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 in which we had struggled for an existence in the old Victorian times.

These dreams and aspirations were not altogether as foolish as they seem to be now, when a return to pre-war prosperity looks like a far distant goal, which we can only win with a great effort. We have to remember that the war had astonished us all by showing us how great had been the increase in man's power of production, and in his control over the forces of nature. In this country we had shown that we were able to do far more than everything which we had contracted to do before the war happened, namely, to maintain the mastery of the Allies at sea, to finance our poorer comrades in arms, and to supply an expeditionary force to act on the flank of the French Army. Not only had we done all these things, but we had also created and put into the field an army on a Continental scale; we had provided it with equipment and munitions to an extent that had never been dreamt of as necessary when the war began; and at the same time there had been an appreciable improvement in the standard of living of the working classes.

These things had not been done without making considerable drafts on our capital resources. We had borrowed abroad, though not nearly as much as we had lent to our Allies.