The Spectator at war: The ordinary and the extraordinary

From ‘The Industrial Situation’, The Spectator, 27 March 1915:

The present industrial situation shows how completely what we may call the economic pacificists misjudged the probable effects of a great European war. Instead of our industries being brought to a standstill, they are in a condition of abnormal activity. The trouble is not to find work but to find workers. To a certain extent this fact is doubtless due to the favoured position occupied by Great Britain as an island defended by an overwhelmingly powerful Navy. But it must be admitted that, so far as evidence can be obtained, our enemies, in spite of the destruction of their maritime commerce, are still able to carry on many, if not most, of their industries. Tales reach us from time to time through letters found on prisoners or on dead bodies showing that in parts of Germany there is considerable distress caused by the high price of food, but there is no evidence of anything like the general destruction of the industrial life of the country.