It is inevitable that, in time of war, the greater concentration of power necessary for the efficient prosecution of the war should lead to the abandonment of certain of the constitutional rules and traditional practices of popular government. It is possible that the new measures introduced under the cover of war, the new methods of social and economic policy which are now coming into use, not only serve the special requirements of a war-time economy but correspond as well to the lasting needs of a changed society. It is not the purpose of this inquiry to say whether these new methods are good or bad in themselves, permanent or temporary, nor am I concerned here with the conflict between them and individual liberties; I wish to discuss only how far they are compatible with popular government and how far it may be necessary to adapt its system to changed conditions. For though established institutions have a way of making their own adaptations to circumstances in the course of time, some conscious and considered human guidance may aid in the progress.

First, both the traditional forms of popular government and the new policies, which constitute its novel activities, need some defining. Popular government, in the English-speaking world, rests on the two-party system by which one party is in power and the other in opposition. Although the two-party system is not the only form of democracy, it is the one that has shown itself on the whole to be the most stable, lasting, and extensive.

In the opinion of many observers the most serious malady from which the social sciences suffer at the present stage of their development, is their compartmentalism. At the theoretical level, most social scientists would agree that the subject-matter of all the specialized social disciplines is the same, namely human behaviour: in practice most specialists deal with some aspect or department or area of human behaviour, or human behaviour viewed from some “viewpoint.” This separation, however, into areas or aspects, convenient as it may be, or at least as it is asserted to be, for research purposes, is a somewhat arbitrary proceeding and it has resulted, among other things, in a breakdown of communication between the different social science compartments. Another result has been a less, not a greater, understanding of man. There is a strong case to be made, as Robert Lynd, for example, has made it, for the view that the social scientist is the worst example extant of the person who knows more and more about less and less. This is particularly sad when it is noted that less and less in such a context is the human animal, who is clearly a complicated and many faceted piece of work on any viewpoint or from any aspect.

As the trend toward total war creates an ever increasing demand for manpower, the necessity for establishing a programme for the rehabilitation of the physically handicapped becomes a national necessity. Industry is forced to employ marginal workers and to plan conservation of manpower. Rehabilitation, therefore, can no longer be regarded solely as a welfare measure designed to salvage the morale of the disabled. The handicapped person is a valuable person; he must be rehabilitated because the nation needs him. He must be vocationally trained, not in some diverting handicraft, but in skills that will fit him for a place in war-time industry.

The problem of the handicapped is essentially that of vocational maladjustment caused by social and economic prejudices. These prejudices are based on false concepts of working capacity which have developed social attitudes that serve to handicap the disabled in their efforts to earn a livelihood. Instead of utilizing their capacity for productive work, society has attempted to compensate them by providing relief.

Establishment of a uniform Dominion-wide vital statistical system in 1926 showed Canada to have gross and net reproduction rates above most of Northern and Western Europe and the Anglo-American world. What knowledge we have of trends indicates that fertility has been declining rapidly in Canada. In 1939 the Canadian net reproduction rate was well above unity and the war-time rise in marriages and births will have maintained it at that level. Probably, however, the rising birth-rate of the war years does not indicate any rise in the size of completed families. While the situation in Canada affords no grounds for complacency about that country's capacity to maintain its numbers in the future, there is no suggestion that declining fertility is an inevitable process. By analysing the trends now plainly visible, demographic research may provide a basis for policies aimed at their reversal. The prospect of a declining population may not cause much alarm in some countries. It can hardly be welcomed in Canada, with its empty spaces and undeveloped resources.

The construction industry is the main durable consumer goods industry in Canada. Among the producer goods industries it ranked fourth in 1929 and fifth in 1938. Construction activity is marked by fluctuations which are greater than those of any other sphere of economic activity in this country. In other words, the construction cycle, itself an important factor in determining the shape of the trade cycle, shows when reproduced on a comparative basis, a considerably greater distance between the upper and lower turning points than the trade cycle. Estimates prepared by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics show that the volume of construction in this country declines to one-third or one-fourth of its volume in prosperous times. These estimates cover only part of the construction field. An attempt is therefore made in this paper to estimate the gross value of all construction activity in Canada. If the resulting estimate is correct, the Construction Census only accounts for 55 per cent of the total.