CONCENTRATING ON ESSENTIALS

THE impenetrable cloak of selfishness and self‐centredness in which many people still contrive to immure themselves even at this stage of the war is truly heart‐breaking. It does not seem to be confined to any particular stratum but riddles the whole structure of society. It is to be found, for instance, in the unedifying discussions that are in progress as to whether or not, and how far if at all, the leaders of one political party should give support to the candidates of another party at the meetings in by‐elections for seats in the House of Commons ostensibly to be held in support of the National Government. We indicated last month instances that daily come to notice in our own little sphere. It rears its head no less in Government departments and in industry among those who devote a major part of their activities to scheming the enlargement and aggrandisement of their departments to the end that their own positions may be raised somewhat higher in the social scale. It is equally apparent in the shop steward who writes to his favourite columnist to complain that his shop is temporarily short of work; without troubling to ascertain that this is due to a hold‐up in the production of some other component required for the complete assembly, in view of which it is a useless waste of time and material for his mates to go on churning out quantities of unwanted parts.