion deals with Industrial Potentialities.

=Nuntius=, or the Future of Advertising. By GILBERT RUSSELL.

Shows that advertising has become, not merely an economic necessity,
but a real benefit to social life. Examines its present position as
a factor in civilization and outlines its potentialities, not merely
as a commercial, but as a social and political, influence.

=Pegasus=, or Problems of Transport. By Colonel J. F. C. FULLER. With
Plates.

The author, after a brief review of the history of the railway,
shows that roadless vehicles, which in the form of tanks did so much
to win the recent war, in the form of commercial machines, may do as
much to win the present peace, by solving the problem of
over-population and, consequently, of unemployment.

_READY SHORTLY_

=Artifex=, or the Future of Craftsmanship. By JOHN GLOAG, author of
“Time, Taste, and Furniture.”

After a suggestive sketch of the history of craftsmanship, the
author examines the possibilities in the use of machinery to extend
craftsmanship and make beautiful articles of commerce.

=Birth Control and the State=: a Plea and a Forecast. By C. P.
BLACKER, _M.C._, M.A., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.

A level-headed examination of the case for and against birth
control, summing up in its favour.

=Sybilla=, or the Future of Prophecy. By C. A. MACE, University of St.
Andrew’s.

An examination of the possibilities of scientific forecasting, with
special reference to certain volumes in this series.

=Gallio=, or the Tyranny of Science. By J. W. N. SULLIVAN, author of
“A History of Mathematics.”

An attack on the values which science is so successfully imposing
upon civilization.

=The Future of the English Language.= By BASIL DE SELINCOURT, author
of “The English Secret,” etc.

An analysis of the present condition of the English language and the
paths along which it is progressing.

=Mercurius=, or the World on Wings. By C. THOMPSON WALKER.

A brilliant picture of the world as it will be when inevitable
developments in aircraft take place.

=Lars Porsena=, or the Future of Swearing. By ROBERT GRAVES, author of
“Country Sentiment,” etc.

An account of the popular decline in swearing, the possibility that
it will regain its lost prestige, and new influences which are
affecting it.

=Plato’s American Republic.= By J. D. WOODRUFF.

A series of witty dialogues in the Platonic manner dealing with
aspects of American life and manners.

=The Future of Architecture.= By CHRISTIAN BARMAN, editor of “The
Architects’ Journal.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

● Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained. ● Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. ● Enclosed bold font in =equals=.