book which has had an enormous and well-deserved sale, "Merrie England" (Clarion Offices, Fleet Street). The author, "Nunquam," remarks at the outset: "The problem we have to consider is:—Given a country and a people, find how the people may make the best of the country and themselves." He then proceeds to vigorously condemn our cities, with their houses ugly and mean, their narrow streets, their want of gardens, and emphasises the advantages of out-door occupations. He condemns the factory system, and says: "I would set men to grow wheat and fruit, and rear cattle and poultry for our own use. Then I would develop the fisheries, and construct great fish-breeding lakes and harbours. Then I would restrict our mines, furnaces, chemical works, and factories to the number actually needed for the supply of our own people. Then I would stop the smoke nuisance by developing water-power and electricity. In order to achieve these ends, I would make all the lands, mills, mines, factories, works, shops, ships, and railways the property of the people." That is (the italics are my own), the people are to struggle hard to become possessed of factories, mills, works, and shops, at least half of which must be closed if Nunquam's desires are attained; of ships which will become useless if our foreign trade is to be abandoned, (see "Merrie England," Chap, iv.); and of railways, which, with an entire redistribution of population such as Nunquam desires, must for the most part become derelict. And how long is this useless struggle to last? Would it not—I ask Nunquam to consider this point carefully—be better to study a smaller problem first, and, to paraphrase his words," Given, say, 6,000 acres of land, let us endeavour to make the best use of
