"War time" means the time when life is reduced to a naked contest of power, which in Nostromo's view means essentially all time. In such a world, "rights" and "property" are mere illusions, because the strong take what they want. To Captain Mitchell, whose life is conducted entirely within the forms of those illusions (property, at any rate), such an idea would indeed cause a "disagreeable impression."

The phrase "war time" is also a counterpoint to the watch as a timekeeping device.