breadth of view, says much that is of real value, but does not refrain
from appealing to the fact that the mutual confidence of man and officer
in battle is a proof of the possibility of a similar confidence in the
workshop. That confidence must, and can, we dare to believe, eventually
be established. But the men don't go over the top to put money in the
Colonel's pocket, and little good is done by exploiting these loose
analogies and putting on a too easy air of optimism in the face of
desperately serious and complex problems. But enough of fault-finding,
which is a poor reward for the serious and generous labours of
public-spirited men and women. After all, what one reader calls timidity
of outlook another may care to praise as prudence. Here you will find an
abundance of safe analysis, wise comment and constructive suggestion
from a galaxy of accredited authorities.

* * * * *

In the early chapters of Mr. WILLIAM HEWLETT'S new story, _The
Plot-Maker_ (DUCKWORTH), we are introduced to a popular and highly
successful novelist, named _Coulthard Henderson_, in the emotional
crisis produced by a sudden doubt as to whether his output of
best-sellers represented anything in the least approaching actuality.
You will admit a tragic situation. He meets it by the determination that
his next book shall be a veritable slice of life, and to this end he
selects and finances an eligible young man for the purpose of
vicariously experiencing those emotions, from which age and other causes
debar the chronicler; in other words, he hires a hero. The worst of this
excellent idea is that it can hardly be said to originate either with
_Mr. Henderson_ or Mr. HEWLETT, that credit belonging (I fancy) to the
late HERBERT FLOWERDEW in a too-little-appreciated masterpiece of
sensational burlesque called _The Realist_. However, _The Plot-Maker_,