4 +

ESSAYS IN PERSUASION

PART

If, in addition to this loan for the purchaseof food and materials, a guarantee fund wereestablished up to an equal amount, namely£ 200 , 000,000 (of which it would probablyprove necessary to find only, a part in cash), towhich all members of the League of Nations would contribute according to their means, itmight be practicable to base upon it a generalreorganisation of the currency.

In this manner Europe might be equippedwith the minimum amount of liquid resourcesnecessary to revive her hopes, to renew hereconomic organisation, and to enable her greatintrinsic wealth to function for the benefit ofher workers. It is useless at the present timeto elaborate such schemes in further detail. Agreat change is necessary in public opinionbefore the proposals of this chapter can enterthe region of practical politics, and we mustawait the progress of events as patiently as wecan.

I see few signs of sudden or dramatic de-velopments anywhere. Riots and revolutionsthere may be, but not such, at present, as tohave fundamental significance. Against politi-cal tyranny and injustice Revolution is a weapon.But what counsels of hope can Revolution offerto sufferers from economic privation, whichdoes not arise out of the injustices of distribu-tion but is general? The only safeguard againstrevolution in Central Europe is indeed the factthat, even to the minds of men who are des-