compensated the trade for the continued
abstention of a few unfashionable obstinates, as well as for the extra
cost of labour.[52]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 49: One Jewish contractor supplied corn and fodder to all
three armies. As soon as his Turkish customers had capitulated, he
tendered for the supply of the victorious Greeks, and he still had
enough to spare for the Bulgarians when they entered the town.]

[Footnote 50: May 17, 1915.]

[Footnote 51: Such "labour-saving devices," for instance, as "poached
egg servers."]

Sec. 8

Trade Profits in war not shared by the Nation but confined to Employers

The trade profits which are thus directly stimulated by the conditions
of war, do not imply the prosperity of the Trade as a whole, if a Trade
is understood to mean a certain section of the nation including in a
sort of guild or hierarchy representatives of every class engaged in a
particular Trade. They do imply the prosperity of a particular class,
for they are all employers' profits, profits on the capital involved.
Unfortunately the profits of the Capitalists do not involve the profits
of the Labourers, and cannot therefore be tested by statistics of
unemployment. But of course the fluctuations of unemployment do very
materially affect the opportunities of Trade, and it might reasonably be
argued that the apparent profits created by War are really modified by
the conditions of the Labour market or otherwise equitably distributed
among the general population. Unfortunately it is quite easy to show
that the one policy of employers during the present war has been to
maintain their profits without any concern for the general population,
and that the effect of war has been to increase the profits of Capital
not only by increasing the demand but also by making the Employers
increasingly independent of the labourers' claims.

At the beginning of War the Employer, on the grounds of general
insecurity and "not knowing what was going to happen next," cut down
wages and raised the cry of "Business as Usual"; which meant that
business was so much better than usual that he was afraid it could not
possibly last. So he cut down wages, laughed at buyers who offered him
the usual prices, and charged L48 a ton for hides and 6s. 10d. for a
yard of cloth that usually cost half a crown. If the private buyer would
not pay his prices the Government would. It was indeed too good to last,
for such prosperity became impossible to con