[Footnote 6: This chapter is intended to refer to what may be regarded
as normal conditions. In some cases the recent rise in wages has been
excessive. The present position is chaotic, and the ill-advised manner
in which the 12-1/2 per cent. advance was made has added to labour
troubles and will cause great difficulty in the future.]

_D.--RELIGIOUS PEACE_

CHAPTER XIII

CO-OPERATION

_Children of men! the Unseen Power, whose eye_
_For ever doth accompany mankind,_
_Hath looked on no religion scornfully_
_That man did ever find._
--MATTHEW ARNOLD.

This is not the place to discuss the merits or demerits of any
theological views or of any system of Church government, but the
question of the influence of religion on the life of the State and the
way in which and conditions under which it can be rightly exercised
cannot be overlooked. There is no doubt whatever that religious
influence might be a most potent and useful factor in Reconstruction,
using the word in the broadest sense. There are some branches of work in
which no other known influence can effect what is required. Leaving
aside for the moment the fact that there are needs of humanity which
religion alone can satisfy, and looking only to social improvement, the
power of religion has been proved again and again, especially in dealing
with the cases that seem most difficult and almost hopeless. In India,
for example, there are certain debased tribes which are habitually
criminal, and have, in fact, by tradition devoted themselves to the
commission of crime. The only agency which has been able to effect a
reclamation and improvement of these tribes is the Salvation Army,
which, by general consent, even of those who have no sympathy with its
particular religious views, has achieved wonderful results. There is no
doubt, too, that some of the worst parts of certain seaports in our own
country have been vastly improved by the same agency. This has been done
by a definite appeal made on religious grounds, and those who have made
it have been inspired by religious motives. It required, however, a body
which had peculiar methods of its own to do it. The basis of the action,
also, of such organisations as the Church Army and the Young Men's and
Young Women's Christian Associations is definitely religious, and the
vigorous and successful way in which their work has been carried on by
such associations is due mai