in addition to a large number of aeroplanes had also a "fleet" of powerful airships, known popularly as "Zeppelins," after the name of their inventor.

In May, 1912, the Royal Flying Corps came into existence and on the outbreak of hostilities the immense value of this Corps to the Army was at once demonstrated. It is one of the wonders of the war how quickly the new arm— -the "Cavalry of the Clouds "-was perfected. It affords a striking example of the gigantic effort put forth by the nation. The output of aeroplanes grew to vast dimensions, whilst our skilful and intrepid airmen soon rivalled and then surpassed in daring and efficiency those of the adversary, and finally established a supremacy beyond challenge.

The Royal Flying Corps was associated with the Army, but the Navy also found it necessary to develop an Air Wing adapted to its own particular needs. Thus during the greater part of the late war there was in existence a Royal Naval Air Service under the control of the Admiralty.

1

[To put an end to this divided control over our Air Force an Air Ministry was created 1 in January, 1918, with an Air Council framed much on the same lines as the Army Council. At the head of the Ministry is a Secretary of State for Air," who is also President of the Air Council.

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The Royal Air Force, over which the Air Ministry now exercises control, is formed by the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service. Under this arrangement the Navy, the Army, and the Royal Air Force form three distinct fighting services. The Air Ministry now lends certain units to the Navy and others to the Army in addition to maintaining an independent Air Force.

Whether this latest organisation will be permanent remains to be seen. The majority of the higher officers in the Navy and Army are not in favour of this system, as they feel doubtful whether by this method they will each secure an efficient Air Wing. The training of the personnel and the technical equipment required in the three services are so divergent that it is considered that nothing short of absolute control by each service of its own Air Wing will ensure the desired efficiency.]

THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS AGAIN

[The League of Nations, mentioned on page 16, was called into being by the Peace Conference at Paris after the Great War, and came 1 Under the Air Force (Constitution) Act, 1917.

formally into existence on January 10, 1920, when the Peace Treaty of Versailles (signed June 28, 1919) became operative.

The League is an association of States which have pledged themselves by a Covenant of 26 " Articles not to go to war before submitting their disputes to arbitration. Proposals for the reduction of armaments are also part of the League's programme, and no doubt you will hear in the near future of World Conferences summoned by the League to discuss and devise means by which this desirable end may be attained.

The States-about 50 in number-which are members of the League have also bound themselves to co-operate over a wide range of humanitarian, labour, economic, and social questions, and the first fruits of their recommendations are to be seen in the latest of our laws for regulating the labour of women, children, and young persons (see p. 166).

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The Council of the League, whose headquarters are at Geneva, consists of representatives of Great Britain and her Dominions, France, Italy, and Japan, together with four other members elected by the Assembly " of the League from among the other States represented. Germany is not (as yet) represented, nor is America, although the formation of the League was very largely the work of Mr. Woodrow Wilson, President of U.S.A. His action in committing the United States to participation in the League was, however, repudiated by the American Senate and also by the American people in the Presidential Election of 1920.

The first act of the League was the establishment of a Permanent Court of International Justice (with a bench of eleven judges sitting at The Hague), which has already been successful in settling several international disputes.

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A number of Committees or Commissions has been established by the League to deal with the many sides of its work. Perhaps the best known of these bodies is the International Labour Organisation to the recommendations of which we shall shortly make reference. Yet another important Committee set up by the League is the " Mandates Commission to which attention will be called in the chapter on England and the Empire.

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The work already accomplished by the League must cause great satisfaction to those who base upon its ultimate success, their hopes for the survival of our civilisation.

THE WASHINGTON CONFERENCE ON THE LIMITATION OF ARMAMENTS

You are probably aware that for many years prior to the late war there had been proceeding between the Great Powers of the world what was termed a competition" in_armaments. It arose in the first place from the maintenance by Germany of a huge Standing

K

Army, which was felt by other European nations to be a menace to the peace of the Continent. In later years Germany also proceeded to the construction of a Navy which challenged the British Navy in strength. Great Britain being an island dependent for food and raw materials on supplies from oversea felt compelled to maintain the lead in naval construction, laying down" two keels to every one built by Germany. You will understand that these armaments were very costly and a great burden to the taxpayer; but every overture to Germany to cease this competition, or take a naval holiday" during which no warships should be built, met with a rebuff. Our statesmen, therefore, were driven to the conclusion that some day Germany intended to contest our supremacy at sea. And it is now plain that such was her

design.

To prevent a recurrence of this devastating competition, the American Government invited representatives of the leading nations to meet and discuss the means of securing a Limitation of Armaments.

The Conference met at Washington on November 12, 1921. It was attended by representatives of the British Empire, India, France, Italy, Japan, Belgium, China, Portugal, and the Netherlands, and after much fruitful discussion arrived at an Agreement which was embodied in the "Five-Powers Treaty," signed at Washington on February 6, 1922, by representatives of Great Britain, the United States, France, Italy, and Japan. It fixes for these Powers a definite tonnage of capital ships (battleships and battle-cruisers) and limits their size and the calibre of their guns. By this Treaty our Navy becomes nominally of the same strength as that of the United States, whilst that of Japan is fixed at six-tenths of ours.

It is to be observed, however, that the Governments of France and Italy have not (at the time of writing) ratified the Agreement into which their representatives entered at Washington. Should they fail to do so it is held that the Treaty will be no longer binding upon any of the signatory Powers. This is a matter of deep concern to us all, and the issue of which you will await with anxiety.1]

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AND RESEARCH

1. Discuss the proposition that the best guarantee of peace is to be prepared for war.

2. Define Patriotism. Is it the duty of a patriot to say, country right or wrong ?

When is it invoked in civil life?

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'My

3. What is Martial Law? 4. Give some account of Women's Work in the war, with especial reference to the organisations known as the V.A.D.; W.R.N.S. ;

1 In the same Treaty the Five Powers agree to prohibit the use of poisonous gases and liquids. It is to be noted that Germany was not represented at the Conference.

W.R.A.F.; W.A.A.C. and Q.M.A.A.C.; the Women's Legion; the Women's Land Army; and the Women Police.

5. Are you a

Territorial or a Boy Scout?

If not why not? 6. What is the V.C. and for what is it awarded? Describe the Medal.

7. Will the Union Jack need to be changed now that Southern Ireland has been given the status of a Dominion beyond the Seas?

8. Relate a great naval exploit in the late war associated with St. George's Day.

9. Describe at least one of the great events of the war in (a) Flanders, (b) Gallipoli, (c) Palestine.

10 Ascertain from any available works of reference:

(1) the number of men who during the late war passed through the ranks of the British Army;

(2) the number of men sent by each of the Dominions;

(3) our total casualties in killed and wounded: (a) in the Army, (b) in the Navy, (c) in the Mercantile Marine.

N.B. For the general reader there is possibly no more comprehensive or instructive record of the Great War and of "War Work" at home and abroad, than that to be found in the 21 volumes of the "The Times Illustrated History of the War." With advantage also to every student of citizenship may be read "The People of England" (3 vols.) by Sir Stanley Leathes, K.C.B.

CHAPTER XII

SCHOOLS AND SCHOLARS

EARLY EDUCATIONAL EFFORTS

'A CENTURY ago the majority of your countrymen could neither read nor write, and the poorer members of the community had little or no opportunity of acquiring in their youth even the barest elements of education. Whilst some other countries (Germany in particular) were steadily developing their educational systems we stood still, doing little or nothing for the education of the masses. In earlier times the monasteries and religious houses all looked upon it as part of their duty to teach the rudiments of learning to those who were anxious to be taught. At their dissolution the schools attached to them were also broken up. We had, too, in England a considerable number of Grammar Schools for the education of what would now be called the middle classes. Most of these were also destroyed.

It was the desire of a few noble minds of the time that the revenues derived from the spoil of the monastic houses and of the Grammar Schools should be used in part for the continuation of the work of these schools. But this was not done and very many of them perished. Thus comparatively few of our educational institutions (apart from the old Universities) date from before the Reformation.

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After the Reformation, however, we find a number of Grammar Schools set up in various parts of the country and endowed by pious founders. Many were doubtless conscience-money foundations, representing a partial restitution of the spoils of the abbeys and other pre-Reformation institutions. But the very poor seldom benefited from these foundations. This, no doubt, was partly due to the difficulty with which the very poor could dispense with the labour of