adoption of a system of deferred pay whichwould bear a superficial resemblance to the above.But if these reports are correct, this measurewould be on the top of other measures alreadytaken which are far more drastic than anythingsuggested here,—a complete fixation of wages,hours and prices, a comprehensive system ofrationing supplemented by shop shortages andprohibitions of every kind, and a series of deduc-tions from wages, quite apart from any systemof deferred pay, which already add up to a for-midable total several times heavier than the scaleof deferred pay proposed above for the lowergroup of incomes. I wish I was in a position togive more exact, quantitative particulars. But Ishould guess that if we were to enforce in thiscountry a control of general consumption asdrastic as that which is already in force inGermany , we should be in a position to increaseour war effort by fully 50 per cent and perhapssubstantially more. We shall, therefore, reject atour peril initial measures at least on the scalehere recommended, or their equivalent.
Since the German system in its entirety isthat which it is our object to avoid even as atemporary measure by any means short of jeopard-ising ultimate victory, it may be more to the pointto quote the measures which have been adoptedin France . For reasons which are not entirelydue to the censorship a veil seems to separateus from what is happening in France almostthicker than that which divides us from theenemy. British public opinion is, I believe, almost