them. " The Art. 7. THE REORGANISATION OF THE T 1. The Crisis of the Naval War. By Ada Fleet Viscount Jellicoe. Cassell, 1920. Field Service Regulations, Part II, 1914 1 rmaster round of ark of an Inander-inand bring rge reserve y a hundred d is his Chief t, responsible n and for the nd him is the he gigantic task it efficient. this is a general fined to the army ccessful organisaorm or other, this a great newspaper, direction of any large business when I A Sing recent i freed theme est length their m swer to the ma the fiction rded as the Chief of s to the 'operational' erial or 'maintenance' Dervision of personnel, to economy of effort and stably of all the equipment rk, has given rise to a brand tendence of the work of 1 'time-motion' problems ich involves the technical ent of personnel are mive r matter of primary im to political stability. ey, and giving rise to ation, such as the e 7 on the output, bu utlook of the w f the subject 1 a failure ✓ are disco an historics, paz. sia is a s is not our on to ze and al→ gran To cry aloud ze ze meaning ¿ the press of is way of war 2. IT mechanism of printing. robable that the managing with markets, sales, and the s, for these constitute the ness; and it may be assumed ch questions as the upkeep of ulation, entry, and training of the maintenance of the busiension and development. These en a variety of names,* but the n lies in the fact that the one is se of the instrument, the other maintenance in an efficient state. en be carried further. In the work reneral Staff and Administration, usually desigermaster). The Admiralty in 1917 adopted the -aintenance. brings it all home to the reader as the novelists of the previous decades failed to do. The faint rumble as of a distant storm has grown to a volume of sound such as rises from a modern battle-field. Boris Saitsev, again, like most of his contemporaries, devotes his talents to the description of the sufferings of the poor. Veresaev strikes deep into the heart of things. He describes in 'Pathless' how Chekanov, a philanthropic doctor, gives up his career to go and live in an isolated village, devoting himself to the peasantry, body and soul. They mistrust him, accuse him of poisoning them, and at length set on him and beat him to death. With his dying breath he forgives them and puts the case as he sees it to his cousin Natasha, a girl with aims similar to his own. So must it ever be, for we have ever been strangers to them, beings belonging to another world; we disdainfully avoided contact with them, without seeking to understand them; and a terrible gulf separated them from us.' I Russian literature represents a wonderful history of intellectual evolution. The writers whose works have built up that literature in the course of centuries began as a child begins, by being receptive and imitative. By slow degrees they freed themselves from outside influences and became at length exclusively pre-occupied with the problems of their national development. have sought the answer to the inquiry underlying the title of this article in the fiction of Russia, because that fiction is essentially an historical panorama of the Russian people. Uspenski, says Kropotkin, is rather an ethnologist than a writer of fiction; and, generally speaking, the novelist in Russia is a social historian, a politician, a preacher. He is not 'out' to amuse the idle or to provide relaxation to the weary; he is 'out' to impress on one and all the woeful condition of his countrymen, to cry aloud for freedom and justice. This, is, I think, the meaning and intention of the Russian literature of the present day; and this, from the first, was the pathway of its destiny. C. HAGBERG WRIGHT. REORGANISATION OF THE NAVAL Art. 7.-THE 1. The Crisis of the Naval War. By Admiral of the Fleet Viscount Jellicoe. Cassell, 1920. 2. Der Dienst des Generalstabes. By Bronsart von Schellendorff. 4th edition; edited by Major von Schellendorff. Berlin: Mittler, 1905. 3. Field Service Regulations, Part II, 1914. 4. Handbuch für Truppenführung und Stabsdienst. By Cardinal von Widdern. Gera: Reisewitz, 1884. 5. Le Grand Etat-Major Naval. By Lieutenant de vaisseau Castex. Paris: Charles-Lavauzelle, 1909. THE direction of any large business, whether it be a government service or a great soap industry, or an oil company with branches all over the globe, involves numerous problems of organisation and management, whose elucidation has attracted increasing study and attention in recent years under a variety of forms. The careful observation of the motions involved in some ordinary task, such as bricklaying or shovelling, with a view to economy of effort and standardised conditions of work, has given rise to a branch of investigation termed 'time-motion' problems. The welfare and contentment of personnel are universally recognised as another matter of primary importance, intimately related to political stability, as well as to industrial efficiency, and giving rise to numerous side-issues of investigation, such as the effects of fatigue and strain, not only on the output, but on the whole character and social outlook of the worker. But, though the wide scope of the subject is beginning to be appreciated, there is a failure to observe that, if principles of efficiency are discoverable, they will be discovered in the business of war, for war is a business terribly intense and stern. In trade, man contends with time and tide and circumstance, and with his fellow-man in terms of gain; in engineering and medicine and the physical sciences, he contends with nature and the stubborn texture of atoms; but only in war does he contend with: 'Twelve Principles of Efficiency,' by Harrington Emerson, 1912. human intelligence consciously intent on encompassing his immediate destruction, and directing every available means to this end. War is not merely a business, but a terrible business, for an enemy determined to appeal to the arbitrament of force allows no time for deliberation or delay. In war, time is measured in seconds; and the soldier, therefore, was long ago compelled to discover the very elements of efficiency which now engage so much attention-for gun-drill is only a soldier's name for the time-motion' system of scientific management, whose object is to perform a given task with the greatest speed and least effort. The tendency of a navy or army in peace time to fall into artificiality and formalism should not blind us to the fact that a great war-service, emerging from a long war, is almost bound by the nature of things to bring with it certain principles of efficiency hammered out on the anvil of hard and bitter experience. But a clear conception of such principles is not a monopoly of the victorious side, for the vanquished may discover them if they study diligently the causes of their defeat. At Jena the sun of Prussia suffered a disastrous eclipse; A nation breathed on us,' said Heine, and we melted away.' But the lesson was not forgotten. The ablest thinkers in Germany set to work to analyse the causes of defeat; and the principles they evolved were embodied by Scharnhorst and Moltke in the Prussian system of staff organisation (not to be confused with the spirit of Prussian militarism), which has been adopted by all modern armies, and may rightly be regarded as one of the monumental achievements of the 19th century. The master-key of this system lies in one fundamental principle-the necessity of a clear-cut distinction between fighting and supply; that is, between the general direction of operations on the one hand, and routine and technical services on the other. The general direction of operations is the business of the Chief of the General Staff; and ranged beside him are the great quarter-master services of administration and supply. The Chief of the General Staff stands at the right hand of the Supreme Command, co-ordinating the work of the whole towards a single end; and closely in touch with him is the QuartermasterGeneral, responsible for the important background of transport, equipment, and supply. This great triplicity of service is the hall-mark of an efficient organisation. At the head is the Commander-inChief, unburdened and unfettered by details, and bringing to difficult problems at a critical hour a large reserve of authority, and a clear outlook undimmed by a hundred minor matters of routine. At his right hand is his Chief of Staff, a master of the use of the instrument, responsible for a correct appreciation of the situation and for the general conduct of operations; and behind him is the Quartermaster-General, responsible for the gigantic task of supplying the instrument and keeping it efficient. It may be legitimately argued that, if this is a general principle of efficiency, it will not be confined to the army alone, but will be discernible in all successful organisations of any size. And, in some form or other, this appears to be always the case. In a great newspaper, for instance, the editor may be regarded as the Chief of the Staff; and his work corresponds to the 'operational' aspect of the machine. The managerial or 'maintenance' aspect is concerned with the supervision of personnel, the conditions of service, the supply of all the equipment required, and the general superintendence of the work of printing, issue, and despatch, which involves the technical aspect of the whole craft and mechanism of printing. Again, in a large store, it is probable that the managing director is chiefly concerned with markets, sales, and the analysis of profits and loss, for these constitute the operational aspect of a business; and it may be assumed that he leaves to others such questions as the upkeep of the buildings, and the regulation, entry, and training of personnel, which concern the maintenance of the business rather than its extension and development. These two aspects may be given a variety of names, but the fundamental distinction lies in the fact that the one is concerned with the use of the instrument, the other with its supply and maintenance in an efficient state. The analogy may even be carried further. In the work The Army term is General Staff and Administration, usually designated G. and Q. (Quartermaster). The Admiralty in 1917 adopted the terms Operations and Maintenance. |