Tz^' ROYAL TCH
REVIEW -^ OP REVIEWS^
poR Australasia
hi cl
d
1911
fe^
Character Sketch :
Vezey :rong,
Lord Mayor of London.
AR
>>
t-Y ^^:^
lERMANY'S DESIONS ON HOLLAND ANDJ TURKEY.
'LEADINQ ARTICLES PROM THE WORLD'S MAQAZINES.
Review oj fievitws. l/t/ll.
-•- C/91
Dog and Lamb Proof.
** Cyclone ** Spring-Coil Fence.
Weather. — The fence is made of best-quality wire, galvanised. Moisture does not affect it. Kxpansion and contraction caused by changes in temperature are provided for by crimps in th6 horizontal lines. Once up the fence needs no after straining.
Stock.— The crimps make the fence elastic. Stock rushing it are thrown back, and both stock and fence are uninjured. The cross ties, 1 ft. apart, make a perfect web, through which no stock can pan.
Accidents.— Should a breach oocor, only the part tonehed is affeoted. The rest of the fenee remains taut.
The Fence is sent ont in rolls of 5 chains, and may be bad in various heights and spaoings.
CYCLONE WOYEN-WIRE FENCE &
SWANSTON STREBT, MELBOURNE ( ('orner of Franklin Street). New Zealantl : 59 St Asaph Street, Christchurch
GATE Co.,
Send for Catalogue.
The Review of Reviews.
SVII.
^^ d-r, j-
SREADNOUAHT
THE BURDEN.
[f-abor header (I^indnn).
KKITISII I'OI.ITKAL WRINKLKS.
/Headache
;/i' ii^jy
4
.i^iU/J ^
Review oj tlevitws. llf/ll.
«•*
Dog and Lamb Proof,
** Cyclone " Spring-Coil Fence*
Weather. — The fence is made of best-qnality wire, galvanised. Moisture does not affect it. Expansion and contraction caused by changes in temperature are provided for by crimpa in the horizontal lines. Once up the fence needs no after straining.
Stock. — The crimps make the fence elastic. Stock rushing it are thrown back, and both stock and fence are uninjured. The cross ties, 1 ft. apart, make a perfect web, throagh which no stock can pa«a.
Accidents.— Should a breach oocor, only the port toaehed is affected. The rest of the fenoe remains taut.
The Pence is sent oat in rolls of 5 chains, and may be had in various heights and spacings.
CYCLONE WOYEN-WIRE FENCE & GATE Co.,
SWANSTON STREET, MELBOURNE (Corner of Franklin Street). Send for Catalogue. New Zealand : 59 St Asapti Street, Christchurch.
^
I
»^' -.j^*-v>i-7 -.-.- ■-•-^:--.■..-
VV^^ET^^ER « ii s Dreai Slan you are Laundering, « Smui Lincu Ookto, o< something lor the Childrea :^ Wear, there is l>ai orii: Perleci Starch — a Starch wiacit will ensuie Good Appearance It's
COLMAN'S STARCH
The Review of Reviews.
THE BCBDEN.
[hahor Leaiirr ( lx>ntliiiii. BRITISH polithai. wrinklks.
Headache
1 1 nF''- ««»
o'.^y
JX/J^^:rj ^
The Review of Reviews.
MADE IN A MINUTE
^add boiling water only —
Allen & Hanbnrys Ltd
For general use
^^^B The 'Allenburys' Diet is a complete and easily digested food. It is pleasant to take,
^^^^ readily assimilated and speedily restorative. Whilst helping the system to recover
W its tone and vigour, it forms an ideal food for general use. Prepared from rich milk
I and whole wheat in a partially predigested form.
1
FROOTOIDS
For Headache, Indigestion, Constipation and Biliousness.
LONDON. England
and
Market Street, Sydney
The immense number of orders for Frootoids, sent by post direct to the Proprietor, is con- yincing proof that the Public appreciate their splendid curing power over the above-named com- pl«ints. They are elegant in appearance, pleasant to take, and, what is of the utmost impor- tance, are thoroughly reliable in affording quick relief.
Frootoids are immensely more valuable than an ordinary aperient, in so far that they not only act as an aperient, but do remove from the blood, tissues and internal organs, waste poisonous matter that is clogging them and choking the channels that lead to and from them. The beneficial effects of Frootoids are evident at once by the disappearance of headache, the head becoming clear, and a bright, cheery sense of perfect health taking the place of sluggish, depressed feelings, by the liver acting properly, and by the food being properly digested.
Frootoids are the proper aperient medicine to take when any Congestion or Blood Poison ii present, or when Congestion of the Brain or Apoplexy is present or threatening. They have been tested, and have been proved to afford quick relief in such cases when other aperients have not done any good at all. It is of the utmost importance that this should be borne in mind, foi in such cases to take an ordinary aperient is to waste time and permit of a serious illness becoming fatal.
Frootoids act splendidly on the liver, and quickly cure bilious attacks that " antibilious pills" make worse. Many people have been made sick and ill by "antibilious pills" who could have been cured at once by Frootoids. People should not allow themselves to be duped into con- tracting a medicine-taking habit by being persuaded to take daily doses with each meal of so- called indigestion cures that do NOT cure. Frootoids have been subjected to extensive tests, and have in every case proved successful in completelv curing the complaints named.
The ordinary adult dose of Frootoids, of which there are 72 in a bottle, is 2 to 4 — more or less as required — taken, preferably at bedtime, when constipated, or at the commencement of any other disease requiring an aperient, as an auxiliary with the special medicine necessary for the case. A constipated habit of body will be completely cured if the patient will on each occasion, when suffering, take a dose of Frootoids, instead of an ordinary aperient ; making the interval between the taking of each dose longer and the dose smaller. The patiecl thus gradually be- comes independent of Aperient Medicines.
ror sale by leading Chemists and Storekeepers. Retail price, 1/6. If your Chemist or Storekeeper has not got them, ask him to get them for you. If not obtainable locally, send direct to the Proprietor, W. G. HEARNE, Chemist, Geeloiig, Victoria.
NOTICE.— The materials in FROOTOIDS are of the VERY BEST QUALITY, and con- fist, amongst other ingredients, of the active principle of each of FIVE different MEDICAL FRUITS and ROOTS, so combined and proportioned in a particular way that a far BETTER result is obtained than from an ordinary aperient.
The Review of Reviews,
XIX.
like International Syndiratc.
THE NKXT (IKNKRATION.
The way our necks wil! urow in time if this intcrOBt in aviation continues.
A New Lawn Sprinkler."
Y
N p. Globe Sprinkler and Stand.
iiU will lintl that the Nickcl-|jlale<i "Globe Sprinkler " will spread an even spray from centre to extreme cil^e of circle ; also, that this Sprinkler has no working pans to wear or get out of order. Made in three grades --"A" fnie, "\l" medium, "C" coarse. The slaiid is made of cast-iron, and is saucer- shaped, allowing it to be dragged about on lawn without tearing same up. Prices — Sprinklers only (any grade) 26 each. .Stands only (without matching piece), 26 each. Wheji ordering, state size of hose. Maicliing pieces slocked to suit all Sianikvrcl Directors, Unions, etc.
JOHN DANKS & SON PROP. LTD.,
391 BOURKE STREET, MELBOURNE.
N P. Globe Sprinkler
* EVERY HOUSEHOLD AND TRAVELLING TRUNK OUGHT TO CONTAIN A BOTTLE OF |
ENO'S 'FRUIT SALT'
I {
! J
A SIMPLE REMEDY FOR PREVENTING AND CURING BY NATURAL MEANS
All Functional Derangements of the Liver, Temporary Con- gestion arising from Alcoholic Beverages, Errors in Diet. Biliousness, Sick Headache, Giddiness, Vomiting, Heartburn,
Sourness of the Stomach, Constipation, Thirst.
Skin Eruptions, Boils, Feverish Cold with High Temperature
and Quick Pulse, Influenza, Throat Affections
and Fevers of All Kinds.
INDIGESTION. BILIOUSNtSS. SICnNESS. tko.—" I have often thought of writing to tell yon what FRUIT SALT' has done for me. I used to be a perfect martyr to Indige«tion and Bil- iouanejit. .Mx)ut sii or seven yeari back my husband suggested I should try ' FROIT 8.\LT.' I did so. and ttie result has t>een marvellous, I never have the terrihie pains and sickness I used to have; 1 can eat almost anythinK now. I always keep it In the house and recommend it to my friends, as it is sach an invaluable plok-m»-np If roa hare a headach«. or don't feel just riebt.
Tours truly (Anguit 8, 1900)."
The eftsot of ENO'S ' FRIMT SALT' on • Dlsoi'dsivd. SIssplsss and Fsverlsh Condition Is simply marvsllous. It Is. In fsot. Nature's Own Rsmsdy. and an Unsurpassed Ons.
CAUTION.— See Caosuls mai-l<ed Eno's ' Frvslt Salt.' Without It you havs a WORTHLESS IMITATION. Prepared only by J. C. ENO. Ltd.. at ths 'FRUIT SALT' WORKS, LONDON, by J. C. ENO'S Patsnt.
m m ♦
* m m m
m
m m m
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►♦♦*■*♦■*♦*• ■»*»*■•^«*•^
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The Review of Reviews.
rHAVE YOU GOT?i
I. A Tearing, Hacking Cough ?
2. A Stuffcd-up Chest ?
3. A Teasing Irritation in your Throat ?
4. A Difficulty in Breathing ?
5. A Cold in Your Head ?
6. A Fit of Sneezing ?
7. A Pain in Your Chest ? HAVE
8. A Shortness of Breath ? yOU ?
9. "Only a Bit of a Cold?"
IF YOU HAVE, TAKE
HEARNE'S
BRONCHITIS CURE
THE GRANDEST REMEDY FOR
COUGHS & COLDS
"A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE."
FROM ALL CHEMISTS AND STOREKEEPERS. AND
W. G. HEARNE & CO., Ltd., Geelong, Vic.
The Revlev* of Reviews.
XXI.
BOOKS
FOR THE
BAIRNS.
New Zealand Orders, 8/6.
This Handsome Present
It one that will be acceptable to cither Tcry
young or older children.
Th« Books are cloth bound, pleasing ia
appearance, and put together strongly.
Th*y ap* full of . . .
NURSERY RHYMES,
FAIRY TALES,
FABLES,
STORIES OF TRAVEL,
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Bvaryone who buys the Booki ii delighted
with them. Numbers of people
repeat orders for friends.
Tin Could Not Boy a Better
BIRTHDAY GIFT
For Your Child.
ONLY
CONTENTS:
VOL. I.— .Esop's Fables.
VOL. II. — Baron Munchausen and Sinbad the
Sailor. VOL. III.— The Adventures of Reynard the Fox
and The Adventures of Old Brer Rabbit. VOL. IV.— Cinderella and Other Fairy Tales, and
Grimm's Fairy Tales. VOL. v.— Pilgrim's Progress.
VOIj. VI. — Nursery Rhymes and Nursery Tales. VOL. VII.— The Christmas Stocking and Sana
Andersen's Fairy Stories. VOL. VIII— Gulliver's Travels. 1.— Among th«
Little People of Liliput. 2. — Among th»
Giants. VOL. IX— The Dgly Duckling, Eyes and No
EvfMs. and The Three Giants.
Write, enclosing YS. 6d., to
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rr
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And Wa will send You a
BOX OF BOOKS FOB THE BAIBNS
Fuil of Fairy Stories, culled from the Literature of Every Land.
Nine Books, nicely bound and fitted in a pretty and strong case. Interest- ing and charming to every Child.
Sknd to thx Manager
« Review tf Reviews for Australasia,"
^ Swanston-st., Melbourne
There is No
Better Magazine in the World
For the Enlightenment of Readers on Any^,hing and Everything that refers to the Home than
"GOOD nOlSEKEEPING.
»>
w^wwmwww^
It is an American High Class . Publication, and will be Posted to your Address for 7s. 6d.
Subscrlptioas may be seat to "Tbe Review ot Reviews," T. «f O. Buildlag, Little Colllat Street, Melbourne.
Tlie Articles range from Nature Studies of the most charming description, through such subjects as Home Building and Needle- work, to the thing that is so attractive to the average charming woman's mind — the Fashions.
WE STRONGIiY ADVISE YOU Tol TRY IT FOR 12 MONTHS.
The expense It not gremt. Send It along wltb\ your Subscription to the ••Review." »r. If yoJ have paid that, tend It now.
The Review ot Reviews.
Knowledge is Power.
pww '^^ <>^o^^i»^^^^
I'lllkri \',iis ><i assiduous study of The Hair and its Treatment, and all Capillary Diseases as they afleot the Scalp and Hair, have given me the means of Preserving ihe 11, m, ami prodiu iii)f .1 new growth after all utlier preparations have failed. 1 am now in a position to treat advanred cases of Baldness with every possibility of surcpss. Almost impossible cases arc now yielding- to my skill.
BEFORE USING.
AFTER USING.
One of the most extraordinarv cases was that of Mr. Scott, of 31Q Elizabeth Street, Sydney. He was as • absolutely bald as a billiard ball for five years, and he has now a good head of hair, as a result of my treatment.
Mr. Kred Peakman, of W airoa, New Zealand, is another wonderful case. His hairdresser tells me he had not a scrap of hair, and now, after a few months' treatment with my preparations, he has got a splendid growth of hair.
Mr. tt'kourkc. Wee \\ aa, Xew South Wales, writes : " My head, which was nearly bald, has now come back to its usual growth."'
Mr. Sinlitrland states : ■■ I luid i.nlv a little down nn mv head when I commenced to use your SPECIAL PARASENE .ind COSMO LOTION; now I have a beautiful head of hair."
.\li. Johnson. Wairoa. X.Z. : " .As the people o this town have heard so much of your PARASENE they have asked me to stork it for them, as Mr. K. Peakman has used it with such good results ; in fact, he has a good head of hair now, whereas some short time ago he had not a scrap."
These could be multiplied a thousandfold, but space will not permit.
Gentlemen who are going bald should use SPECIAL PARASENE and COSMO LOTION, one at night and the other in the morning.
PRICE (with postage, two months' treatment): \'ictori.i, 10 6; four mnntlis. 20-. >.)tlicr States, 11,6 and 22 -.
Ladies with hair falling out should apply RESTORER at night, and COSMO LOTION in the morning.
NATURALINE is a splendid preparation for colouring Grey Hair. It, acts quickly, naturally, and effecti\r!v. .md is perfectly harmless. Made in all colours. Get the right strength.
-No. I for Light Brown Hair; Medium for Medium Brown Hair.
Xo. ; for Dark Brown or a Light Black: Extra Strong for very Black Hair.
PRICE: N'ictoria. with postage. 6/3. Other States, 6/8.
SHAMPUNA. — No Soap, no Soda, no Borax. .\11 these Hair-Uesiroving thines can be dispensed with in
washing the hair. Nature supplies the remedy. SHAMPUNA cleanses the Hair beautifully, and leaves it soft and
glossy, and does not e.xtract the natural piemenis from the Hair. It does not sap the vitnliiy of the Hair, but helps to make it grow while you are w.ishing ii. Price: 3d. per packet, by post ^d.
E. HOLLAND, Hair Specialist,
195 COLLINS STREET, MELBOURNE.
The Review of Reviews.
THE REVIEW OF REVIEWS FOR AUSTRALASIA.
(Annual Subscription, 8/6.)
Editor
WILLIAM H. JUDKINS,
■ Review of Reviews for Australasia.''
W. T. STEAD.
Editor English '* Review of Reviews.'
DR. ALBERT SHAW,
Editor American Review of Rcviewp,
CONTENTS FOR FEBRUARY, 1911.
History of the Month (Australasian)
History of the Month (English)
Current History in Caricature
Character Sketch: The Lord Mayor of London Sir T. \'ezey Strung
The Association of Helpers
leading AitlcIeB In the Reviews —
PAGE
xxvi.
.. 523 .. 539
. 545
.. 557
German Designs on Holland and Turkey 558
The Federated Farmers of the West 559
Our New Disraeli 560
The White Slave Traffic 561
The Euaso-German Entente 562
Transforming Rural England 563
IContinued
PAGB Leading Articles (Continued)—
The Pay of the Parsons 563
More About the Fasting Cure 564
Art Couples 564
Agnostic in Mind, Christian in Soal 565
Curious Facts About Eggs 565
Music and Art in the Magazines 566
Shakespeare's Heroines 567
Poetry in the Magazines . . 568
What Ireland Wants 569
The Strength of the British Navy 569
The Political Crisis 570
Dickens as a Social Reformer 571
The Future of Mr. Roosevelt 571
la Man Losing the Drink Craze? 572
A Strange Christmas Dinner 572
an next page.)
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The Review of Heviews.
CONTENTS -(Continoed from page xxiv.)
Pa OK Leading Afllcles (Coniiiiued) —
('(jUhMii Smith in Ufiidoii 573
kliiiil your own Business 573
Tho Humours of British llospititlity 574
ManufiioturinK thu Cnomployiible 575
Disiippoaraiu'o of tho Ktcrnal Fcm.inino 576
New Urcupiilioiis for Women 577
What Hunting CosU 577
American Report on EngHsh Schools 578
Pwjr Mr. CarnCBic! 578
British WciRhts. Measures and Coinngo 579
8ir I,. Alma-Tadema and his Art 580
Tho Mission of Kicliard Wagner 580
Holman Hunt and the Butterfly 581
-So Much Per Square Inch 582
Ahdul Haniid at Yililis Kiosk 582
A Japanese Drawing-Lesson 583
Xotcs from Indian Magazines SS"!
The Occult MagaJiines 584
The Future of Old Ago Pensions 585
Languages and Letter-Writing 586
Pau» Reviews Reviewed —
The Fortnightly Hoviev 587
Tho ConteniiK>rary Review 587
Tho Nineteenth Century and After 588
Tho National Review— The World's Work ... 589 Tho North American Review — The Westminster
Review 590
T.P.s Magazine — Tho Englishwoman 591
Tho Spanish Reviews 592
Tlio Italian Reviews— The Dutch Reviews .. .. 593
Chriatmafl Numhere 594
Topics of the Day in the Periodicals of the
Montfi ._ 596
Tlie Boole of tlie Month—
"The Encyclopaedia Britanntoa " 598
Insurance Notes 601
Nitro-Bacterine 603
JAMES STEDMAN LTD., Manutacturino confectioners,
And Imfiorters of High-Class English, American and Continental Sweets. THE HOME OF PURE AND WHOLESOME CONFECTIONERY
OUR
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wax friiijjed edged wrappers, cont.iining startling and humorous coincidencea, are flavouied >vitb
various fruit llavoars. Aek for them.
New Novelties arriving by every mail. Send for Price List.
...145 CLARENCE STREET, SYDNEY..,
The Rev
EVIEWS
TEMFEHAKCE AND GEKERAL LIFE ASSURANCE BUILDING. SWAXSTON
SIREET, MELBOURNE.
II a isaik is asilnsl thl'. line the copy U a sample one. Will you read it carefully and then send 8s. 6d. either to your news ai-ent or to •' The Review of Kevie» ^ T. and G. Building. Melbourne, and receive it for 12 months.
THE HISTORY OF THE MONTH,
1911.
Melbourne, J.inujry 25. 191 1. The Commonwealth is f a i r 1 y launched in 191 1. and its prospects are of the brightest. In no pre- vious period of the Commonwealth history haxe flocks and herds been so numerous, granaries so full, and financial prosperity so as- sured. There is more work than there are people to do- it. Prosperity is everywhere. The Labour Partv has come into power at an auspicious time. , Governments have a- habit of claiming credit for good seasons and prosperous times, and if national prospects count for anything, the Labour Party is in for a good time. Prices for produce are boom- ing, and things all round wear a golden hue. As they have not done since the early days of the States, immigrants are crowding to our shores. This is, perhaps, the most promising sign of 1911. For good seasons are of little use without population. Our fertile plains require people to cultivate them more than they require anything else, and land is waiting to be tilled. For all of which glorious prospect the Labour Government should be truly thankful. But general prosperity makes the people dull towards political matters. The Government will this year reassemble proud of the prosperity with which a kind Providence has endow'ed the land, and doubly sure that Labour legislation is largely accountable for it.
The year saw the introduction of New some great things. It marked the
Ventures. taking over of the Northern Ter-
ritory, which is now Federal pro- perty, also of the Federal Capital Territory, the in- troduction of the compulsory system of training, the superseding of the Braddon Clause of the Consti- tution, and the operating of the Land Tax Act and the Bank Note Act. ' With regard to the first, a dis- tinctive advance is made in Federal development. The Commonwealth has, up to the present time, had no territory to adminstrate in Australia. True, it has had Papua and the Norfolk Islands under its control, but they have been small compared with the
huge responsibilities which now attach to the devel- opment of the Territory. The Government has to assume direct administrative powers, quite different to what has obtained hitherto. It is quite a different thing to administer the affairs of a continent in a broad and general way, especially when that con- tinent is well governed by responsible bodies in small sections. But here is a new responsibility. The Federal Go\emment will now have directly under its control a huge slice of Australia, practi- cally unpeopled, capable of supporting millions, a tropical country very different to the rest of Aus- tralia, a problem that the State of South Australia has found it impossible so far to settle. What will be the result of the new regime? Of course every- thing depends upon the policy of the Government. That policy ought to be to settle every square mile of it as closely as possible. Into the question of the Northern Territory so many considerations enter. It is that portion of the Continent which lies nearest to the densely-populated islands of the Malay Archi- pelago. A dense population in the Territory would be the surest protection that Australia could have against invasion from that quarter. And yet here the Federal Government at its very first step is face to face with a serious difficulty. W'hat has been the policy of the Labour Partv everywhere with regard to immigration ? It has adopted one of two courses. It has either openly opposed it, or remained passive before it. Not by the wildest stretch of imagination could the Labour PartV ever be considered to have favoured the idea of attracting strangers to the Commonwealth. And yet it must be done, or tlv- Northern Territory will be what it has been hitherto — a burden and a drag to the Government with which it has been associated. To many people in Australia it is a terra incognita. Amongst other re- sponsibilities which the Government at once assumes is the building of the trans-Continental railway, for; it is committed to this. In connection with the Northern Territory, the Government is making : start at exploration. An exploration partv set ')u from Melbourne oh January 19th, making fo Oodnadatta. in order to work northwards and mar'! out pre\iouslv unexplored parts.
History of the Month.
Mr. King O'Malley, who holds rcdcrnl sway over the department whicli
CapUal. decides operations in connection
with the Federal Capital, has scheduled his first list of work in comiection with it. ';^45,ooo has been set apart, and this is to be sf)ent in securing a property just outside the city area for the erection of otiices and quarters for the Home Affairs Department staff. Amongst many details there are such interesting ones as the providing for the erection of brick works, the erection and ecjuip- ment of a general store, including a butchery and bakery, with a fmanci.d att;ichment " that will en- courage tluift among the employes, be useful for general purposes, and act as a credit instrument of exchange"; also the erection and conduct of an hotelr It is to be hoped that the last-named will be without a liquor bar, although the nationalisation of the liquor trade is one of the planks of the Labour Party, to which temix^rance memU-rs. who strenu- ously opposed the idea in their pre-labour days, heartily subscribe. It will be most unwise, for the Gmernment to embark \x\K>n a scheme which is so fraught with the elements of strong opposition. The Federal Party makes a boast of its temperance principles, although it caused the alielving of the question of the abolition of a liquor bar in the Parliament House, and it would be a fine oppor- tunity lor it to give proof of its sincerity by for- bidiling tile introduction of the liquor trade, and of the retail sale of liquor into Federal property. But somehow or other the Party is not delivering the goods where moral questions are concerned.
Compulsory Training."
The third item of importance which the Government enters upon is the building up of an army of youths who are to be compulscrily
trained. This step also, New Zealand enters upon.
The regulation carrying into effect the proposals of
the Government is of note, and as a historical record
dfser\rs quoting.
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA,
I'NIVERS.XL OBLIGATION IX RESPECT TO N.Jl\ AL
OR MILITARY TRAINING.
Noti<:e.
L'nilcr section 142 of llie Defence .\ct all male inlialiitanis "I Australia, who have resided therein for six months, and who, during the year ending December 31, 191 1, will reach the age of 14, 15, 16 or 17 years, are required to register themselves during the month of January, of the year 191 1 : and uniler the regulations, parents, guardians and other persons acting in loco parenlis of those persons liable to be registered, are required to register such persons.
lailure tc register involves a penalty not exceeding i 10.
Thus it is that during the month of January, all lads brtween the ages mentioned have to report. Then a medical examination has to be uniiergone, and every lad who is fit will be ready to serv>>. The
Government is to provide the young guard with clothing and equipment, free of charge. The pre- liminary work is to be done by area officers, and is to lie com|ileted by the end of June. After that month the lads are to begin the instructional work. In connection with the young guard, it is estimated that between the ages of 14 and 18 years there are 288,000 lads in the Dominion. Of course not all these can come into training at once. It is probable that the Government will be ready to start only with alwut 100,000 on 1st July. With this in view, the Government has ordered only 84,000 sets of uniform. The uniform of the citizen forces will be similar to the fighting outfit of the Americans. Thus the equipment ordered embraces hats, shirts, breeches, putties and lielts, hut no tunics. The supplv of rifles has been set at 100,000. The 18 to 25 years men who will constitute the Citizens.' forces, will not come into training until July, 1912. This will help to swell the standing army. The war establishment of the Government at the present time is 50,000. In order that the equipment of the adult forces may be complete next year, prepara- tions are now going on. Rifles, bayonets, uniform and ammunition, all these are being prepared. The idea is to supply as much of them as possible from. Go\ernment factories.
The other great departure taken.
Payment to this year is the change in the method'
States. Qf payment to the States. It is true
that the Braddon section does not expire until the end of this year, but the decision of the Federal Parliament last year has superseded it. It passed an Act providing for a per capita pay- ment instead of the three-fourths which the Act provided, and made it retrospective, so as to cover the last six months from the ist January. The Commonwealth is going to ha\'e a lot more money under the new arrangement than it had under the old. From the ist January the Government is master of the situation. It controls the payment to- the States. It is true the arrangement is supposed to last for ten years, but the Federal Parliament is supreme and can alter that arrangement just when it likes. If a new Parliament chose, or even if the present Parliament chose, it could decline any further payment.
The Land Tax Act also came into The Land operation this year. But the Gov- Tax Act. ernment is not yet certain that it
can impose it. There are some who maintain that it is ultra vires, and in Sydney an action has been laid against the Government with a view of testing the Act. It will be exceedingly intere,sting to follow the arguments in this case, and to hear the di.scussion. If it l>e proved to be be- yond the scope of the Constitution, it is to be pre- sumed that Mr. Hughes's Referenda drag-net will' he able to draw it into its embrace.
The Review of Reviews.
The Referenda campaign will not The be long now in opening. Feeling
Referenda. ig beginning to run strongly. There is an indication that the proposals .are not to be carried by heavy majorities. The op- ,ponents are stirring themselves. It is very signifi- cant that the New South Wales Government has de- cided, after mature deliberation, to take no part, either for or against the referenda. For this it has •come in for a good deal of censure from the labour people of New South Wales. Xew South Wales has always jealously guarded what she terms her rights, and it would seem as though that spirit has • entered into all sections of the people. The States are beginning to realise that they will be shorn of a ^ood deal of their power if the proposals are carried, .and it is hardly to be wondered at if they should .be unwilling to' part with it. It is rather a curious thing that while in the old country the tendency -seems to be towards giving increased Governmental power to local authorities, the tendency in Aus- tralia, at any rate as far as the Federal Govern- ment is concerned, seems to be towards unification. There is everything to be said in favour of a con- centration of authority upon truly national ques- tions, but the Australian people will make a mis- take if they quench the spirit of self-government that exists amongst English-speaking people. As a -race we have developed a genius for administration. This is manifest in the multitudinous local authori- ties which govern local affairs throughout the Empire. It is probably more evident in Australia and New Zealand, wheie in new lands large local powers have "been given, and where men given authority in newly formed communities have administered local laws IS though they belonged to small States. Of the two, it is more noticeable in Xew Zealand. The spirit of local self-government is there most mani- fest. There, there are to be found many commu- nities that are self-contained, and which handle the affairs of their small towns from as lofty a view- point as those of large and well-governed centres. This genius for self-government ought to be culti- vated rather than suppressed. It is, of course, pos- sible to carry it to an absurd length, but that does not enter into the question just now. At any rate it is better to interest ten thousand men in the gov- ernment of their country than it is to interest one thousand. The wider the administration, the greater the number of men engaged in administrative work, and the greater is the education. It is probably on these grounds that the Referenda will be fought. The proposals are far too sweeping to enable them to make a bid for general acceptance.
Everywhere the States are pushing Evidences of forward with liberal railway poli- Prosperity. ^[^^ ^Tgw South Wales is borrow- ing _jr5, 000,000, most of which AJll go in railway extension, while Victoria follows
behind with a million, which is also to be expended over' railway extensions. A good deal of this will go in suburban duplications and improvements, for the question of transit in the rapidly-increasing cities is becoming a problem. Population is increas- ing so fast, and is spreading into the suburbs so fai,, that quick and effective services are daily becoming more necessary. It is, of course, one of the finest tributes to the prosperity that is being enjoyeii else- where in Australia just now.
The following figures will indicate the Inflated wondrous riches of the present
Treasuries. season. The VictOiian revenue re- turns of the first half of the financial vear, igio-ii show an increase over the correspond- ing period of the previous year of just on _£'85o,ooo. The improvement is not only manifest in the cus- toms revenue, but also in internal revenues. For in- stance, the Railway Department, which earns more than any other department in the States, alone showed an increase of _;£2 16,000 over the same .period of the previous year. Unfortunately for the States they will suffer during the next half-year on account of the new method of payment from the Government to the States. As mentioned previously, the Commonwealth has decreed that from January I St the States are to receive only at the rate of 25s. per head. It is estimated that in the case of Victoria alone the decrease will amount to over ^,800,000. The State's revenue for the whole of the year, it is estimated, will exceed _;^9,ooo,ooo. The New South \\ales returns show an increase of ^818,000, and railways an advance of _;^409,ooo, while the total revenue for the half-year was _;£7,658,ooo. South Australia's income for the first six months was ^2,011,000, showing an increase of ;^359,ooo. Western Australia's half-year's revenue is _^i,9i6,ooo, which is somewhat in advance of last year. Western Australia is in the happv posi- tion of wiping out a deficit of ^ro3.ooo which she carried on July ist. In six months she has turned a deficit into a net surplus of ^^147, 000.
Queensland revenue for the List .six Others months was ^£2, 833, 700. an in-
Follow. crease of ^352,431. Here again
the railways show a greatly increas- ed earning, the total being _jr226,7oo better than the previous term. Tasmania, too. has benefited by the good seasons — her revenue for _;£562,65o. against ^^434, 400 for the previous term. The Com- monwealth is in the same position. Mr. Fisher esti- mated last year that the receipts from Customs and Excise and Postal revenue for this year would be ;^i5.556,ooo, in amounts of ;^ir,7oo,ooo and ^"3,856.000 respectively. At the time many experts thought the estimate a low one, not justified by the prospects. But the revenue will probably be higher than was expected it would be even by the more
history of the Month.
optimisiic. The re<:eipts for the first six months aloiu- ar«^ ^12,921,300, .nnd this from customs ;ind excise oiiU. New Z«m1.ih(J, too, has good results lo sliow. For the nine montlis ended December the revenue was ;^7, 148,600, being an increase of jCto^,^oo, compared with the coriesixmding term of 1909. All roiiml things are booming.
The Adelaide Carriers' Strike The Adelaide closed as all strikes close. That .strike. jj (Q j.j,y_ after a period of wild in-
surrection, the men agreed to do uii.it tile law provides, and settle the dispute by arbitration. After the Government had decided ihat it would stej> in and do the carrying business, the men saw that their chances of success were growing dimmer each day. Consequently they tumbled over themselves to agree to the proposal that the matter sliould be referred to a board, and that the grievances should be there discussed. Some strange things happened during that strike. One man was stopped in the street and his horse taken from the shafts, and the chief police officer declined to look upon this as a breach of the law which called for any interference. The community stood aghast. Where was the right of people to go along the public highway unmolested? Surely this was a fable ! Possibly the officer thought that with a Labour Government in power he should err con- siderably on the side of the strikers. The Govern- ment, however, quietly set him straight concerning this insane and extraordinary deliverance, and laid down the law regarding such matters. It is very clear that if right of way on the public highway, which we value so greatly, and which stands for so much in our civilisation, should become a mere fiction, highway robbery and all sorts of other gentle means of persuasion w-ith tho.se who would not at once fall in with one's views would be permissible. And it is pretty certain that if Labour rule meant this sort of thing, there would soon be an end to the rule. Mr. Verran's Go\ernment, however, left the matter in no doubt, and it helped very greatly to strengthen the position of the employers and the public, and to inspire confidence. At any rate the result of it all was that the men went back to work, and agreed to refer t!ic dispute to arbitration.
Another trouble, also a short-lived A Sydney one, but nevertheless a serious one. Trouble. occurred in Sydney. Some time
ago a workman, who was engaged by the gas works upon a very important section of work, was discharged, it was alleged, for being intoxicated while on duty. His fellow workers in- sisted on his reinstatement. He was offered em- ployment at a lower grade, but this was declined, and the men promptly " downed tools." The situa- tion was serious. For a few hours Sydney enjoyed the unpleasant prospect of having her light supplv cut off. Fortunately, the clerks in the works rose to the occasion, and pluckily offered to keep the fur-
naces going. They took off their coats, and did! their unaccustomed work with a will. This relieved the situation by some hours. As it was, hospital nurses paraded the wards with candles. The new.s- paper establishments had to resort to primus lamps and other inefficient methods of heating for their electro work. Business was, for a time, in certain quarters, paralysed. Wherever gas power was used, work c.ime to a standstill. The Government .set lev work frantically to settle the situation. It was very clear tiiat the men had broken the law, and the laughalile position was cre.iled of the Government [jleading with the men to go to work in order to save it from the necessity of enforcing the law. Had the men not returned to work, the Go\'ernment, for very shame's sake, could not have refrained from prosecuting the men, and to save their own skins they pleaded for a return to work.
It is interesting to imagine what Indicators might have been the position if the of Orowth. pre.sent Government had been in the Opposition, and Mr. Wade had Ijeen in power. With all sympathv for im- proved conditions, this is where one falls foul of the Labour Party. In Vx)th this case and the Ade- laide case, Labour resorts to anarchy. Its poli- tical party, if in the saddle, does no more than is absolutely necessary to save its face. Law and order are invoked no more than need be, and not at all if it can be done without. It might seem. cruel to say the undevelojjed mind dtses not grasp the idea of the necessity of law ; but nevertheless it is true that law is derided. Such a state of affairs could hardly he where the mind is educated up to the idea of the necessity for legal standards, for rule and authority, for guiding lines of national con- duct. It must surely be ignorance that induces a widespread anarchical re\olutionary method of endea- x-ouring to attain lawful ends by unlawful strikes. For it is not a.s though industrial tribunals did not exist. They do, and in abundance. And in this case, as in others, the question has been referred to arbitration, the men in the meantime resuming their work. There is coming into our industrial troubles a dead monotony. In each case the strikers make themselves the laughing stock of the com- munity. Forgetting the existence of tribunals created in order to avoid strikes and settle disturb- ances, they "down tools" without a moment's thought as to the effect upon the community. Then they go to arbitration. The Labour movemejit is presumed to stand for the general good, and yet by its foolish reversion to the barbaric, the striking workers injure the public good, and sjwil their own chances of success.
The Vancouver contract expires on
The Vancouver July 31st next, and for some time
Contract ^|^g Commonwealth Government has
been negotiating for a renewal. The
proceedings, however, haxe lieen brought to an
The Review of Reviews.
abrupt close by the Canadian Government. It ap- pears that the latter was anxious that Auckland should be included as a port of call. Canada and New Zealand are on good terms. They have culti- vated friendship. They have held out hands to each other and grasped them in good fellowship. They make mutual concessions in tariff matters. It was only reasonable, therefore, that Canada should be willing and anxious to include its friend in any business :irrangement, especially when that could be done without in any way injuring a third party. But the Federal Government objected. In a spirit of churlishness it declined to subsidise any service that benefited another Dominion. So Sir Wilfred Laurier administered a well-deserved snub. He cabled to the effect that he had arranged with the New Zealand Government, thus leaving the Com- monwealth out in the cold. Now it is more than probable, it is almost certain, that the service thus to be instituted will benefit Australia. Brisbane will probably be made a final port under the new ar- rangement ; but the thing to be regretted more than the loss of the more direct Sydney route is the spirit ■of stand-offishness adopted towards New Zealand. This has been manifest on more than one occasion. Mr. Hughes, who is now on a trip to the sister Dominion, is said to be paving the way for re- ciprocal acts, and it is to be hoped he will be successful. Australia has a long way to go in that regard before she does her duty. New Zealand might belong to a strange power for all the fra- ternalism that is shown. Australia missed the opportunity to do a gracious act over the Vancouver service. A triple subsidy would have provided as efficient a serxice and promoted good feelings as well.
The reproach of our treatment Our of aborigines has often been thrown
Aborigines. ^^ ^,3 as a people. It is well de- served. In the matter of educating the nati\e race, Australia has done little or nothing. There has been no attempt at providing for them except as regards the few scattered remnants of the race in the southern parts of the Continent. These .are well cared for. But it is estimated by compe- tent authority that there are still about 70,000 abor- igines in the northern parts of Australia. These are left without protection, tuition or care of any kind. Of these 70,000 it is estimated that less than one- twentieth are under Christian influence, but far more than that are under the influence of the worst xices of the whites. Here is a problem which the Churches might well consider when schemes are lieing talked of to send missionaries away to foreign lands. Truly, it is not so inviting a theme as others, liut it is none the less a call to the Christian effort of the Commonwealth to do something for the blacks. At the present time thev are being taught an enmitv to the v.-hite man bv the unwise methods
of stock owners in the far north. But no effort is being made to educate them upon right lines.
Science Congress.
During the month the Science Con- gress has been meeting in Sydney. The work done has been splendid. The papers contributed have been of more than passing interest, and have appealed to the lay mind as well as the academic. In every department of science there have been contributions on some modern phases. During one of the sittings a paper was contributed by Archdeacon Lefroy on the future of the Australian aborigine. In it he took some pains to combat a widespread statement that the Australian aboriginies are degraded in character and feeble in intellect. On the contrary, he said, they compare favourably with the islands of the South Pacific. They were gentle and moral beings, and their tribal and family laws were of considerable ethical value. Their non-progression in past thousands of years was 'not due to any in- herent weakness, but to an unfavourable environ- ment. The splendid climate which Australia enjoys I favoured a day-by-day existence and left out of the character of the aborigine the stimulus which was necessary for development. He expressed the opinion that if a band of European settlers had thus been isolated for even a century they would terriblv de- generate. He strongly recommended that the abo- riginies left should be looked upon as a national responsibility, and placed under national control. Dr. Cleland followed with a suggestion that repre- sentation should be made to the Commonwealth Government in favour of the appointment of a com- j mitlee to protect and care for the aborigine remnant, the committee to consist of a man of scientific at- tainment, a medical man, a man to represent the ethical side, and a lawyer or statesman. This com- mittee should be empowered to collect ex'idence and ask for and deal with suggestions and schemes. A resolution was adopted urging both Federal and I ( State Governments to take systematic and instant I 1 effort to save the remainder of this most interesting race. It is a duty that ought to lie close to the | n heart of every Australian statesman.
Preparations are being made m .Tlie Coronation earnest for the visit of legislators Exodus. fg thg Coronation. Steamers can
not supply the demand for berths.,] The Federal Parliament will be largely represented. Representatives of both sides of the House will go. When the names of the lucky ones were announced,! {,■ general surprise was expressed when it was found] that Mr. Hughes was not among the chosen ones This is rather remarkable. Possibly the reason foi it was that it was thought desirable that he shoul remain as acting Prime Minister. At any rate wi will suppose so. But it is rather a pity for th( Commonwealth's sake that he is not going. As
History of the Month,
man who miglit In- liki'ly to Kxjm large in tiie eyes of ihc Motherland, Mr. Fisher possesses no gifts. His speech is ruggetl, anil he has not the faculty of making his meaning i)lain. But Mr. Hughes is the orator of the Party. In this respect he stands alone. Moreover, he po.ssesscs, to a degree, the faculty of saying in plain and easily understood terms what he wants to say. He has probably the clearest vision of |)olitics of any man on the f'lovern- mont side of the House. This liecame very evident during Mr. Fisher's absence in South Africa. While i\fr. Hughes was in charge, the Parly gained greatly. The public felt that here, at any rate, was a man who clearly underst(X>d what ho was talkin;; alwut, and w.is alJe to make his statements understandable dso. One cannot help feeling with some regret that the Lqbour Party will not be Ijetter represented at Home, and wishing that Mr. Hughes was going.
The Seamen's Compensation .■\ct Seamen's Com- has been declared invalid by the pensatlon Act. High Court. The reason for the case which bi^re the judgment was simple. An ap[>eal to the courts was made con- cerning the carriage of a small parcel by the officer of a vessel. It appears that the vessel was char- tered to carry cargo from Xew Vork to Australian Itorts. While the ship was lying at Adelaide the <hief officer was asked to take a small parcel of about 7 lbs. weight, which had been part of the cargo of another ship, and which had been inad- vertently left behind at Adelaide, and to take it on to Brisbane. It was not treated as cargo, and was regarded as a courtesy by the chief officer. The de- cision ra"nged round the question as to whether the package was cargo t.iken on board at Adelaide to he delivered at Brisbane. Within the meaning of .Section 4 (:;) of the Act, the question was answered b\ the court in the negative, on the ground that the .shiji was not engaged in coasting trade. The question bec.mie further involved by an accident to the officer, who made a claim under the .■Vet for compensation. " The term ' coasting trade' is a familiar one, and means trade between different parts of the same country, using the \vord country in a political sense." Thus the Chief Justice, Sir Samuel <iriffith. The compensation clauses thus fell through.
But this invohed a far-reaching A rar-reachlng issue. It followed that the Sea- Issue, men's Compensation Act is ultra
vires. Sir Samuel Griffith went on to say that the principles to be applied in dealing with this argument were considered in the railway servants' case and the bootmakers' case. " In the former case we referred to the recognised doctrine i>f the Supreme Court of the United States of -America, that if, even in the attempt to exercise a ix>wer of limited extent, an Act is pa.ssed which •n its terms extends beyond the prescribed limits, the
I'liolu. Crown Studios, Sydney.
Dr. Douiiilas Mawson.
Who is to lead the Soutli Polar Scientific Expedition.
whole Act is invalid, unless the invalid part is plain- ly severable from the valid. In the present case the Federal Parliament has delined in plain and unmis- takable language the test to lie placed for de- termining whether the Act is to apply to a ship, and has said that the test is not to be whether the ship is engaged in trade Ix-tween State and State, but whether it is engaged in trade be- tween port and port. As it would be im- [wssible to separate the invalid clause from the rest of the law. the whole Act must be declared invalid." Consequently that legislation goes by the board. Mr. Hughes' view of the situation is that if the referenda shortly to be taken be carried, the diffi- culty will be overcome. Needless to say, this will be so if it gives the Commonwealth Government
1 he Review of Reviews.
^Stv ZsflL. /l/ro
[From 'Ihe .Irpus.
This map shows the field of Dr. Mawson's proposed in- vestigatious. They will extend from Cape Adare to Kaiser Wilhelm Land — a. sailing distance of alwut 2400 miles. A dotted line is shown on tlie map. running across the land to Mt. Erehus. This represents the limit of tiie range of wireless communication from the Bluff tXew Zealand) at night.
authority over all forms of trade and commerce and carriage, for there can be nothing under those heads but what will come within the ambit of its influence. Whether it be wise to amend the Con- stitution so as to permit of this is another thing.
The Strange Season.
The season has been one of the most extraordinary e\er known as far as weather is concerned. Dur- ing the month of December, wea- ther that would have been no disgrace to winter came down upon the southern States. On some days, gales as of winter raged, and the thermometer leaped down to 40 degrees where corresponding days of previous years had shown, how it had gone riot- ing up to 103 and 104. The whole of the Christ- mas and New Year festivities were somehow differ-
entiated from those of previous years. There was an utter absence of sweltering heat, and warm cloth- ing, so sadly out of place in an Australian summer, became the settled habit.
Antarctica.
When the Shackleton expedition re- turned from its quest to the far South the Australian section of the expedition suggested another trip to the Antarctic regions. The idea has now- taken shape. At the inception. Sir Ernest Shackle- ton himself hoped to command the expedition, but as he cannot do so, for private reasons. Dr. Douglas Mawson, of the Adelaide University, will under- take that responsibility. It is not intended to do any pole hunting, but rather to spend the time in scienti- fic research, and to explore the long Antarctic coast line, 2400 miles, from Cape Adare to Gauss Berg, the point in Kaiser Wilhelm's Land, where the German " Gauss " expedition wintered. This coast lies due South of Australia. Dr. Mawson's view of the situation is, " Ours is the nearest civilised land to it, and besides helping to solve interesting problems of our past geological and zoological his- tory, exploration there may lead to the discovery of rich metalliferous deposits within 1500 miles of Ho- bart." This, by the way, is less than the distance from ^lelbourne to Perth, and little more than from Sydney to Auckland.
The expedition will benefit by the
How the latest advances in science. It is
World Moves, proposed to make Melbourne the
the Australasian base. The polar base will be on the shore of Adelie land, almost exactly south of Melbourne. Then from the polar base other bases on the shores and inland will be formed, and use made of sledges and motors. But the most novel proposal is to link up with the Bluff at night by wireless communication. How the world moves ! What would the early explorers have thought if thev could have maintained nightly communica- tion with home ? This facility will mean much in many ways to the men who will be putting in two vears from civilisation. _;^4o,ooo is needed to fin- ance the trip, and, if the funds can be raised in time, a start will be made in November of this year.
i
Not If He Knows It.
Uri risll Workman : " I'lio s.iiiie oM cry— a hit off his land and on lo my fooil. .\i'/ // / know it .' "
itinveapfltis yemrnal. \
Will this Balloon ever arrive in Canada ?
Vcr it\t/irt yaio!: ;
(Stiitti^.nt.
Olk.\
lilerlii
The Braga Carpel Cleaning Firm.
Dr. BkAi.;.v (encrgclically l)uaiin_t; Portuguese c.irpcl) : " This is wtial you niiijht call a real spring cleaning, judging by llic amounl of dirt which is being beaten out.''
The Porluguese Revolution.
Madame Revolution ImliU out \w\ .Tprnn lo a ripe Spanish plum h.inging on the luiropean plum-tree, and just ready to drop. A Greek, a Servian, and an Italian plum look a.s if they would soon be rii>c. The Portuguese plurn is already gathered.
"THE EVER NEW HORIZON."
From Ihc |i.iiiUiny by Sii' Almn Tadenia, reproduced in (he Art Annual, 1910— "The Later Work of Sir I,. Alma Tadema." (Sec page 5S0.) By permission of (he publisliers.
LONDON, Dec. ist, 1910.
Never lias the Rkvikwok Rkmkws
jionc to press at such a critical or In MId-Electlon. "^ , * .
at such an inconvenient tunc. 1 he
first polls opened on Saturday,
December 3rd. When this number reaches the
reader all the boroughs will have recorded their vote,
and in another week the Election will be over. The
])eriod between going to
press and |)ublication will
be the day of decision in
which the millions of
I'ritish electors exercise
their sovereignty. It is
a great and notable day
for the ordinary man.
.\s Whittier says : —
The proudest now is but my peer. The hiijhcst not more high ; To-day, of all ihe weary year,
A kinc; of men am I. To-day alike are great and small, The nameless and the known ; Mv palace is the people's hall, The ballot-l)ox my throne.
To-day lei pomp and vain
pretence
My slubliorn right abide ;
I set the plain man's common
sen?e
.•\gainst Ihe pedant's prid.
The rich is level with the po^i.
The weak is strong to-day, \nd sleekest broadcloth counts no more Than homespun frcK-k of gray.
While Ihcre's a grief to ,. .k ro<lress, Or balance lo .adjust, Where weighs our living man- hood less Than Mammon's vilest dust ?
I.OKl) CREwr inf|uiring al>out ,-' *'
LORii Lanspow.ne (on his way lo trial) ; thought I'd just like to glance at it."
While there's a right to need my vote,
A wrong to sweep away, I'p, clouted knee and ragged coat —
A man's a man to-day !
How will Demos answer this
appeal ? For the moment we Suspense! ■ ■ n r .l
wait in suspense. Before these
lines are printed we may say
again, to quote Whittier : —
The day's sharp strife is emled
now. Our work is done, God know-
eth how. As on the thronged unreslful
town The patience of the moon
looks down. I wait lo hear, beside the
wire, The voices of its tongues of
fire. Slow, doubtful, faint they seem
at first, — Be strong, my heart, to know
the worst.
But we hope and believe that as \\'hitlier sang when — That sunset-gun of triumph
rent The silence of a continent,
v.'e shall have cause to
render thanks to Heaven
for a result which will
show that —
Not through lite furnace we
have passed To perish at its mouth at last.
Anticipations. There have been no ma- terials on which the political meteorologist can base a scientific forecast of the probable result. Twenty-one by-
'■■' ^r >f>rfetort of " PNMch."\
Pardonable Curiosity.
"Tiii>, 1 lliiiik, is the iii>lrumcnt you
Thanks
524
The Review of Reviews.
elections took place during the late Parliament, and not a single seat changed hands. The Liberal poll showed a tendency to droop, but in three or four constitu- encies it was higher than at the General Election. If I had to judge solely from the voting in the by-elections, I should say that the Liberal-Labour- Nationalist coalition will come back slightly reduced — say from 124 to 100. But there have been very few recent byes, and the data for prediction are unobtain- able. We fall back perforce on the calculation of the Parties. The Nationalists will come back nearly as strong as before, but the O'Brien All-for-Ireland section may secure an accession of strength. The Labour men will be slightly reduced in numbers. The vital question is, how the two great Parties will stand to each other at the close of the polls. I never remember an election in which there was such absolute agreement at the headquarters of both Parties as to the probable result of the polls. Before Parliament was dissolved the Tory Whip is said to have agreed with his Liberal colleague that the vote would go in favour of the Government. The only point of difference of opinion was by how much. On this point the Unionist calcula- tion, based upon careful study of the reports received from the Party agents in each constitu- ency, was more favourable to the Liberals than that in which the Liberal Whips ventured to indulge. The Unionists expected that the Coalition would make a net gain of twenty-five seats, counting fifty on a division, which would bring the Coalition majority up to 174. At the Liberal headquarters this was regarded as too sanguine. The Liberals expected to lt)se seven seats and to win nineteen, making a net gain of twelve, counting twenty-four on a division, making the Coalition majority 148. It will be interest- ing to see how far the voting confirms the accuracy of these forecasts.
Never in my time did any political Party go to the polls in such dole- ful dumps as the Unionists of to-day. It is natural that this should be so, for they have not a single factor that makes for success. They have a dispirited leader whose energy is failing and whose faith in the Tariff Reform nostrum is notoriously weak. They are short in candidates, and their exchequer is by no means overflowing. They have the most awkward platform from which to appeal to the people. " Vote for us," they say, "so that the will of the people shall not be allowed to prevail. Vote in order that although your votes may be counted, they shall not count." They are all at
The Despair
of the Tories.
sixes and sevens among themselves on Tariff Reform, while on the one great issue of the election they have ventured upon the most dangerous of all manoeuvres — that of changing their front in the presence of the enemy. Until the imminent prospect of execution concentrated their minds they could not bring them- selves to face the question of the reconstruction of the House of Lords. When at last they did make up their minds that the old hereditary character of the Upper Chamber nust be abandoned, they did so with ill grace, hinting, not obscurely, that they were only proposing to alter the constitution of the Lords in order to make it a more efficient engine for thwart- ing the people's will. Finally, they have encumbered their " reform " proposals by adding to them a demand for a Referendum, which means that a special General Election must be held whenever the Peers decide to obstruct the passing of a Liberal Bill. As the country is dog-sick of elections, this proposal to superadd Referendum Elections to General Elec- tions, which the Peers can preci[)itate when they please, is of all things the most unpopular proposal that could be submitted to the electorate. It is no wonder that the Opposition goes to the polls crying, " Morituri U sahitatnvs I "
" The crowning fact, the kingliest act. Of Freedom is the freeman's vote." One cast amiss may blast the hope of Freedom's cause, and prostrate a nation which has been the nursing mother of Freedom all over the world beneath the heel of an insolent and usurping oligarchic plutocracy. All that the Liberals ask for is fair play and an equal chance of giving effect to their views with that enjoyed by their political opponents. They ask that the cards shall not be packed against them before the game begins. The real issue is not so much a struggle between the Lords and the Commons as between the Tories, who claim to be a kind of Brahminical caste with a constitutional right to treat the Liberals as pariahs who shall only legislate by their leave, and the Liberals, whose claim has never been more admirably stated than in the words of Mr. Thersites Smith, the smart Demagogue of the Unionist Party. Before the General Election, Mr. F. E. Smith asked : —
Is it possil)le to ilefeml the existing iiisp.iiity of party repre- sentation in the House of Lords? If, as most persons conceive, it is not, what change is required in this respect.' F.\ndently not a change wliich would produce identical results under less assailable foims. What is required is such a House of Lords as will give the Liljeral Party when in power as good a chance — or .as bad a chance — of carrying their legislation as it will give to the Conservative Tarty when in power.
The Issue
before
the Electors.
Tin: I'k(x;Ki:.s.s ui' iiiii: VV(jki.i).
^25
Impudentlssimus.
That denmnd is reasonable and its justice is obvious. During llie whole eourhc. of its recent history the House of Lords has never once rejected a Hill presented by a Conservative tlovernnient. During the same period it has never lost an opportunity of either delaying, niutilaiing or rejecting every important Bill i)rcsentcd by a Liberal Clovern- ment. It is time that this [ilaying with loaded dice should be stopped.
The most ini|)iidcnt thing ever (lone in politics was surely the Unionist proposal to reconstitute the House of Lords, not in order to make it possible to give the Libeials as good a chance as the Tories of carrying their legislation, but to take away from them the little chance that they now have. Both Lord Lansdowne and Mr. Balfour have admitted this almost in express terms ; ihcy both say that the House of Lords is an excellent Second Chamber, but it is not strong enough to do the work which it tries to do. It is assailable because of its constitution ; therefore they propose to make it unassailable by changing its constitution while jealously preserving its Tory character. Lord Lans- downe's language is perfectly clear and i)lain. He is not proposing to interfere with the House of Lords because he wants a new Chamber which will act differently from the present House. No self-respecting SecondChamber could have acted, in his opinion, otherwise than the Lords acted in rejecting the Budget, the Education Bill, and the Licensing Bill. Why, then, does he propose to reform it ? " Only because that to many average people whose judgment, to my mind, is entitled to the utmost respect, it does appear anomalous that a body, the whole of the members of which owe their presence within it to the fact that they are their fathers' sons, does not seem to be a body to which the full powers of revision and reservation, which a Second Chamber ought to possess, can safely be confided." Therefore, he wants a reconstituted Second Chamber which will be more fearless and more courageous to reject Liberal measures even than the present House of Lords. " Ducky, Ducky," says the cook, " come and be killed I " Ducky objects to come because of the blunt knife with which cook has cut off the heads of his ancestors. " Very well, then," says the obliging cook ; " if only you will come and be killed, I will sharpen my knife till it has the edge of a razor." But no duck, not even a goose, would regard that as a sufficient inducement to respond to the blandish- ments of the cook. Ducky objects to there being
Itouso of Lords, New Style
any knife at all in the hands of the cook. Tn sharpiM ii 1- lo make matters worse, not belter.
The scheme put forward by tin- Tiio Lords is admittedly only an out-
line which is to be filled in here- after. By pulling together Lord Rosebery's resolutions and those of Lord Lansdowne we can form some notion of what they are driving at. The first and only important resolution is the first, which declares that henceforth no person shall take his seat in the House of Lords merely because he is a Peer of the realm. That is important, because it will justify the King iii refusing to issue Writs of Summons to any but such as can be relied upon to vote in favour of the Veto Bill. The other resolutions are —
Thai in future the House of Lords sliall consist of Lords of I'.irliamcnt : (a) chosen Ijy the whole body of hereditary Peers fiom among themselves and by nomination by the Crown ; (i) sitting by virtue of offices and of qualilicalions held by them ; (( ) chosen from outside.
To this may be added .Mr. Balfour's admission that—
The Second Chamber must be greatly diminished in numbers. Il must include persons who are qualified by distinguished public service, and that at least half must come from outside.
The Lansdowne resolutions run thus —
If a diflference arises between the two Houses with regard to any Bill other than a Money Bill in two successive Sessions, and within an interval of not less than one year, and such difference cannot be adjusted by any other means, it shall l>e settled in a joint sitting composed of members of the two Houses : Provided that if the difference relates to a matter which is of great gravity
Wcsltn:r:iUr C^
Wait and See I
Lord Rosehi;ry : " Don't be in such a hurrj', Insf)ector — I'm just trying to induce them to reform themselves a bit, and they seem in a very chastened frame of mind."
Inspector Asqihth : " Sorry, my lord — I can't wait any longer. Their lordships can do their reforming as they come along with me."
526
Thk Review of Reviews.
and lias not liccn ;iilcqiutely suhmille<l lo llic jiulgnient of tlie people, il slinll iiol be referred (o a joint' sitting, hut shall be submilleil for decision to the electors by Kefcreiidiini.
In the case of Money Bills —
The Lords are prepared lo forego their Constitutional right to reject or ameml Money liills which are purely financial in character : I'rovided that effectual provision is made against tacking, and provided that if any question arises as to any Bill or any provision thereof, that question shall be referred to a Joint Committee of both Houses, with the Speaker of the House of Commons as Chairman, who shall have a casting vote only. If the Committee hold that the Bill and the provisions in question are not purely financial in character, they shall be dealt with forthwith in a joint sitting of the two Houses.
The only thing clear about these Questions resolutions is that one half of the
Left Open. „evv House is to be elected by the
Peers, who, being four - to - one Tory, will follow the example of the Scotch and Irish Peers and elect none but Tories, unless pro- vision is made for proportional represetitation — of which nothing is said — in which case there would be a four-to-one Tory majority in one half of the House. The other half of the House is to be composed of ex-offido and nominated or chosen members, in what proportions it is not stated. But old public officials are mostly Tories, and if one quarter of the ex-officios were Liberals, that would be more than we dare expect. The nominated members would be selected by the Prime Minister for the time being. As this precioiis scheme can only be passed if the Tories are in office, this means that the nominated members, probably sitting for life, would all be Tories. As to those elected from the outside we can say nothing, as nothing is told us as to how many they are to be, or by what constituencies they are to be chosen. But if every man of them was Liberal, the Liberals would still be in a miserable minority in the Second Chamber. Hence, while no information is given on vital questions of detail, the one clear outstanding fact is that by no possibility can the Liberals hope to be in other than a forlorn minority. That is the essence of the scheme. The hereditary principle is to be sacrificed in order that the Tory majority may be established impregnable and unassajlable. At present the Liberal's one chance is that, by a more or less revolutionary agitation, he can now and then terrify the Peers into submission. The Rosebery-Lans- downe scheme is framed in order to take away that chance. We are to have a solidly Torified Senate which cannot be terrified into submission.
Not content with thus providing
f^g for the permanent Torification of
Joint Committee, a non-Terrifiable Second Chamber,
it is further proposed that Bills
in dispute, after being sent up in two successive
The Referendum.
Sessions, .shall be referred to a Joint Comtiiittee of both Houses. Nothitig is said as to the composition of this Joint CommiUee, and we may ihcrefore assume that it will be composed of equal nurnbers, in which each party will have the same number of repre- sentatives, or that they will be chosen proportionately to their respective strength in each House. .As the Liberal majority in the Commons even in 1906 was not as strong as the Tory majority in the Lords, this will secure either an equal number of Liberals and Tories in the Joint Committee, or else a Tory majority. In no conceivable circutnstances could the Liberals hope to have the whip hand. Yet this Joint Committee is to settle the difference between the two Houses ! It would be more honest to pro- pose that whenever the Torified Lords differ with - the Liberal Commons the decision shall be left to a tribunal in wliich the Tories shall have a certain majority. And this is supposed to be " Reform ! "
Certain questions, however, are "% not to be " settled " by this packed Committee. If the difter- ences relate to a matter which is 01 great gravity and has not been adequately sub- mitted to the judgment of the people, it is to be submitted for decision to the electors by Referendum. The practical working of this would be that the Lords, and the Lords alone, would have the right to decide what measure is of great gravity or whether it has been adequately submitted to the judginent of the people. The representatives of the people would have no voice in the matter. Suppose, for instance, that a Tory Ministry were to try to impose a Pro- tectionist tariflF upon the country, the Liberals could not enforce a Referendum, although no one could deny the gravity of such a fiscal revolution or the fact that it had not been submitted to the judgment of the people, for no one can say that mere voting for that exceedingly nebulous formula, Tariff Reform, was the expression of a reasoned judgment on the new tariff. But under the proposed " reform," while the Tories could compel an appeal to the electors on every measure which they dis- liked, the Liberals would be powerless to secure a Referendum even for the most revolutionary and unthought-out proposals emanating from a Tory Government. A more effective method of cloggmg the wheels of the Liberal chariot could h.ardly be devised by the wit of mortal man.
THK PkOGKliSS OF Till-: WOKLU.
527
SInRlo Chamber Government.
The Veto Bill.
The Tories, who lift up horrified h.iiiils at ihf notion of ihe horrors of Single Chamber Ciovcrnnicnt, forget that their bogey can have no terrors for the nation, because whenever the Tories have been in power they have established Government by a Single Chamber. No Tory measure is ever rejected by the House of Lords. There is no Second Chamber check on Tory legislation, no matter how revolutionary it may be. We refuse, therefore, to be scared by the outcry about a Single Chamber. If England can survive under Single Chamber rule when the Tories are in power, why should we think that the end of the world will come if Single Chamber Government also prevails when the Liberals are in office? Here we have the fundamental arrogant assumption of the Brahmin. He needs no check upon his vagaries. Checks arc only needed upon the pariahs of Liberalism. God made the Tories, and the Devil made the Liberals. There you have in a sentence the fixed idea of the Tory Party. They can hardly be surprised that the Liberals refuse to accept such a theory of the universe.
The Veto Bill, which is the Liberal alternative to the nebulous Tory scheme of reform, is a measure which is so moderate, so tentative, so conservative, as hardly to be worth the fight that has been made about it. It leaves theHouse of Lords, Torified and terrifiable, exactly as it is. It increases rather than decreases its power for mischief. For whereas in the past we could, given favourable oppor- tunity, terrify the Torified House into passing a Liberal Bill on the first occasion that it was sent up to the Peers, after the Veto Bill is passed into law that will be impossible ; for the Lords will be able to plead that they have a statutory right to insist upon rejecting a Bill twice, and of having it sent up to them three separate Sessions before their resistance can be overborne. The Bill also shortens the dura- tion of Parliaments from seven to five years. The governing principle of the Bill is thus described : —
That it is expedient that the powers of the House of Lord-t as respects Bills, other than Money Bills, be restricted by law, so that any such Bill which has passed the House of Commons in three successive .Sessions and, having been sent up to the House of Lords at least one month before the end of the Session, has been rejected by the House in each of those Sessions, shall become law without the consent of the House of Lords, on the Royal Assent being declared ; Provided that at least two years shall have elapsed between the date of the first introduction of the Bill in the House of Commons and the date on which it passes Ihe House of Cominons for the third time. For the purpose of this resolution a Bill shall be treated as rejected by the House of Lords if it has not been liassed by the House of Lords either without amendment or
How it will Work.
w illi such nmcnilmcnu only as may l>c agreed upon by bolh Houses.
Money Hills are to be passed as a matter of course if, in the opinion of the Speaker, they contain nothing but certain specified financial subjects, or matters incidental to these subjects or any of them. As this is merely making the written law define what has been the invariable rule, it is hardly necessary to
discuss it.
It is asserted with all manner of hysterical exaggeration that this Bill will destroy the authority of the House of Lords. It is open to mucn more serious objection on the score that it gives them statutory authority to obstruct legislation, not merely the legislation they object to, but of other Bills to which they do not object, in order to block the legislative machine. Let us sup- pose, for instance, that the next House of Commons send up a Home Rule Bill and a dozen other measures. If the House were to reject the Home Rule Bill it would then have to be reintroduced next year and carried through all its stages a second time. The rate of its progress would depend upon the freedom of the House to deal with it. This would undoubtedly justify the reactionary obstructives in rejecting the other dozen inoffensive necessary Bills in order to compel their reintroduction a second time, so that their rediscussion might block the Parliamentary
5^/
lyestminster GasefU.]
No Room ! " We are asked to contemplate one or even two ParliamenU for Ireland ; another fur England ; another for Scotland ; another for Wales ; and a sort of Imperial Parliament to super- vise the whole. That is six Parliaments in all. There is no room for them in these petty islands."— Lord CurZon.
528
The Review of Reviews.
line. No one could say that in so doing they exceed their recognised rights. They have a right to have two bites— deadly bites — at each Liberal Bill. For two years they can bring all legislation of any kind to a deadlock, trusting to the chapter of accidents to help them to kill the Bill they dislike. Then, again, the Home Rule Bill must be the same Bill each time that it is sent up. It will not do for Ministers to accept amendments and then send the amended Bill up as if it were the same Bill. In three Sessions they must pass the identical -Bill, or consent to begin again de novo. As Parliaments in future are to be quinquennia], it is easy to see how slim will be the chance of getting any long and violently-contested Bill through Parliament. Of course, this would not happen if the Peers were statesmen. The whole trouble arises from the fact that they are not. The violent collision that is now taking place will tend to make them more headstrong than ever. However, it is no use crying over spilt milk. The chances are that after the Veto Bill has been passed the whole miserable quarrel will have to be fought out again in ten years' time.
The Conference, after holding over Why the Conference twenty meetings, during which it Broke Up. discussed all manner of possible
solutions formally, and a good number of impossible solutions informally, finally broke up on November lo, having arrived at no conclusion except that " Mum's the word." The eight members of the Conclave all decided that it would be better to say nothing as to the many abortive attempts which they had made to bridge the gulf that yawned between the two parties. When at last it was realised that it was only possible to arrive at a conclusion if the Tories would surrender the Veto exercised by the House of Lords, Lord Lansdowne and Mr. Balfour submitted the pro- posed solution to their intimate supporters. They decided, according to the Daily Mail, that they would have one more fight, and then, if they had to surrender, they would surrender to the constituencies, not to the Conference. So the Conference broke up and war was declared. It is believed that Mr. Lloyd George on one side and Mr. Gavrin on the other were the most earnest advocates for a settlement. Mr. Garvin was not a member of the Conference, but he is the Master of the Party, and but for him it is improbable that the Conference would ever have met. There is reason to beheve that if the secrets of the conclave were to be revealed the extremists of both parties would be aghast at the lengths to which their
What was the Crux ?
respective fours were prepared to go to arrive at a peaceful settlement, and that this is one reason why the Eight have preserved an inscrutable silence.
Judging from the subsequent
actions of the negotiators, it would
seem that they had very nearly
arrived at an arrangement on
something like the following lines : —
(i) Money bills to pass unchallenged, with the
Speaker's right to decide what was tacking and
what was not, if, after joint conference between
the two Houses, each maintained its own
ground
(2) Disputes between the two Houses to be settled
by a Joint Committee in which the two parties in the Lords would be represented, each by, say, five representatives, while the number of the representatives of the Commons would be proportionate to the strength of the Minis- terialists and the Opposition.
(3) In cases of constitutional questions, the dispute
to go to a Referendum. These proposals, it is tolerably certain, were debated with a prospect of agreement. The first probably would have been accepted. On the second the Eight could not agree — or, rather, the Tories outside probably refused to agrS'e to the proportionate repre- sentation of parties in the Commons while the Lords' representatives had to be chosen in equal proportions from the two parties. On question three the Con- ference probably broke down from the impossibility of agreeing as to what were Constitutional questions and what were not. There was also probably a fourth question debated, and that was the possibility of a future Conference to discuss the reconstitution of the House of Lords and the federation of the British Empire. All these statements are merely speculative deductions from what is known to all the world, but they are probably not far from the mark.
The King, who is believed to The Question sympathise strongly with the prin- Guarantees. ciple of Federalism, naturally regretted the failure of the nego- tiators to arrive at any result. He was at once con- fronted with the responsibility of acting on the advice which his Ministers tendered him, or of accepting their resignation. There was some hope among the more reckless members of the Tory Party that His Majesty would meet Mr. Asquith's demand for a Dissolution by refusing to dissolve Parliament until Mr. Balfour had had an opportunity of seeing whether he could form a Government. Had he done so, it
Tuii PkOilRI-SS <)!• THK WoRLD.
529
was iLouglu Mr. lialfour would have l.een al.lc to (orm -.1 Ministrv ttliich could carry on till ihc oiK'iuiif; nt next Scs.sion. Tlvn on l-cini; defeated, as he would have been on the Address to the Ihrone, th. Disso- lution would have come in February on a new r.cister under a Conservative Government. Such f,(;IUini; tactics niiijht have commended themselves ,0 Mr Ikdiour in May. They were too obviously .langerous in November, when he was advised by his Whips that he had not the ghost of a chance of winning the Ceneral I'lection. The King's position was difficult, but fortunately he took the only safe and Constitutional course. He followed the advice of his Constitutional advisers, and if anything goes wrong it is they, and not the King, who will have to bear\he burden of responsibility. Owing to Mr. Asquiih's public declaration last April that he would not ask for a Dissolution without it being clearly understood that in the event of a victory at the polls the will of the people should be carried into etTect, it was impossible for the King to grant a Dissolution without indirectly and by implication pledging him- self to overcome the resistance of the Lords. He hesitated, suggesting that the Lords should be allowed an opportunity of saying whether, even at the eleventh hour, they would accept the Veto Bill. 1 hat opportunitv was given them. They rejected it. The Dissolution followed with a dear understanding that if the General Election shows unmistakably the determination of the people to be governed by their own duly elected representatives, and not by four hundred Tory Peers, they will give way.
Mr. Garvin, our new .Disraeli, has . The Prospect already sounded a slogan for a
,. n**' • ,.„,.» new conflict against the people's
Further Resistance. "^ , , , r. u„
will. Whether the Peers can be
rallied once more to fight under the leadership of
this brilliant Irish journalist is more than doubtful
after their experience of the Md^/c' which followed
their obedience to his mandate to reject the Budget.
Everything, of course, depends upon the size of the
majority against the Peers. If the Tories were able
to cut down the present majority of 124 by one-halt
or three-quarters, it is possible that the Peers might
once more rally to the defence of their order. But,
in the first place, it is exceedingly improbable that
the Liberal majority will be reduced ; and, in the
second place, if it were not cut down below fifty, it is
doubtful whether they would not prefer to secure
the maintenance of the old House of Lords //w the
Veto Bill than to face the unknown. Mr. Gatvin
talks about five hundred emergency Peers, but they
Wtttmimttr Gazette.)
A "Possumus" Attitude.
The chief 'Possum (Jt haut en 6„s) : " Don't be in such a hurry about shooting ! We're just discussing the q"esUon of coming down. If you wait long enough we might come down pari way ! "
would be unnecessary. After the unanimous declara- tion of the House of Lords that no one should sit in the Upper Chamber merely because he is a Peer, it would be exceedingly difficult to raise any serious protest against the action of the Crown if there were no Writs of Summons issued save to those Peers who would pass the Veto Bill. But the general belief is that the Peers have had enough of it, and if the Liberals come back with anything like a majority, they will yield without a struggle lo/om majeure.
Apart from the impudent proposal The conservative to convert the rusty headsman's Programme. ^xe of the Hereditary Chamber into a brand new, smoothly-work- ing guillotine to be used upon all Liberal legislation, there is nothing new in the Conservative programme. Mr. Balfour put forth as his programme at Notting- ham—where Charles I. raised the Royal Standard against Parliament— which, apart from Tariff Reform, difiers in little or nothing from the Liberal oro- gramme. It consists of — A supreme Navy. Exemption of agricultural land from new land
ta.xes.
Poor-Law Reform.
State Insurance of Workmen.
Housing Reform. These are all in the Liberal programme, not only in words but in acts. The other articles are—
530
The Review of Reviews.
A Slight Modification.
Lord H : " Same as usual ? "
Lord L : " No— not quite ! I thinlc we'll have a slight
modification — let us say — Shandygaff ! "
Tarift' Reform, including a tax on foreign food- stuffs.
Equitable relief from the new licence duties.
New land taxes to go to the municipalities and not to the State. The Tarift' Reform programme is qualified by a promise that if the taxes on foreign food increase the price of bread and meat, a corresponding reduction is to take place in the duties on sugar and tea. The increase in the price of food is certain, the promised reduction on other taxes is most problematical. The bribe to the publicans is quite in keeping with Conservative finance. Mr. Balfour does not explain how, when he has handed over land taxes to municipalities and reduced the licence duties, he is going to find the money for his suprerne navy. Note also that he in no way affords the nation any clear guidance as to the standard maintained.
battle against the Free Traders in North-^\'est Man- chester. He no sooner got tlicre than he discovered that on a Tariff Reform platform he had no more chance of heading the poll than he has of reaching the South Pole. So he told the electors that " he had no hope of converting men who had become Free Traders as the result of six or seven years' careful study. He admitted, too, that the majority of the trained economists of the country were against Tariff Reform. He knew perfectly well that there were many Unionists who would like to vote for their Party who disliked Tariff Reform. He knew also that if these men refused to vote for him because he advocated Tariff Reform he would lose the seat." So he pitifully adjured these Free Traders not to put a black mark against him because he advocated Tariff Reform, but to vote for him as a Unionist, as an opponent of the general policy of the Liberal Party. Clearly, if Mr. Bonar Law carries North- West Manchester it will not be because the electors love Tariff Reform, but because they regard it as a dead issue. Their hatred of it ought not to pre- vent them voting for a Tory, even if he does hold pious opinions in favour of that economic heresy. So desperate was Mr. Bonar Law's condition that ]\Ir. Balfour was compelled to throw over Tariff Reform as an issue at this Election, and relegate it to the tender mercies of a Referendum to be taken — say — at the Greek Kalends.
of naval strength that should be
The Obsequies
of Tariff Reform.
The issues at this election have been thrashed out so thoroughly that there is hardly anything new to say. Tariff Reform is as dead as mutton. Mr. Garvin promises, that before Pro- tection is introduced it will be submitted to a Referendum, and Mr. Balfour obediently follows his lead. But Lord Ridley scouts the notion, and the Morning Post wrings its hands in tragic grief. How dead Tariff Reform is is shown by the way in which Mr. Bonar Law has disposed of it. Mr. Bonar L.aw was the selected champion of Tariff Reform, who was taken from a safe seat at Dulwich in order to do
Westminster Ciisette.}
Not His Own Invention. " It's very hard," the White Knight muttered to himself, "that I should have to go into battle loaded with all these things. And most of them are not my own invention "—he went on in a very discontented tone.
( IVM apologies to " Alice:')
Till' l'K(K;RliSS Ol' I'llIC W'OKI 1).
53 1
Woman's Suffrnge.
Mr. As(iuirii, alter rLCciving depu-
yy^g talions fur aiul against llic reversal
Osborno Judgment. <.f ilic Osborne judgment, inaile
known tlie decision of the Cabinet
on the sul)ject. He said —
That, in atUlition to providing: fur llic payment of inciubers ami official election expenses, the Government woiiUl propose to empower tr.i(le unions to maintain funds fur r.iiliamcntary and municipal representation, provided that llic opinion of each union was " tlTictivcly .iscertained," and that the levy was not compulsory. (jueslioned by Mr. llardio, Mr. Asquith sui;- gested Iliat this political fund must be special, and must be separate from the general revenues of the union. If payment of^tiiembers is legalised and official election expenses are ])aid, and if besides this the cast-iron pledge is abandoned, probably Mr. Osborne himself would not object to the small [uyments necessary for public work being paid out of the common fund, provided that any recalciir.int contri- butor were allowed the right to have his particular contribution devoted to some cause more strictly industrial tiian the political or municipal work of which he disapproved.
Questioned as to the policy of the Government on Woman's SufiVage, Mr. Asquith said that they would give facilities for discussing the Conciliation Bill next Parliament if it were framed in such a way as to permit a full discussion of the whole subject. With this reply the Suflragettes were much dissatisfied. Lord Lytton said : —
In two vilal particulars the undertaking fails to satisfy the request of the conciliation committee. In the first place, Mr. Asquith's promise applies not to our Bill specifically, but generally to a Bill so franicd as to admit of free amend- ment. . . . We h.id asked for a promise for our Dill in the next Session. The answer is a promise for soine Bill in some Session of the next rarliament. No Government can control what the Prime Minister has called " the dim and speculative future."
By way of emphasising their discontent a body of Suflragettes marched from Caxton Hall to Downing Street, where they broke windows, mobbed Mr. .Asciuith, and caused poor Mr. Birrell to twist his knee in hurrying from their attentions.
The Women's Social and Political Union declared war against the Government, and the militant tactics were resumed at once. Cabinet Ministers' residences had to be guarded by the police, and the windows in various Government buildings were broken. Over a hundred women were arrested in one day, but by the direct intervention of the Home Secretary all those who were only guilty of obstruction were released without being brought up for judgment. The window-breakers and those who were guilty of violent assaults were
We Declare War ! '
sent to prison, where many of the nmre /ealous members of the party will remain till tin; eliMlion is over. The wisdom ol enabling- your adversary to jnit you out of action on the eve of a general engagement is not exactly apparent to the male mind. Were the energies and /.eal wasted on window breaking concentrated upon electioneering much better results would follow. War by the smashing of windows is a form of nagging which fortunately costs little, but the excuse given that they must smash windows because the Prime Minister stipulates that the subject must be raised in such a form that it can be fully discussed does not seem reasonable. Mrs. Fawcett's society has started a candidate of its own in East St. Pancras. The experiment will be inter- esting, and is much better than window-smashing, but it is hardly likely to be successful. On the whole, I am afraid that the tactics of the militants last month have hardly advanced their cause. At an election on which the fate of representative Govern- ment is at stake, it is hardly reasonable to ask electors to subordinate all other questions to that of the woman's vote. If the Lords win, no votes will be worth having.
This has been so far the dullest Mr. Lloyd George election on record. But it has been illuminated and enlivened by the speeches of Mr. Lloyd George, who has excelled himself in the wit and good humour of his platform speeches. If here and there his humour has been a little broad, it has always been amusing and never ill-natured. It was my p ivilege to listen to the speech at Mile End with which he opened the campaign, and I do not think I ever heard a more admirable electioneer- ing speech in my life. It was in its e.xposi tion calm and lucid ; its arguments were keen and incisive, its raillery was irresistibly droll, while here and there the orator rose to heights of noble eloquence which recalled the best periods of Gladstone and of Bright. And the best of it was that there was absolutely no answer to his flashing rapier thrusts any more than there was any means of parrying the blows from his bludgeon. The speech was delivered slowly, with great delibera- tion, and with almost too elaborate a parade of notes. It roused those who read it, or bits of it, to fury ; but there has not been even an attempt to controvert any of its main positions. It remains unanswered and unanswerable, a thrilling and reasoned appeal to the masses of the people on the eve of a great and critical election.
as
Electioneerer.
532
The Review of Reviews.
If, as is everywhere assumed, the The Future Coalition returns from the polls in HomfRule. triumph, the question of Home Rule at once becomes urgent. I sincerely hope that no Liberal British Ministry ivill ever again undertake the thankless task of endea- vouring to frame a Home Rule Bill for Ireland. If there is anything in the Irish demand it rests upon a principle which imperiously forbids a Cabinet of Englishmen, Welshmen, and Scotchmen arrogating to themselves the right to frame the instrument of Government by and through which the Irish are in future to manage their own affairs. All that the Government should do is to submit resolutions to Pariiament declaring that the time had come to give Ireland Home Rule, and then devolve upon a National Irish Convention the duty of embodying in practical shape the kind of Home Rule they think would be best suited to Ireland's national needs. Such a Convention, which would be constituted by Royal Warrant, would contain all the existing Irish Members of Pariiament, to whom, as Daniel O'Connell proposed, there should be added, say, an equal number of the representatives of other interests — such as the Church, the schools, the agricultural and industrial organisations, etc., etc. To this Conven- tion would be given a. mandate to draft a Home Rule Bill which, when completed, would be submitted to the Imperial Parliament for acceptance as it stood, save and excepting in such particulars as the pro- posed Irish Constitution conflicted seriously with the rights, privileges, liberties, and safety of the rest of the Empire. By this means we might get a practical Home Rule Bill accepted by the majority of the Irish nation ready for submission to the House of Com- mons in 1912.
The reputation of the Conservative jjig Party equally with that of the
Dollar Dictator. Liberals is one of the assets of the nation. It is humiliating to all Englishmen when either of the great Parties adopts tactics which are intellectually contemptible or morally reprehensible. Hence it is little short of a national disaster when a General Election discovers the Opposition in such a beggarly state of moral and intellectual bankruptcy as is displayed in the frenzied adoption by the Tory Press and the Tory speakers of the ineffably inane and ineffective cry against Mr. Redmond, who as a Dictator with a bag of 200,000 dollars, is said to be imposing his arbitrary will upon the Government of the Empire. It is unnecessary to argue against such antiquated
Daily Kcu'S.I
The Dollar Dictator.
Irish Peer (L— sd— wn— ) : " Vou naughty boy ! Where did you get that bag? "
Pat (J. R— DM— ND) : "From the same blioys who had to send you that sack to pay the rint."
nonsense. The Party which adopts such weapons resembles the Chinese when they employed stink-pots against rifled cannon. The Daily Mail and Mr. Garvin must, we suppose, be qualified to , gauge the depths of imbecility among their readers ; but it is sad indeed when this raucous bray is echoed from the platform by the Party leaders. A large pro- portion of the so-called American dollars comes from the pockets of the loyal Canadians. The American Irish who subscribed the remainder — for no American money comes from other than Irish sources — have been subscribing to the Nationalist cause ever since Michael Davitt founded the Land League. The headlong eagerne.ss to use this silliest of war-cries is a disquieting revelation of the mediocrity of the intel- ligence of the Conservative Party.
Last month the boilermakers Labour j^y ^^ increased majority once
Anarchy. more voted against accepting
ths terms recommended by their leaders. The lock-out therefore continues, with an ever-widening radius of privation and misery. The Northern anarchists are, however, law-abiding — they suffer and are still. Far otherwise has it been with the Southern anarchists of Wales. The miners employed by the Cambrian Combined Collieries refused to obey the decision of the Miners' Federa- tion and broke out into a violent strike, which has compelled the despatch first of London constables, and afterwards of Hussars and Dragoons, in order to maintain order. A certain wild fellow — poet,
534
The Review of Reviews.
musician, and orator — named Stanton seems to have set the excitable Welshmen on fire. What- ever may have been their grievances, the outside public cannot go behind the decisions of the Miners' union. If the colliers cannot persuade their own representatives of the justice of their claims it is idle to expect to win public sympathy by smashing win- dows,- looting shops, trying to starve the poor pit ponies to death, and doing their utmost to put the pits out of w orking order for years to come. W'hen men take to cutting off their nose to spite their face they can hardly be regarded as of sane mind. Mr. Winston Clmrchill has met this first serious call upon his capacity as Home Secretary with prudence and good temper. It is easy to lose one's head and to win a reputation for vigour by hurling soldiers against a mob of striking rioters. But Mr. \\'inston Churchill chose the wiser course, and. only employed the soldiers as a last resource, when it was clearly proved that the rioters were quite beyond the reach of any other argument but that of cold steel.
The Duke of Connaught's tour in The °
Duke of Connaught South Africa has been from first
to last a brilliant success, unmarred
by even a single conlretejiips. He
has taken good care to proclaim everywhere to the
natives that the King was the father of all his people,
both black and white. The confidence of the
South Africa.
Basutos and other tribes in the great White King beyond the seas is an asset which it is to be hoped the new Union Government will do nothing to impair. The Duke witnessed the splendid his- torical pageant at Cape Town, then travelled north- ward as far as the Zambesi. H • paid a pious pilgrimage to Rhodes' solitary grave in the Matoppos, the most inspiring spot in the sub-Continent. He laid the foundation stones of the new Parliament Buildings near Pretoria, was Jelcd at Johannesburg, and was splendidly received at Eloemfontein. Whether as the result of his visit, or from the dissolving in- fluence of the Union sentiment, a committee has been appointed by general consent to look into the vexed education question which is associated with the name of General Herzog. The Duke is to be congratu- lated upon the zeal, the industry, and the tact which he has displayed everywhere on his tour. It is only to be regretted that King Edward did not survive to see the magnificent results of the policy of justice and conciliation of which he was so firm and faithful an exponent.
The popular celebration of Presi- dent Porfirio Diaz's eightieth birth- day seems to have suddenly aroused attention to the fact that the redoubtable Dictator is a very old man. It is diflScult otherwise to account for the news that a
Mexico in Revolt.
Photograph /y ]
The Royal Fetes in South Africa.
ilopical r>c.
This phologiaph represents the procession of the Colonies in the second day's representation of the Pageant of
South Africa.
The Progress of the World.
535
President Diaz of Mexico.
(A recent photograph.)
widespread insurrectionary movcMiifnt had taken place in Mexico. Altiiough the revokitionary rising seems to have been strongest in the Northern provinces, it was also active in the .South. Presi- dent Diaz a()pears to have taught the insurgents that, octogenarian though he be, there is plenty of life and plenty of bile in tiie old dog yet. The army, on the whole, appears to have stood by him. Not a single important town lias been held by the rebels, and we may depend upon it that very few of them will be left unhanged if the merciless Diaz gains the upper hand. Of course, from any non Latin-. Vmerican point of view, the insurrecti6n was morally justified ; but the Latin Americans are a law unto themselves. What, for instance, can any but Latin Americans think of the conduct of the crews of the two new Bra/.ili.in Dreadnoughts, that no sooner reached the capital, which the shi[)s wlmc bought to defend, than they mutinied, killed some of their officers, put the others ashoro, and then shelled the Congre.ss at Rio into voting, first an amnesty, and then the concession of all their demands?
The
King's Visit
to Indlu.
King (leorge is to be crowned at Deliii as Lmixjror of India in 1 91 2. On his way out, or on his way back, he will visit South .Africa. It is a good idea, worthy of our much- tiavelled monarch. In 1913, it is to be hoped, he will visit Canada, and will then pay the long-expected and much overdue visit to the United Slates of .America. 'i"he most impressive thing for him to do would be to go to India by the Cape route .ind then to return home by the Pacific, crossing the 1 )ominion by the Canadi.in Pacific, and winfling up with a visit to Washington. The whole tour would not take u[) more than four months at the outside and the business of the Crown might safely be entrusted to a Regent— say the Duke of Connaught for of course such a tout would be robbed of half its value if the Q>ucen did not accompany the King.
To reach Bombay via Brindisi To Bombay j),^j ti,g Suez Canal now occupies Seven Days. eleven and a half days. When the Bagdad railway is built we shall get there in ten days. But last month a capable member of the Russian Duma arrived in Loudon with a project for constiucting a railway across Persia and Beloochistan, which it is estimated would be able to earn a six per cent, dividend by carrying passengers and mails from London to Bombay in seven days. The project fascinates. But the execu- tion would entail grave international complications' in a region already distracted by the rivalries and jealousies of foreign Powers and native races.
The November elections in the
.j.j,g United States have done some-
American Elections, thing to clear the air. So far as
can be seen from this side of the
.\tlantic they have killed Prebident Tafi's chances of
^-.i^^F^-,:;
Min.teapotts yoiitntil,]
Teddy or the Tiger ?-
-And the Tiger Won !
536
The Review of Reviews.
Plwtograpk ij]
Part of the American Fleet in Weymouth Harbour.
The English flagship, Dri-adiuvigiit, lies in the foreground.
[ Topical Press.
renominatioii, have given Mr. Roosevelt the worst black eye he has received since he entered politics, and have practically secured the election of a Demo- crat as the next President. The Democrats con- verted the Republican majority in the House of Representatives into a Democratic majority of fifty, and have gained such a hold upon the State legisla- tures that the Republican majority in the Senate will be reduced to ten, of whom at least half-a-dozen are Insurgents. High prices, rightly or wrongly attributed to the tariff", and a grow- ing impatience with the great trusts and corporations, which have made the Senate their pocket borough and the Cabinet their tool, are the causes which contributed most largely to this remarkable overturn. Mr. Roosevelt is a clever man, but at this election he was too clever by half He tried to straddle the In- surgents of the West and the more or less Conservative Republicans of New York, and, as a result, he came what may colloquially be described as a howling cropper. He could not have fared worse if he had stuck to his Ossowatomie pro- gramme in New York. But, to use his own classic phrase, he was " beaten to a frazzle " in his own State, even his own district round Oyster Bay voting against him. Mr. Woodrow ^^'ilson, Principjal of
Princetown, was elected Democratic Governor of
New Jersey, and Governor Harmon was re-elected
by the Democrats in Mr. Taft's own State of Ohio.
The chances are that Mr. Harmon will follow Mr.
Taft at the White House.
On November 20th the last of
Death t^g great luminaries of the nine-
of Tolstoy. teenth century disappeared behind
the horizon of mortal men. Count
'I'olstoy, feeling at last the burden to be intoler-
De Amsterdamrtwr,']
The Holy .Sv The Russi.'vn
NOD : " You can't come in here."
People : "No, we can't. He's too great a jiian for you.
The Progress of the World.
537
Tolstoy, the Countess, their three Daughters and the Youngest Son at Home.
al)lo of leading a life of compromise, left his ancestral home — " given to my great-grandfather for committing murders," he told me— and wan- dered forth, accompanied by a physician, to lead the simple life in solitude. The inevitable result followed with startling rapidity. " It is all very well," said his wife to me twenty-three years ago, " for him to talk about living the life of a peasant. He would not long survive. But for me he would have been dead years ago. When- ever he does a day's ploughing he is ill for a week. If I did not interfere, his attempts to lead what he considers the only true life would have long ago brought him to his grave." Last month he escaped from the beneficent providence of his household to pass the rest of his days according to his ideal. The consequence which his good wife had foreseen speedily followed. Unused to privation, he caught cold, and, after a few days' illness, during which the whole human race stood, as it were, outside the way- side railway station at Astapovo, he died at the age of eighty-two. His wife was not admitted to his bed-
side till he was unconscious. If he had remained under her care he might have lived for years. In accordance with his own wish, he was buried without Christian rites on a hill surrounded by nine oaks, where he had spent many happy hours as a boy. The Tsar, M. Stolypin, the Duma, and the entire Press of Russia united in eulogising the genius of the greatest of all the Russians o( our time. The Orthodox Church, which had excommunicated him, alone pre- served a mournful silence. The Tsar wrote : " May he find in God a merciful Judge," but the Church refused to allow prayers to be said for the soul of the outcast.
The Divorce. Commission has not yet concluded its labours, but last month it took some very remark- able evidence, which ought to make us all do some serious thinking. I do not refer to the evidence of the divines, who formulated reasons for rejecting in Mo divorce of any kind ; for this was nothing new. The startling evidence was that which was brought forward by Miss
Women
and Divorce.
538
The Review of Reviews.
Llewellyn Davies, the General Secretary of the Women's Co-oi)erative ("luikl. This (Suild has 520 branches and 25,897 members, women connected with the co-operative societies. To these 25,897 members were submitted a series of questions as to the Divorce Law, and the replies to this interrogatory were read before the Divorce Commission. No less than 414 branches with 22,893 members favoured the granting of divorce on the same terms as it is now granted to the husband. Only three branches with 156 members declared themselves opposed to equality. In replying to the question as to cheapen- ing divorce, 19,194 voted in favour; 3,246 voted against. These answers, how- ever, are what might have been ex- pec t e d. Far more serious are the answers to the detailed questions as to the enlargement of the grounds for divorce which were put to 124 women who held, or have held, official positions in the Guild. Ten of these were against
divorce altogether, but the voting upon the other grounds for divorce was as follows : —
Should divorce l)e granted for —
(1) Refusal to maintain wife and family
(2) Insanity ...
(3) Desertion
(4) Cruelty
(5) Mutual eonsent ... This last reply is startling indeed. Marriage dis- soluble by consent has hitherto not been regarded as an ideal of English womanhood. The fact that 82 out of 94 picked women should have returned a deliberate opinion in favour of the conversion of the indissoluble marriage tie into a civil contract, lerminable by mutual consent, suggests some grave speculations as to what woman will really do when she gets the vote.
The Campaign
against Consumption.
A Lesson in Hygiene in a Bolton Council School.
|
Yes. |
No. |
|
qi ■ |
. 12 |
|
q8 . |
■ 14 |
|
96 . |
• 7 |
|
100 |
. 2 |
|
82 . larri: |
. 12 lae c |
For years past Lady Aberdeen has devoted herself witli untiring energy to the crusade against the Great U'hite Plague in Ireland. The \var is now being carried into the adjacent island of Great Britain, and the travelling Tuberculosis Exhi- bition is becoming a feature in English provincial life. Last month it was at' Bolton, when it was opened by the Earl of Derby. Lantern lectures were given each evenitig, and the exhibition remained open from ten to ten for ten days. In preparation for the Exhibi- tion all the upper classes of the boys and girls in the public elementary schools received special les.sons
on the subject. After they visited the e.\bibition,to which they were invited, they were to write cotn- positions upon what impressed them most. Mr. R. S. Wood, the headmaster of the Folds Road Council School at Bolton, who has edited so many of m y school publica- tions, sends me the accompany- ing photograph of some of the children taking a lesson in hygiene. The entirely un- necessary slaughter of scores of thousands of the King's subjects every year by a disease which, by ordinary care and the observance of sanitary conditions, can be reduced to a minimum, is one of the scandals of our boasted civilisation. Few more excellent societies exist than the Society for the Prevention of Tuberculosis. It would be well if before the opening of its Exhibition in any centre the Churches could be induced to hold a series of special services calling attention to the fact that the founder of their faith won His footing in Palestine by the healing of diseases, and that the preservation of the health of the people is an object that ought ever to be the special concern of His followers.
638
Current History in Caricature.
I'KE orlVOBFOIK t'ltrni to ficcou^t
ikiff int^f sMnq of OlOMi/strri
"O wad some power the giftie gie us, To see oursels as ithers see us." — BURNS.
Punch's Almatuu,
always one of the
ever-green annuals of
the year, has excelled
itself this Chiistmas.
It was a very hapi)y
idea to exploit the
present Constitu- tional crisis by two
series of portraits,
one representing the
evicted dukes, earls,
marquises and barons
endeavouring to earn
an honest living by
adopting the juirsuits of humbler beings, while
the other represents various well-known plebeians
adorned witli coronets. The portraits of some
of the new I'eers are irresistibly funny. The
Almanac, I am not surprised to hear, has had a phenomenal sale. It is very extraordinary the way in which Punch monopolises its own peculiar field. The Truth Christmas number, with its coloured cartoons, can hardly be said to enter into serious competition, and of other rivals there are none. Time was when three or four comic journals contested the right to a second place, but for some years Mr. Punch has reigned alone.
The Duke of
Devonshire taeliles t6e crossing ouTude his toiCn.manjion
Mr. Hall Caine.
M. Pelissier.
Mr. Geo. R. Sims.
The above caricatiiiei of Peers — real and imaginary —are from "Punch's Almancu for 191 1."
540
The Review of Reviews.
By permission of tJte proprietors of " P»nch"\
Another Good Man Gone Right.
Mr. John Burns (to the French Preniier) : "Bravo, Briand I a man after my own heart ! "
Nelieispalter.'] [Zurich
From the French Nursery.
President Fallieres appears to be playing peep-bo with M. Briand. — (An allusion to Briand's sudden resignation and reappearance.)
Kiadderadatsch,]
The Portuguese Revolution.
The F,uro])ean Cats walk round and round llic Jiiping hot soup prepared for them, labelled " Jiicox/iiii<'/i of the Ke/^iihlir" but they arc afraid it may be rather too hot and burn their mouths,
Chicago Daily Ne:vs,}
The Scales of Justice.
One olJ-fasliioned machine that America has .vnt improved U])on.
Current IIisiory in Caricaturi-.
54 »
«^ , - , [Zurich.
Count Tolstoy's Last Days.
\t the gate of the monastery : " I come here as an excom- municated person. Have you a cell free lor me .
" Certainly, but you must bow very low if you want to get through the sacred portals."
r, — rrr, .^ li [Stuttgart.
The German Fiscal System. German I A (suffering from Clerical fever, after a diet of Taxes with Customs medicine) : "Indeed, Dr. Bethmann, since I have been taking your medicine I have been getting steadily worse."
[Bologna.
as.piuw
[Turin
Ri7alry of the Powers in the Near East
The Turkish Loan.
" Make up your mind which yoii will h.ave : Savon de Marseille, Windsor Soap, or Berliner Seife."
" Under the circumstances I prefer Cicrman soap."
VounfT Turkev is seen accepting political homage of, and having her hand kissed bv \u"da Hungary tho is also showing her that accordmg to the cards she is b>, Austria """.-=ary, ^ " genllemaS offers her his protection. When, how-
go.ng to be a lueen. ^ ". kinc gem e ,^^^ ^^ .^ ^^_..^^^^,^.
'^'::.I^T^^^p'Tl.^ scatter so much gold that I get rid of Ixith protector an'f protected."
542
The Review of Kevievvs^
Minneapolis '}oiirnat.\
The Bugaboo.
' Daily Nca-s.-i
The Working Man and Mr. Balfour.
Mr. Balfour : " Look here. I pledged my word bread would not be dearer — if it is — I pledge my word sugar will be cheaper — if it isn't — I pledge my word "
W. M. : " Not so much of the ' Pledge,' ' guv'nor — sounds too much like The "Pawn-SHOP ! "
KLidJcr.idatsck.} [KcrHn.
Times have changed ; or, why the Crown Prince of Germany has gone to the Far East.
Crown Prince: "Oh, you dear, good, darling Yellow Peril ! Papa sends his kindest regards, and begs you to be so very good as to come and pay us a return visit quite soon."
t^itsquinu^\ [Turin.
The Vatican and Modernism.
Pius X. (pulling up the weeds of Modernism) : "The more I jJuU up, the more seems to grow."
Current History in Caricaturi-:.
543
KlilJJ.r.,.i.<ts.h.\ (litliiiL.
Why not an Exchange ?
Uritannia ami Gcrniania suggest that each should give ihe other back her spy. " What we want lo know about each other's fortifications we know already."
La Silhouctle.'\ ir.iiis.
Fishing in Troubled Waters. The Kaiser (being paddled along by llio German diplomatic oar) : " When there is so nmch lo do at home, it is very unwise to annoy one's neighbours.''
'W^^^-:.^^^S-^- -^ ;'::
Hindi Punch.\ [Bombay.
Plain Speaking.
?• Leo : " Look here, sir. You won't have our money and you won't give us a safe road. We're not going to make a gricv- I ice of that, and we won't eat you up on that account. Hut if
\. ju don't do our bidding, we'U "
Persia: "Very good. Just make that friend of yours to . out of my house, and all will lie well 1 "
Mucha.-\ l^^•.1^s.^^v.
The Cause of the Trouble. The Polish cartoonist here suggests that the chief cause of misunderstanding between England and Germany arises from the persistent pinpricks of Austria.
PMogmphfy\ [C. Vandyk.
THE RIGHT HON. THE LORD MAYOR OF LONDON: SIR THOMAS VEZEY STRONG.
S4S
Character Sketch.
THE LORD MAYOR OF LONDON: SIR T. VEZEY STRONG.
■ V^ buy 111 mail hi; never wa^ldl lii» time. Suili men as lie ale the i-etrets uf Knijlamri ^;reatnc•^s." — As Ul.U I'KIEND.
■ 1 commend to you Ihc recommendation of the Hishop of London that Intercession should be made for the Lord Mayor and (lie M Ivors of all the Metropolitan Boroujjhs, as jointly responsible for the good govcrnmcnl of London, that they may be wise and Givl-fearinf,' leaders in all that concerns the duties commilied to their charge." — .Sir T. VkzhY Strong to his Employlt, Xm'.mber (jih, 1910.
TOUCH wood, my Lord Mayor, toucli wood 1 " Never has anvont." stood more in need of ob.scrvin_ij this time-honoured but superstitious jirariice than Sir Thomas \'e/cy Strong, when, in his rifty-ihird year, he was installed, by the unanimous vote of the Court of Aldermen, as Lord Mayor of London.
U'hen on his election he went on Michaelmas Day to the church of St. Lawrence Jewry and the Bidding prayer had been said, the Rev. Canon Rhodes- Bristow, Chaplain to the Lord Afayor, preached a sermon from the text, " Let not him that girdcth on his harness boast himself as he that |iutteth it off." It would have been more appropriate if he had selected that other text, " Woe unto you when all men speak well of you," for all men speak well of Sir Vezey Strong, while no one ever heard him boast, and a man who has been .Mderman for thirteen years, Chairman of the Special Coinmittee of the Cor[)oration, and Sheriff, can hardly be said to be putting on his harness for the first time when he becomes Lord Mayor. It is, indeed, a rather appal- ling thought that no one speaks ill of him. One lieginsto fear that there must be something wrong ^omewhe^e. But be that as it may, the fact is there — no one speaks ill of the new Lord Mayor.
Let us hope that in his mayoralty he may be Ts fortunate as he has been in every other office that he has held in the course of his busy and pur- poseful life. He has begun well, and if the universal goodwill of his constituents and fellow-citizens may lie regarded as effectual and availing prayers, then he will end well.
There are many thiiigs about the Lord Mayor which mark him out for national, nay, for Imperial attention. He is one of the youngest Lord Mayors who have ever reigned in the City. He never went to school or university for a day in his life. He was >uperintetident of a Sunday school when he was sixteen without ever having been enrolled as a meinber of any sect. He is the most genial of men, the ideal John Bull personified, a con- vinced and resolute Liberal, and yet enthusi- astically Conservative in his devotion to old institu- tions, old buildings, and old customs. A keen man of business, yet an almost poetic idealist, a stout teetotaler and a City Alderman. A Lord Mayor who has the inspiration of an orator with which to express, and the genius of a born administrator to give effect to, the aspirations of a statesman — here
indeed is a man unique, memorable and noteworthy enough to take precedence of all others in our gallery of celebrities even in the month of a General F-lcction.
I.— BIRTH, EDUCATION, AND UPBRINGING.
Thomas Ve/.ey .Strong, the third and youngest son of Mr. John Strong, a freeman and citizen of London, was born on October 5th, 1857, in the parish of St. Bride's, in premises long since pulled down. The house stood on the north side of Ludgate Circus, in the immediate neighbourhood of 17, Gough Square, the building famous as the residence — one of the many.London residences — -of Dr. Samuel Johnson. If during his mayoralty Sir Vezey Strong could secure the Johnsoii house as a perpetual memorial of the famous old lexicographer, his satisfaction would be none the less because Dr. Johnson used to take his walks abroad in the immediate vicinity of the place where he spent his boyhood. The Strongs were not in particu- larly affluent circumstances, but they were able to bring up their family respectably. The legend that Sir Vezey was ever reduced to the straits of Dick Whit- tington is not true, although well invented. But although the lad did not inherit riches, he inherited what is more precious than riches, a sound mind in a sound body, and he was dowered from his birth with the most valuable of all earthly possessions in a pair of devoted, intelligent, and high principled parents. Seldom have any children seen more of their parents, nor have any been more constantly looked after by father and mother than were the young Strongs. The son of the modern well-to-do household is handed over to a nursery governess in his childhood ; he lives in the nursery and the schoolroom until he is sent off to a preparatory school, from which he is transferred to a public school, where with intervals for holidays he remains till he goes to the University. \\'hen he is at home he amuses himself. The whole of his training for the battle of life is undertaken by strangers away from home. To his parents he owes his breeding and the payment of bills for board, lodging, and education. He is with them for the holidays, or he is not, as the case happens ; but during the whole of his adolescent life he is very seldom with his parents for any serious purpose for any length of time.
Contrast this style of delegated parental responsi- bility with the fashion in which John Strong and his ■wife undertook the discharge of the obligations of
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The Review of Reviews.
parenthood. They lived in a small honse, from whicli, owing to a racking disease, the father was never absent. Rheumatic gout tortured John .Strong by day and by night, conipdhng hiui to remain a perpetual prisoner within his own house; but no pain, no disease, could impair the unconquerable resolve of the father to train and educate his children. Unable to do aught else, he devoted himself to the education of his three sons and one daughter. Their house was at once their school and their home. Sir Vezey says that during the whole of his boyhood he never remembers entering his home without finding his father there to welcome him and his mother to help him. The undivided affectionate tuition of one nimd devoted to the education of a single pupil, Sir Vezey thinks, is much more calculated to stimulate the mind of youth and train its character than the eflferts of a far more highly trained pedagogue who has to deal with a class of twelve or twenty.
For good or for ill, however, young Thomas Vezey was subjected to this domestic schooling, and, judged by the results, the e.xperiment was fully justi- fied. As one consequence of the painful affliction which confined his father a prisoner within the four walls of his house, the parents seldom went to church or any place of worship. Hence the future Lord Mayor grew up ignorant of the denomination to which he belonged — if, indeed, any sect or church or chapel could claim him wholly as its own.
What is more surprising is that the Strongs, although imbued with a deep and abiding ethical sense, never appear to have sui>plied in domestic devotions any substitute for church attendance. The family altar in the conventional sense formed no part of the equipment of the household. But they lived, father and mother together, as ever in the great Taskmaster's eye, and they never let a day pass that they did not impress ujion their offspring a sense of the seriousness of hfe, the imperiousness of duty, and the importance of making the most of every moment of time. The shaping influence of these earlier years was the mould in which the character of the future Lord Mayor was cast.
John Strong, before he was laid up as a martyr to rheumatic gout, had acquired a certain small com- petence. He was a man of wide reading and liberal education, and he had natural qualifications for the task to which he applied himself with his whole heart. The boys soon acquired a taste for reading — one of the most useful of all human acquisitions — and Thomas Vezey, who was a boy active, energetic, high-spirited, early acquired the habit of studious application. His father's nitellectual training was admirably supple- mented by the tender, watchful, moral teaching of the mother. To her, as to many another pious mother, the te.xt " Avoid the very appearance of evil " was the watchword which she wished her boy to adopt. It is a good maxim, although sometimes the appearance of evil cannot be avoided if you wish to get at the heart of evil itself.
When Thomas was about fourteen years of age he resolved to learn a trade and earn some money to supplement the diminishing family store. Sir Vezey has always manifested a singular reluctance to mention the name of the firm in which he learnt his business — a reluctance due to an exaggerated modesty charac- teristic of the man. He seemed to fear that he was claiming undue credit to himself by mentioning his connection with an older establishment The boot is on the other leg now, and it is the rtameless firm which has reason to be proud that the boy who began his business career in their office is now Lord Mayor. There is a legend that he was a van boy — which is not true — but the legend is not altogether without some slight foundation in fact. He was a boy in the office and warehouse who learnt the paper trade from the bottom up. He was phenomenally strong for his age, and he rather prided himself upon carrying rolls of paper too heavy for others to move. It was never at any time any part of his duty to drive the vans of the firm. But from his childhood he had a passionate love of horses ; and whenever he had an opportunity during meal times, or when business was slack, he was never so happy as when he persuaded some friendly carter to allow him to take the reins and drive the van through the City. The lad became an expert whip. He revelled in the fierce joy of driving a pair-horse van through the crowded thoroughfares of London. To this day he has retained his old taste. When he had to select his team of horses for the Lord Mayors coach, he insisted on driving them as a four-in-hand round Hyde Park before he was satisfied as to their qualities. He would probably have much preferred driving the great coach to sitting in it on Lord Mayor's Day. But Gog and Magog would have comedown from their perches if they had been scandalised by the spectacle of my Lord Mayor on the box holding the ribbons of his own coach.
In the paper warehouse young Thomas Vezey passed through all the grades. He was popular with his fellows, trusted by his employers, and he soon made his way to the top. But there for the moment 1 must leave him to notice the beginning of his public activities.
II.— THE BEGINNINGS OF PUBLIC SERVICE.
Young Thomas Vezey Strong, full of energy which had never been dissipated by self-indulgence, home- trained by both parents to realise the responsibility of opportunity and the seriousness of life, was not long in recognising that he owed a debt to his fellows which only personal service could discharge. He was emphatically not brought up in that popular school which teaches so many of our youth that the chief end of man or boy is to have a good time. He worked hard during the day, and when evening and Sunday came he did not feel that he had purchased the right to self-indulgent leisure. He read, he studied, and when he was little more than fourteen he began to teach. Some youths enter the field of
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lcin|H'rnmc work ihnmijh the door of the Cluircli or llii' Siinilay-Mliool. Mr. Strong reversed the process, lie was not hrouL;lit u[) in a teetotal liousehoM, liul the first general ohservation whieh he seems to have niadc as to the conihut of life was the grave and urgent need of stemming the ravages of in- temperance. To promote sobriety, to practise total abstinence, and to endeavour to win others to for- swear the use of intoxicants— these seemed to the vigorous lad objects to which he might well dedicate the hours which he could snatch from business. He was an athlete who delighted in sport -real sport, in which a man plays himself, and not that vicarious substitute lor sport which consists in looking on at a football team or a cricket match. But sport was ever for him a means of recreation ; it was never an agency for dissipating time. He did not forswear drink, for he had never drunk. He joined the St. Giles' Mission, which was founded by George Halton, and found himself happy in the company of many like-minded with himself who were earnestly engaged in trying to save others. " He savetl others, himself he could not save," was the taunt flung at the Crucified. He saved himself by trying to save others is the true record of most men. Mr. Strong was no excep- tion. For myself, I never hesitate to bear testimony to the inestimable benefits of Sunday-school, ]5ible (.'lass. Band of Hope, night school, and cottage meet- ing work. It was in those humble agencies, and not in college class or university lecture rooms, that I learned all that I know of the art and science of human life. All that I have ever done or tried to do in speaking and in writing was due to them. I have addressed gre.it audiences in the Old World and the New, but I learnt how do to it in addressing a score or two humble folk in a back kitchen on Sunday evening I had no idea where the cottage meeting curriculum would lead me. The object was not to get on, but to reach the heart and conscience and reason of one's hearers. As it was with me and many thousand others, so it was with Mr. Strong.
Today he is one of the most finished and capable speakers ; certainly the most effective speaker who has occupied the mayoral chair in my time. I asked him how he learnt the art of public speaking. " Simply by speaking," he said. " I well remember the first time I ever addressed a public audience. I was not more than fifteen. The teachers in the Society were told oft' to address a class of some sixty or seventy lads and lasses. We spoke weekly in turn. Our subjects were allotted us, and we had to make the best of our theme. The subject allotted me was Lions. ^\ hy, I know not. ^\'hen I was put down for a discourse on lions I knew as little about lions as anyone whose acquaintance was limited to looking at the lions in the Zoo. But before I stood up to speak I think I knew almost everything about lions that could be learned from books.
I simjjly slaved at my subject ; and when the time came I was full of hon-lore. Never since have I put in so nuich hard work in getting up a subject and in preparing a speei h as I did in getting ready to talk lo ihi; class about lion.s. It was my first essay. I found that when I had something to say I could say it standing up before an audience, and keep on saying it for twenty minutes on end. It was a great experience, an invaluable discovery."
Industry, nerve, courage, and the gift of a carrying and melodious voice were all revealed in that first discourse. Young Strong was seen to have in him the substance of leadership. In a twelvemonth, at the early age of sixteen, he founil him:ielf chosen to be the superintenilent of a mission school of over on.; hundred schoK->rs that met somewhere in the rear of Euston Ro.id. l''or so young a lad to be ajipointed to so responsible a post was a striking tribute to the perspicacity of the heads of the mission as well as to the ability of the lad of their choice. To justify their confidence young Strong, if he did not altogether " scorn delights and live laborious days," certainly spared -himself neither weekday nor Sunday in order to make efficient use of the jjosition of trust and respon;ibility to which he had been called.
Sir Vezey .Strong thus early acquired that sense of the importance of making the most of every moment of lime which has been his distinguishing character- istic all through life. The editor of the Yonns; Man reports a conversation with him on this subject which is very much to the point. Discussing the young men of 19 10, the Lord Mayor said: —
I would not wisli to shorten tlic liolitl.iys or lengthen the hours of work ; but I cannot help thinkint^ th.it the young man of to-day does not know how to make the best of his leisure. There seems to be an idea that leisure is given as tiine that may be badly used, and the waste of time that goes on during the leisure of the young people of to-day is appalling. Voung men do not realise how brief a span is the threescore years and ten allotted to man ; they will begin to realise it when they get to fifty ; but at present they live as if they were to live for ever, .and as if there were plenty of time presently for beginning to take life seriously. One has only to think a moment to realise that the waste of lime that goes on during the hours and half- holidays of leisure is .as deplorable from the national as well as the personal point of view. We need someone to lead a crusade against the waste of time. Leisure is certainly nicatit for pleasure, but it is a poor sort of pleasure that stores nothing up for to-morrow, that not only leaves the mind or heart no richer, but rather takes away from Ihem what treasures they m.iy contain. If everyone spent their leisure in profitable pleasure, the wealth of the nation would be greatly enhanced, in stronger characters, greater knoudcdge, and a better under- st.inding of and sympathy with humanity.
In 1872 Mr. Strong joined the Lon'don Olive Branch Lodge of the Good Templars, and served for more than fourteen years as the Chief Templar, wearing the regalia with the same grace that he is now wearing the robes of the Lord Mayor. In those early days some enthusiasts, greatly daring, proposed to found a hospital which would demonstrate by actual experiment that alcohol was unnecessary either as a beverage or a medicine. At that time it was assumed as a matter of course that every hospital
Photograph by\
[C. Vattdyk.
THE LORD MAYOR IN PRIVATE LIFE.
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patient nceilt'd cither ale or porter as a necessary of life, and in the treatment of disease aleohol in one shape or another was the most used drui< in the pharmacopa^ia. A few hold heretics, among whom Dr. lames ICdmunds, and afterwards Dr. Henjamin Ward Richardson, stood out cons[)icuous as leaders, dared to question the universal assump- tion, and, amid grave doubts on the part of many and enthusiastic confidence on the part of few, it was decided to found what is now the London Tem|)erancc Hospital. Among those who hailed the experiment with joy was the younsj; superintendent of the luiston Road Mission. A collection was taken up for the Tem[H,-rancc Hospital, and its proceeds, to which young Strong contributed as liberally as his limited means would allow, figures in the first published list of the subscriptions. So does one thing lead to another. For it was by this first step that Sir Vezey first came into connection with the London Temperance Hospital, of which he has for many years been the chairman.
Such were the beginnings of the Lord Mayor's career. He grew to manhood in these surroundings, full of energy in work and in play, entering keenly into all the interests of his fellow-men. He was fon 1 of amateur theatricals, and on one occasion was cast for the part — of all rohs in the world ! — of Shylock, in the " Merchant of Venice." Surely, never has any actor been chosen for that part whose character corresponded so ill with the Jew of Venice ! Yet the comments of the Press were that he did it naturally.
Hut the episode showed the strong dramatic instinct of the young man, an instinct which this year found expression in the admirable utilisat-ion of scenes from Shakespeare's historical plays in supplying the popular element to the Lord Mayor Show of 1910.
Long before he attained manhood he joined the Volunteers and shot at the butts at Wimbledon. His merry mood made him popular in the camp, and he was distinguished as one of the athletes of iiis corps.
In business he was lising rapidly to the first position in the firm which he served. He became its most successful London representative, and enjoyed the experience which it gave him, and so made the ac- quaintance of all sorts and conditions of men. .\t last, when he was twenty-eight years of age, he decided that the time had come to start in business on his own account. He said nothing of his intentions to any of the many friends he had made when doing business for the old firm, gave a month's notice, refused the most pressing entreaties and the mo.st tempting oflfers to remain, and in an empty warehouse in Upper Thames Street, on March ist, 1886, he started " on his own." He had one partner who assisted him with capital, but Mr. Strong was the firm. He was " it," as the .Americans say. From the very first he went ahead. The business grew, the premi.ses were extended. He took to himself another [jartner in Mr. Hanbury, and in due course the firm of Strong, Hanbury, and Co., Limited, was formed as a private corporation.
/\s an employer he has always been thoughtful and considerate, and deservedly [)opular among his
The London Temperance Hospital in the Hampstead Road. Showing the Details of the Proposed Extension.
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employes. Of all the many addresses which the Lord Mayor received on his accession to office none were more welcome than the hearty expression of con- gratulation and good-will .which reached him from those in his service at Upper Thames Street. For, as he truly said, there can be no better test of the discharge of one's duties than the opinion of those over whom one is called to exercise rule in any capacity. In developing his business he showed that the old public spirit of merchant princes of the past was still extant amongst us. The time at last drew near when he was to be called by the voice of his fellow-citizens to the position for which he had been qualifying all his life.
III.— ALDERMAN AND SHERIFF.
Mr. Vezey Strong first entered the City Council as Alderman in December, 1897. He did not, as is usual, first pass through the Common Council as ordinary Councillor, but was elected Alderman by the electors of Queenhithe. Queenhithe, sometimes described as the Port of Queenhithe, was gaily decorated in honour of its Alderman when Sir Vezey passed through the City on Lord Mayor's Day.
Queenhithe takes its name from the harbour, or hithe, for ships which in former times anchored there, the timber bridge or lock of London Bridge being drawn up to allow them to pass, Queenhithe then being the principal wharf of the city. The ward was originally a Royal demesne, said to have been granted by Henry III. to his Queen — hence the name Queen- hithe. Henry III. ordered that all ships of the Cinque Ports coming to London should bring their corn only to Queenhithe — thus the whole of London at that date was supplied with food exclusively through this Royal dock.
The opportunity arose through the death of Sir George R. Tyler, and an influential deputation was presented to Mr. Strong, asking him to stand, and, after a severe contest against two other candidates, he was elected Alderman. In his electoral address he stated that he had for the last twelve years been actively engaged in a growing and extensive business in the ward. He was born in the precincts of the City, and was Liveryman of the Stationers' Company, of which he has since been Master. The keynote of the address was sounded in the following passage : — " By training, as well as by conviction, I have great veneration for the time- honoured traditions of our ancient Corporation. It would be my constant endeavour to assist in pre- serving these from harm, so that they may be handed down, not only unsullied, but enriched and enlarged, to future generations." This is Sir Vezey Strong all over. He is a Liberal in politics, fully abreast with the times, but cherishing ever the great tradi- tions of the past. Where he differs from Conservatives is in his recognition that in order to pass any tradi- tions unimpaired it is necessary not merely to maintain them, but to enrich and enlarge them by
those changes which are necessary to adapt them to the needs of the present generation.
In the City his business capacity obtained prompt recognition. He is diligent in his attendance on the bench as magistrate, he has served upon various committees ; but his great opportunity for making his mark in civic affairs came in 1904. In that year he was elected a member of the Special Committee, which is the inner ring or Cabinet Council of the Corporation, and on his first attendance he was to his astonishment unanimously chosen chairman in ; succession to Sir Geo. Faudel Phillips, Bart., and on February 4th this committee was charged with the duty of considering and reporting upon the subject of the' collection of rates within the City. (He was knighted in 1905 in recognition of the part which the City had taken in the entertainment of the King of Spain and the King and Queen of Portugal.)
On June 24lh, 1904, the Common Crier opened the Common Hall by demanding that all the good | men of the Livery should draw near and give their f attention in order to elect two fit and proper persons as Sherifts. The Lord Mayor and the .'Alder- men who had passed the chair then retired and left the Livery to their deliberations. The City Fathers proceeded to the Council Chamber, where the Civic Sword of Justice was laid upon a veritable bed of roses, .\fter the names of eight Aldermen had been submitted as eligible for the position, Mr.' Alderman Strong and Mi;. Deputy Woodman were elected by a unanimcus vote. Having been informed of the choice of the Livery, the Lord Mayor and senior Aldermen returned to the hustings, from which the Recorder announced formally the results of the elections. The Sherifts-Elect were then summoned to come forward and declare their consent to take the office to which they had been elected.
Mr. Alderman Strong, who was at that time Master of the Stationers' Company, which was celebrating the five hundredth year of its eventful history, ex- pressed his gratification at being elected by probabl) the most powerful and influential constituency in this country to the highest post — save one — which it is in the power of all the liveries of the City companies combined to bestow. He pledged himself to preterve and protect their privileges, and to discharge faith- fully the duties of the great office to which he had been elected. Sir John Pound was the Lord Mayor for the year, and during his term of office the City was visited by the King of Spain and the King of Portugal, and the Lord Mayor presided at a recep- tion to the officers and men of the French Fleet at the Guildhall. He also received the illustrious members .of the Imperial house of Japan, and paid a well-earned compliment to Mr. Choate, the .'American Ambassador, on his retirement.
Sir Edward Clarke moved a vote of thanks to the retiring Sherifts and paid high compliments to them on the fidelity and diligence with which they had dis- charged the duties of their office. He also paid a special
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As Master of the Stationers' Company.
(Taken on the five liumlredlh anniversary of tlio IbuntLnion of thai ancicnl City Company.)
tribute to them for their unfailing attendance at the Central Criminal Court for the administration of justice, declaring that the association of the Cori)ora- tion of the City of T^ondon with the administration of ^ criminal justice in London was most important, and he hoped the Corporation would never lose that great privilege.
A_ few days before entering upon the office of SherifTof the City of London, with the insignia of which he was invested on Michaelmas Day, Mr. Alderman Strong was the recipient of a hand- some presentation, consisting of a shrieval chain, subscribed for by residents in the Queenhithe Ward: —
The chahi, which is a handsome specimen of the goldsmith's art IS composed of iS carat gold, and is han-l wrought and finished tlirougliout. The chain work is most arti.tic, it Consist- ing ol lendril-shaped links, varied at intervals with medallions, monogr.ams and armorial bearings. The central link consisls 01 the full arms, supporters, crest ami motto of the City o Umdon in carved gold, enamelled in the correct heraldic blazon. To that link, and forming the p.endant for the badge, is attached a medallion representing the City Seal It IS also suspended by "ship's cable" link work, connecting the
M.ilial links that indicate (,)iicenhitlic War<l. Fn thai h'nk is placed a miniature <.f the ward mace, one of the moM anciem :ind interesting objects conncclcd will, the ««r.l. -Ihc arms of 1 he Stationers Company are displaye.1, the .sheriflKl-ct Wpt- ihe InuncMliale I'aM ^Ias,er of thai guild. The arms of ,1,. IhimlKTS Company, of winch he is the Master- Klect ate in duded On the shoulder link is carv.l ihe Jo.o^^l^^f Z lecipient. The .Seal of ,|,e .Melrop.,lilan Water Ifcxird. r,„ which the Sheriff. Meet represents the Cilv, forms oi.e medallion Another contains an allegorical figure of Prudence, in allusion N. the Unite,! Kingdom Jemperance and (k-neral Providem society, of which lie is a director ; „hile a third rep,e«.-„ts the London I empcrancc ll.^pital. of which institution he has Uen
he chairman for many jears. \ Umnh is a inclallion of .llstice, suggesting the connection of the Alderman with his Majesty s prison at llolloway, of which he is the chairman : and a fith indicates the St. Giles' Christian Mission, of which I c has long U.en a trustee The badge, which contains ,he f, 1 1 arms and supporters of the recipient, is a very hai..ls«me d. , , ,. ■on. I he lower portion is filled in with a dainty repres. ,„l ion of a sixteenth century corn ship, indicative of the river trade of that period associated with the Port of ( lueenhilhe
he CIVIC sword and m.ace form, with a wreath of laurel leaves,' the background of the b.adge. - ■>.J»eN
1 <|uote this description from the 'Cify Prrss necause nothing could more aptly illustrate the pains that were taken by Sir \-ezey to commemorate the history of the past in the insignia thus received ant' since worn by htm. To the casual observer the chain on the shoulders is but a more or less ornamental I.icce of artistic goldsmith's work. IJut, as the above description shows, every link of it tells a story either illustrative of the history of the ward or of incidcius in the hie of the wearer. Jt is something in this prosaic and materialistic world to find such reverent attention paid to the artistic presentment of memories of the past.
In making the presentation of the .shrieval chain Mr Skilbeck, a principal ratepayer, referred with pride to the great antitjuity of the .Sherirs office Although 11 had been bereft to some extent of Its semi-regal power it still filled an important position 111 the administration of justice within the City In acknowledging the receipt of the chain, Sir Vezey Strong recalled the fact that since he was elected m 1897 he had received no fewer than seven public votes of confidence and thanks passed on the occasion of the annual wardmotes. On laying down the shrievalty he resumed what may he regarded as his normal activity as an Alderman in Council In the following year he brought to a close the <Teat work of the fusion of one hundred and twelve parishes of the City of London into one entity, with the Cor- poration as its ruling power, and gave to it the right to assess its own pro|Krty— a right never before enjoyed during its seven hundred years of control.
It is owing to his dominant personality that the Six-cial Committee drew up the drastic report of October, 1906. The ijuestion arose in this wise- In the square mile in which stands the City of London there were no fewer than one hundred and twelve parishes into which the City was divided. Each of these parishes, by its vestry and parochial officers was responsible for the collection of the poor rate' The result was that it cost much more to collect Hie
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FJtotograph b)^ [Laii^tr, Bond Street.
The Lady Mayoress : Lady Vezey Strong.
|)Oor rate than in any of the Metropolitan Boroughs. J he Guardians of the City admitted that the whoU- parochial system needed to be placed under modern administrative methods, but they insisted that tht Guardians of the City of London should be made a public body, to whom should be transferred the powers exercised by existing parochial authorities. It was a feeble rally on the part of the Guardians. The Special Committee would have none of it. They unanimously decided to submit three recommenda- tions to the Court of Common Council : — First, to amalgamate the various parishes for civic purposes ; second, to provide for the transfer to ihe Corporation of the powers of the overseers in the new parish : third, to authorise the Corporation to collect all ratei within the City and to become the assessment authority.
Failing in their eftbrts to secure a monopoly of administration, the Guardians condescended to offer terms to the City by suggesting to the Corpotation that a new body should be formed, termed the Board of Overseers, consisting of an equal number of members from the Corporation and Guardians, to take over the duty of overseers in the City of London. This overture was also promptly rejected, and the Special Committee received authorisation to prepare and promote a Bill in Parliament for placing the whole duty of collecting the poor rate within the City in the hands of the Corporation. The framing of this Bill and its conduct before Parliament were entrusted to Sir Vezey Strong. He stood before a Select Committee for three days, explaining and defending the Bill, and answering all objections which could be brought against it. .\s a result, the Bill passed into law in the year 1907. In the follow- ing year the Court of Common Council took the very unusual step of voting a resolution for presentation to Sir Thomas Vezey Strong in recognition of his services. The following is an extract from the official minutes : —
Thanks to Chairman of the Special Committee. — Resolved unanimously: "That this Court desires to acknowledge the valuable services rendered by .Sir Thomas Vezey Strong, Knight, Alderman, as Chairman of the Special Committee during the Last two years, more especially in connection « ilh the recent action of the Cor]>oration which has resulted in tlie p-assing of the City of London (Union of Parishes) Act, 190", which measure will greatly simplify the rating and as.sessment of properties within theCity, the collection of Rales to be levied thereon, the preparation of the lists of Parliamentary and Municipal Electors and of Jurymen, and will conduce to the material reduction in the cost incurred in respect of such .services.
" This Court recognises the conspicuous ability he displayed as chief witness in support of the Bill, and in defending the proposals of the Corporation before Committees of both Houses of Parliament, and heartily accords him its sincere thanks for his successful labours in the interests of his fellow-citizens."
The net eft'ect of the One Parish City Act was a saving to the ratepayer of more than twopence in the pound on an annual rateable value of five and three-quarter millions sterling. In the year 1909 Sir Vezey carried through the Council a i)roject for
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the purchase of the Aldj^ate Titlie, which led to an imnifdiate reduction of that burden by twopence in the pound, and secures the ultimate extinction of the tax in sixty years' t'me. This constitutes a record in tithes dealings — the abolition of tlie oldest rate known to an overburdened [jeople so far as this parish is concerned. The enlargement of the liresham Trust was another task into which he threw himself with zest. In 1908 he took the lead in the movement for the retention of Crosby Hall on its old site. He succeeded in raising no less a sum than /^6o,ooo, but it was insufficient, and the money was returned in full to the subscribers. He served on the Metropolitan U'ater Hoard, and oftered such strenuous opposition to the new Water Charges Act that he was instrumental in securing the inclusion in the Act of a clause that conceded a rebate of 20 per cent, to all properties in the City assessed at ;^30o or more per annum. The effect of this action on his part was a saving to the ratepayers of ^50,000 per year. These are but a few outstanding items in a long list of services— unrecognised for the most part by the public, but none the less appreciated by those whom they benelited— which Sir Vezey Strong has been able to render to his fellow-citizens.
1 have lived thirty years in London, but never
until this year had I the privilege of i)eing present at the Guildhall on the 9th of November. It is an experience not to be forgotten, one which strongly suggested the analogy there is between the installa- tion of a Lord Mayor and the Coronation of a King. Here in the City they preserve with jealous conserva- tism all the pomp and ceremonial which have ilescended through generation after generation from the mediaival times in which they first had their origin. The City has its Coronation every year ; the nation crowns its King once in a lifetime. Hence, in all matters of ceremonial and pageantry the City can give points to the Duke of Norfolk's Committee which is charged with the preparations for the Corona- tion of King Cieorge V. There is about Ihe whole cere- monial an air of antiquity which is not fusty or musty from di.suse. Every year punctually as Lord Mayor's Day comes round the City Fathers perform the .solemn rites of installation with as much seriousness as if they were crowning an anointed king. It is surprising how little the seven or eight million inhabitants of Larger London realise the quaint, archaic, beautiful and symbolic ceremonial which is observed in the Guild- hall each Lord Mayor's Day. For historic suggestive- ness, and, above all, for a certain democratic homeli- ness, there is nothing like it to be found in l^igland.
The Banqueting Chamber at Guildhall.
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To begin with, the Guildhall itself has never been visited by ten per cent, of the people of the great city of which it is the ancient heart and centre. It is a large Hotd de Ville, hidden away, like most of our great buildings in London, in the midst of busy streets, but one which amazes those who enter it for.the first time by the spaciousness of its halls, the sumpiuousness of its furnishing, and the immense variety of interest w^iich is crowded under its roof. From the cryjit in which Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were entertained in 1851, with City policemen disguised as armoured sentinels standing guard round the royal banqueting table, up to the roof, the Guildhall is full of associa- tions which combine present day utility with memories of the remotest past. The Library, the Museum, the Ball Room, the Council Chamber, and the Concert Room, all crowded with citizens and citizenesses, ofler a spectacle of democratic hospitality which would attract attention and command admiration if it were as far away as Paris is, but which is passed off unnoticed, unhonoured, and unsung because it is to be met within the sound of Bow Bells.
I was fortunate on the occasion of my visit, because the Lord Mayor filled the part to a marvel, and was not eclipsed by any one of his distinguished guests. A fine figure of a man to begin with, he looked every inch a Lord Mayor, if not a King, as he sat with his cocked hat on the throne, receiving the congratula- tions of his guests. The Prime Minister was there, with the Lord Chief Justice and the Archbishop of Canterbury, and a whole retinue of other notables, but Sir Vezey Strong and his lady, with her long white train carried by her attendant ladies' maids, outshone them all. It was a pretty scene, and one which will not soon fade from memory. There was plenty of colour, scarlet robes and gold chains, massive maces, swords of office, and all the para- phernalia of old times. There were the Masters of the City Companies, Aldermen and Common Councillors, all of them well-to-do, well-fed citizens from the mart and from the Stock Exchange, and yet all, as it were, habited in the strange, old-world trappings. It carried our mind back to the days when Richard Whittington was thrice Lord Mayor of London. The predecessors of Sir Vezey Strong enter- tained kings and queens and dispensed with more than royal magnificence the hospitality of the City.
The London County Council reigns over a far wider area than the historic stjuare mile of the City. It numbers its subjects by millions, but it will have to live a long time before it equals anything approach- ing the legendary glamour and historic splendours which characterise the ancient City.
The process of making a Lord Mayor is very elaborate, and, based as it is on ancient precedent, it would be worth while briefly here to indicate the process by which a mere Alderman emerges from the cocoon into the full-blown glories of Mayoralty. On this matter of precedent I may quote what was said to me the other day by the Lord Mayor. In speak-
ing of the customs of the City, he said : " You would be surprised to know how we follow the ancient pre- cedent in every minute detail. The records kept by the City Remembrancer are extraordinarily minute and detailed."
IV.— LORD M.WOR.
On Michaelmas Day, the 29th of September, the Liverymen of the Guilds of the City of London assemble in Common Hall to elect a Lord Mayor for the ensuing year. Before the ceremony begins the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, Sheriffs, under-Sherifirs, to- gether with the Sheriffs' Chaplains, the Bridge Masters and High Officers of the Corporation, as- .semble in the Aldermen's room shortly before noon, and then march in procession, wearing Court dress and robes of office, and carrying nosegays, to the Church of St. Lawrence, Jewry, where the ante- Communion Office, with the Collect, Epistle and Gospel for the Festival of St. Michael and all Angels, is recited by the rector. The Bidding Prayer is read, and then the sermon is preached by the Lord Mayor's Chaplain. On this occasion, as already stated, it was from the text (I. Kings xx. 11): " Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off." When the Benediction has been pronounced the Aldermen and all the Worshipful Company, still carrying their nosegays, return in procession to the Guildhall, and the whole company pass from the .-Mdermen's Chamber into the Great Hall, where there is a large assembly of the Livery. The galleries are filled with ladies, and the hustings, according to a beautiful old custom, are strewn with sweet herbs. The Common Serjeant then informs the Livery which Aldermen are eligible for election.
Sir Vezey Strong was subjected, of course, to the usual process of questioning by the members of the Livery and others. The retiring Lord Mayor having been a Roman Catholic, Sir Robert Rogers wished to know if Sir Vezey Strong was a member of the Protestant faith, and if elected would he undertake to attend at St. Paul's Cathedral and other churches on ceremonial occasions, according to ancient custom. These questions were answered in the affirmative. But this did not satisfy Sir Robert Rogers, who pro- pounded a further c[uestion which, with the answer, is thus reported : —
Will you, if elected, abstain from attending in State places of worship unconnected with the Protestant faith ?
Sir Vezey Strong said he would not abstain. It was quite possible that during the year of office of any occupant ot the Mayoralty a foreign Sovereign might die and a memorial service might be held at an Embassy or Legation chapel, at which it would be oljviously proper and seemly that the Lord Mayor should attend. He should unhesitatingly attend such a service. (Cheers.) If elected he would consider himself the servant of all and of no section, however large or important, and certainly, as far as religious beliefs were concerned, he should not allow it to make the least possible difference in placing his services at their disposal. He would therefore be prepared to attend, if othernise thought desirable, any service from the Roman Catholic Cathedral down to the barracks of the Salvation Army. (Cheers.)
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A show of liaiuls of the Livery was then taken, and the choice fell upon Sir Vczey Strong and Sir 'i'honias Crosby. The result was communicatcti by the Sht-riflTs to the (Jourt of AkUrmen. The Lord Mayor and the Aldermen then returned to the Hall and the Recorder announced that the Aldermen had elected Sir Thomas V'ezey Strong, Alderman and Stationer, to be Lord Mayor for the year ensuing.
In returning thanks for his election Sir Vezcy Strong said he was fully conscious of his own personal limitations, but encouraged by their gratifyingly unanimous resolution, he would go forward fully resolved to do his best in the faithful discharge of all his duties, in humble de|)endence upon a bene- ficent Providence, and reverently asking, in the terms of the City motto, "That God may direct us " ; to which he would humbly add —
Make my mortal dreams come true With the work I fain would do ; Clolhe with strenglh my weak intent, And let me be the thing I meant.
The Hon. H. Lawson, ^LP., who was then Master of the Spectacle Makers Company, moved a vote of thanks to the retiring Lord Mayor, which was carried, together with a vote of thanks to the SherifTs.
In the evening, according to custom, the retiring Lord Mayor gave a dinner at the Mansion House to meet the Lord Mayor-Elect and Lady Strong. This constitutes the first stage of the making of the Lord Mayor.
The second stage in the creation of a Lord Mayor took place on October 12, when the City Fathers drove in state to the House of Lords in order to present the Lord Mayor-Elect to receive from the Lord Chancellor the Ro\al approval of the City's choice. To the Lord Chancellor, who was in State robes, the Recorder presented Sir Vezey Strong. Lord Lore- burn, after a speech recognising the honourable and lofty character of Sir Vezey's life-work, s;iid that he had it in command from the King to signify His Majesty's Royal approbation of the choice of the citizens of London. The decorated loving cup was passed round, and the quaint ceremony was at an end.
The third stage was reached on November 8, the day before Lord Mayor's Day. The Lord Mayor's City Company and the Lord Mayor-Elect's Company, all wearing their livery gowns, and the Aldermen, Sherifis, Recorder, and officers, inet the outgoing and incoming Lord Mayors at the Mansion House at luncheon. Sir John Knill and Sir Vezey Strong made the usual complimentary speeches to each other, after which the Lord Mayor left for the Guildhall by the front entrance, followed by the Lord Mayor-Elect, who departed by the side entrance. On taking their seats on the hustings in the Guildhall the Town Clerk read aloud the declaration of office, which Sir Vezey Strong repeated and signed. The Lord Mayor then surrendered his seat to his suc-
cessor. The Chamberlain with the three Rever- ences surrendered the Sre()tre, the Seal, the I'ur.se, and the sword and mace bearers gave up their syniliols of civic authority. The Remembrancer presented a document from the City Ganger, which the Lord .Mayor signed. The Comptroller pre- sented an indenttire for the City plate, and on other matters to be observed and performed during his term of oflice. This having been duly signed by the Lord Mayor, the retiring Lord Mayor then delivered up the (!ity Seal, the Hospital Seal, and the Keys of the Exchequer. The new Lord Mayor and his pre- decessor drove together in the State coach to the Mansion House.
Now we come to the Lord Mayor's Day proper, November 9th. 'I'he Lord Mayor's Day this year was characterised by a special feature of its own in the introduction of scenes from Shakespearean plays. Each tableau was an historical representa- tion of some notable incident in the plays of Shake- speare, associated more particularly with London. Mr. Philip Carr acted as master of the Shakespearean I'ageant, and the innovation was universally regarded as a great success. The first group represented the return of Henry V. to the City of London afte: the Hattle of Agincourt. The second, and one of the most popular, was Sir John Falstaft and his com- panions fresh from their revels at the Boar's Head Tavern. Then came a group representing Crook- back Richard, and the chief persons in the play of that name. The Pageant closed with the group representing Henry VIII., Cardinal Wolsey and another Cardinal, and some other characters in that play. The other features in the Pageant it is not necessary to mention, excepting that the Boy Scouts and Lord Roberts' boys were among the most popular features in the Show.
The Lord Mayor in passing through Queenhithe received addresses from the inhabitants of the ward and from the employes of his own firm, to both of which he replied in suitable terms. Almost all sounded the same keynote, that precedents grow richer by each great occasion for their use. He declared his devotion to the cause of reform and his confidence that the historical old Corporation, although one of the most ancient of bodies, with a glorious past stretching back uito the dim periods of medieval history, is, after all, one of the most pro- gressive governing bodies in the kingdom, and is ever ready, regardless of consequences, to adopt and carry out measures w^hich it considers to be for the public weal.
On arriving at St. Bride's, within whose precincts the Lord Mayor was born, he received an address from the Governors of the St. Bride Foundation, of which Mr. Hugh Spottiswoode was one. At the Law Courts, Sir Forrest Fulton, in the presence of the Japanese and Italian Ambassadors and many of the Judges, briefly reviewed the public career of the Lord Mayor. The 1-ord Chief Justice
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The Rrview op Reviews.
then congratulated Sir Vezey Strong on arriving at so distinguished a position at the unusually early age ot" fifty-three. The new Lord Mayor ha i devoted much attention to the administration of the criminal law and to the prison system, and the Lord Chief Justice assured him that the Government would welcome any suggestion from him concerning prison reform. The Lord Mayor then took the oath as Chief Magistrate, which was read out by the King's Remembrancer.
On its return the procession took its usual course along the Strand to Charing Cross to the City by the Embankmer.t. In the evening the Guildhall Library was fitted up as a kind of Throne Room for the Lord Mayor. Shortly after six o'clock the Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress— who was accompanied by ten Maids of Honour — were escorted by the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs' Com- mittee, wearing their mazarine gowns and carrying silver-tipped wands of office, to their throne on the dais. For nearly an hour the principal guests filed down the Library between the crowded ranks of interested spectators, the Royal Regiment of Artillery playing music the while, and the audience welcoming with applause the civic favourites and the leading nobles. The Bishop of London was loudly cheered. The Mayors of all the London boroughs were present. The City Trumpeters, blowing a fanfare, announced the arrival of the Lord Chief Justice ami His Majesty's Judges, robed in scarlet gowns and wearing full-bottomed wigs. Mr. Birrell came, the .Archbishop of Canterbury, Mr. and Mrs. Winston Churchill, Lord Beauchamp, Sir John French, the Ministers of various foreign Powers, and then at last Mr. Asquith, accompanied by his daughter, arrived. The company then made its way to the Great Hall, where the guests took their allotted places waiting for the arrival of the procession which, heralded by silver trumpets, came down the Hall. The Lord Mayor with the Countess Beau- champ headed the procession, and the I'rime Minister and the Lady Mayoress followed. Grace having been said, not sung, the banquet
was served. It was a good dinner, well served and not bj^'any means overdone. After Grace, the loving cup was passed round the high table. The Lord Mayor, as befitted a temperance man, made only a pretence of touching the intoxicating cup, which was passed from hand to hand with graceful courtesies.
The speaking then began. Of that there is no need to say anything more than this, that Mr. Asquith, who did not speak so well as usual, disappointed everybody who hoped he would say something as to the chances of the Conference. Sir John French, who spoke for the Army from the body of the Hall, was not very audible, neither was the Admiral. Sir Rufus Isaacs, however, made himself heard. The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Chief Justice spoke briefly ; but the speaker of the occa- sion was the Lord Mayor himself, who, despite the labours of the day, seemed as fresh as a daisy. Alike in tO)ie, manner and delivery, and the substance of his remarks, nothing could have been better. When the guests dispersed everyone felt that the new Lord Mayor had made a most successful debut.
After dinner the company adjourned to the ball- room and the concert-room, where dancing and music detained the guests until the early hours of the morning. Such, in brief, is a rapid survey of the making of a Lord Mayor.
v.— CONCLUSION.
I have now followed the Lord Mayor up to the threshold of his term of office. It is a matter of public satisfaction that in Coronation year the City of London will be represented by so worthy a Chief Magistrate. Not for the first time in its historic annals do its citizens see verified the "ancient saying, " Seest thou a man diligent in business, he shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before mean men."
Sir Vezey Strong is a man of boundless energy, of high ambition, who combines the most hopeful outlook towards the future with the most reverent enthusiasm concern- ing the heritage of the past. " He is a great man," said Rhodes of the Kaiser : " he has an imagination."
The Arras of Sir Vezey Strong, with pictures of the Ward he represents (Queenhithe) before the Great Fire
and as it is to-day.
(A detail from the invitation cards sent out for the banquet.)
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Photo,i
A Characteristic Portrait.
We may say the same thing of the Lord Mayor. He has an imagination which is stimulated instead of being crusiied by the mass of historical relics with which a Lord Mayor is encompassed. A resolute reformer is ever the truest conservative— with a small C. Sir Ve/.ey Strong is not afraid of new ideas. He has from the first been a fervent teacher of the great doctrine of the essential unity of the English-speaking race. Yet he is sufticientiy free from race prejudice to recognise that it is Esperanto which alone has any chance of being adopted as the supplementary key language of all nations.
The Lord Mayor is fortunate in having at his right hand in the Mansion House a Lady JNIayoress w'ho has long been an earnest worker in the world of charitable endeavour. Lady Strong — who is a daughter of th- late Mr. James Hartnoll, the pioneer ot model dwellings in London, and a man who.-e memory is held in affectionate remembrance for the great work he did in that and other directions — identifies herself thoroughly with the philanthropic phase of .NLmsion House life. Those who have enjoyed the hospitality of " Ganwic " know that the Lady Mayoress is a born hostess as well as a good wife.
So trained, equipped, and prepared for his respon- sible duties, Sir Vezey Strong starts on his year of office with everyone's good word and the best wishes of all who in the past half century have learned to know his sterling merit and to appreciate the great qualities of his head and heart.
THE ASSOCIATION OF HELPERS
And rnK (Ii.ni.kai. ICi.kli iu.v. Is- accordance with the usual practice, I asked my IIelp;rs, Corresf)ond<-nts, and .Associates who are in I ivour of the l-ive-fold Ideal of .Service to interro- gate candidates in their con.stituencies upon the following subjects: —
1. .Arc you in favour of Hiving woiiicn all rights ami l^iivilcges of citizenship on the- same terms thai Ihcy are given to men, ami in onler to do this will you supporl the Conciliation 15111, with suili amemJmcnIs as are necessary, to enahlc all marrie<l women lo vole on their husband's (jualificalion ?
2. .Are you in Aivour of a root-and-branch reform of the I'oor Law which would impose upon municipal and national authoiilies the pnvenlifin of destitution and the employment of the wo^klc^s wjirker ?
3. Will you support the () ivernmenl in taking whatever sups are necessary to prevent the Peers meddling with Finance .ml from maiming or rejecting Bills p.issed by the House of Commons ?
4. Will you vote the supplies necessary lo maintain a navy t»ice .-IS strong as that of the next strongest European Power?
5- Will you resist any and every attempt lo impair the principle of voluntary military service, while at the Same lime encouLiging every eliVirt to secure universal physical training for the youth of both sexes?
6. .Are you in favour of boycotting any Power that draws the sword without first submitting the dispute to an iniernational judicial body for examination as to its merits?
I have to thank these of my Helpers who have already responded to the appeal and also to those candidates whose answers have already come to hand. Owing to the suddenness of this appeal to the country it was only through the immediate voluntary assistance of my Helpers that we could bring the objects of our Association before the attention of the constituencies. One or two Helpers, or correspondents, have demurred to the two-keels-to-one proposition, and they have, as of course they were bound to do under the circumstances, declined to j)ut that question to their candidates. That two keels-to-one is a very modest proposition may be seen from the fact (i) that it merely asks that the s/litus quo shall not be altered for our benefit, and (2) that it does not adequately correspond to the immensely greater interests of Great Britain on the sea to those of the ne.\t strongest Naval Power. The Islanders, who are also asking candidates to support this excellent formula, support it by the following preamble : — Considering our coast-line exceeds that of the next strongest
European Power by 7,071 miles ; .And that our overseas trade is greater by 93 per cent, imports,
133 per cent, exports ; .And that ihe mercantile marine of the British Empire exceeds
that same Power by 10,437,950 tons ; .And considering our Dominions overseas, our Colonies and
Eastern Empire, are out of all proportion to those of the
next strongest European Power ; And considering also that we have no universal service ; Do you think that our Naval .Supremacy can lie .ade- quately maintained at a standard of less than Two Keels
to One I
SS8
Leading Articles in the Reviews
GERMAN DESIGNS ON HOLLAND AND TURKEY.
A Veii.ee) Unofficiai, Uliimatum. Much the most serious, and in some respects the most alarming, article that has appeared on foreign aftairs for some time is Sir Harry Johnston's article in the Nincttriith Century on " German Views of an Anglo-Ger.nan Understanding." Sir Harry Johnston is a friend of peace and a friend of Germany. As an e.x-British Pro-Consul he has a wide experience of the world and its ways. He has been through the principal towns of Germany in the autumn of the present year, and during his visit he has made it his special business to ask German officials, German politicians, heads of industries and of great commercial firms why Germany is forcing the pace in the matter of naval construction. Sir Harry Johnston made this inquiry with an anxious desire to see whether or not it was possible to slow up the " beggar-my-neigh- bour " race of armaments. Hence he is a collector of evidence who cannot be accused of any bias, save in an anti-Jingo direction. It is this which renders his article so menacing, for with such an unimpeach- able witness we can no longer dispute the weight of the testimony.
THE PRICE OF AN UNDERSTANDING WITH GERMANY.
Sir Harry Johnston says that he takes no notice of the unreasonable aspirations of the German Jingoes. He embodies in his paper what he tells us may be considered the average views of enlightened and intelligent Germans. After such a preamble it is somewhat startling to be told that Sir Harry Johnston has come to the conclusion that no understanding is possible with Germany, and that therefore there can be no abatement in the headlong race of naval armaments unless Great Britain enters into a compact with Germany, written or unwritten, which will make over to the German Empire, as part of the domain in which she exercises dominating influence, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and all the appur- tenances thereto, the Balkan Peninsula, and all that remains of the Turkish Empire. These are the terms of settlement with Germany. If this had been stated by Mr. Maxse in the pages of the Nattcnal Rti'inu it would have been laughed at. Coming from Sir Harry Johnston, as the result of his conversations with the average enlightened and intelligent German, it is calculated, if not to " stagger humanity," at least to stagger all those good people who have been working against the two-keels-to-one standard on the basis that the Germans only wished to be left alone, and that the growth of their fleet was not in any way intended as a menace to the naval supremacy of Great Britain.
(l) TURKEY.
To show that this is not exaggeration I will quote textually from Sir Harry Johnston's statement. Here, as an instance, is his summary of what the Germans
say regarding their modest ambitions in the Near East : —
They propose as their theatre of political influence, com- mercial expansion, and ayricultiiral experiments, the un- developed lands of the Balkan Peninsula, of Asia Minor, and of Mesopotamia, down even to the mouth of the Euphrates. They might be willing, in agreement with the rest of the world, to create an Eastern Belgium in Syria-Palestine — perhaps a Jewish State — which, merely by the fact of its 'being charged with the safe-keeping of the holy places of thristianity, would quite possibly become undenominationally Christian. A Turkish Sultanate might continue to exist in Asia Minor, just as there will probably be for centuries a King or Queen of the Netherlands, of Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Bulgaria, and Roumania ; but German influence at Constantinople would become supreme, whether or not it was under the black- white-and-red flag, or under the Crescent and Star ensign of Byzantium.
" Why should this worry you ? "• said the Germans to Sir Harry Johnston. " It might inconvenience Russia, but we could square Russia, and in return for the acceptance of our treatment of Constantinople we would give her the fullest guarantees regarding the independence of Denmark, and possibly even we might admit the right of Russia to an enc/ave on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus, and to a sphere of influence over Trebizond and Northern Armenia, besides recognising the special need of Russia to obtain access to the Persian Gulf through Northern and Western Persia."
(2) HOLLAND.
So much for the designs of Germans upon the possessions of the " Sick Man " of the Near East ; but again, to quote Sir Harry Johnston, if we want an understanding with Germany we must accept the virtual incorporation of Holland in the German Empire. As enlightened and intelligent Germans told him, " Of course " — please note this " of course " —
of course, this Anglo-German understanding would include (whether it were publicly expressed or not) a recognition on the part of Britain that henceforth the kingdom of the Netherlands must, by means of a very strict alliance, come within the German sphere. We have already brought pressure to bear on the Dutch Government to ensure this. We intend to stand no non- sense or to admit no tergiversation in this respect. So long as Holland consents to be more nearly allied with the German Kmpire than with any other Power, so long its dynasty, its internal independence, and the governance of its oversea posses- sions (in the which more and more German capital is being sunk annually) will remain completely undisturbed. But you may take it from us that an alliance for ofl'ensive and defensive pur- poses now exists between Holland and Germany, and that the foreign policy of the two nations will henceforth be as closely allied as is that of Germany and .\ustria.
A VEILED MENACE.
Suppose we were to refuse to agree to the German appropriation of Turkey and Holland, then the en- , lightened and intelligent Germans with whom Sir Harry Johnston has been conversing declare that " Of course " — again " of course" — " if you drive us to extremes and block us in all other directions by refusing to co-operate with us in the removal of our
Leading Articliis in run Riiviiiws.
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nciglil)ours' landmarks and enclosing territories in Kiiropc and Asia " —
wc may put llie wIidIo quolion In llie tist v.ln;ii tin- ri^lil opportuiiily comes by occupyiiit; Bclgiuni (ami UoU.-iml), \>y throning iloivn l!ic yage of bailie to France ; ami, as the oiitcoine of victory, incorporate within the German sphere not only Holland uml U.-lgimn but also I'icanly. That wouUI be our way of comniencini; the duel with Great lirilain.
There you have the ultimatum hardly veiled.
Bui we shuuUI make use of our navy to defend the approaches to Ibillaixl, liclgiuni, anil Denmark, and we ask you what sort of tiTorts you would have to make in the way of army organisation to be able, even in alliance with l''ranc<- and Russia, to turn us out of the Low Countries if you compelled us to occupy them.
THE MORAL — TWO KEEI.S TO ONE.
Concluding his paper, Sir Harry Johnston repeats that this ultimatum expresses the views of representa- tive Germans, and sets forth quite clearly the ambitions and intentions of educated and thoughtful people in the German Empire. He speaks with disdain of the ignorant, rancorous and ill-informed Germans whose views he mentions, but he does not speak of the ignorant, rancorous and ill informed Germans whose views are still more extreme. He warns us not to go on living in a fools' paradise. He thinks there is no need for us to take these German Jingoes seriously : —
But for us to go to the opposite extreme and pretend that all is well, that Germany and Austria are quite content with the annexation of Bo^nia-Heizegovina, that there is no convention existing or aboui to exist between the Netherlands and tier- many, and that Germany and Austria are building fleets and training armies merely to find an outlet fur their taxpayers' money and the energies of their people, is dangerously ridiculous.
With such handwriting on the wall as this even the most inveterate optimist must recognise that there is nothing that we can do save to keep up the naval s/afiis quo, which is roughly that of two keels to one. There is nothing else to be done.
THE FEDERATED FARMERS OF THE WEST.
Much attention has of late been drawn to the demand of the embattled farmers of the Canadian West for Free Trade. In the Canadian Magazine for November Mr. George Fisher Chipman sketches the development of the co-operative spirit among Western Canadian farmers. He tells how in the old days the grain growers were fleeced by the railways and fleeced by the owners of the elevators, until at last " the worm turned." A Royal Commission investigated conditions, and the Manitoba Grain .Vet placed the grain trade of the entire West under federal jurisdic- tion. Still little relief came to the farmer. Then W. R. Motherwell, an ordinary farmer, now Minister of Agriculture in Saskatchewan, resolved to make railways and elevators exist for the benefit of the farmers rather than vice versa. He met Peter Dayman, another farmer, in 1901, and formed in that year the beginning of a Grain Growers' Association. The Association began to
prosecute railway agents for breaches of the Mani- toba Grain .Vet. Grain (irowor.s' .A.ssociations began to spring up in all parts of the West. At presert there are about 28,000 farmers on the prairie united, anil the number is expected to increase to 100,000 within a few years. They constitute " a power for good that has never been e(|ualled in Canada." They have attacked monopoly wherever they have found it. They see that if anything is to be accomplished towards making Canada the nation it should be, "the farmers must be farmers all the time and party poli- ticians never." Monopolists and (jovernmeiits are now beginning to be very respectful, if not servile. The farmers want to see the principle of the initia- tive, the referendum, and the recall established as a part of the constitution of every Canadian legislature.
THE AMERICAN MOTOR RUSH. In the American Revieiu of Rei<inus Mr. E. M. Wi.'st describes the meteoric rise of the automobile industry. In five years' time the value of cars manu- factured has sprung from 56 million dollars to 240 million dollars. The number of employtis in motor works and in accessory industries is estimated at 1,685,600 men, involving a population of nearly seven million people. The Middle States seem to be the greatest purchasers, taking 25 per cent, as against New England's 10 per cent. Stories are told of enormous fortunes made very rapidly. ' A Detroit mechanic conceived an idea of supplying a small car at low price, but, after being everywhere derided for his pains, got a stove-maker to advance him ;^4,ooo to start with. To-day both the mechanic and his backer have become millionaires. .Inother mechanic working for ^^5 a week is now at the head of a combination of automobile concerns which is capitalised at 30 million dollars. In Cleveland, Ohio, a small manufacturer of bicycles designed and built a car which created a panic when it first appeared, and led to his arrest. But within a few years the little bicycle maker's fortune was counted in millions. The writer claims that the highest clase .American cars have caught up to the European makers. The demand for pleasure cars is not expected to increase with the same rapidity, but a great future is expected for business motors and for gasoline tractors on farms.
The features that most strike the eye in the Christ- mas Quiver are a series of beautifully selected and tinted pictures illustrating " The Coming of the Snow " ; and a vividly illustrated sketch of Christmas in Merrie England of the old time.
In the English Review for December Mr. Joseph Conrad begins his sketches of revolutionary Russia in the shape of a serial called " Under Western Eyes." Mr. Thomas Hardy contributes a poem entitled " The Torn Letter." There is a short story entitled " Miss Cal," by Elizabeth Robins, and Mr. Arnold Bennett continues his sketches of " Paris Nights."
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The Review of Reviews.
OUR NEW DISRAELI. Mr. Garvin's Defence of His Consistencv.
Mr. J. L. Garvin has been the political hero of the month. He laboured heroically for a .settlement by way of the Conference on terms which would render possible the reconstruction of the Empire on the principle of Devolution. But when the Con- ference failed he threw himself into the field with a characteristic war-whoop and did his utmost to incite the Tory legions to battle under the familiar banner of " Home Rule, Home Ruin." He invented also the scurvy cry against Mr. Redmond as the Dollar Dictator, and started the Tory pack full cry upon the new scent. This sudden reversion to the Old Adam occasioned, naturally, some mild surprise among tiiose who did not know the new Disraeli, who, like his predecessor, has to educate the stupid party by pandering to their prejudices in order to induce them to abandon what they imagine to be their principles.
In the Fortnightly Reviciv Mr. Garvin explains and defends his change of front. It amounts to little more than a paraphrase of the famous phrase uttered by Lord Dalhotisie on the eve of the Sikh War : —
" I have wished for peace, and have longed for it,- and I have striven for it ; but if the enemies of India determine to have war, war they shall have, and, on my word, sirs, they shall have it with a vengeance."
Mr. Garvin says: —
Nothing could be plainer than the position of those Unionists who advocate, and will not cease to advocate, an attempt to tievise a moderate Irish settlement by the method of Conference and upon a non-party basis. These "Federalists" are Mr. Redmond's determined opponents. At present, for Con- stitutional reasons as for Irish and Imperial purposes alike, the essential thing is to break Mr. Redmond's domination over the House of Commons, to re-establish Parliamentary institutions in this country upon the basis of fundamental securities and guarantees, and to restore moderate government in a form equally independent of Mr. Redmond's faction on one side and of the Socialist faction on the other. That is an object as sane and great as Englishmen have ever yet been summoned to fight for in politics. It is an object they will yet achieve.
If the spirit represented by Mr. William O'Brien, by Lord Dunraven, and by Mr. Healy continues steadily to increase its hold upon Irish opinion. Unionists cannot refuse to negotiate with it.
But as the Liberal four refused to break with Mr. Redmond, Mr. Garvin declares that the supreme duty of the hour is to break both the Liberal Party and Mr. Redmond in order to save the Crown from humiliation and the realm from ruin. He does not venture to hope for a Unionist majority ; but —
even the gain of luenly or thirty seats by the Opposition would be sufficient l"or the main purpose — would compel a settlement by consent, would protect the Crown from the approach of pressure, and yet wouUl give the country an Upper House of incomparable dignity and authority.
If the country turns a deaf ear to Mr. Garvin's ap|ieal he threatens that the Peers will decide to die fighting. He says : —
If the Coalition were relumed by its present majority or more, ihe Peers would be asked once again to accept the measure establishing the complete supremacy under the Constitution of
any odd faction happening to hold in a particular Parliament the balance of power. If that measure were rejected, as it would be, constraint would be put upon the Sovereign to cause the making of some five hundred puppet- Peers, created to destroy not only the House of which they were nominally made members, but the last Constitutional security of the Monarchy itself. It is idle to think that the Peers could now yielil to a threat. Either Mr. Redmond's revoli.tion would fail at last or the puppet- Peers would have to be made. The reason is obvious and paramount. To insist upon the actual creation of the emergency Peers would be necessary because that object-lesson would be the death-blow to the Coalition ; would rouse the whole country in time to ruin Mr. Redmond's purposes; and would ensure the restoration at no distant date of another long period of moderate government.
Probably before then Mr. Garvin will have dis- covered that his dukes have no more stomach for fighting.
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Driving rain and bitter wind, little blue toes peeping through broken boots a world too large, shivering children by fireless hearths — such is the preparation in Walworth to-day for the celebration of the Birthday of the Heavenly Child. Will our readers help to bring something of warmth, of comfort, of childlike joyousness, to these children, already too old in the knowledge of the miseries of earth ? We want food and fire, cosy garments and sound boots, toys and games, or the money to buy these. Any help will be gladly welcomed, and should be sent to the Warden, F. Herbert Stead, Browning Settlement, York Street, Walworth, S.E.
Leading Articles in thi- Riivii:ws.
561
THE WHITE SLAVE TRAFFIC.
A NOTAKI.E CoNCRKSS IN MaDKIU.
For some reason or other the tlaHy pajiers appiar 10 have preserved a conspiracy of silence with regard to one of the most notable Congresses held this year on anv international suhject. The fourth Interna- lionil 'Con';ress for the siip|)ression of the White Slave Trartic, which met at Madrid the last week m October, has been passed over as if it were a matter unworthy of serious attention. The newspapers which save whole broadsheets to reporting the trial of Cri'ppen could not spare even a mtagrc half- column to re|)ort an International Congress dedicatul to the remedving of ghastly cruelties, compared with which the crime of Crippen may be regarded almost in the lis-ht of an act of beneticence. There seems 10 be an invisible reluctance on the part of the ordinary journalist to grapple with the question which of all others ought to ajipeal most to the sympathetic mind of any man born of a woman. The fact, however, is otherwise, and as a consequence the British public is kept in the dark as to one of the most promising international movements of our time.
Mrs. Archibald Little, who was present, supplied me with an interesting and vivid description of the remarkable reception accorded to the delegates by the Court and Cabinet of King Alfonso. In this respect the Spanish King has set an example to our own monarch. English Society would indeed rub its eyes if King George and Queen Mary were to bestir themselves as actively in support of the work of the N:itiona! Vigilance Association as the King and Queen of Spain have done this autumn in wel- coming the representatives of fifteen nations, who assembled ni Madrid to discuss the best means of suppressing the White Slave Traffic, .\bout four hun- dred delegates were present. The Government voted ;^5,ooo to be spent in showing hospitality to the members of the Congress. Considering how some members of the Cabinet cut down ^Ir. Lloyd George's proposal to create an International Peace and Hospitality Fund, and doled out a miserable pittance for purposes of entertaining distinguished foreigners in London, this lavish generosity of the Spanish Govern- ment deserves to be held in grateful remembrance.
Mr. W. A. Coote, who from the first has been the heart and soul of the whole movement, tells what was done at the Congress in a Blue-book kind of style in the December number of the Etii^lis/iwoi/ian. But his paper gives little or no idea of the enthusiastic welcome accorded to him and to his fellow-delegates. It was indeed rather embarrassing, because, consider- ing the mournful nature of the subject which they were engaged in discussing, many of the English delegates deemed it unseemly to wear other than sombre apparel. But they found themselves suddenly whirled into the midst of fetes, in which gala per- formances at the Opera alternated with receptions at Royal Palaces. A special train was provided for them to go to Toledo in order that they might have
every advantage of seeing the greatest of all 'he sights of Spain. At the Congress speeches were made in Spanish, English, German, and French, but although there were many languages there was only one mind among all the delegates. Whether it was as to the need of a uniform legislation with regard to Servants' Registry Otfices, or (as to the sources in which the White Slave Traffic has its roots, the Congress was practically of one mind. England was officially represented by Mr. F. S. Bullock, Assistant Commissioner of Police, and Mr. Claude Russell, Attache at H. B. M. Embassy. Don Carlos, the King's brother-in-law, received the delegates at the opening ceremony. The Prime Minister would have addressed them at the close had he not been compelled to ask another Minister to take his place owing to the sudden death of hi^brother.
The two Princesses attended all the discus- sions, and the Infanta Isabella interested herself actively in" the details of the management. At her reception her palace was thrown open to the guests, all the apartments being free to the delegates, her own private sitting-room not excepted. At the King's reception Alfonso with his wife, his sister, whose face recalled to Mrs. Little Shakespeare's Catherine of Aragon, the Queen Mother, and the two Royal Princesses did the honours of the Palace. Most of the Spanish Royalties spoke excellent English. On another occasion they were entertained by the Mayor, and on the excursion to Toledo the represen- tative of the Cardinal Archbishop and the civil and military authorities welcomed the delegates to the city. Besides these functions, the delegates vfere taken to see all the sights of Madrid and the neigh- bourhood. They visited the benevolent institutions, and when the Congress came to an end they departed feeling that never before had their cause received such national and Royal recognition as it had done in Spain.
One extraordinary tribute to the Congress was an official notification that during its sitting all the official houses of ill-fame were closed in the capital. Six out of the eight Spaniards who took part in the discussion declared themselves entirely in favour of the abolition of State regulation of vice. The Con- gress was practically unanimous that one of the chief sources of the White Slave Traffic was to be found in the Government regulation of vice and the existence of the mnisons dc tolerances. The Congress advised each National Committee to endeavour to promote the passing of a law, so that any person may be punished as a criminal who, for monetary gam, induces a woman or a girl to lead an immoral life. It was also decided to ask Mr. Coote to organise a small Commission to proceed to Egypt to investigate the nature of the work there and what was necessary
to be done.
From every point of view the Congress was remark- ably successful, and no one ought to rejoice at that more than the nation where the initiative in the movement was begun.
562
The Review of Reviews.
M. BRIAND'S PAST. In the Positiiist Rn-iac Professor Beesly digs up a speech made by M. Briand at the Congress of the Socialist Party in December, 1899, in wliich he advocates a general strike, to be used, not for economic, but for pohtical purposes. The advantage of a general strike, he mentions, is its perfect legality, but he recognised that the great danger was from the army, which is at the disposal of the capitalist. But in the case of a general strike the army would not be so supple an instrument as it was in partial strikes. Strange to say, M. Briand seems to have anticipated eleven years ago his coup of this year : — ■
It might be objected that if the middle-class found the army numerically insufficient to deal with a simultaneous strike all over the country they would have a very simple way of increas- ing its numbers, namely, by mobilising the strikers themselves. " Yes, I agree that this would be a way. But in so serious a situation the middle-class, in my opinion, would think twice before putting muskets and balls into the hands of the strikers."
Professor Beesly objects to the parallel between M. Briand and Mr. John Burns as drawn by Punch. He declares that ^Ir. John Burns's career has been honourable, both to himself and to his colleagues. But M. Briand has now been locking up his old con- verts up and down France for doing the very thing he taught them to do.
THE RUSSO-GERMAN ENTENTE. Dr. Dillon takes a very gloomy view, in the Contemporary Reviciv for December, of the latest phase of Russian foreign policy, the " outward and visible sign " of which was the visit of the Tsar to the Kaiser and the appointment of M. Sazanoff as the suc- cessor to M. Isvolsky. He says that Russia is turning over a new leaf. She has publicly abandoned a position in diplomacy which she sees to be untenable, and while she does not repudiate the Anglo-French entente., is practically reconciled to Germany. She will not again protest against Austria-Hungary's designs ; she may even support the Bagdad Railway. This right - about - face, says Dr. Dillon, is an historic event. It marks a new departure. Russia will now withdraw into herself, gather up her forces, and watch outward events, as an interested but almost inactive onlooker. She will respect Ger- many's wishes and Austria's designs. T(iis change of front has been brought about in the first place by the discovery that France and England could not render her effective help in the Bosnian trouble ; but it has been expedited by the Tsar's discovery that he is much more in sympathy with the monarchic and absolute Germany than either the French Repub- lic or democratic England. Dr. Dillon thinks that the action of the 120 French Senators and 292 Deputies, who recently appended their signatures to an address to the Duma, protesting against Russian policy in Finland, gave great offence to the Russian Govern- ment, already irritated by the denunciations levelled against its reactionary policy by English Radicals and French Republicans. The feeling on the subject
of Russia's foreign policy which prevails among Russian Conservatives is that England, who has generally failed to keep her word, lacks an army ; while France quakes at every shadow of a Prussian Grenadier. Turkey, which is systematically violating Persian territory, joined forces with Persia, and con- vened a gathering to protest against England for endeavouring to secure the freedom of the Southern trade routes from brigandage. Dr. Dillon thinks that Germany will before long transform the Persian question, which hitherto concerned Russia and Great Britain only, into an international problem, with results unwelcome to the Powers of the Entente.
THE SATURDAY CIRCLE.
Where " the Freedom of a Race Began." Finland's struggle for freedom is sketched by A. MacCallum Scott in T. P.'s Magazine for December. He discusses the history of Finland from its union with Russia in 1809 to the first meeting of the Seima, or Finnish National Parliament, in 1S63. In the sub- sequent lull —
A small group of patriotic statesmen used to meet together in the early thirties in Helsingfors, which, after the Russian occu- pation, became the capital instead of .\bo. They called them- selves " The Saturday Circle," after their weekly day of meet- ing. The three most conspicuous figures in this group are now enrolled among the national heroes who have become almost objects of worship to succeeding generations. They were men whom the greatest Empire in Europe might be proud to claim : Snellman, the philosopher and statesman, Runeberg, the poet, and Lonnrot, the modern Homer, who went among the people, collected their immemorial songs and runes, and, weaving them together with matchless skill, gave the world a ne«', and perhaps its last, great epic. These men and their disciphs deliberately set themselves to build up in the minds of their countrymen the ideal of a Finnish nation, and to make them fit instruments to realise that ideal.
THE EDUCATIONAL LEVER.
But to raise the people they must use the vernacular as a vehicle of their lofty ideals. Therefore, though the leaders were themselves Swedish, they resolved that —
Their own language must be sacrifice.l. The language of the majority of the people must prevail. The barbarous and uncouth Finnish must be refined and developed, and fitted to become an instrument of culture and learning. They all set themselves to learn Finnish, which was to them a foreign language. They translated books into Finnish, they instituted Finnish schools, they established Finnish newspapers, and at a bound they reached the hearts of the people. For nearly fifty years the Finnish National Movement was a purely educational one, and in that half-century the Finnish leaders built up some- thing which all the arms of the Russian Empire could not destroy.
The writer says that, remembering the assassination of Bobrikoif and others, Russia returns to the task of repression in the belief that she has to deal only with assassinators — which the writer describes as a great mistake. He says the struggle will be a bitter one, it may be a long one, and Russia will tire before Fin- land. There is but one way of Russifying Finland, and that is by exterminating every Finn.
Leadinc; Articles in niii Revif.ws.
563
TRANSFORMING RURAL ENGLAND. Mk. 1'. E. (iKKKN, S|K-iial Commissioner to the London .)/(t:;a:inc, reports in the December number on wliat he calls the triumph of the small holder. Since the passing of " that rural Magna Charta of 1894," when I'arish Councils were given the power to take over land for allotments, he tiiuls the small holdings advancing, even in Surrey and Sussex and the Downs. The back-to-the-land enthusiast has even intruded upon the solitudes of Salisbury Plain. Special mention is made of the tract of country stretching from the Hanible River to Hishop's Waltham, where a chance e.\periment by a cottager disclosed the suitability of the soil of South Hants for early strawberry growing. To-day there are many hundreds of men earning their entire liveli- hood out of a few acres of strawberry plantations in the Southampton district.
THE landlord's T.'^X.
A significant fact is mentioned : — Not only does the land, now cut up into small holdinj;s, support a great many more English yeomen and their families than it did before, bu; it yields an enormous harvest to the land- owners in ihe shape of an increased rent-roll. Common or waste land, which a few years ago was practically worthless to the lords of the manor, now, through the industry of the labourers, brings in its £2 or ;^3 an acre rent.
So the toil of the cottager puts more money into the pocket of the landlord, who may do nothing. Similar, though slower, transformation has been made of the Vale of Evesham, of the flat fenland of Cambridgeshire, of a strip of Norfolk encircling the northern Broads, and of the Tiptree district of Esse.x.
FROM ^^ TO ^70 YIELD.
The County Council of Norfolk is continually being pressed by applicants for more land, though the large farmers oppose the demand. The case is mentioned of a man w ho could neither read nor write, who had no capital, and yet had grown from his allotment two and a half tons of black currants and half a ton of raspberries. Five years ago, when the land was grow- ing wheat, it contributed only ^7 per acre per annum to the wealth of the nation. To-day it realises ;^7o worth of food. Some farmers object that the men who work all their spare time on their own allot- ments are apt only to rest on the farmer's land during working hours.
IMPROVED WORKING HABITS.
Another farmer said of men working for them- selves : " They have got a new stroke, and now, from sheer habit, they keep up that faster stroke when they come to work for me." The small holders are chiefly working men. One man, who lost a hand many years ago, has yet managed to earn enough to build himself a cottage worth ^130, and to acquire the freehold of live acres. The writer refers to the 950 acres of Crown Lands in Lincolnshire, cut up into small holdings, chiefly 40 and 50 acres. Two hundred acres of this land, which before only supported
three men, now give a livelihood to thirty, and, he adds, everywhere we see the rise in land values.
RISK IN LAND VALUES.
■|'en years ago land which could have been bought for jT^^o an acre now realises ;^5o and jCOo. Out of io,ooo acres which comprise the rural district of Evesham 7.000 are cultivated by small holders. Once, before railways came, only four carts left the town laden with produce for Birmingham. Now there are fourteen railway stations within a radius of five miles surrounding Evesham. Farmland rented at 1 8s. an acre is to-day rented by small holders at £2 or jCi an acre.
THE PAY OF THE PARSONS, (i) In the Anglican Church. Under this heading the Snntiay at Home for November gives what it describes as startling facts concerning the payment of the clergy of the Church of England. The following summary of totals is sufficiently impressive : —
|
8 'S,*! |
0 |
Jj |
S, 1 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
8 j§ |
|||||
|
'^ |
^ si |
V |
•-< |
V |
s« |
*^ |
s« |
•5 '^ |
||||
|
V |
||||||||||||
|
» |
3 |
^ 1 |
W |
s |
3 1176^ |
3 87» |
9=5 |
0 278 |
0 12 |
E- |
||
|
Rur.ll Dioceses ... |
335 |
299; 567 |
47S ■»4l5 |
655- |
||||||||
|
Urb:m Dioceses... |
89 71 |
■63 |
144I 58' |
7'7 |
774 |
X139 |
390 |
408 |
4S4» |
|||
|
Welsh, etc.. Dio-» ce?es / |
43 77 |
"5 |
105 |
333 |
.11 |
.« |
105 |
II |
13 |
T |
1058 |
|
|
466' 447 |
845 |
7»4 |
2060 |
a 104 |
I7ig |
3159 |
756 |
69q'82 |
12151 |
No wonder, the writer e.\claims, that the number of candidates annually off"ering for ordination has dropped from 814 in 1886 to 580 in 1906. The unbeneficed clergy are still worse paid. The average ctirate received as deacon ^^130 per annum, increased when he priested to ^^'iso. Beyond this sum a very small proportion of curates ever go.
(2) In NONCOXKORMITV.
The pay of a parson in Nonconformist Churches is reported in the December Sunday at Home. In the Wesleyan Church the salary of a probationer rises from ;^75 to ^i°o> ''*"*^ ^ married minister from ^140 minimum to ^{^220, or occasionally ^^250 a year. In the Presbyterian Church of England there are four stipends under ;^ioo and thirty-four over ;^5oo. Four pay ^1,000 and over. The average for the 352 congregations is ^£'293. Baptist Churches in England "and Wales register 141 ministers receiving les^ than £lS a. year, 185 less than j^ioo a year, 145 receiving under ^120. Out of 1,189 pastors' stipends in England and Wales 326 have less than ;^ioo, 706 less than ^150, 1,025 less than ^250, and only 164 more than a living wage, namely, ^^250 and over. In the Congregational Churches the average stipend is ^^184; out of 1,152, 848 receive over ;i{^i2o per annum; 304 receive less than ^120. ".A Baptist pastor has the least enviable position in the Nonconformist ministry."
564
The Review of Reviews.
MORE ABOUT THE FASTING CURE. In an article entitled " The Humours of Fasting " Mr. Upton Sinclair publishes in the Contem- porary Review the sequel to the article which he published on the subject in a previous number of tlie Contemporary. In this he tells of still more wonders.
He says he has been inundated with letters from the general public, but he has not received a single letter from a doctor. Members of the faculty have assured him that it is impossible for any human being to subsist for five days without any sort of nutriment. But, says Mr. Sinclair, there are sanatoria in America where you may find hundreds of people fasting, and where twenty or thirty day fasts occasion no more runiark than a good golf score at a summer hotel. But not content with that, he tells us the remarkable story of a man who has achieved a record fast by abstaining from all food for ninety days. It must be admitted that he was a very fat man, and he lived upon his stores of fat. The longest fast of which the writer had heard before this hero broke the record was one of seventy-eight days.
The ninety days faster is a Mr. Fausel, who keeps an hotel in North Dakota. He took to fasting because he had grown so fat that he weighed no less than 3851b. He first of all fasted forty days, and he reduced his weight to 1301b. He went back to his hotel and found himself growing fatter than ever. So this time he determined to effect a complete cure, and went to Macfadden's place in Chicago and fasted for ninety days.
Mr. Sinclair says there can be no doubt what- ever as to the genuineness of this fast. The symptoms of fasting are as unmistakable as those of small- pox. First of all, you lose a pound a day in weight, and, secondly, when you are fasting your tongue is so coated that you can scrape it with a knife-blade. If you break your fast your tongue clears in twenty-four hours. He says it is a great mistake- to think that fasters are troubled by the sight of food, .\fter three days food ceases to have any attr.iction, and you are not troubled at all by the sight of the most appetising meals.
The only danger of the fasting treatment is that when you break your fast you get so dreadfully hungry you are tempted to eat everything in sight. The result is that your stomach, which has had nothing to do for some time, is apt to break down, and you may fill your whole system with toxins and undo the good of the treatment. Some fasters spoil the effect of the cure by trying to do their full share of work when they are doing without food. The proper thing to do is to lie about in the sun and read novels. •
Mr. Sinclair declares that he would rather spend his holiday in a fasting sanatorium than in an ordinary swell hotel ; in the former the inmates are making themselves well, whilst in the latter they are making themselves ill, and do not know it. That an
individual here and there may have died during the fast, he admits, but then he might have died anyway, and sometimes when death has occurred it has been in no way due to the fast.
Mr. Sinclair says that fasting as a religious exercise is very good for spiritually-minded people, and that in a prolonged fast you can do many interesting things with your subliminal self. But Mr. Sinclair says he finds life so full of interest just now that he has not much time to think about his "soul." He gets so much pleasure out of a handful of raisins, or a cold bath, or a game of tennis, that he fears it is interfering with his spiritual development.
The great thing about the fast is that it sets you a new standard of health. But if you wish to keep up that standard after you have resumed eating, you must give up tobacco and alcohol, avoid a too sedentary life and steam-heated rooms, and, above all else, self-indulgent eating.
ART COUPLES.
Famous Husbands and Wives in Art form the sub- ject of a beautifully illustrated paper in Pearson's, by Lenore Van der Veer. The writer says that most distin- guished men of the day have chosen clever women to be their wives. Politicians nearly always choose women of intellectual attainments. Theatrical folk mostly marry in the profession. So do musicians. Many painters marry women painters. Most pamters marry young. There are mentioned Sir Lawrence and Lady Alma-Tadema, Mr. and Mrs. J. Young Hunter, Mr. and Mrs. Stanhope Forbes, Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Normand, Mr. and Mrs. Titcombe, Mr. and Mrs. Harcourt, Mr. and Mrs. Gotch, Mr. and Mrs. Adrian Stokes, and Mr. and Mrs. Harold Knight. Newlyn seems to have been the place where most of these matches were made. Miss Armstrong, a Canadian student at the Art League in New York, came to Newlyn and chanced upon Mr. Forbes. Strangely enough, it was the success of Mr. Forbes's picture, " The Health of the Bride," that so far ensured his future as to make possible his marriage to Miss Armstrong. Mr. and Mrs. Normand first grew interested in each other when young art enthusiasts at the British Museum. Mr. and Mrs. Titcombe, as fellow-artists at St. Ives, Cornwall, fell in love almost at first sight. Mr. and Mrs. Harcourt fell in love as fellow art students, and married long before their student days were over. Mr. and Mrs. Gotch were fellow art workers in the early days of Newlyn. The writer maintains that the individuality of each artist is maintained unimpaired by marriage. In fact, she declares that few women painters of any period have shown such a truly masculine firmness and strength in their art as Mrs. Gotch.
The Ches/iam United Free Church Magazine for December, which is edited by the Rev. Walter Wynn, publishes an interview in this number with Mr. VV. T. Stead on the evidence of spirit return.
Leading Articles in the Reviews.
565
AGNOSTIC IN MIND, CHRISTIAN IN SOUL: Hi:nkv Sim;wicK, a Simkituai, Parapox.
A VF.KV beautiful appreciation of I'lofessor Henry Sicli;wick is given in Coniliill by Mr. Arthur C. lUnson. Perhaps the pith of his life is given in the I illowing extract : —
IFcnry Siilgwick was btouglit up in ortliodox Christianily ; \va> a devout and convinced Christian as a boy ; he had
11. ore or Icsa definite intention of taking Orders. These ten-
iicies were fostered both in his own home, where his mother
IS a devout Iligli Churchwonian, and still more by his father.
Vet he gave up all dogmatic faith. While in later life he grew to regard Christianity, from the sociological point of view, as indispensable and irreplaceable, he said that he found it "more and more incomprehensible how anyone whom I feel really akin to myself in intellectual habits and culture can pos- sibly find his religion in it. My own alienation from it is all the stronger bec.iuse it is so purely intellectual." He goes on to sav, " I am glad that so many superior people are able to become clergymen, but I am less and less able to understand how the result is brought about in so many thoroughly sincere and disinterested and able minds."
To speak with entire candour, the difficulty with him was to base any system of religion upon alleged facts, which he could not test, and whiih he did not believe to be true. He felt that in a matter of such infinite and vast importance as subscribing to an ontological explanation of the universe, he could not possibly found an active faith upon assumptions which he thought so unwarrantable.
And yet I have always considered Henry Sidgwick to be^ on the whole, the one man I have known who, if he had been a Christian, would have been selected .as almost uniformly exhibiting perhaps the most typical Christian qualities. He was so sincere, so simple-minded, so unselfish, so sympathetic, so utterly incapable of meanness or baseness, so guileless, so patient, of so crystalline a purity and sweetness of character, that he is one of the few men to whom I could honestly apply in the highest sense the word " saint." But if the deliberate abnegation of a particular form of religious faith is attended by no son of moral deterioration ; if, on the contrary, a character year by year grows stronger and purer, more devoted and unselfish, and at the same time no less appreciative of the moral cfl'ect of a definite belief, it becomes impossible to say that such qualities can only spring from a vital and genuine acceptance of certain dogmas.
CURIOUS FACTS ABOUT EGGS.
"Spring Eggs on the Christmas 'I'able " is the challenging title of a paper in the Wcrlii's Work oy " Home Counties." It appears that the total number of preserved eggs in this country ranges from eight to nine hundreti millions a year. Only one-twentieth of this large number are British. They are preserved from four to six months. The best time for preserving is April and May. An April egg is better at Christ- mas than an August egg. Six to seven months' time of preservation is the limit for commercial purposes. Cold storage is not the best method for preserving eggs, as they so rapidly deteriorate when taken out of cold storage. Water-glass, or silicate of soda, is the best medium in which to preserve eggs. Mr. Brown, the Hon. Secretary of the National Poultry Organisa-
tion Society, thus names and describes the different grades of eggs : —
The first-grade eggs arc usually called "new-laid" in ihe trade, and at this season of the year these eggs aic not more than five d.ays old. The bulk of them are produced wiihin two hundred miles of the point of con'-umption, and they either come from districts of Kngland or Wales or from Northern France in ihc J^iis de Calais. The second-grade egg is in ihe best trade called the " breakfast " egg. As a rule, this is al>oul from six to ten days old, and is derived from Ihe same area, only it has not been quite so expeditiously markcletl. The third -gr.adc eggs are called "fresh," and these would be, as a rule, Irish and Danish or from other parts of France, anrl a few of tlum from Northern Italy. The "cooking" eggs include those which come from countries farther off and there- fore are more elderly. The bulk of them are three to six weeks okl, unless they are preserved, when they arc much older. The class which is chiefly designated as " eggs " would include the lower grades of foreign eggs and Ihe smalls, the age of which is very unctrt.ain.
He says that in a cool, even temperature a woman can keep an egg on her larder shelf for cooking pur- poses for a month, for frying or poaching or other cooking up to a couple of months. All the eggs in a good shop, he says, are tested by experts by means of electric light. A really expert man can test from 1,500 to 2,000 an hour. Apart from cooking, eggs are used in making embrocation, gloves, bookbinding, photographic gelatine plates, and tiie like. People in other lands do not now export eggs in great numbers, as formerly, as they consume more of their own pro- duce. The value of poultry produce consumed in this country has been estimate 1 to be twenty-one millions sterling, of which nearly half came from abroad. Yet an enormous proportion of this number could be produced at home without any displacement of other agricultural products.
THROUGH MONGOLIA. A THOUSAND miles through Mongolia, from north to south, from Kalgan to Kiachta, in thirty-seven days, travelling by camel, pony, and camel-cart, is a feat performed by a man and a woman that might provide a thiilling volume of adventure. They passed through violent fluctuations of heat and cold, through bitter frost and blizzard, were exposed to innumerable hardships and piivations. But as these exploits were performed by the Rev. G. H. Bondfield and his daughter, being the Bible Society's agent for China, and devoting his furlough for the purpose of getting into touch with the Mongolians, and as it is recorded in the Bibk in the World, the monthly record of the British and Foreign Bible Society, the average reader thinks, " Oh, it is only the work of a missionary ! " When men go to explore for geographical purposes, that is a matter of universal importance. When they go to explore in order to help men to their best, that is to be left to the narrow circle of piety. Mr. Bondfield reports that the Mongols as he saw them were —
virile and willing to do their duty, patient and cheerful under difficulties, friendly and easily approached when they were understood and treated with proper consideration.
566
The RisViEW oi- Reviews.
MUSIC AND ART IN THE MAGAZINES.
Mr. Cyril Scott.
- Over the well-known initials " J. S. S." the Monthly Musical Record publishes a short article on Mr. Cyril Scott and his Art Work. Mr. Scott belongs to " the youilg progressive school of English composers" of which Dr. Richard Strauss recently spoke, and it is evident that Strauss believes that in the future English music will play an important part. Mr. Scott's gifts have been recognised in Eiigland even by those who object to his going out of the beaten track, and many of his songs have become great favourites. His piano pieces, we are told, may not please many at first hearing. The extraordinary juxtaposition of various tonalities may sound strange to our ears, but when we have become accustomed to them we are surprised that other composers had not discovered such striking tone-colourings. Mr. Claude Debussy, who himself has created a new musical language in which to utter his emotions and ideas, regards Mr. Scott as one of the rarest artists of the present generation.
Irish Origin of English Melodies.
Writing in the Musical Tunes for November, Mr. W. H. Grattan Flood gives evidence for the Irish provenance of the melodies of three English sea- songs, namely, " Rodney's Glory," " The Arethusa," and " To Rodney We Will Go." The tunes of the two former songs, he says, were composed by the Irish harper O'Carolan, while the tune of the third is an old Irish pipe melody of the early eighteenth century. O'Sullivan, an Irish poet who joined the navy and sailed with the English fleet under Rodney, wrote the ode entitled " Rodney's Glory " and sang it to O'Carolan's old air " Righ Sheamus " (King James). A glance at the music of this song is almost sufficient proof to Mr. Grattan Flood of the identity of the composer of the fine tune to which Shield set " The Arethusa."
Musical Honours for Women.
When Miss Ethel Smyth received the Honorary Doctorate of Music (Durham) last June, it was stated that it was the first degree of its kind conferred with- out examination by an English university on an English woman. According to the Musical Times of November, Miss Janet Salsbury, of the Cheltenham Ladies' College, who has just taken the degree of Mus. Doc. (Durham), is the first woman who has taken this degree by examination in England. Miss Annie W. Patterson, a well-known writer on musical subjects, is Mus. Doc. and B.A. of the Royal Uni- versity of Ireland. Queen Alexandra is an Hon. Mus. Doc. of the Royal Universities of Ireland and Wales, and Queen Mary is an Hon. Mus. Doc. of the London University. There is another success to chronicle. Miss Beatrice Harrison, the violoncellist, who has been awarded the Mendelssohn Prize of the Konigliche Hochschule at Charlottenburg, is said to
be not only the first foreign-born candidate but the first woman to obtain this honour.
Two French Decorative Artists.
Writing in the first November number of the Revne des Deux Mondes, M. Louis Gillet gives an account of the career of M. Albert Besnard, whom he regards as one of the successors of Puvis de Chavannes. But his work differs greatly from that of Puvis. It has not the same mural simplicity, the same monastic „ unity. Besnard is not the painter of a single subject, j The painter of St. Genevieve was the narrator of pious legends in a pure and archaic style. Besnard admired and studied his work, but he wanted to do something different. At last his opportunity came when he was permitted to execute paintings for the vestibule of the School of Pharmacy. In nine large frescoes he has illustrated the praises of pharmacy ; but what has made his work more famous is a wonderful series of eight smaller frescoes depicting the history of life on the surface of the globe. In the Nomietle Revue of November 15th M. Henri Chervet writes of another allegorical mural painter, M. Maurice Denis, who has just completed decorations for the cupola of a music-room. In feeling and inspiration he approaches even more closely the genius of Puvis de Chavannes.
A Plea for Amateurism.
In the November number of the Militate Monthly Mr. Frederick Rockell puts in a strong plea for Amateurism in Art. In the various spheres of paint- ing, poetry, the drama, music, and sculpture, the increase of amateurism, he writes, should have bene- ficial results. The educational value of a general diffusion of practical artistic knowledge would be incalculable, and he thinks we might even expect as a consequence a diminution of the evils of drink and gambling. For in creative work there is a joy but little inferior to that experienced in a communion- ship with the highest manifestations of genius. An amateur's sketch book may contain glaring faults, but probably the hours spent in artistic self-expressfon were filled with a keener delight than could have been gained from an equal amount of time spent in admiring the great masters in a picture-gallery. A large number of famous men have been in the truest sense amateurs. Specialisation leads to perfection in restricted activities, but this result is achieved at the expense of versatility.
In the Revue des Deux Mondes of November ist and isth will be found an interesting e^ay on Voltaire by Ferdinand Brunetiere, now published for the first time. Written about 1886-8, the first part deals with the first forty years of Voltaire's life, and the second with his poems and dramas. Also in the two November numbers of La Revue M. Fernand Caussy gives us a series of hitherto unpublished letters of Voltaire. They are addressed to various personages of the Court.
Leading Articles in the Reviews.
567
SHAKESPEARE'S HEROINES By Ei,i.kn Tekrv.
The feature of the Windsor Magtizhic Christmas Number is Miss Ellen Terry's paper on Shakespeare's heroines, with illustrations (some of which are in colour), of the writer in the ivls of Juliet, Rcatrice, Hermione, Ophelia, Portia, Viola, Mistress I'age, and Lady Macbeth. Other illustrations are given of famous pictures of Shakespearean heroines. Miss Terry, it is impossible not to think, was never in- tendrd by nature for the part of C)phelia ; she has not the type of face for the part.
The actor's or actress's criticism of a Shakespearean heroine is, after all, she says, his rendering of tin? part. When he conies to write down what he thinks about such and such a part, and how it should be played, he becomes "a literary critic of an inferior order."
I ilo not believe . . . tlicit .iny scholar has such adv.inlafjc^ as we have. They do not learn so much Shakespeare by heart, and that is (he way to feiutraU his meaning. They may have far more erudition, precisely as a man who studies religion scientifically h.is more erudition than a simple peasant sayini; an Ave. But which of the two, the professional theologian or the devout peasant, best knows what the ^Ki' means?
Miss Terry then recalls how, between the ages of seventeen and twenty, she was lonely, and " wanted a sweetheart." " Shakespeare became my sweetheart," she sa) s. " I read everything there was to read about my beloved one." This leads her to remark that she is sure " Titus Andronicus" is not by Shake- speare. She once asked Irving what he thought about this. " I can't say," he replied calmly, '■ I have never read it" — an answer which much im()re.ssed Miss Terry, and one which she contrasted with the pretentious claims of some critics to know and have read everything. " Put," Sir Henry went on, " I will guarantee that when J have read it I shall know more about it than A, or B, or C," men- tioning some literary folk. " Do you notice that they read the plays, and read them, and read them, but never penetrate further? When I read a play, 1 see it, I live it."
Miss Terry confesses to a great opinion of Shake- speare's women. Shakespeare —
brought the idea that women are human beini^s, with separate individualities — being no less important, if difterent from, men — to a point that no other writer before or since has ever reached .
.\s he preferred the dreamy type of man, the artist to the man of action, so he preferred resolute women —
gallant, high-spirited creatures, ever ready for action, a hundred limes more independent than the heroines created by the writers in these later days. With the exception of George Meredith's women, all nineteenth-century heroines seem singularly "back- ward " and limited compared with Shakespeare's. . . . None of .Shakespeare's women are faithful copies of living models. Perhaps that is why they are as much alive niw as they were
in the sixteenth century. Perhaps that is why they need no special type of actress to interpret them. Every good actress is Juliet, is. Lady .Macbeth, is Kos.alind, according to her ■magination, and the best actresses arc always right whatever heir inlerprelatiuns may be.
Speaking of dilTerent heroines. Miss Terry says that .Mrs. Siddons imagined Lady Macbeth as fair, feminine, perhaps even fragile, but she never att';mpted to play such a Lady Macbeth ; her physical form was against it. Of Bernhardt's Lady Macbeth, she says she wishes she could remember how she struck a certain note of horror. The actress who plays Juliet must remember that she is not an ortiimiry girl, still less an ordinary English girl. " I don't remember to have seen any Juliet who was great enough — great in passion as in daring." She would far rather see a young English actress attempt Viola than Juliet, although it was for long a kind of superstition that only a lifetime of experience enabled anyone to play this part. .Miss Terry, however, does not agree with this view. Lady .Martin's Rosalind she specially singles out for admiration. Speaking of her own parts, she thinks Imogen was one of the best. In the case of Lady Macbeth, Volumnia, and Hermione, she says she could not live down the superstition that she was too "womanly" and "tender" for such parts. Beatrice she thinks she could play, but was never swift enough. " I do not know," she concludes, " a single Shakespearean part that is easy to act."
A BRITISH FLAG RECAPTURED AFTER NINETY- FOUR YEARS.
Tn^ Journal 0/ the Royal United Service Institution for November gives the story of a British flag which was captured at the Battle of Quatre Bras. In that battle an attack of French cavalry was expected, and the 69th Regiment was in the act of forming square when the Prince of Orange rode up and ordered it to re-form column and deploy into line. Down came a strong body of French cuirassiers from adjoining cover, took the British troops in flank, and succeeded in completely " rolling-up " the regiment. In the midst of the confusion one of the colours was carried off by the French cuirassiers. From General Doiuelot, who had the flag, it passed to his nephew, General de Ricard, and again to his son, Louis Xavier de Ricard, who was keeper of the Chateau d'.-\zay-le-Rideau in the Touraine district in France. Louis gave the Ikitish and a Dutch flag to the hall porter in liquidation of a debt, and in 1909 an English officer. Captain J. P. Jeftcock, visiting this chateau, saw in the hall porter's lodge the flags labelled for sale. The price asked for the two flags was 600 fr. This was at once paid. The flag measures six feet square. It is in a good state of preservation. The Dutch flag is of no consequence. The 69th Regiment, to which the King's colour belonged, was raised in 1803 and disbanded in 181 6.
568
The Review of Reviews.
POETRY IN THE MAGAZINES.
The Madonna of the Poets.
The Irish Monthly published in August an article entitled " Non-Catholic Aves," in which Jessie A. Gaughan had collected a number of extracts from some of our great poets outside the Catholic Church singing the praises of the Mother of Jesus. In the November number of the same magazine the Rev. Matthew Russell, the editor, publishes a further collection of tributes to the Virgin by Protestant writers. Less familiar than the references of Words- worth or Byron is the hymn by Bishop Heber beginning, " Virgin-born, we bow before Thee." \\'illiam CuUen Bryant, in his poem " The Green River," says the sacred claims of motherhood make him think of the Mother of Jesus. To Bryant's beautiful prayer for mothers Mr. Russell adds a poem which Katharine Tynan recently contributed to an American magazine. It is the mother who speaks : —
I am the pillars of the house,
Tlie keystone of the arch am I ; Take me away, and roof and wall
Would fall to ruin utterly.
I am the tire upon the hearth,
I am the light of the good sun ; I am the heat that warms the earth.
Which else were colder than a stone.
I am their [the children's] wall against all danger,
Tlieir door against the \^■ind and snow. " Thou, whom a Woman laid in manger.
Take me not till the children grow ! "
The Maker and the " Little Maker."
" Carmen Genesis," by the late Francis Thompson, beautifies the pages of the Dublin Review. The first part describes in nine stanzas the creation, from the beginning to the making of man. The theme of the second part is suggested by the following two stanzas : —
Poet I still, still thou dost rehearse. In the great fiat of thy Verse,
Creation's primal plot ; And what thy Maker in the whole Worked, little maker, in thy soul Thou work's!, and men know not.
Bold copyist ! who dost relimn
Tile traits, in man's gross mintl grown dim.
Of the first Masterpiece — Re-m.iking all in thy one Day : God give tliee Sabbath to repay
Thy sad work uith full peace !
The third part is the prayer of the poet that no self-will shall bar him from exercise of his poetic gift — " Thy secrets lie so bare ! "
With beautiful importunacy
All things plead " We are fair ! " to mc.
Kruger in Verse.
It is a happy illustration of the happy temper induced by South African Union that the State of
South Africa for November can publish a sonnet to Oom Paul by Syned, which runs as follows : —
Cast in a rugged shape, an iron mould,
Untaught, unlettered, and yet strangely wise In reading men — their lust for power or gold
Standing revealed before those shrewd old eyes. Knowing the weakness of a stuljborn race,
And with the curb of a long-practised hand Guiding his burghers — and in fitting place
Using the pregnant phrase they understand. Strong with the strength of an unflinching will,
Stern as a man whose gifts with one accord Are concentrated on one end. Vet still.
Whether with practised tongue or naked sword. Whether his purpose served to save or kill.
Trusting through good and evil in his Lord.
BoER AND Briton Both " Sons of the Sea."
In the same magazine there are further indications that South Africa may yet become a nest of singing birds. Ethel Lewis, taking occasion from Lord Selborne's message, " May they never forget what they owe to the sea," writes a poem of sixteen stanzas on the sea as the bond and seal on the love of the Dutch and British sections of the South African people. Here is one stanza : — Now let us kinship claim, Brother, for love of the haunting
Sea, For love of the Sea and the slender boats that cradled you
and me ! And for joy in the glorious battle, the thrill of the chase and
the flight. Vanquished and victor, friend or foe, we met in many a fight ! And were we fighting face to face, or side by side, what now ? The splendid foe makes valorous friend and — helm to pointed
prow — One spirit manned those battling ships and filled the straining
sail. One spirit drove the rhythmic oars alike thro' calm and gale.
The Cradle Common to Both.
In the saine number also Herbert Price contri- butes a charming poem of twenty stanzas, " For a Baby " .—
Tiny, twinkling feet
With their peach-bud toes Each a thing more sweet Than sweet scents disclose. Awaking keener joys than any flower that grows.
Brows as smooth and pure As a dove's while breast. For no sins obscure
Yet what there is best : Thy hopes are siill asleep like young birds in their nest.
The Death of Tolstoy.
Mr. Maurice Hewlett contributes twelve lines of verse on Tolstoy to the Fortnightly Rnieii'. He begins : —
What shouldst thou do but die.
Titan entangled in foul circumstance 3 Too \^■ise, too pitiful thine eye
That in men's baseness wept their ignorance.
There is truth in the last two Hnes in which Mr. Hewlett sums up Tolstoy's teaching : —
Resist not, be too proud for that.
The burden of thy message to the lost.
LUAUINC. AkllCLliS IN Tllli
Rr-,\'n':\vs,
569
WHAT IRELAND WANTS.
In the Dccenihir iiumber of A'in//'s A/(ij;i7zi>ie Mr. John Redmoiul re-states for the liioiisaiuhh time tlie nature of tlie Irish demand. It contains absolutely nothing that is new; but just at this moment, when so mucii nonsense is talivcd concerning " the Di liar Dictator," it may be worth while to quote a few sentences from his latest authoritative state- ment as to the aims and aspirations of the Nationalist Parly. Mr. Redmond says : —
Wh.it Ircl.iiid wants is re.illy so reasonable, so moder.ilc, so coniinonplacp, in view of the experience of the nations, and ispcci.illy of tlie liiillsli Knipire, that, once it is understood, all the fears and arguments ol honest opponents niust vanish into thin air.
What Ireland wants is the restoration of responsible govern- nient neither more nor less. The Irish demand is, in plain and popular language, that the government of every purely Irish aft'tiir shall be controlled by the public opinion of Ireland, and by that alone. We do not seek any alteration of the Con- stitution or ^uproInacy of the Imperial Parliament. We ask merely to be permitted to take our place in the ranks of those other poitions of the British Empire — some twenty-eight in number— which, in their own purely local affairs, are governed by free representative institutions of their own.
Mr. Redmond proceeds to tell the story of Ireland's fight for her Parliament, an4 then continues to apply tests to the Government of Ireland since the Union of 1800.
Under Grattan's Parliament, Ireland's prosperity increased. Since the Union, her population and her manufactures have steadily diminished : —
" Education admittedly is 50 per cent, below the standard of every Kuicpcan nation," Mr. Redmond continues, "and the taxation of the country per head of the population lias doubled in fifty years, and by universal admission the civil government of the country is the mo.it costly in Europe.
"The total civil government of Scotland (with practically the same population) was in 1906 ;f2, 477,000. The cost of similar government in the same year in Ireland was ;f 4, 547, 000. Ireland's judicial system costs ;^20O,ooo a year more ilian the Scotch. The Irish police costs exactly three times what the police of Scotland costs. The numlwr of officials in Scotland is 963, with salaries amounting to ^^31 1,000. The nundier of officials in Ireland is 4, 539, with ssJaries amounting to ;f 1,412, 520. Per head of the |iopulation, the cost of the present government of Ireland is twice that of Englninl, and is far higher than that of Norway, Holland, France, Denmark, Portugal, Sweden, Italy, .Spain, Roumania, Bulgaria, Greece, Belgium, Switzerland, .\ustria-lluugary, Germany, or Kussia. In other words, Ireland, probably the poorest country in Europe, pays more tor her government than any other nation. The secret of the iniliuiency and the extravagance is identical — namely, the fact that it is a government not based upon the con- sent but mamtained in actual opposition to the will of the governed.
Mr. Redmond then describes the hi.stovy of the Home Rule agitation since 1873. He points out that the only difference between Mr. Gladstone's pro- posal of 18S6 and that of 1893 was that in his first scheme he excluded the Irish members from \\'est- * minster, and in the second he proposed they should he retained. " On this point," says Mr. Redmond, " Ireland is willing to accept whichever alternative England prefers." Mr. Redmond recalls that Mr. Parnell was willing to accept Mr. (Gladstone's Bill,
and, indeed, relerred to it as a final settlement of the ([iiestion. Thi; position in Ireland has not changed since then. The article concludes with a suminary of " What Ireland Wants" :—
"We wanran Irish Parliament, with an ereeulivc responsible to it, created by Act of the Imperial Parliament, and charged with the management of purely Irish affairs (land, education, local government, labour, industries, taxation for local pur- poses, law and justice, police, etc.), leaving to the Imperial Parliament, in which Ireland would probably continue to be represented, but in smaller numbers, (he management, just as at present, of all Im|>erial affairs — army, navy, ibreign relations, Customs, Imperial taxation, matters pertaining to the Crown, the Colonics, and all those otln-r questions which arc Imperial and not local in their nature ; llir; Imperial Parliament also retaining an over-riding supreme authority over the new Irish Legislature, such as it possesses to-day over the various Legis- latures in Canada, Australia, South Africa, and other portions of the Empire.
" This is 'what Ireland wants.' When she has obtained it a new era of prosperity and contentment will arise. As hap- pened when Lord Durham's policy was carried out in Canada, men of dift'erent races and creeds will join hands to promote the well-being of their common country."
THE STRENGTH OF THE BRITISH NAVY. " ExcuBiTOR," in reply to the Fortnightly Kevieiv, pays a high tribute to the genius of Admiral Fisher. He says : —
By astute administration, forethought and enterprise, the British Admiralty lias so I'ar won in the international contest of tons and guns. The Navy to-day, judged by its materiel and personnel — for it lias more olHcersand men than any two Powers — occupies a position of unassailable supremacy, and its pre- dominance is assured onward to the spring of 1913 — which was to have been the time of "crisis."
As for the accusation that the Liberals have starved the Navy, " Excubitor " points out that " during the last five years the aggregate expenditure upon the Fleet has amounted to ^^171, 340,052 ; whereas in the preceding five years of Unionist administration the total outlay amounted to ^167,706,201."
In construction we have kept up the standard of two-keels-to-one. Translated into terms of tons and pounds, in the past fifteen years the British and German expenditure on new construction, and the displacement of new ships launched, have been as follows : —
Cost of New Construction. New Construction.
Gt. Britain. Germany. Gt. Britain. Germany.
£ £ Tons. Tons.
1^190 to 1900... 42,812,987 12,506,997 556-335 '43.>89
190I to 1910... 110,942,957 63,144,330 960,436 522,220
"53.755.944 75.651,327 i.5'6,77i 665,409
" Excubitor" incidentally remarks : —
By adopting the Dreadnought principle, Germany was forced to re-buiid the Kiel Canal at a cost of ^^11,500.000, deepen her harbours, and enlarge her docks, at an immense outlay, which, but for the DreitiOiciig/it, might have been spent on naval power — ships, guns, and men.
The adoption of the i3;-inch gun has once more enabled Britain to gain on her rivals. " Excubitor" concludes with the complacent observation that —
British naval alTairs have been managed with a good deal of foresight, enterprise, and good judgment
570
The Review of Reviews.
THE POLITICAL CRISIS.
An' American Summing Up. Mr. Sydney Brooks, writing in the Fortnightly Review, says : —
The breakdown of llie Conference, it is true, registers the lowest point to which our political capacity has sunk within the memory of living men. We have missed an opportunity ; we have taken a long and lamentable step backwards. But we may yet be able to make in due time all the better jump. Personally, I am persuaded that, after all that has happened, the country recognises the justice of the Liberal contention that a party which represents sometimes more than half, and alw.ays only a little less than half, the entire electorate, should not be placed, by comparison with its chief rival, at a substantial and permanent disadvantage. The contention is, indeed, un- answerable.
But the Liberal policy inspires him with grave misgivings : —
Apart from the undesirability of dragging the King into the political arena, and of using, or appearing to use, the reserve powers of the Crown as implements of party coercion, are not the Liberals taking the very course which sooner or later is most certain to lead to a sweeping reaction and to the reversal of whatever work of destruction they may have accomplished ?
From the Irish Poini of View.
" An Outsider," writing in the Fortnightly Review, under the title " Home Rule a Live Issue," says : —
" Ireland," the Freiuians Journal wrote nearly twenty years ago, " has no objection to be the pioneer of the Federal Movement, but she refuses to wait for a convoy." That, I take it, is the position of to-day.
Canon Sheehan, writing on " W. O'Brien and the Irish Centre Party," says that under the influence of the Colonial and American Irish —
Slowly, but surely, this idea of our extreme insvdarity is
gaining ground on the mind of the nation ; and just now we are divided into three sections. Between the two extremes is the ever-growing, ever-widening, ever-expanding Centre, composed of men of both religions, and even of different races, who by reading and travel, and under the genial influences of modern ideas and modern civilisation, have come to see that there is an element of goodness everywhere ; and that the best way to turn an enemy into a friend is to trust him.
All " Blackwood " Dare Hope For. Blackwood's Magazine for December regards the Unionist prospects as decidedly hopeful ; but it would be content with the gain of a dozen seats, or even less, so that its confidence is not very robust. Blackwood pleads for a moral victory that carries with it a promise of a victory in the future.
Mr. Harold Spender, in the Contemporary Review states the issue before the country in a brief paper, in which he very clearly puts the case against the Lords. He declares that the real issue is whether the realm will consent much longer to the powers and privileges of the few over the life and labour of the many.
Is THERE A Conservative Left? In the A^neteenth Caitury Mr. W. S. Lilly discusses the question of the House of Lords from his familiar standpoint, quoting Aristotle and John Stuart Mill. The Upper Chamber must express the judgment as contrasted with the emotion of the nation, and assert the sanctity of right against the brutality of might.
Mr. J. A. R. Marriott, in a somewhat sardonic article, asks if there is a Conservative Party, and if so what it intends to conserve. Is it, for instance, to conserve liberty? If so, what about the Osborne judg- ment ? Is it to conserve property ? If so, what about the temptation to outbid the Liberals for the sup- port of the labouring classes? And so forth, and so forth.
Sir Henry Seton-Karr, in an article on the Radical Party and Social Reform, subjects Mr. Lloyd George's speech to a somewhat unsympathetic criticism.
Westmiitsier Gaiftte."]
Not happy now he has got it?
A.J.B.: "
the chance of
Only let him give me getting at him ! "
A. J. B. : " Here, I say ! What's the mean- ing of this ? It's quite unprovoked ! "
H. H. A. : "I thought you wanted the chance — and here it is ! "
The December part of Cham- bers's Journal vi a double number, containing, besides the ordinary articles, a number of short stories by Marion Bower, A. L. Holland Alfred Colbeck, and other writers. A short article tells of Memorial Shafts and Columns in this country. Of genuine Egyptian obelisks we have only five in the kingdom- Cleopatra's Needle, on the Thames Embankment, two others in the- British Museum, one at Alnwick Castle, and one at Soughton Hall, in Flintshire. Other obelisks are of native production.
Leadin(; Articli-.s in thi' Revii-:w.s.
571
DICKENS AS A SOCIAL REFORMER.
Thk (Jhami'ion ui. I'KisKNr Dav Li;(;isi,aii<)n. Thk J^ickens centenary is not due for over a year, l)tit already qrcat interest is heing taken in the event. 'l"he November B,'ol;miiii, though not (piitc a Dickens number, contains an article on the novelist and social reform by the well-known Dickensian Mr. B. W. Mat/..
TIIK NKKt) UK EDUCATION.
Not only did Dickens make his novels the vehicle for the remedying of many of the social ills and abuses of his time, but it is known by his speeches anil letters, writes Mr. .Matz, how keenly he had these things at heart. Also we have further evidence that he used his pen vigorously towards the same end in anonymous contributions to Household Words and oilier periodicals. Take the questions of prison reform, education, the housing of the poor, and the projcr care and welfare of children. On all these |)roblems we find that Dickens gave utterance to sentiments and facts regarding them that might have been written within the Tast few years. Education of the masses he looked upon as the panacea for most of the ills which beset life. In 1847 he wrote in an article on London crime that ignorance was the cause of the worst evils. He advocated schools of industry where the simple knowledge learnt from books could be made immediately applicable to the business of hfe, and directly conducive to order, cleanline.s.s, punctuality, and economy.
CONl-AMINATION OF THE PRISON TO BE AVOIDED.
At the time of the cholera outbreak in 1854 he addressed a striking article to working men, in which he called upon them to assert themselves and com- bine and demand the improvement of the towns in which they live. JJut it was our prisons which were a sort of nightmare to him. Keep people from the contamination of the prisons at all costs. Teach children not only that the prison is a place to avoid ; teach them how to avoid it. He also advocated the abolition of capital punishment, and though he was not successful in bringing about this change in the law, he was instrumental in doing away with public executions by a vigorous letter to the TitiHs which started the agitation.
THE NATIONAL TESTI.MONIAL.
Mr. Matz strongly approves of the scheme put I'orward by the Strand Maf^nzim; namely, tliat there shall be a specially designed Dickens stamp issued at a penny for purchasers to place in the covers of the Dickens volumes they possess, the money accruing from the sale to be handed to the Dickens family as a testimonial of the world's appreciation of what the great writer has done for the benefit of humanity at large. .Since the readers of Dickens are to be counted by millions, the number of small contributions should realise a large sum. Should the amount be a
huge one, and should there be any residue, Mr. Matz suggests that it be used for the purchase of one of the houses occupied by the novelist in London, pre- ferably 48, Doughty Street, to be retained by the nation as a museum to his memory, as Carlyle's house in Cheyne Row has been preserved.
THE FUTURE OF MR. ROOSEVELT.
In the North Aitu-rican ficiiav a Japanese writer tells us that " Colonel Roosevelt was characterised by a Japanese Profes.sor of International Law as 'a great but dangerous i)erson fond of war.' " In the Theoso- ////.iV Mrs. Bcsant .says :" There are whispers in America that hinnanity is not suffii iently developed for Republicanism, that a constitutional Monarchy would prove a better and purer form of Govern- ment. And with these floats about the name of Theodore Roosevelt."
Mr. W. Garrett J5rown, in a paper in the North American AVr/V?.-, entitled "The New Politics," dis- cusses Mr. Roosevelt's future. His article is by no means unsympathetic to the ex-President, but he is mortally afraid of a third term. In the following passages he gives his reasons for regarding the return of Mr. Roosevelt to the White House with uneasiness, not to say alarm : —
Th.ll Konsevell has from first to last been keenly ambiiioiis even his admirers do not deny. He h.is proved him.self not merely and)iiious, but of an imperious and arrogant impatience with whatever hinders or stays him, whetlier it comes from men or from laws. With men he has ayain and again displayed, now a tyrannous and coarse violence, now an indirection and sharp practice, which simply cannot be condoned.
However one considers such tliintjs as his dealings with Quay and Plan and Harriman, or his briital fury with his critics of the press and with Judye Parker and other political rivals, or his entire behaviour concerning campaign contributions in 1904, or the bullying and unfairness with which he has repeatedly met opposition, one's republican instincts and one's ii'isiincts as a gentleman are equally outraged. With laws he has been even more high-handed than with men.
Krom first to last he has been egregiously lacking in that scrupulous and reverent sense of law, of precedents, of institu- tions, which h.as been hitherto the rule of both American and Knglish statesmanship, and none of his public utterances shows the lack of that sense more glaringly than his recent setting forth of the "New Nationalism." Of all his predecessors in the White House only .Andrew Jackson can be compared to him in this respect. And Jackson, demoralising as his " reign " was, never was half so really dangerous.
So Strongly does Mr. Brown feel this that he appeals to Mr. Roosevelt to save the country from an.xiety on this account by a prompt and decisive declaration : —
Let him once pledge hiiiisi;if in pl.-iin words never again to seek or to take the Presidency, and his power to advance causes, his hold on public opinion, his opportunity to contribute what he has to contribute to the solution of the new problems, would not l)e less, but greater. If, however, he will not ilo that, his leadership, so far from helping us with our new perplexities, will merely complicate them with the old problem and danger which from lime to time has bc-et every experiment in republican government — the problem and danger of " the man on horseback."
572
The Review of Reviews.
IS MAN LOSING THE DRINK CRAVE?
In the Century Dr. H. S. Williams describes what he calls the advance of the water wagon, by which he means the apparent change of sentiment with regard to liquor drinking. He presents an interesting array of fact — first respecting the United States : —
When we consider, inoreover, that State-wide prohibition is now the law of nine States (Maine, Kansas, North Dakota, and Oklahoma, in addition to those just named), having an aggre- gate population of over twelve millions; that "local option" applied to communities in other States brings the total number of people living in theoretically "dry" territories to about forty millions . . . this growth is not merely sectional in scope, but is gener.al from Maine to Oklahoma, from Alabama to North Dakota ... It is, I think, a common experience of the man about town that his .associates in general drink less than they did five or ten years ago.
Next he takes Europe : —
For the last two or three yejtrs temperance lectures — of course, under official auspices — have been delivered from time to time on the warships of the German fleet. Now it is announced that Prince Henry has authorised the establishment of Good Templary in the Imperial Navy, and that the Order seems likely to thrive there.
In the Fatherland, which is still the home of beer, the deleterious effects of alcohol have been demon- strated in German laboratories. Consequently, German people, scientific to the core, must set about relinquishing alcohol. German Temperance Societies number more than 100,000. Temperance is included in the Prussian public school curricula.
In France anti-alcohol placards are posted on municipal buildings and in hospital wards ; and on the back of prescriptions issued by official dis- pensaries are warning words against the use of alcohol.
IS GREAT BRITAIN IMPROVING?
In Great Britain, of which the writer says " nowhere was alcohol more strongly entrenched," and more than 1,100 of the clergy are even now said to be stockholders in breweries, temperance teaching has in 1907 been included in the new school code : —
Men of the widest opportunities to judge assure me that even within the last five years there has been a marked change in the drinking habits of the average better-class Londoner. My own somewhat varied observations certainly seem to corroborate this opinion. Corroboration of a more technical character is fur- nished by the statisticians, who show that the expenditure for liquor in England in 1908 was less by over one hundred and twenty million dollars than it was for the year 1899, a fallin" off, otherwise stated, of §2. 35 in the average yearly expenditure for each man, woman, and cliild.
BREWERS AS TEMPERANCE AGENTS.
As Striking a sign of progress as any is the fact that the brewers of Ohio have recently spent 50,000 dollars for detective work, to reform the saloons and make them live up to the law I Everywhere, in recent years, the brewer is putting forward his claim to respect- ability, arguing that he makes a mild beverage, little likely to intoxicate, and that he is quite other than the distiller.
WHAT USED TO BE.
As a foil to all this, the writer contrasts old times : —
In the year 1S07 the society known as the Breihren in Christ was organised in a room over a distillery. In 1S32 the Bishop of Vermont wrote a book denouncing temperance-worker'j as infidels and oijponents of scripture. As recently as 1866 an article written by a Congregational clergyman, and published in a Biblical Encyclop.T^dia of good standing, acclaimed with gusto the alleged fact that the founder of the Christian Church w.a5 a maker and user of wine, and applauded the use of intoxi- cating beverages as the exercise of a Christian virtue. These illustrations suggest how difficult was the progress of the temperance sentiment. They afford us reminiscent glimpses of a time when to be an abstainer was to be rated a fanatic ; when there was no recognised ethical side of the temperance problem, when the deacons in the church were .as likely as not distillers, and when the minister received liquor as part of his salary.
To-day, as we all know, the liquor dealer is a social outcast ; as we have just seen, the liquor interests, even in their least offensive forms, are on the defensive, fighting for existencft
A STRANGE CHRISTMAS DINNER.
"The Best Christmas Dinner" is the subject of a
symposium in Fry's. It is contributed by leading
chefs, Madame Sarah Bernhardt, leading " outdoor
men," and others. Mr. Walter Winans, the crack
revolver shot, deprecates the drinking of wine, spirits,
or beer, and also smoking. Mr. Hugh D. Mcintosh,
the sports promoter, is personally a believer in the
" water wagon " and non-smoking side of life. Mr.
John l\Iackie, the explorer, recalls his Christmastide
when he and others were out exploring in the Never-
Never Country of the Northern Territory of South
Australia. The wet season had suddenly overtaken
them, their rations had practically given out, and this
was the menu that they finally concocted ; —
Hors d'ceuvres.
The Great Tree Caterpillar
Locusts.
Beche-de-mer
and
Kangaroo Tail Soup.
Fresh-wa:cr Crayfish,
Turtle Baked in Ashes.
Parrot Pie
and
Stewed Hawks.
Roast Carpet Snake.
Torres Straits Pigeons
and
Iguana Tail and Forelegs.
Curried Opossum.
Vegetables : Roast Yams, and Pig-weed.
Plum Pudding.
Billy-made Tea.
Liqueurs : Chlorodyne and Perry Davis's Painkiller.
Of course the plum-pudding was the feature of the feast,
which, upon tlie whole, passed off splendidly. The roast snake
was rather colourless eating, but I can still taste that currietl
'possum.
Mr. Hesketh Prichard, in describing in Fry's his trip across unknown Labrador, gives a vivid picture of the life of the Eskimos,' the coast folk of Labrador, concluding with a very warm eulogy of the service rendered to the Eskimos and the world generally by the Moravian Missions.
Le4UIN(, AkTicLiis IN iiii: RiiVii-.vvs
573
GOLDWIN SMITH IN LONDON.
SMARI SUMMAKIKS OK lC\riNKNr Cll Al< ACIKKS.
In the Ailiiiitic Monthly lor Novembi-r a|i|icars a paper by Goklwin Sniiili on " My Social Lile in London." It is full of bright sayings about eminent literary persons. Macaulay, he says, " talked essays and engrossed the talking." " Of all I'Inglish talkers that I ever heard, Macaulay seemed to me to be the first in brilliancy. He is the first in briilianey of Knsjlish writers, though not always sober or just." Hallani, the father of the son whose epitaph is " In Memoriam," was saiJ in early days to have been raihor a social terror. " It was said that he had got out of bed in the night to contradict the watchman about the hour and the weather. Sydney Smith said that the chief use of the electric telegraph would be to enable Hallam to contradict a man at Birming- ham." Thackeray impressed him as a man of " perfect simplicity and good-nature." If cynical, his cynicism did not appear in his face or manner. Mr. Smith became very intimate with Tyndall, and greatly loved him. Lady Ashburton was, he said, a great lady, perhaps the nearest counterpart to the queen of a French salon. Her person was majestic, her wit was of the brightest, but she had depth bf character and tender- ness of feeling. Carlyle's talk was like his books, but wilder. His pessimism was monotoi'.ous, and sme- tinies wearisome. Tennyson's self-consciousness and sensitiveness to criticism were extreme. Mrs. Carlyle was a modest person, rather in the background. Nobody knew she was so clever as her letters prove her to have been. Bishop Wilberforce was a brilliant talker, specially happy in repartee. Grote was quiet and retiring; Mrs. Grote was " unretiring, a rather formidable woman with a very sharp wit." Mr. Smith took very much to Ma/zini, who seemed a genuine servant of humanity. " Victoria was a Stuart upon a Hanoverian throne." Goldwin Smith ejaculates, " Without clubs, what would bachelor life in London be I In-^tead of being denounced as hostile to mar- riage, the cUibs ought to be credited with keeping young men fit for it."
Disraeli on "These Wretched Colonies." In the Canadian Magazine is a paper also by Goldwin Smith on his early connection with London journalism. He found himself on the regular staff of ihe Sattir.lay Rei'icni, the staff of which, when it dined at Richmond or Greenwich, seemed as if it included the whole literary tribe of London. He mentions V'enables, Maine, Robert Cecil, Sir William Harcourt. Of Lord Salisbury he says : " I always felt and expressed my confidence in his judgment and rectitude rather than in his strength.' His ultimate submission to Disraeli was ascribed to " the pressure of his aspiring wife." His acquiescence in the Transvaal War may probably be ascribed to the dominant influence of Chamberlain. Goldwin Smith recalls the letters he published in the Daily A'ci's, and afterwards republished under the title of " The
Empire." This drew on him an attack from Uisraeli ; yet Disraeli pronounced " tlusc Hn-ulud colonies" " a millstone lound our necks," and hoped that they woulil " all be indcpendetit in a few years." Sir William Gregory tells us that Disraeli held the same language in private to the end of his life. .\Ir. Goldwin Smith pays high tribute to the memory of Walker, editor of the Daily A^acs, " one of the most thoroughly upright and conscientious members of the Press I ever knew," and adds, " What is behind the Press now is a very grave, not to say terrible question. If such men as Walker were behind it we should be safe enough."
MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS.
In the North American Rrt'iiio for November Rli/abeth Bisland writes a very bright and interesting article concerning "Societies for Minding One's Own Business." Under this somewhat (juaint title she describes the work that has been done by two communities near New Vurk City for the pur|)ose of brightening the life of the rural population. Her account well deserves attention on the part of those who are endeavouring to stay the fatal rush of the rural folk into our own great towns. She says : —
Two communities near New York (.'ily wiih this idea in mind have formed leagues which include every local m,Tn, woman ami child who is willing to work lo«ards these ends ; the wealthy summer residents, the local merchants, Ihe clergy, the school-teachers, men and women of all trades and occupa- tions, day-labourers and ihe children. The membership is divided inlo three classes: those paying iwtnly-five dollars in yearly dues, ten dollars and one dollar, but all three clas.^es having equal voting rights and being eligible for office. Practically every member is an official, for the entire associa- tion is divided into commiitees on .Membership, on Law and Order, Lights and Roads, Health and Cleanliness, F.ducation, Libr.irics, Amusements and Neighbourhood Improvement.
These leagues have been called by various names, but perhaps the most proper title would be " Societies for Minding Our Own Business." One early member of a neighbourhood league thus defined the appositeness of this sub-title : " What is our own business T Why, to see that our taxes are properly spent ; that (he elected officials do their duty ; that our roads are kept in order ; the public health guarded ; the laws obeyed ; the schools maintained at a high standard ; the beauty of the countryside preserved and increased, and that every one of us has an opportunity for healthy pleasure." To which definition one of the women members added crisply : " It's just good housekeeping on a larger scale."
The leaders in this new movement hope to see it grow, and look forward to a not very distant day when every county will have its dozen or more leagues, all uniting to send dele- gates to a central county committee. They look forward to, in this way, purifying local government and checking the head- long flow of all charity and philanthropic efforts to the cities, and the consequent and inevitable drill of the people to where it is to be found.
That by this conceited effort it will be possible to bring to the rural communities very many of the pleasures, the aids and the opportunities offered by the cities. That instead of telling the people to go back to the land, it is better to so enlarge the scope of life upon the land that they will not wish to leave it.
574
The Review of Reviews.
THE HUMOURS OF BRITISH HOSPITALITY
As Seem by an American Visitor. One of the most delightful pieces of social satire, quite in the manner of Mark Twain, appears in the Ladys Realm for November. An American visitor describes British hospitality in a most amusing way. Invited to a country house-party, he "puts his foot in it" by asking the gamekeeper how he killed the pheasants and got them to market, and when told that they sent in beaters and shot them and had great sport, the American inquired, " U'hy don't you simply wring their necks.?" His host said that it would be twenty years before he could look his game- keepers in the face after such an awful suggestion. He says in a big English house you are not met with enthusiastic cordiality by host or hostess at the door. No!—
They send a groom in a cart, «ho looks and talks like a Higli Church Episcopal clergyman. You can try to make friends with him if you want to, but it's no use. Perhaps your first shock comes when the valet attacks your bag as though he were an .American Custom llou^e officer onaCunard dock. It is true that he does not scatter the things on the floor, but he opens your baggage as though it had always belonged to him.
INTRODUCTIONS NOT THE THING.
At the ensuing evening —
They all intended to be polite, and perhaps cordial — they certainly were polite, l)Ut they forgot to introduce me to any- body, or, at least, I thought tliey lorgot ; but I find introduc- tions are not the thing in house-paities. There is a sort of game of twenty questions, by which you find out who the people are without saying the wrong thing or asking any leading questions. It's a difficult game.
But oh ! the tips : —
The most fearful anguish I sutTered while in England was not from the cold in the houses, or the tin sheets they put on their veneralile beds to sleep between, but from the idea of tips — not the actual tips, but the idea and difficulty of giving to the servants before the eyes of a respectable family in a prosperous English home where no outsitie money assistance is needed really. It is not because I am mean — I'd be glad to send the host a cheque to help pay the expenses, which I am sure must be very large for week-end visits — but the practice of facing each individual servant and presenting him or her with pieces of money, which you feel quite sure such high-class and prosperous-looking people will refuse, is to me a heart-breaking matter.
SUGGESTED TARIFF OF TIPS.
He suggests that a printed circular should be given to visitors, especially ."Vmericans, in order to guide them. The head butler should receive for one meal I OS., for a week-end ^i, for a fortnight's stay from ^2 to ^5; the second and third men, each half; first parlourmaid, 5s. to los. ; second parlourmaid, 3s. to 6s. ; third parlourmaid, 2S. to 4s. ; the valet, £,z. ; the chef, £^\ ; second chef, los. ; kitchenmaid, 5s.; the tweeny, 3s. ; your chambermaid, 10s.; the coachman, los. ; the groom, 5s. to los. ; three foot- men, 5s. each; the gardener, los. ; three under- gardeners, 5s. ; the post-boy, 2S., etc., etc.
BREAKFAST " A LOW MEAL."
The English breakfast also amuses him. He says, apparently the host is ashamed of having breakfast at all ; it is a low meal. You are to help yourself to
all the eatables. No servant will bother you until you are ready to leave. " A real gentleman shows himself at breakfast by greeting the English morning as an une.xpected insult. If another guest appears at the breakfast-table, growl at him, and say, ' Beastly morning.' That will be about all."
THE WORLD-CONFERENCE ON MISSIONS.
The World's Missionary Conference at Edinburgh this year is the subject of a number of articles in different magazines. The general impression .seems to have been, if one may venture to summarise, that of a real dynamic unity of life, realised most of all in prayer, and especially in silent prayer; a profound consciousness of the presence of the Lord Himself; and of the world-wide responsibility of Chiistians. Of the trend towards unity, an instance is given in The East and the West by Rev. S. S. Thomas, the Baptist Principal at Delhi, who says that though the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel and the Baptist Missionary Society are probably furthest apart, yet their missionaries now not merely co- operate but unite in prayer at each other's houses.
The Bishop of Durham, commenting in the Inter- preter upon the Conferaice, says that one reflection was forced upon him —
that at present certainly, the most formidable obstacle to large and wholesome movements of co-operation and ultimate union is a theory of Episcopil succession and ministration which puts it in the very front rank of the Christi.in verities, instead of setting it in a great, a sacred, but secondary place.
Not Yet a Missionary Church. In the Church Quarterly Rivie7v Mrs. Creighton declares that the Church of England has much to learn from it : —
We have to face the fact that we are not yet a missionary Church, though to us more than to any other Church the supreme call has come because of the position and opportunities of our Empire. We are timid in co-operation with others wit) a timidity which we persuade ourselves comes from our jealousy for the truth, but which outsiders may think, and perhaps no' without some cause, comes from narrowness, from ignorance, from want of generous sympathy with the work of others. Alone we cannot evangelise the world ; we cannot deny the blessing that God has showered upon the labours of others.
No More Coal Fires?
A NEW restriction is suggested in Science Progress for October by Professor H. Armstrong. If he had his way the British householder should no longer be allowed to burn coal in his domestic hearth. The Professor says : —
I see no reason why the coal now used in the raw state by a community should not be first coked at a low temperature : the gas given off would be available as an iJluminant and for heat- ing purposes ; the residual coke would be burnt with far greater efficiency than the original coal and without producing smoke. If w.ished coal were used the sulphur would be largely elimin- ated and a still further improvement effected. A variety of by-products would also be obtained, the sale of which should atlbrd some if not considerable profit. We are enforcing a variety of sanitary provisions at the present day. I see no reason ^ihy one more should not be added — that of the sanitary use of coal, why pressure should not be brought to bear on the public to minimise the production of smoke and fog.
Leaoing Articles in riii- RhvhiWs.
575
MANUFACTURING THE UNEMPLOYABLE. \Virii a (iirectiicss that is cliaractciistic Mins Ivlitli Sellers, writing in the Noveniher Cornhill on the unemployed, charges the State with nianufaeturing the uncnipioyahle. She depicts the horror with which our casual ward system im[)ressed a foreign Poor Law ofiicial. He described the casual ward as the manufactory of paupers ; for there they degrade a man by putting him in an iron cage, they con- sequently diminish his value as a citizen and a worker, they tire him out if he is a new hand, and find him no work, not even directing him to the Labour Bureau. In most village schools in England the boy receives no training in any trade or handi- craft, but he goes to swell the ranks of unskilled labour, witli prospective unemployment, and in the end unemployableness : — •
Kven in London, so far as one can make out, only some twenty-five per cent, of the County Council school chililrcn have any technical training whatever, eitlicr before they leave school or after. Thus, year Ijy year tliree out of every four of the thousands of (liese boys and girls who leave school are turned out into the world without ever being taught any calling, or being fitted in any w.ay to earn a decent living. The girls can peither clean nor wash, nor even cook, although ihey may have _6pent a few hours at a cookery class and watched a demonstrator manufacture sweet cakes. They cannot even make their own clothes but must, out of their scant earnings, pay some one to do so for them. Girls and boys alike are set to work at once, as a rule, to gaip money for their parents. They are trained up to be casual labourers, in fact, and are never given the chance of being anything else. Yet in this our day, for months every year, " casual labourer " is synonymous with ** unemployed " almost as often' as not— more often than not, perhaps, in the lase of a man over forty.
The feeble-minded and epileptic are never taught to use their hands with what wits they have. Prob- ably a good third of the younger men and women who are to-day physically unemployable arc unemployable because they were not properly cared for when their strength first began to fail ihem. A good third more are unemployable because they are badly fed. Eng- lish girls could be taught to cook well. We allow men to loaf and drink and let their children starve, while in Hungary and in South Australia every child that has not been properly cared for may by law be taken possession of by the State. " In half the countries in Europe now children who go to school are provided not only with proper food, if they need it, but also with proper clothing — at the cost of their parents, of course, unless the parents be quite destitute." In Berlin even a Poor Law girl is not expected to fend for herself until she is sixteen, and before then she is carefully trained to cook and sew, wash and clean. If, says Miss Sellers, all our County Council schoolboys were made, as far as in them lies, into skilled workers, and all our girls into good housewives, " the unemployable unetuployed crowd would soon begin to dwindle." She goes on to urge that we should have ten times as many sanatoria for consumptives alone as we have. Again, men who will not work when able to work should be sent to penal colonies, where they could be forced to
work. .Swu/crland h.Ts proved such colonies can he self-.supporting. Drunkards should be sent to inebriate homes. The casual ward ought to be reformed. It should be closed against the work-shirker, who should be sent to the jjonal colony, and kept open only for the work-seeker, and put in touch with the Labour Exchange.
WAR AS THE DESTROYER OF MANHOOD.
Tni':kK is no delusion more widespread than the notion that war generates virility, and that a constant state of warfare tends to improve the physitiue of the lace. Dr. I). S. Jordan, in the Eiii^eiiics Rnne-w for July, sets himself vigorously to combat this heresy. War destroys the best, the bravest, and the most healthy human stock. Dr. Jordan points out that so far froin being astonished at Japan's military prowess, it is accounted for by the fact that it was revealed as the result of si.\ generations during which no demand was made on physical courage on the field of battle the virile virtues were found unimpaired. We can readily see that this is just what we should expect. In times of peace there is no slaughter of the strong, no sacrifice of the courageous. In the peaceful struggle for existence there is a premium placed on these virtues. The virile and the brave survive. The idle, weak, and dissipated go to the wall. Dr. Jordan asks : —
What mark has been left on England by her great struggles for freedom and by the thousand petty struggles to impose on the world the semblance of order called " Pax Britannica," the British pe.ace ?
To one who travels widely through the counties of England some part of the cost is plain.
It suggests the inevitable end of all empire, of all dominion of man over man by force of arms. More than all who fall in battle or are wasted in the camps, the nation misses the " fair women and brave men " who should have lieen the descendants of the strong and the manly. If we may personify the spirit of the nation, it grieves most not over its " unreturning brave," but over those who might have been, but never were, and who, so long as history lasts, can never be.
The Architectural Reviciv is for October, as ever, a delight to the eye. The gables and gardt-ns of Great Tangley Manor are beautifully describi;d by type and picture. .A millionaire's mansion at Colorado Springs, in California, shows again by plan and picture how American wealth can combine the architecture of Versailles with the solidity of masonry that is the -Vmerican fashion. Similarly represented are business premises in the West End of London, and Newcastle House in Lincoln's Inn Fields. Mr. Maxwell Macartney's notes on Cambridge Colleges continue their luininous course, while the minor City church, St. Benet's, Paul's Wharf, is architecturally dissected. A supplement on town planning and housing supplies further notes from Mr. Thomas Adams on these movements in Edinburgh. There are useful papers by W. R. Davidge on City squares and traffic centres.
576
The Review of Reviews.
DISAPPEARANCE OF THE ETERNAL FEMININE. M. Finot's Optimism.
M. Jean Finot publishes in the two November numbers of La Rnme an article on the emancipation of women, which he entitles " The Death of the Eternal Feminine."
RESULT OF IN'CREASING LONGEVITY.
The future of humanity, writes M. Finot, now depends on a noble rivalry between the two sexes, and physical beauty in ••women is giving place to intelligence. Poor women, we are told, form at least nine-tenths of women in! general, and it is to the interests of the two sexes that the demands of women engendered by modern evolution be satisfied. Under the influence of longevity, which, by the way, is ever on the increase, youth and maturity are gaining more and more ground over old age. At the beginning of the last century the average age in France was twenty-nine ; to-day it is nearly forty-eight and a half. Better hygienic conditions are partly responsible for the improvement, but the reduction of the birth-rate, and especially the reduction of infant mortality, have also had an effect. According to A. de Foville's calculations, the average age in 1901 in France was thirty-one years and ten months against twenty-six years and ten months in England, twenty-six years and six months in Germany, and twenty-eight years in Italy. With increasing longevity the age for loving and being loved has also been singularly raised. The former woman of thirty is now distanced by the woman of forty, and even of fifty, and women are loved for their qualities of intellect and soul, and for their spirit of independence. Lovers may not have noticed the change, but lovers have always been blind.
women's new life.
At the present time women, if they are not to lose their living charms, must before all things be allowed to work and act. The windows of their dwelling must be opened and the echoes of life must be allowed to enter. Love is not life ; it is only one of life's ornaments. It is beauty of soul which makes the beauty of human beings. In their second life women will be beautiful in new ways, and men will be happier in consequence. The extension of women's activities will cause all conventional barriers to disappear. Women will continue to shine by their beauty and by their intelligence even beyond the age of fifty, for do not the women of letters, the women artists, and the women social workers nearly always enjoy prolonged youth ? No effort is too great for humanity to make to conquer precocious old age.
GROUND FOR HOPE.
The emancipation of the intelligence of women must have incalculable consequences for the evolution of the sexes. The woman of to-morrow will have acquired virtues unknown to us to-day. We shall have another femininity, but it will not be a new
masculinity. Equality of rights will not necessarily bring about identity of men and women. Equal with men from the point of view of intellect, character, and will, equal with men from the point of view of nobility of aspirations, women can only hold the heights of their destiny by being before all things themselves. All women, mothers or daughters, rich or poor, ought to enjoy the same personal rights as men, implying the same advantages, the same privi- leges, the same wages, and the same happiness and misfortunes of social, political, and national life. It is only in an equal division of duties and privileges, in that harmonious co-ordination of endeavour of the two sexes, that humanity will consolidate the peace of the hearth and the dignity of life and find new ground for hope.
THE FRENCH VIRTUE PRIZES.
An old domestic servant, Bathilde-Agathe, in the old Norman town of Gisors, not long ago received well-deserved public honour. She was servant in the Vauclin family. In the Franco-German War all three sons of the family were killed, and old Vauclin was invalided by a wound in the stomach. They lost all their money. Fifteen years ago the old wife went half-paralysed, and Vauclin has been dying of his stomach ever since the year 1873. Ba'thilde-Agathe supported them for twenty years without wages, by the device of keeping hens. During seventeen years she paid the mortgage interest on the homestead, and each year reduced it by a hundred francs. In 1900 the mortgagee presented her with a satisfaction for the balance. She lodges the old couple in the home- stead saved from mortgage, finds them clothes and food, dresses them, prepares the food, and feeds them.
Such is the record given by Sterling Heilig in the November Century. Eighty-three years of age, her merits were investigated by the Committee appointed under the bequest left by Baron de Montyon, who endowed the French Academy with a fund for Virtue Prizes for the poor. Her name was accordingly acclaimed beneath the dome of the Institute ; a member of the French Academy came down to Gisors, and in the crowded market-place and in the presence of the Mayor, the Council, and the Cure he pronounced upon the aged domestic an eloquent eulogy, and then handed her the three thousand francs. In this way, as Renan said, " Virtue is rewarded once a year in France."
The writer gives interesting details of the, ceremony of crowning the Rosiere. He says it is estimated that in France at least two thousand girls aie annually crowned as Rosieres — girls who are irreproachable from every point of view, and able to show ancestors for four generations similarly irreproachable. The Rosiere is given 1,250 francs the day she marries, and ten months later another 1,250 francs — on condition that she is still living with her husband 1
Leading Articles in the Reviews.
577
NEW OCCUPATIONS FOR WOMEN. Sick Nursks for Animals.
In the October min)l>er of the (icriiKui Arena Dr. Max Senl't draws the attention of (lernian readers to the institution recently foundeil in this country where women are taught the art of nursing sick animals, especially dogs. /\ picture shows two such nurses in the street rendering first aid to a dog which has been run over by a motor. In the streets in Germany it is no infre(]uent occurrence to hear an injured dog howlini; with pain, and it is seldom that a passer-by attempts to do anything to relieve it. One has only to take up the unhappy creature and try to comfort it to make it become quieter almost immediately. Another picture shows a nurse ajiplying an antiseptic lotion to a dog's ear, and a veterinary surgeon is seen cutting the claws of a dog, an operation often neces- sary lor house-dogs, for the claws may become so long as to penetrate the tlesh. The nurses learn to apply poultices, to put broken limbs in plaster, to cleanse wounds antiseptically, to prepare hygienic baths, to administer medicines— in short, to carry out the various instructions of the veterinary surgeons.
In the Koytil Mngiiziru- is described the woik of a " kennel-inaid,'' an occupation which seems parti- cularly suitable in every way for women, though even in such a country as England there could not be very many openings for kennel-maids. The work consists in taking caie of dogs, washing them, cooking tlieir meat for them, and nursing them in sickness. Train- ing in a dogs' hospital is essential, in order to acquire the necessary veterinary knowledge; and it is quite easy to understand that, as the writer says, no one not very fond of animals ought to attempt to be a kennel- maid. .Anyone who was very fond of them, however, would find the work interesting and attractive.
The first thing to which a kennel-maid must turn her attention in the morning is feeding puppies. Then the dogs must all be visited and exercised, all which is done before breakfast. After break- fast, letters about dog-shows, medicines, etc., have to lie attended to, unless a liog happens to be very ill. when it has to be attended to before the letters. .•V loy pom with pleurisy, for instance, requires hot fomentations, her temperature taken, and a great deal of attention. Some kennel-maids do the cook- ing for the dogs in a special kitchen, others must use the house-kitchen, which is not satisfactory. The writer whose article is quoted works for a lady who owns and breeds dogs of various kinds, some of them toys, some of them big dogs. The full-grown dogs she insists on not feeding more than once a day, though puppies must of course be fed oftener.
Part of her work is the treatment of cut paws or sprains which one dog may have got in a fight with another. .Another part of it is washing and brushing dogs to get them ready for a show. She seems to be kept busy from about si.x in the morning till six in the evening, although she had not more than eight
dogs and five puppies to look after. Nothing is .said as to jiayment for the work of a kennc-l-maid ; but the life would certainly be healthy, and offers many advantages to those fond of a country life and animalsL
WHAT HUNTING COSTS Is the Pill/ Mall Maj^izine for November Mr. Leonard U'illoughby discusses the ipiestion, " Is Hunting Doomed?" and endeavours to show what that would mean for the country. He says that in all there are some 456 packs of hounds in the king- dom— 364 in England and Wales, 75 in Ireland, and 17 in Scotland. The yearly cost of maintaining a pack of foxhounds is ;^i,ooo for each day in the week they hunt. If they hunt four days a week, the expenditure mounts u[) to ^4,000 per annum. The writer estimates that the expenditure on foxhounds alone is upwards of ^£^550,000 per annum. On har- riers and beagles the expenditure is over ^100,000 per annum. Then there ;ire quite two hundred thousand horses used for hunting purposes. Averag- '"g £^° each, their total value reaches twelve millions. The total annual expenditure on these horses may be averaged at ;^40 per horse. This amounts to eight millions. The writer goes on later to speak of twenty millions sterling expended annually by fox-hunters. He thinks it cpiiie probable that shooting and hunting together put between forty and fifty millions sterling into tradesmen's, farmers', and others' pockets. The jjcople who profit by hunting are certainly not the hunting folk theniselves, but
Farmers, horse-dealers, livery stable keepers, linrness makers, saddlers, bit and slirrup makers, tailors, horse clothiers, corn and hay merchanls, railway companies, cab and taxi drivers, hotels and inns, grooms, hunt servants, i;love makers, hatters, haberdashers, bootmakers, whipniakers, labctirers, and others.
Were hunting to cease, he argues that it would mean immediate stoppage of millions of pounds circulating amongst those classes who most need" the money.
The writer seems to overlook the fact that if forty millions were no longer to be spent on unpioductive sport, but invested in reproductive industry, the boon to the nation would be vastly increased.
The Advent of the Redeemer. " The World Redeemer has come and gone. He was Rishi Dayananda, the Teacher, the Guide, the Inspirer of the whole world's spiritual life, the embodi- ment of Wisdom-Truth, the Lord of Love and Com- passion, he whose name was Kindness (Dayananda). And this marvellous civilisation which the Rishi has introduced is based upon the eternal rock of the Veda, which is the Fountain-head of Religion, the .Ancient Wisdom, the Absolute Truth, the Original Revelation and Science of Sciences, the True Doctrine, the Good Law, the one All-embracing and AU-satisfyine Philosophy." — The Vedic Magazine.
578
The Review of Reviews.
AMERICAN REPORT ON ENGLISH SCHOOLS.
In the American Educational Rannv for October Miss Jessie F. Smith gives her report on English in British schools. She notes that in England true secondary education is to a large extent the special privilege of birth or of ability ; though in Scotland the secondary schools correspond more nearly to the American type. She confined her attention to the main centres in England and Scotland.
ENGLISH IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.
In the elementary schools she found the work in English exceedingly well organised, and was forced to conclude that this work was in general more suc- cessfully done than in America : —
The teaching of punctuation, however, seemed to me less careful, and it is interesting to note that the indention of the paragraph is not taught.
The composition work itself impressed me as excellent. The work begins with the simplest oral composition, conversational lessons on surrounding objects. Common errors of speech are here subject to constant correction. This is followed by the reproduction of myths and fairy tales, the narration of actual or imaginary experiences, the description of familiar pictures and places. This work is both oral and written. Then comes the longer "essay," on subjects from the geography or history lesson, or found in connection with the reading of the class.
The composition work also includes training in the conven- tions of letter-writing. The pupils are drilled to use short, clear sentences, and great stress is laid upon form, arrangement, neatness, and accuracy of work.
The work in reading comprehends nursery rhymes, poems, ballads, fairy tales, stories of all sorts, and Shakspere's plays. These are taken up much as with us. But through all the work much emphasis is given to intelligent loud reading — with results that put most of our American schools to blush.
ORAL WORK IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS.
In the secondary schools she was impressed with the sanity of the examination papers. The work in oral English she found as a rule much better in the English schools than in any Atuerican that she knows, and one great reason for this excellence is the attention given to repetition :— -
In the classes that I visited this repetition work was done both by the class in unison and by the individual members. In either case the utmost care was given to articulation, pronuncia- tion, and spirited and intelligent expression. I was especially impressed with the excellence of this work in spoken English in three schools.
THE MIRROR AS AID TO PRONOUNCING.
The Dogges letter " R " has much attention given it, in one school at least : —
In the Girls' High School in Manchester I also saw most thorough and interesting oral work. Here elocution is given to each pupil every other year for one period a week. The lesson that I saw comprised two parts : the first, training in the correct pronunciation of the " r." Each girl in the class had a small mirror, and accompanying the clear, accurate, and scientific analysis of the various sounds of this consonant was the indivi- dual practice in their production. A deaf girl sat by the side of the mistress, taking full part in the lesson.
The writer was' much impressed with the way English schools avail themselves of the advantage of their environment— theattention paid by Dulwich schoolboys and schoolboys in Birmingham to Shakespeare : —
As to the outlook for the future, I am convinced that in Eng-
land as in America there is to-day an awakening to the value of the study of English, a realisation that this great subject has been neglected in the past, and a determined effort to organise eft'eclive and practical methods of work.
ANGLO-AMERICAN COMPARISONS.
In general, Miss Smith observes, the English secondary schools are smaller than those of the American large cities ; as against 3,000 pupils in the latter they average from 400 to 600. The largest number of pupils that she found assigned to one teacher for English work was 150; classes ranged usually from twenty to thirty. The prominence of religious and ethical training in the English schools impressed her deeply. The English schools have a tremendous advantage in their religious training, their traditions, and their surroundings. One very notice- able thing in every schoolroom, she observes, is the atmosphere of quiet, unfailing courtesy, and the absence of the high-strung nervous tension that one so often finds in American schools.
POOR MR. CARNEGIE!
In the Raieiv and Expositor for October Dr. Rufus W. Weaver thus laments the de-sectarianising of American educational foundations : —
The ureat educational institutions of Christendom have revolted°against the control of oithodox Christianity. In 1850 there were in this country 120 colleges and universities, 77 ol which were then under denominational control ; of these 19 have changed their charters and are now described as iion- ■sectarian. These 19 institutions, recreant to their obligations and unfaithful to their founders, have gained endowmeiits which now amount to over 53,000,000 dols. The 58 institutions that have kept faith with their founders have a total endowment of barely 11,000,000 dols. These 19 colleges and universities sold their 'birthright— but not for a mess of pottage.
The total endowment of educational institutions in this country under guaranteed Christian control is barely 30,000,000 dols. — while the endowment of non-sectarian institutions— institutions that are not required to give the Christian interpretation to life — is over 220,000,000 dols.
Mr. Carnegie, through his foundation, has struck Christianity a blow, the heaviest w hich it has received in all modern times. Schools, born of prayer, reared by the toil and sacrifices of oiir sainted dead, have fallen under the spell of his malign seculari- sation. Mr. Carnegie, borne down by the infirmities of age, is nearing the valley of the shadow of death. He has set the world "of wealth an illustrious example in splendid generosity ; yet he must face the fact that he has closed more doors of learning in the face of Jesus Christ than any other man who ever liv^d. Mr. Carnegie needs our prayers, but more, at the sunset hour and as the darkness deepens, he needs the com- panionship of Jesus Christ, the rightful Teacher and the only Saviour of men.
I am aware that Mr. Carnegie's friends insist that he is not opposed to religion but to sectarianism. An Anarchist by the same reasoning could hold that he was not opposed to govern- ment although he was in violent opposition to all governments that are in existence.
In the two October numbers of La Rei'ue Madame Franklin Grout, Flaubert's niece, publishes from the posthumous papers of the novelist his account of his travels in the Pyrenees and in Corsica in 1840. It will ultimately appear in the complete edition of Gustave Flaubert's works.
Leading AkiicLii.s in thk Reviews.
579
BRITISH WEIGHTS. MEASURES. AND COINAGE.
A I'KALllCAl. .SLi.i;|-.SI IDN.
Thk Edinbinxh Knino jjublishcs an arlide on the metric system which gives a somewhat unccrtahi sound. The reviewer, after discussing at some length the advantages of the decimal ajid duodecimal systems, comes to pretty much the same conclusion about the coinage as he does in regard to weights and measures. No change can he made which would secure uni- formity. Our present system can never be a rational one, but it can neither be reformed nor abolished. The best u>e has not been made of it in the past, and in the future he looks lather to reform in use than in lundamental units.
MK. parkkr's criticism.
[ sent the Edinburgh Rnietv to Mr. Thomas I'.irker, who has devoted much attention to the Mibject, and asked him to let me have his ideas as to what could be done to improve our weights and measures and coinage. In reply, he sent me the following memorantlum : —
"The article ignores one imj)ortant fact of great importance. In the last twenty - five years there has been developed a unit in general practice which would have been difficult to foretell, or its method of use. It is the antithesis of the metre unit, yet its usefulness and fitness are obvious. It is estab- lished as the unit of the engineer, the mechanic, the clock maker, llie wire trade, the sheet metal trade, and the pa|)er trade. The Standards' Committee recognise it, and it is used in the Government sjjeci- fications. -Ml makers of tiuplicate machinery, from the typewriter to the turbo -generator, use it. Its introduction needed no force of law. It was efficient and fit, hence its adoption. It has done more than all this : it teaches what a unit should be. Its manipulation or use needs no fractions. This is a surprise unit and perfect — the first great decimal growth of the British measures. Nobody can claim its innovation. I refer to the mil, or one-thousandth part of the inch. This gives the key to the decimalisa- tion of our measures of length in a technical sense. One cubic inch of water at mid-boiling tem[>erature weighs 250 grains. This, divided by 1,000, gives a volume unit and weight unit based on the mil and the inch. We thus secure the principle of basing the grain weight on the inch length, of a|)plying this principle to British measures, and also of instituting units that are free to decimals and all arithmetic alike. .-\nd, in addition, these units are a|)proved as ]jractical and efficient.
" The British inch can be traced far back in history. The grain also is of great age, and it requires more than an accident to account for the fact that at the only reliable temperature easily attainable — e.xcept boiling and freezing — which is the mid-boiling temperature, our grain weight is, and always has been, based on the inch length.
" There needs no change in law. The unit
mil is legal. The area unit, equal to one- thousandth part of the S(|uare inch, is in constant use ; the cubic inch and its one-thousandth part arc in constant use ; and the f|uarter-grain weight, which is the weight of this one-thousandth part of the cubic inch, is in every-day pharmaceutical use. The prescriber has only to use (}uarter-grains as units, and quarter-grain volumes of water for liquids, to be in possession of the best decimal units and metric system, and equally suitable to all branches of technical work.
" It is thus demonstrated by these facts that it is easy to bring into the English measures the system of basing the weight on the length, and the world would have the choice of the two-weight units based on a length — the grain on the inch, and the gramme on the centimetre — thereby compromising on the units, and leaving settlement to survival of the fittest. There is ample room for two units, and great im- provement is po'.sible in the metre unit : the mil units promise the necessary perfection. The practical users must be the final arbitrators.
" The portion of the reviewer's article dealing with money is somewhat astray. There is not the slightest difficulty in retaining a unit of one penny. The farthing has long done duty as the i /960th of a pound, and has never been questioned as a very satisfactory unit. Surely it may, therefore, be con- tinued in office under the change to the sterling value of the one-thousandth part of a pound. If the change is to be made it will be most easy to coin a ten-farthing piece (or a coin similar to the five-cent nickel of America) and let it run here ; and then we can go on with the four-twelve-twenty ratios, and have the pound and the florin ten related and the fartiiing and nickel ten related. The pence and half- pence would not need any change at all.
" If a change were decided upon to go to decimals completely, it would only be an Act to alter the relation of the nickel token to the florin token by increasing the ninety-six farthings, now the value of a florin, to one hundred farthings, and making the zjd. piece (or ten farthings) a relation of ten to the florin. By this the units would be the best in dimensions in existence. The new nickel replacing the threepenny piece as ten farthings would work well, and be a near exchange with the twenty-five centimes and five cerits. These latter coins have proved very suc- cessful in France and America respectively. The retention of the name 'farthing' is preferable to the adoption of the name ' mille.' We are ' milled,' ' metred,' and ' millimetred ' to death already. Simple one syllable words are easier to remember and safer against error."
The Ladfs Realm is a good number. One of the best papers in it is by Miss G. M. Butler on the passing of the gentlewoman, in which the contrast between the true gentlewoman and the smart woman of to-day is cleverly and searehingly drawn.
58o
The Review of Reviews.
SIR L. ALMA TADEMA AND HIS ART.
A Notable Career of Sixty Years.
The monographs (extra numbers of the Art Jottriinl) now number thirty-five, and, with the excep- tion of two (Meissonier and Rosa Bonheur), all deal with the work of British artists. Two numbers have been devoted to the work of Burne-Jones, and Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema is now the subject of a second number in the series. The single numbers- include the names of Leighton, Millais, Holman Hunt, G. F. Watts, William Morris. Rossetti, and many eminent living artists.
The first Lawrence Alma Tadema number appeared in 1886, and consequently Mr. Rudolf Dircks's present monograph is devoted to Sir Lawrence's later work. Lourens Alma Tadema, to give him his original name, was born in the Netherlands in January, 1836, so that he is close upon seventy-five years of age. He was the youngest son of Pieter Tadema, a notary. He became a naturalised Englishman in 1873, and he was elected A.R.A. in 1876 and R.A. in'i879. He was knighted in 1899, and he received the Order of Merit in 1905.
PICTURES OF ANCIEXT EGYPT AND ANCIENT ROME.
Since 1886 the volume of Sir Lawrence's woik has been considerable. Besides two or three pictures each year, he has designed scenery for some of the principal plays of our theatres, and has painted many portraits. The number of masterpieces possible to an artist has been limited to seven, but in the chronological list of Sir Lawrence's works produced between the years 1851 and 1910, which is appended to the monogniph, the last bears the title Opus No. 400 ! Naturally, all these pictures have not the same importance, though all his work possesses the quality of sedulous care and workmanship. In these years he has been occupied chiefly with subjects composed of Roman architecture and of Roman history or incident ; but he has also returned now and again to the life and architecture of ancient Egypt, and has painted a group of pictures which must take rank among his most important work. His latest Egyptian picture, "The Finding of Moses," is not less notable for its decorative quality than for the individual reading of the Biblical story.
" CARACAI.LA."
Referring to the Roman pictures, Mr. Dircks describes " Caracalla and Geta" (1907) as Sir Law- rence's most astonishing tour tie force. Here we have his conception of the Coliseum en fete, filled with a vast audience, with the spectacle of the arena in full progress. In the portion of the auditorium which we are permitted to see no fewer than 2,500 people are seated, all carefully painted in. The spectator views the crowded amphitheatre from the imperial box, where sits Septimius Severus with his second wife, who is passing surreptitious notes to an attendant. Geta stands between his two sisters.
The picture "Caracalla" (1902) shows Caracalla entering the baths. Befoie him groups of bowing damsels spread roses in his path. Sir Lawrence's intense feeliiig for the colour of flowers is expressed in nearly all his pictures. He has designed scenery lor four plays, at first for Sir Henry Irving, and later for Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and Mr. F. R. Benson. These were " Coriolanus," " Cymbeline," '• Julius Ctesar," and " Hypatia."
SOME PORTRAITS.
Many of his pictures are subjects of pure senti- : ment, such as " The Promise of Spring," " Court- ship," etc. Among the portraits Sir Lawrence has painted we note those of Mrs. Marcus Stone, Lady ; Sydney Waterlow, Mr. Balfour, Sir E. A. VVaterlow, Mr. George Aitchison, Sir .Max Waechter, and others, and a number of musicians, including Mr. George Henschel, Dr. Richter, Paderewski, Dr. Joachim, and others. There are also family groups, such as Mrs. Rowland Hill and children, Mr. George Simonds and family, etc., and several portraits of the artist by himself. The monograph contains over fifty illustrations, several in colour. (Virtue. 2S. 6d. ; net. )
THE MISSION OF RICHARD WAGNER.
Mr. Joseph Si.ihn, writing in the North American Reiiiac for November, endeavours to correct what he considers to be the wholly inadequate conception of the magnitude of Richard Wagner's achievement set forth by the greater part of his interpreters, exponents and " followers." He says : —
It is the victorious growth and expiinsion of the tree of life as it sprouts forth from the very root of being that Wagner now reveals. If we hold fast this fundamental symbol of the northern - saga, we may trace the rise of Wagner's elemental drama of : existence from root to crown. The application of the special points of analogy as bearing upon the "Trilogy " must be left '. to the reader ; what is of immediate importance here is to point ; out the fundamental signilication of the great master's achieve- ■ ment which, in its scope, was (l) primary, elemental, and (2) , perennial.
In the " Nibelungen Trilogy" we behold the germination, the budding and, ultimately, tlie growth and expansion of the whole tree of life in accordance with natural laws. Primeval creation arises before us in rugged grandeur. W^e become con- scious of the sway of elementary forces, and finally youthful man steps upon the scene. We behold the human race as it springs from the very fountain-head of being, in glorious communion with Nature, freely developing under her mighty influence and stimulated by her to deeds by which the very tree of life itself is shaken to its basis ; these deeds centring in the eternal con- flict between love and ambition, between the fascination of woman and world dominion — in the iittiiiia ratio of all human endeavour.
All this is elemental, and \^"ith adequate representation should appeal to us with the power of a revelation. But the tree of life is also perennial. Its most glorious flowering is the hiunan race, whose free and spontaneous activity in its highest form should ever ancuj inspire to artistic representation. Such are the faint outlines of the vast fabric that Wagner has reared — a fabric so thoroughly grounded in nature that I have hitherto thought it advisable to hold fast that fundamental symbol which must here ever constitute our surest guide.
Leading Articlhs in tiim Rrvirwsu
581
HOLMAN HUNT AND THE BUTTERFLY. ; Miss I'lAiKA Massdn tells a story in NoviiiilK>r
Cornhill c\ Holnian Hunt. In the suniiufr of 1852 Holnian Hunt w.ns jwinting his " Straycil Sheep" on the clitl's at Fairlight. He wrote to a friend, saying : ■• I am hitending to paint a butterfly in my picture, hut have not yet caught any beautiful enough, and, indeed, have now, since the awful gales of the last week, almost given up the hope of seeing more" : —
One siinny morning Mrs. Ormi- .mil her <l;iu:^hler, walking in ihe garden, spied, pdiscd on .-i flower that hint over the gravel p.aih, just such a " lovely insect " as the painter had greatly desired and failed to lind at Hastings. It w.is ihc work of a moment for Ihe "geniil donzella" to capture him. He was tenderly packed, the little hox duly punclurcil to let in the air, iiul he went oil by post that very day to the farm at Fairjighl.
" I do not know how to thank you enough,'' wrote Mr. Ilolman Hunt, "for your kindness in sending ihe bullerlly, which irrived quite safely and in good health lo-day. I will lake ihe very earliest opporluiiity ol painting it, and, as I know yi ur kind heart woidd have, restoring it its liberty."
In October he wrote : —
This morning, being finer, I put Sir .Malania under a glass «ith a flower, and commenced painting him, but was soon , ompcllcd to stop in consequence of the steam rendering his , ovcring of loo opaque a nature to permit his beauty to be seen ; ilicrefore I removed Ihe tumbler, and while he was venting his rage upon the pane for being an invisible bar lo his free<lom, and .No while recovering from the cxhau-tion resulting from each mack, I managed to portray him in lifelike, or rather Kober- on's colours ; being linishcd I took him on his flower into the garden, and introduced his altenlion to a large geranium, which he examined with much more leisure than my engagements ind impatience would permit me to consider, so I wafled him iiji" into the air ; there he jerked and tumbled about with the utmost vigour, but seemed inclined to consider it ail a joke, and vo much the best way for his dignity to show that he was not lo he deluded into an idea that he was free, until at last it entered his shallow head that he might indeed be at liberty, and it might be worth while lo fly away ; so he fl.ippcd his wings for a forward flight, dodging all over the field .ind about the hedge and across the next field, amongst trees and weeds, in amongst liitches and siubble and haystacks, and lastly clean out of sight. ^o let us hope that he will have a long and happy life.
were established. After the Hoxcr riots Chinese journalism bi.'gan to develop. First the Japanese ownetl and published the Tun^ W'fii Hii Pao ol Shanghai. Other foreign Powers developed their news[)apers as a political factor, 'i'hen the native press began, mostly under British protection. The newspaper company is often incorporated under the liritish Crown Colony of Hong Kong : —
As the result of all these influences, .Shanghai now has eight daily papers, besides numerous other |>erKMlicals ; Hankow supports three dailies ; Tientsin, five ; Peking, five ; Foochow, two. The propaganda is spreading so rapidly 10 the less-known cities of the interior that it is impossible 10 give newspaper statistics for Ihc entire country.
CHINESE JOURNALISM.
Mr. Franklin Ohi.inglr, in the World's Work, describes the new journalism in China. He begins by stating the origin of journalism. During the Tang dynasty, 618 to 907 A.D., certain hangers-on of the Imperial Court put Court news on placards and promenaded the streets of the city, receiving gratuities in return from the crowd that followed them. Then it was thought desirable that, instead, of exhibiting placards dependent on the precarious, bounty of the crowd, the news should be jirinted and sold. Such was the origin of the Ti C/mu, or Peking Gtizc-lte. Its twenty large octavo pages still make their regular appearance, containing Imperial decrees and other Governmental announcements.
It was not until Christian missions were established that newspapers in our sense of the word came to be l>rinted in China. The missionaries branched out into journalism and issued periodicals containing general information as well as religious news. F'ollow- ing their lead, the oldest daily papers of Shanghai
A PRANK BY LOUIS STEVENSON.
In the Fti/l Mall Magoziiie for November Miss Flora Masson gives some memories of Louts Steven- son in his early days at Edinburgh. .Amidst much that was interesting, one incident r.'iay be quoted. Private theatricals used to be given in a scries of friends' houses, and on one occasion "Louis Stevenson surpassed himself" : —
It was in Greek Ir.igedy. The curtain had fallen on a power- ful and moving scene, amid th-- nppjausc of Ihe audience, and the stage was left in the possession of two yoimg Golialhs in Greek garb. In a moment 01 reaction, after so much un- relieved tragedy, the two young athletes, oblivious of Iheir classic draperies, threw themselves into one another's arms, performed a rapid war-dance and, after one or two acrobatic feats, flung themselves tumbler-wise on a couch at the back ol Ihe stage, with their four feet meeting in a kind of Iriuniphal arch above their he.ids.
Louis Stevenson, who had been ofliciating at the curtain, saw his moment. He touched a spring — up went the curtain again.
There was one gasp of astonishment from the audience, and then a roar of applause — applause such as the most powerful and moving tragedy never yet evoki-d. That roar nas ih.,- firsl thing that showcil the two luckless acrobats thai something had hap- pened. They leapt to their feet, only to sec the curtain fall once more.
CROSSING LABRADOR. In Fry's^ox November Mr. H. Hesketh Prichard is announced to have succeeded in his object of cros.sing Labrador on a tour of exploration carried on under the aus()ices of the magazine. The account he gives suggests how unknown the country is through which he has been travelling. Open water only lasts from July to late October, and the summer is only two months long. The deer that are shot in November keep as in a refrigerator till the following June. The .ships sailing to Labrador are run on the same share system as the sealers. A fortunate season will put ^500 into the captain's pocket ; but if the season is a failure the crew lives on an advance from a mer- chant. The consequence is that many of the fisher- men were born, live, and die in almost hopeless debt. The caribous, on which the Indians have lived, are decreasing fast. There are no horses or cattle on the |)eninsula. The husky dogs pull the sledges in the winter, but in the summer are allowed to fend for themselves, with the result that they are beasts of prey, occasionally threatening men and children.
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The Review of Reviews.
so MUCH PER SQUARE INCH.
Prices Paid for Famous Pictukeis. Writing in the Christmas number of the f.nJfs Iftalm on " The Square Inch Value of Celebrated Pictures," Mr. Maurice W. Brockwell cites a great many interesting facts and figures about the prices paid for famous pictures. Some of these pictures have since fallen in value, but most, I infer, have risen.
NATIONAL GALLERV PICTURES.
Dealing first with the pictures in the National Gallery, the one of which the square inch cost is highest is the " Garvagh Madonna " (No. 744, by Raphael), bought from Lord Garvagh in 1865 for ;^9,ooo, or ;£i\6 3s. per square inch. Some people, however, allege that it is not a genuine Raphael, and that some of the work in it is from the brush of the Master's best pupil. The square inch price paid for this picture, it is interesting to note, is more than thrice that paid for the much discussed " Rokeby Venus" (£13 7s. per square inch). Others of the most costly National Gallery pictures are Holbein's " Portrait of Christina, Duche.ss of Milan," a lady twice a widow by the age of twenty-four {£i1 i°s- pet" square inch); Titian's "Portrait of Ariosto" (No. 1,944, ^^35 los. Qd.) ; and Coreggio's "Madonna of the Basket" (No. 23, £2^ 28. I id.). Raphael's little "Vision of the Knight" (No. 213) was bought at a price of only ^21 8s. 6d. per square inch, but this was apparently far below its real value ; and his " Ansidei Madonna " was bought at _;^7o,ooo (about ^^14 i8s. per square inch), when the cultured and far-seeing National Gallery director of that time. Sir Frederic Burton, valued it at 110,000 guineas. A famous and well- known picture which has a surprisingly low square inch value is Vandyck's " P^questrian Portrait of Charles I." (No. 1,172, £1 is. 3d.), but then it is a very large picture. Gainsborough's " Mrs. Siddons " has a square inch value of only 3s. 7d., but it was bought at an incredibly low price — ;^i,ooo. The celebrated " Doge Leonardo Loredano," by Bellini, one of the numerous pictures reproduced to accompany this paper, was bought for only 600 guineas, though, according to the writer, ^^50,000 is much nearer the price it would fetch now. Everyone knows this picture, which is perhaps more often reproduced than other work of the Venetian school.
AN ENGLISH SALE-ROOM RECORD PRICE.
Mr. Brockwell says that the record square inch English sale-room price for a famous picture is probably that paid for Meissonier's " Napoleon I. at the Campaign of Paris," sold at Christie's in 1882 by Ruskin. It fetched ^6,090, or ,^55 per square inch. Meissoniers, however, the writer thinks, have deservedly decreased in value lately.
FOREIGN SALE-ROOM RECORDS.
A very small Raphael (the " Madonna of the House of Orleans") fetched, in 1869, a price of
^6,000 (^'64 i8s.), while Millet's "Angelus" fetched ,-^.=)9 r6s. on the same basis of calculation about twenty years later. The highest price quoted at all is the colossal figure of ;^555 per square inch — again for a Raphael, the "Three Graces." Those who wish to inspect this work will find it at Chantilly, its pos- sessor being the Duke d'Aumale, who acquired it from the Earl of Dudley for ;^25,ooo.
ABDUL HAMID AT YILDIZ KIOSK.
" Satan Surrounded by his .Acolytes." Mr. C. Chrvssaphides and Ren^ Lara contribute to the Fortnightly Review a vivid sketch of Abdul Hamid's life at Yildiz Kiosk, whose secret life, the life of intrigue, of fear, of espionage, of crime, they compare to the life of a .Satan surrounded by his acolytes.
In some respects, however, Abdul Hamid was no Satan. His father and his brother both ruined them- selves by drinking raki. He started on that road, but soon pulled up. In the harem also he was more human and less of an animal than his predecessors : — He did not wish to siirround^himself with a large number of unfortunate girls, bought in the four corners of the Empire, that he might choose, passing slowly between them as Ihey stood drawn up in two rows, one who should be the favourite of the day, as was the practice of the Sultans in limes past. He made a point of I^nowing the names, ages, and native countries of the young women who constituted his harem. Their number was consequently limited. They were generally young girls of remarkable beauty and distinction. As to voluptuous beauties, he disdained them. The characteristic of the Sultan's harem life was his attachment to those whom be honoured by receiving into intimacy with himself. For each of them he was a tender spouse, a generous, quasi-paternal protector.
He lived in constant dread of assassination, which caused him to be guilty of atrocious crimes. One of these was his frenzied murder of a six-year-old girl :—
The child was an adorable little girl, pretty, charming, intelligent, the daughter of a slave in the harem. She used to run about the numerous rooms in the women's quarters, playing, filling the air with her shouts and laughter. She was the joy of all the women. The Sultan had become fond of her, and when he wished to forget for awhile the reports of his spies and to drive away sad thoughts, he was in the habit of playing with the slave's child. He- enjoyed himself like a child in these moments of forgetfulness. One day he entered the harem sadder and more anxious than ever, placed his revolver on a small table, sat down in an arm-chair, and called the little one to him. She was fortunate enough to amuse this Turk with her laughter and pranks. But in an unhappy moment, the child went up to the table, and, perceiving the revolver with its shining barrel, took it for some sort of plaything, and, seizing it, ran to the Sultan to ask what it was. With one bound Abdul Hamid sprang on the child, e.KcIainiing, " You want to kill me ! You are the instrument of my enemies ! " And the monster began to strike and kick the child, .^s he struck, his fury increased. He seized a stick, and set upon the poor little thing. When they carried her away she was de.id.
f.EADING ArTICLF-:S IN THH KEVIliWS.
583
A JAPANESE DRAWING-LESSON. 'I'liK Trick ok tiik Fi.yini; Wim;.
In the November and December issues of iIk' Art Journal Sir F. T. Piggolt describes a Japanese drawing-lesson.
PORTRAYING MOTION.
Being in the service of the Japanese Government some twenty years ago, the writer was fascinated by the alUirement.sof his new environment, and his desire was to learn some of the secrets of its beauty and fascination. His particular quest was the trick of the flying wing, the opinion having become generally accepted that the Japanese alone possessed the secret of portraying motion. That it was learnt by rote by means of a formula applicable to everything which needs proficiency as the Japanese understand it — ten hours a day for ten years — he knew. With a small bundle of materials almost primitive in their simplicity, master and pupil squatted themselves in front of two pieces of paper, side by side, the pupil, ill at ease, doubting whether painting in such an uncomfortable attitude was possible. The master brought no models, no stuffed birds, to copy. The models were in his ^ head. The first subject was to be a flying sparrow. The process of instruction diflfers very little from our own system of teaching writing — page after page of strokes and pothooks.
HOW IT IS DONE.
To paint the sparrow the pupil first learns the use of the large brush with the very fine point. Sheets upon sheets of paper must be covered by each part of the bird, repeated and repeated till its production becomes almost mechanical. First the open beak with the tiny line for the tongue ; then the eye, and then the eyelid, afterwards beak and eye in combina- tion. All these lines are drawn with the tapering pointed brush and Chinese ink. The brush is first held sideways on the water, so that the thick part near the hinge absorbs a certain quantity, and then the ink is taken from the palette by the tapering end. The slightest pressure makes the brush bend, and in the due amount of pressure lies one of the secrets of the art. Vou cannot catch the trick unless you hold the brush in the Japanese way. Equally essential appears to be the Japanese attitude. For the head and body of the bird another brush is used, long and pliant, somewhat thinner and without the tapering point. This contains the colour throughout. Its flat head enables it to produce broad strokes such as are required for the head and body, the body and wings being faintly outlined. The wings and tail- feathers come next, put in with the same brush ; and the tucked-in claw follows with the first brush.
The secrets of Japanese art, then, are the Japanese brush held and used in the Japanese manner. So much of the arm or hand must be kept rigid, so many of the finger-joints kept moving from right to left, or up and down, with a slight e.xpansion or contraction of the muscles between each stroke, which is con-
stant and equal. The wing-studies are dashed off with great rapidity ; rapid execution is the important cleinLiit of success. It i^ pr.ictically impossible to "copy" a Japanese line ; it uin only be reproduced by adopting the process by which it is drawn, and the trick of the flying wing has been the inevitable product of the Japanese process of drawing
WAGES IN JAPAN.
Thk imminence of Ja|)anese competition with our trade in the Orient will cause anxious eyes to turn to the item of labour in the Japanese cost of production. In the Economic Rerieiv]. C. Pringle writes a valuable paper on Labour in Japan. He reports that the average wage of farm labourers on yearly contracts in 1908 was — males jC^ 12s. 6d., females ^£'2 iis. 6d., with hoard, an increase of 43 and 50 per cent, on 1900. The female silk-spinner draws a daily wage ranging from Hid. with board to 2^d. with board. .Miners' daily earnings vary from is. to 3s., according to theii skill and energy. But the life of the Japanese coal- fields at present known is put as low as twenty years by some writers, and the economic escape thus pro- vided for the surplus population will be closed. In 1908 the daily wages of fishermen ranged between IS. 6d. and 4jd. (with board); weaver from 2S. to 2id. (with board); tailor from 3s. id. to ^\d. (with board); shoemaker, 3s. ijd. to 4id. ; carpenter, 2s. lod. to IS.; bricklayer, 4s. 2jd. to is. 2yd.; paperhanger from 4s. to 4id. ; blacksmith, 3s. 5d. to 6d. : typesetter from 2S. 2;-d. to 5d. The cost of living is rising as well as the wages. A monthly budget which in 1887 cost 28s. cost in 1897 44s., and in 1907 cost 75s. 7d. In most parts of Japan 14s. a month will secure a house in which a college professor is well content to live
IS IT THE TOMB OF MARCUS AURELIUS? Professor \. L. Fkothingh.vm, in the November Century, claims that in the porphyry sarcophagus (in the Vatican Museum of Sculpture) generally supposed to belong to Helena, the mother of Emperor Con- stantine, he has discovered the sarcophagus of .Marcus Aurelius, and certainly makes a very strong argument in favour of his point. The bas-reliefs, cut, be it remembered, in honour of this model of imperial virtue, show the massacre of German prisoners which signalised his funeral :^
One may be loath to Ix-lieve ihal so humane an emperor as Marcus Aureliui would have allowed so barbarous a scene to be placed on his tomb. Hut the fact is thai similar massacres appear in the reliefs of ihe Column of Marcus Aurelius himself I It h.id long been a custom that prisoners should be massacred on birthdays of empcrori as a sort of sacri5cial offering, as, for example, the thousands of Jews killed on the birthday anni- versaries of Vespasian and Uomitian.
This discovery makes us read the Meditations of the model Emperor with other eyes. Christianity at least made such a wanton and cold-blooded waste of human life impossible.
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The Review of Reviews.
NOTES FROM INDIAN MAGAZINES.
An Ideal Vikw of Hinduism. " The whole of Hindaism," says Sister Nivedita in the Hindustan Revuw, "is one long sanctification of the common life, one long heart, and relating of Noal to the world about it, and the love of pilgrimage and the quest of sacred shrines speak of that same desire to commune with nature as the village-feasts. The holiness of nature is the fundamental thought of Hindu civilisation. The hardships of life in camp and forest are called austerity. The sight of grass and trees is called worship. And the soothing and peace that come of a glimpse of a great river is held a step on the road to salvation, and the freeing of the soul."
The Coming Census of India.
The following are the contents of an Indian Census Paper : —
1. House number.
2. Serial number of person.
3. Name.
4. Religion and sect.
5. Male or female.
6. Married, unmarried, or widowed.
7. Age.
8. Caste and subcaste or tribe, clan or race.
9. Principal occupation.
10. Subsidiary occupation.
11. Means of subsistence of dependants on actual workers.
12. Birth district.
13. Language ordinarily used.
14. Literate or illiterate.
15. Knows or does not know English.
16. Insane, totally blind, leper or deaf-mute from birth.
"Was that Somebody You?"
" In itself," says the editor of T'leosophy in India, "it is a bright idea to scour the field of memory to find out ' Was that Somebody you ? ' "
Somebody did a golden deed ; Somebody proved a friend in need ; Somebody sang a beautiful song ; .Somebody smiled the whole day long ; Somebody thought " 'Twas good to live ; " Somebody said, " I am glad to give ;" Somebody fought a valiant fight ; Somebody lived to shield the right ; Was that somebody you ?
Lord Minto as Viceroy.
The: Hindustan Rcviao for October and November speaks in the highest, terms of Lord Minto as Viceroy : —
From end to end of the continent to-day there is but one feeling as to the impending departure of his Excellency. That feeling has found abundant expression and will in the next few weeks be made even more visibly manifest. That feeling is that Lord Minto's place is among the great Viceroys whose names are remembered with gratitude and affection as bene- factors and friends — Bentinck, Canning, and Kipon. We may say without the least exaggeration that the hour called for a statesman of great gifts of character and sagacity, and that Lord Minto has fully proved himself to be such a statesman.
THE OCCDLT MAGAZINES.
The November number of the Theosophist is better than usual. In her ciironique Mrs. Besant reports the activity of a young workman in Belgium called Antoine the Healer, a miner and the son of a miner, who since 1893 has lived an ascetic life heal- ing diseases, never accepting any payment for his cures, and preaching the holy life. He is said to cure all manner of diseases, including cancer, con- sumption, blindness and epilepsy. On Ascension Day this year some fifteen thousand people crowded into and round his church, and four times he cured the sick en bloc. There is an interesting article by Mr. H. O. Wolfe Murray, entitled " The Hidden Side of Insanity." He maintains that epilepsy and many forms of mental diseases are, properly speak- ing, due to the influence of thought-forms or the obsession by malign intelligences : —
Life, he says, is full of problems, but to clear them up we must apply the key of Theosophical knosvledge. A large asylum is horrible. There reigns about it a cloud of profound gloom and hopeless, almost ferocious, despair.
Mr. Dudley Wright, in a paper on " The Virgin Birth," e.xpounds his reasons for spiritualising the whole of the Gospel story into a series of metaphors and parables. Dr. F. Otto Schrader continues his essay on " The Religion of Goethe," and Mr. Leadbeater discusses the subject of the intervals between lives. He holds that the highest order of men come back at the longest intervals. Plato will be two thousand years before he comes back, but the average highly-developed man comes back in fifteen hundred years. The ordinary middle-class man comes back in two to three hundred years ; the skilled workman in one to two hundred years. The higher kind of savage returns in forty to one hundred, but the most brutal savages and habitual criminals come back almost at once. Generally speaking, a nran who dies young comes back sooner than one who lives a long time. The less spiritual a man is the sooner he is reincarnated.
In the Hindu Spiritual Magazine for October the editor devotes considerable space to a summary of the Report of the Dialectical Society on Spiritualism, and the concluding part of the magazine is devoted to a careful examination of the claims of the Tomsons to be regarded as psychics. The editor says : —
It is very much to be deplored that they did =0 ; for the divine powers which Mrs. Tomson seems to possess were meant for very high purposes, and not for making money or amusing a gaping and light-hearted crowd of smoking spectators. And the Tomsons would not have landed themselves in such trouble if they had announced themselves as Spiritualists .and not in their dual capacity.
In some recollections pleasantly told by Mrs. W. Y. Sellar in Cornhill she mentions the experience, so characteristic of the present time, of a Scotsman who was heard exclaiming : " Weel, I may not have had an ower high opeenion o' my ain parents, but I never considered them the pairfect eediots my bairns think me ! "
Leading Articlus in tiii<: Ri^views.
585
THE FUTURE OF OLD-AGE PENSIONS.
A Pi.EA FOR A CoNTRIBfTORV SCHEME.
Mr. .\. Carson Roberts publishes in the Nim-- teenth Ciiitury a very reniark.Tblc article concerning the necessity of grafting tlie present 01cl-.\ge Pension scheme upon sonic contributory scheme. Pensions now granted involve a charge of over fifteen millions per annum. Mr. Roberts calculates that unless something is done to introduce the contributf)ry principle there is practically no limit to the extent to which the national pensions fund will drain the national exchequer. He says that the money now paid to Old-Age Pensions is equivalent to 350 millions added to the National Debt, and if there be any ex- tension of the grant this debt must rise to seven hundred millions.
Mr. Roberts pleads that we should follow the example of the French, who are substituting for the Royal Pension Fund a contributory fund for their Old-Agc Pension grant. Mr. Roberts admits that Old-Age Pensions as we have them were a necessity, but they ought to be regarded as a temporary expe- dient, to be substituted as rapidly as possible for a contributory system. At present our Old-Age Pen- sioners receive a grant twice as great as the entire amount which is now distributed to an equal popula- tion by the Herman Pension Fund. Mr. Roberts puts forward a scheme, the principle of which is that no one need adopt it who chooses to be content with the pre- sent Old-.\ge Pension. But the scheme offers to those between twenty and sixty years of age the option of joining the new scheme or retaining their expectant rights under the old. The contribution is at the rate ot fourpence in the pound of earniugs, starting at the age of fifteen, contribution ceasing at the age of sixty- five.
Of this contribution he suggests that the em- ployer should pay one-fourth when the wage is between 20s. and 30s., but one-half when the wage is between los. and j£i, and three-fourths when it is under 10s. The fundamental principle of this scheme is capitalisation. The minimum retiring pension is twenty times the average contribution, or one-third of the average earnings There is a ten per cent, increase in the pension for each year that the claim is deferred after sixty. Mr. Roberts maintains that contribution upon the proposed scale of fourpence in the pound, which is lower than that of any known contributory scheme, is sufficient to double the income of the pension fund : —
,\ contribution of about id. per week from the sixleenlli year is sufficient to provide the 5s. jK-nsion for all who reach seventy, and to provide it clear of any reduction or forfeiture on account of property, earnings, or any other cause whatsoever. But the present grant imposes a charge of 3jd. per week upon every active member of the community — upon every occupied person over ten years of age— anci this charge will grow to 6d. \-<ei week or more when normal conditions are reacheti.
Mr. Roberts strongly condemns the proposal that we should only try to equal Germany. In Germany the maximum retiring pension in the highest class is
.(s. 5(1. per week, whit h is claimable at seventy ; while the average retiring pension is 3s. 4d. jkt week, and that under a contributory system in which work- men have contributed from '2d. to 4d. in the jiound ofT their wages.
Mr. Roberts thinks the Danish system is bad, and he holds up to our admiration the example of Austria : —
The .\ustrian law of December, 1906, is a very IviM depar- ture in the direction of obligatory thrift ; it proviilis nohlc pensions and insurances of all kinds for every eniployed person, excepting those who earn less than J^i^ a year. It is based upon absolutely sound financial principles, but its only income is wage-contribution, which is therefor • very high — alxiut soim-T cent, greater than the average contribution to the three (icrmaii schemes taken together — but the benefits which it offers are at least live limes as greil, in spite of the fact that the .Slate gives no subsidy.
The whole article is worthy of careful consideration by all those who are concerned with Old .Age Pensions. The magnificent enthusiasm of humanity which carried the first Old-.\ge Pensions scheme should be remem- bered with nothing but gratitude, but the fund should only be regarded as a timely expedient, and not the basis for a permanent system. Mr. Roberts's scheme may or may not be feasible, but it is one which deserves very careful examination and discussion, for it is on some such lines as these that we may look for progress.
A DEFENCE OF THE IDLE RICH.
A LANDLORD in the West of England, apparently a Liberal, contributes a very excellent article to Bliuk- i^'OOii's Alaffdzifif, entitled " The Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Idle Rich."
He describes very simply the work which he has to do as a landowner, and certainly makes good bis case that a country gentleman is not necessarily ,?n idle man. The writer says you may go into any respectable London club, and if you take the members there assembled you will find that perhaps one in twenty is idle and one in twenty is rich, but only one in a hundred is both idle and rich.
The only large division of the idle rich which comes within the category assailed by Mr. Lloyd Cieorge are the foreigners, usually .American, who take many of the best grouse moors, deer forests, and salmon rivers. He maintains that there is no evi- dence anywhere to prove that there is in this country any considerable number of idle rich men. The well- born and well-to-do classes, as a general rule, are fully aware of the responsibilities of their position, and do their best to fulfil them.
This is quite true, and I do not think that Mr. Lloyd George himself would deny it. He has repeatedly stated that it is not the rich man, but the idle rich man and his parasites, whom he has assailed, although no doubt his language often implies that he has never made a serious attempt accurately to decide the relative proportion of the sheep and ilie goats.
583
LANGUAGES AND LETTER-WRITING.
MISS BATCHELORS report aiient the Ex- change of Homes has just come to hand. The total applications received from Great Britain were fifty-eight, and the number of exchanges arranged was forty-one. Cf these thirty-two were with France, chiefly by the help of M. Toni-Mathieu, the French organiser ; eight with Germany, and one with Belgium. The letters received since show entire satisfaction, as a rule, on both sides of the Channel. In one case, however, the social position of the excha/igees was not accurately matched : in another, a German boy was taken into the Frenchman's home, which was not quite fair to the English youth ex- changed. Heartiest thanks are due to Miss Batchelor, who has so freely given her time and thought to the work, for one has to reckon at liast eight letters to each application.
A Dutch lady and an Italian gentleman desire to exchange letters for the sake of mutual help in the study of languages.
ESPERANTO.
It is well known that the fundamental root-words of the Esperanto language, a little less than three thousand in number, are contained in " The Uni- versala Vortaro " (first printed in 1893). ^ special section of the Esperanto Academy is now at w-ork upon a much fuller " Universala," and in connection with this undertaking it is interesting to note Dr. Zamenhof s remark during the session of the Lingvo Komitato at Washington. He said : " It is very useful to have Slavs as members of the dictionary section, for standing somewhat aside from the users of the great languages, they are in a better position to judge of the degree of internationality of the Esperanto roots proposed."
Certainly the Slav countries are most active in the movement for an international language. At the last Bulgarian Congress a league was proposed for the translation into Esperanto of the little-known masterpieces of the Balkan literature. \\"e are accustomed to say that the literature of a country shows the heart of its people ; but how few of us know anything of this " heart " of the Balkan folk !
Samos, that beautiful little Turko-Greek island, has accepted Esperanto as a compulsory subject in its schools. Prince Kopasses having just issued an edict to that effect. So the East follows the West on the line of progress, for the State of Maryland, U.S.A., makes Esperanto an optional lubject.
Any schoolboys who know Esperanto and desire to correspond with foreign schoolboys may send name, age, and address, together with a penny stamp, and I will send the information abroad. I cannot [jromise any definite place, however.
In Germany a fund is being raised for the estab- lishment of a service of competent travelling le^iturers
and the arrangement of travelling exhibitions, whilst France is devoting attention to the Press, for since the institution of weekly Esperanto reports in Le Petit Parisicn several provincial papers have followed suit.
Esperantists have heard a good deal about the Dollar lately, outside JNIr. Redmond's coins, for the head of the great Scottish Academy of that name, instigated thereto by Mr. Harrison Hill, lately gave two hours to the study of Esperanto, afterwards writing a letter in the language, which concluded thus : " Certainly I never before heard of a language which one could write, as I am writing this letter, after a study of two hours."
The British Esperanto Association, finding that fresh avenues of work continually open out which they cannot occupy for lack of funds, have upon the initiative of Mr. Aludie started a guarantee fund, the contributors thereto promising, within certain limits, to contribute yearly a proportional sum to any deficit in the revenue. To those who may be willing to assist in this good work I will gladly give more detailed information.
M. Bourlet has resumed his enjoyable " babilado " in the Reviio, and in the November number gives most interesting particulars about the Congress of Journalists at Brussels. M. Lejeune, one of the Cabinet Ministers, after hearing Esperanto conversa- tion between people of several nations, presiding at the concluding festival, rose and said : —
I am now convinced that an international language exists, and I desire with all my heart that it should progress rapidly, as it merits. During my whole life I have been interested in cripples, deaf mutes, and the blind, and I am certain that in Esperanto they will find a new and powerful help towards communication with mankind.
The "" Battle of Life," a translation by Dr. Zamen- hof of Dickens's charming Christmas story, will be ready by the time this number of the Review appears. It will make an admirable Christmas present ; the price is one shilling in paper covers, or two shillings in cloth. A photograph of Dr. Zamenhof's letter to his readers is given as a frontispiece. He hinisell originally made the translation from a German version twenty years ago. Oddly enough, this story, though it was dramatised in 1846 by Albert Smith and played at the Lyceum — Frank Matthews taking the part of Dr. Jeddler — has never been so widely read as some others of the Christmas stories ; yet it is as full of human interest, and if the self-sacrifice of Marion is unusual, it is none the less noble. The events are supposed to have occurred over a century ago — but the thoughts are the thoughts of Dickens's age — and the descriptions of country life, the quaint hostelry, the doctor, lawyers, lovers, and, above all, Clemency, are life-like. The book may be obtained at Stead's Publishing Office, Bank Buildings, Kings- way-
687
The Reviews Reviewed.
THE FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW. The nLCcinhcr I-'ortnii^htly coiUains four artiilcs on the Crisis, one on the Navy, and another on .•\l)dul Haniid, all of which arc noticed elsewhere. The other articles do not call for more than a brief mention.
DISRAELI.
I.cwis Melville writes on Disraeli, emphasising the f.»ct that once a Jew always a Jew. He says that when Beaconsfield was congratulated upon his " victory " at the Congress of Berlin he replied : " Yes, but it has come too late": —
.•\ sad and «oary, a splendid, lonely man, he lived every hour of his life and enjoyed il, and he never regretted his deci- sion to enter the ParlianicnLiry arena. " Vou have chosen the only career in which a man is never old," he said in his last days to a young man starting on his political career ; " a statesman can feel and inspire interest longer than any other man." And tliere in his own words is given to the worhl the master-key to his character — to inspire interest. DALHOUSIE.
Mr. G. W. Forrest gives a brilliant picture of the Marquis of Dalhousic's Indian administration. We see him as he writes : —
You will laugh, doubtless, as I often do myself, to tliiiik of the " Laird o' Cockpen " sitting here and bowling about kings and kingdoms as if they were curling stones ! But although one does laugh, it seems anxious work, I can tell you.
He annexed the Punjaub and Pegu by conquest, and by taking over all States whose rulers left no natural heirs he —
anncxeil seven States in eight years, and " by the several territorial acquisitions," he says, "a revenue of not less than four millions sterling has been added to the annual income of the Indian Empire."
COPYRIGHTED ARCHITECTURE.
Mr. -M. H. Spielmann shakes his head over the pro- posed extension of the protection of copyright to architecture. He says : —
The whole aspect of this section of the Bill is curiously com- plicated, and the architect, spiritually and materially, has more to lose than to gain by his proposed new "dignity."
Nevertheless, he says : —
The Hill on its broad lines is warmly to be welcomed. In view of the international n.ature of it extensive amendment is impossible in the interests of uniformity and interchange of rights. But minor points may be reconsidered.
OTHER ARTICLES.
Mr. Benjamin Taylor presses some points in favour of Tariff Reform. Mr. Francis Gribble tells the story of the early struggles of that plain-looking child of genius Rachel. Mr. O. Williams writes on " The .Amateur and the Opera," and Mr. E. H. D. Sewell discourses on " The Revival in Rugby Football."
THE CONTEMPORARY REVIEW.
I .NOTICE L-lscwhcrc the arlnlis by .\Ir. Harold Spender, Dr. Dillon, and Mr. Upton Sinclair.
"the I ADV Sl'MMARISED."
Mrs. Putnam concludes the interesting series of papers upon The l.ady, which have been published in a volume, by a paper entitled "The Lady Sum- marised." She is mildly satirical concerning the Socialist lady, 'and .says that the greatest menace to the family is the lady's inability to modernise Ihp conditions of labour within it. It is possible that an advancing social sentiment may extinguish the lady altogether. On the other hand, as long as her pres- tige lasts, she has an unexampled social opportunity.
dog's FLESH FOR HUMAN FOOD.
Miss C. Smith Rossie writes a very interesting account of the Meat Markets — the German Freibank, a meat market for the poor— which exist in Germany for the poor alone. They are so safeguarded by laws and regulations, and watched by police and inspec- tors, that it would be very difficult, as well as disgraceful, for any well-to-do people to buy their supplies there. In this market much meat that would be condemned as not wholesome is artificially sterilised. Dog's flesh is sold there, and a good deal of what would he sold as dogs'-meat. The tubercu- lous cooked meat stalls sickened Miss Rossie, but they were not so bad as the sausages which had been made out of the remnants from the testing-rooms for the examination of swine and dogs for trichinosis.
ANARCHISM IN LITERATURE.
Mr. E. E. Anderson writes on our knowledge of Tesus in the Light of Historical Research. He thinks that the tradition as we have it is substantially accurate, but the Synoptics give us something better than a mere chronicle. They give us a true impression of lesus. Mr. E. Wake Cook devotes several pages to a denunciation of .Anarchism in Literature : the Pe.»^ of Paradox, as illustrated by Oscar Wilde, Mr. ChcstCi ton, and above all by Mr. Bernard Shaw, who is by far the most mischievous revolutionist or anarchist extant. The writer says that faced as we are by grim and portentous Sphinx-riddles, this is not the time for Mephistophelian mirth and mockery or super-non- sense ; we need clear seeing, insight, foresight, and truth of statement. Above all we need to rise above the plane of confused thinking and verbal juggling.
Mary Longman, writing on '" Children's Care Com- mittees," suggests that a great Children's Care Department might be developed side by side with vigorous Care Committees. Many of the present Care Committees would doubtless die out, but new ones would arise, and would do invaluable work in watching and informing the action of the Children's Care Department.
588
The Review of Reviews.
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY AND AFTER.
The two most important articles in the Nineteenth Caiti/ry — Sir Harry Johnston's veiled ultimatum from Germany and Mr. Roberts' proposals to improve and extend our National Pension Scheme — are noticed elsewhere.
SIR WILLIAM WHITE ON THE NAVY.
Sir William White writes a long paper on the Naval crisis, in which he parades a more or less bewildering array of statistics leading up to the conclusion that Sir William does not consider necessary or desirable either the " two-keels-to-one " policy or the sugges- tion of a heroic effort which would immediately add a huge and overpowering force to the Royal Navy. Sir William points out that there is a radical distinc- tion between borrowing money for making permanent naval works and borrowing money for the mainten- ance of a Fleet the units of which perish in a few years. We put Rosyth on our Naval estimates ; the Germans do not include their outlay on the Kiel Canal in their estimates.
KING EDWARD IN INDIA.
In view of the fact that King George is going to be crowned in Delhi, many people will read with interest Mr. S. M. Mitra's article entitled " King Edward's Peace Tour in India."
Mr. Mitra declares that the effects of the King's visit were magical, and for the first time the people of India felt that British policy was not confined to physical possession of the country, but was extended to holding the hearts of the natives of India. He promises a second article showing how the Prince's progress in Upper India produced a wonderful effect in the Provinces which not many years before had been the arena of mutiny and massacre.
THE RELIGIOUS TEACHING OF CHILDREN.
Mrs. J. H. Bell, in an article entitled " The Creed of Our Children," discusses the difficulties of endeavour- ing to combine our own intellectual honesty with the necessity of satisfying the child who craves for definiteness, beliefs, rules and precepts. Mrs. Bell thinks it is a question each family must solve for itself. She says that fathers ought to help mothers in solving it, and makes a suggestion that as every dogma, every creed, every form has an underlying meaning of deep spiritual tiuth you may always use those forms knowing that they are true in the higher sense, though you may not be able to believe them as they actually stand. You can tell your children with a clear conscience that things are true which are only true in a sense, but you can explain to them afterwards the inner truth that lies beyond the false outer form.
THE MODERNIST CONCEPTION OF A CHURCH.
The late Professor C. D. Burns, writing on " St. Thomas Aquinas and the Ideals of Modernism," says : —
The Church of the Modernists will be nothing like the Church of the Roman theolog'ans. It will be a body which
produces perhaps an official class of men devoted to special study and special service ; but the spirit of God no more inhabits an official caste than does the spirit of a naiion reside in its king. The practice of Religion is like that of an art ; it is not the mere acting according to mechanical formulae. How, then, can we conceive the Cliurch but as a body of men united in developing the same social tradition ? The members of a Church are not individuals who, having each his God, come together because they happen to subscribe to the same creed. They are as essentially one as the different limbs of the body are one man, and only thus can they live with the Spirit of God. That they should agree to one form of words or one type of riiual is quite a secondary matter. Such, briefly, is the Modernist conception of a Church.
OTHER ARTICLES.
Emily Hickey writes on " Browning Biography," Dr. W. H. D. Rouse replies to Mr. Arthur Benson concerning classics and education, and Prince Kropot- kin concludes his articles concerning the response of the animals to their environment.
BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE.
A GREAT deal of Blackivood's Magazine has been noticed separately. In the December number Mr. Henry Newbolt begins a serial story, " The Twy- mans "; Mr. Alfred Noyes revives in imagination the Mermaid Tavern, of Shakespeare's day ; and Sir H. Mortimer Durand continues his account of a holiday in South Africa. He remarks that one Boer leader whom he met said his countrymen were not very grateful for the terms of peace or compensation for war losses, or even for the right of self-government, but they were deeply impressed by Leing admitted on equal terms as citizens of the Empire. He takes a very reassuring view as to the prospects of South Africa under the Union. "Musings Without Method" deals with Mr. George Wyndham's rectorial address at Edinburgh on "The Springs of Romance in the Literature of Europe," and is thence led to speak of Romance in real life, and consequently of Cecil Rhodes's life, the finest possible example of Romance in a career. Sir Lewis Michell's " Life of Cecil Rhodes" is naturally taken as the text for the criti- cism of Rhodes's career. The writer remarks that Rhodes was " fortunate above all in the possession of two gifts rarely lavished upon one man — the gift of thought and the gift of action."
The Treasury.
Like most of the other magazines, the Treasury for December is a double number, one of the attractions being two coloured plates, " The Presentation in the Temple," and " The Flight into Egypt," after paint- ings by J. Janssens. Many of the articles are on Christmas topics, such as Bethlehem, a Christmas under the Commonwealth, etc. Another, by Mr. F. C. Eeles, describes the Coronation Service ; Mother Kate, of St. Saviour's Priory, Haggerston, writes on the Work of the Sisters among the Poor ; a literary article, by E. M. Bellewes, is devoted to Boswell apart from Johnson ; and the subject of the bock of the month article, by Mr. Frederick Rogers, is Longfellow's " Golden Legend."
The RiiViiiws Kevikwi-.o
589
THE NATIONAL REVIEW.
TiiK paralysis wlikli lias fallen on the Unionist Party is shown in the Deceniher number. Appearing just when the battle is at its thickest, the review is tame, and almost chastened, to a degree scarcely credible wlien one remembers the furious diatribes of less critical times. The Kditor does, indeed, say that the four Liberal statesmen who took part in the Conference could all teach Tammany Hall " a thing or two in cold unblushing hypocrisy," and finds Mr. I.loyd George's Mile End speech " redolent of coming defeat." He actually declares "it would not be surprising if the attempted Dollar domination pro- duced a veritable landslide."
The Canadian Correspondent declares that Sir Wilfrid's contribution to the Irish fund had no more political signilicance than tipping an Irish waiter at a New York restaurant !
" Ignotus " suggests that Lord Kitchener may have been put upon the Imperial Defence Committee in order to silence him and blindfold the country. The writer thinks that Lord Kitchener carries on his shoulders the future of the British race, for unless an armed nation stands behind the paramount fleet, the collapse of the British Empire is at hand. Mr. A. R. Carman hopes that the election of the anti-Navy candidate in a typical French Canadian constituency in Quebec will awaken the Canadian public to realise that what they facetiously call the "dread everything" scare is a real danger.
Mr. Lovat Eraser declares that the British Note to Persia foreshadows a policy which, unless, as is most unlikely, Persia comes rapidly to the rescue of her Southern provinces, will lead to occupation if it is persisted in.
Mr. Maurice Low attributes the amazing defeat of the Republicans to— (i) Rooseveltism, (2) general unrest, (3) high prices, (4) dissatisfaction with Republican tarifi" policy, (5) Republican factional diflferences.
The duty on unearned increment, according to R. H. Inglis I'algrave, is exactly one which is attrac- tive in theory, but, he declares, is impossible to carry out in practice with strict justice to those concerned.
Mrs. Conyers Alston draws an attractive picture of the life of British settlers in South Africa, con- trasts it with the much harder life of the Canadian woman, and declares that " the climate is as near perfection as any in the world, with its almost peren- nial sunshine."
The success of the Public Trustee is set forth by Mr. E. K. Allen. He declares that the business actually now current and prospective is some forty-three millions sterling. The average value of the estates is ^7,000. He gives a humorous account of the variety of occupations that claim the Public Trustee, as for example the introduction of some girl beneticiary to a West End drapery estab- lishment, paying surprise visits to the mother of infant
benefuiaries, purchase of an overcoat to be sent out to Canada, weekly piyments to constables' widows, unravelling records of romance and tragedy in the wild step[)es of Siberia, etc., etc. Of the six millions of capital dealt with by the Public Trustee, his hold- ing in Consols is only a quarter of a million.
" An I'ndergraduate " makes a rather feeble reply to " .\ Public Schoolboy's " attack on public schools.
THE WORLD'S WORK. TnK Christmas number of the World's IVcrk has tuned its contents to the spirit of the season by devoting a number of articles to saving the children and uplifting the citizenship of the future. Miss Margaret Macmillan describes a health centre in Deptford, an elementary school that teaches fitness. Miss Agnes Cook, a Poor Law Guardian, treats of the after-care of youths. Mr. K. H. Everett discusses the relation of Poor Law reform to the workhouse child. Mr. Raymond Blathwayt gives a vivid and illustrated account of Mr. C. B. Fry's training ship Mercury, and speaks warmly of the admirable influence e.xerted by Mrs. Fry and her lady helpers on the formation of the boys' character. Mr. J. H. W'hite treats of handicrafts and apprentice- ships, and the need of legislation and of practical education to save boys drifting into unskilled and casual labour and unemployableness. Mr. J. E. Gibberd deals with the same problem. Mr. A. H. Singleton reports the e.xcellent work done by Mile. Gahery in Paris in I'L'nion Faniiliale. A travel paper, not unseasonable, recounts the journey by packhorse trail into British Columbia, and the far Northern railway from Christiania to Bergen, described by Mr. James Armstrong. Mr. J. Webb deals with fruit-growing in Western Australia, and Percy Collins with the development of practical modelling.
Great Hospitals. In the November Century Dr. W. G. Thompson declares that the finest modern hospital plant, the Policlinico in Rome, the new Rudolf Virchow and Moabit Hospitals in Berlin, the City Hospital of Diisseldorf, and the General Hospital of the City of Mexico, are as far in advance of any completed hospitals in the United States as the Capitol at Washington surpasses a town-hall. The Policlinico has a capacity of one thousand beds, and comprises forty-four pavilions, coveting forty-five acres of ground near the Colosseum. In Berlin the Virchow, Moabit, and West End Hospitals cover collectively one hundred and twenty-four acres, all within the city limits. These precedents lead the writer to suggest that the entire area of Blackwell's Island — two miles long and occupying almost the exact geographical and population centre of Greater New York — should be assigned to a hospital capable of accommodating fifteen thousand patients !
590
The Review of Reviews.
THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.
The Nm'th American Review for November is chiefly devoted to American subjects. Mr. Samuel J. Kornhauser writes on " President Taft and the Extra-Constitutional Function of the Presidency," Mr. Harrison S. Smalley on " Can a Tariff Com- mission Succeed,?" and Mr. G. H. Montague on " Business Enterprise and the Law."
A SIDE LIGHT ON THE OSBORNE JUDGMENT.
Mr. Woodrow Wilson, who carried New Jersey for the Democrats, in the course of a somewhat dis- cursive article on " The Lawyer and the Community," makes a remark concerning the rights of minorities in corporations, which, although he does not intend it, bears directly upon the demand made by the Labour Party that the majority of any Trades Unions have a right to use the funds of the Union for sup- porting the political views of the Party which happens to be for the moment in the majority. Mr. Wilson
says : —
I think it must be admiUed that the position of the minority stockholder is, in most of our States, extremely unsatisfactory. I do not wonder that he sometimes doubts whether corporate stocks are property at all or not. He does not seem to enjoy any of the substantial rights of property in connection with them. He is merely contributing money for the conduct of a business which other men run as they please. If he does not approve of what they do, there seems nothing for it but to sell the stock (though their acts may have depreciated its value immensely). He cannot even inquire or protest without being told to mind his own business — the very thing he was inno- cently trying to do ! There are many things which are not satisfactory about this putting the money of many men into one pile for the use of a board of directors, and to my mind it is clearly the task of the counsellors of society to make them satisfactory.
THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF REBELS.
Mr. Henry W. Nevinson, in the course of a very thoughtful essay upon Rebellion, makes a very notable suggestion. He says : — ■
In war we have lately introduced definite rules for the •exclusion of cruelty and injustice, and in some cases the rules are observed. The same thing could be done in rebellion. I have often urged that the rights of war, now guaranteed to belligerents, should be extended to rebels. The chances are that a rebellion or civil war has more right on its side than international ■ war, and there is no more reason why a man should be tortured .and refused quarter, or \\ hy a woman should be violated and have her children killed before her eyes by the agents of their own Government than by strangers. Yet these things are habitually done, and my simple proposal appears ludicrous.
DIPLOMACY DE LUXE.
Mr. M. Honda, a Japanese writer, deserves to be credited with a notable contribution to political phraseology. After describing the reckless diplomacy which is indulged in with impunity by nations like the United States, which are free from all danger of attack, he says :—
This style of diplomacy the present writer designates, for want of a belter terru, " diplomacy </<■ /«.»•(•," in contradistinc- tion to another kind of diplomacy such as that actuating Japan — the diplomacy of necessity. Of course it is an enviable distinction for a nation that it can aflord to please or displease other peoples at will without incurring much risk to its own interests. But at the same time it is a cause for thankfulness 'Jiat there are not many such truly indefendeut, not inlirdepen- •III, nations.
Speaking of .\merican diplomacy in the Far East, Mr. Hcnda says : —
Should America take an active and warlike part in the affairs of China, that in itself may hasten the evil day of the latter's final dissolution. If, on the contrary, America lets China clearly understand that nothing but moral support and sympathy is forthcoming from the trans-Pacific Power, that may yet awake the ancient Empire to its last and only me.ans of salvation, and save China at last by dint of self-determina- tion and self-dependence.
THE WESTMINSTER REVIEW.
The December number is a fair average. Mr. A. B. Wallis Chapman would limit the right to vote to adults at forty-five, and to such persons at twenty-five who passed a simple examination in the elements of the Constitution. Mr. Joseph Strauss, after detailing the position of woman in ancient and modern Jewry, declares that it is such as to command the approval and admiration even of our modern Suffragettes. Mr. H. Darnton-Fraser finds the danger point in the Near East to be the possible combination of the Ottoman Greeks, who are almost all mem- bers of a powerful network of organisations, and the Turkish malcontents. Should these unite the Turkish Government is doomed. This doom may be avoided if the Government had courage enough to make the boycott cease. " Lex " finds the cause of unemployment in the fact that the labour of a fraction of the able-bodied men and women is suffi- cient to supply the whole population with the neces- saries and conveniences of life. Mr. G. E. Wallace gives the reflections on the state of civilisation on the earth by an imagined planetary observer, who comes to the conclusion that our civilisation is, to say the least, very primitive. Mr. Hubert B. Matthews gives a survey of politics in 1910, and pronounces favour- ably to the Liberal record. Elijah Greenleaf en- deavours to make out that Jesus did not recognise the sacredness of law or of its administration. " Ignotus " describes the lawyer as our " old man of the sea," and declares that legalism, an inevitable emanation from the Bar, is the enemy, the stigma of the past, the menace of the future.
AMERICAN REVIEW OF REVIEWS.
The result of twenty years' experience of the George Junior Republic for boys and girls is pleasantly put forward by Miss Jeanne Robert. Mr. George, the founder of this school of democracy — of which president, judge, police are all elected — declares that no boy discharged from the Junior Republic has ever turned out badly. Only a few who ran away, or were taken away by their parents, have turned out unsatisfactory. Mr. David Lambuth describes real Presidential politics in Brazil, with not a little eulogy of the President, Hermes da Fonseca. " Rushing Freight to New York " is the title of a vivid paper by Sylvester Baxter, descriptive of the extraordinary rapidity with which fish and other goods are hurried up to the New York market from the country.
Tnii Ri-viiiws Revihwiid.
591
T. P.'S MAGAZINE.
TiiK ncccnibcr double number is a woiidcrfut ■-i.\|)cniiywortli. A very wide variely of the most interesting papers, lit up by an ei|ual variely of illustrations, supjiiy instruction, entertainment, and iiis|>iration. Mr. MacCullum Scott's sketch of Fin- land's struggle for freedom has been separately noticed.
Mr. Edgar Prestage gives a short summary of the life of Dr. Braga, the stepson hounded from home, who earned his bread by compositor's work, ind so secured himself a college education— the I'ositivist who is now President of the I'ortuguese Republic. The Turner collection in the new wing of the Tate Gallery is described at length, adorned with tinted reproductions of the pictures. Mr. .\rthur .Machen sketches Edgar .Mian Poe as the bupreme realist. Mr. E. J. Sullivan's pictures accompanying Carlyle's "French Revolution" are declared to be a masterpiece of illustration. Mr. E. R. Gibson tells the wonder of the change in our conception of the atom, and of electricity and magnetism, which have be-:n effected by the dis- <ovcry of radium. Mr. Frederick Niven treats of snow and frost in art, with tinted reproductions of great picture scenes. Miss Mary Neal's account of the modern revival of morris dancing has been separately noticed. There are also sporting papers. -Mr. C. E. Thomas supj)lies a study of first efforts in sprinting, boating, etc. " The Five Wizards," or champion billiard-players, are the subject of another paper. There is a story " for mothers to read aloud." Francis Gribble tells again the story of Caglioslro. Mr. Edwin Buckley gives the A B C of town-planning.
'I'. P. liimself contributes a very hurried series of impressions of Canada. He declares that what he has already seen is beyond all his dreams, surpasses the most enthusiastic, the more flamboyant of the eulogists whom he had previously met from Canada.
The Oxford and Cambridge Review. The Michaelmas Term number is not distinguished by any exceptional paper. " Monk of Crowland " chats pleasantly about changes that have taken place in the University during the last thirty years. Noticeable are the frank statements of " Decianus " on the class exclusiveness of our old Universities, and • Messenger's " absurd suspicion of the Radical Government wishing to injure the Church of England through the Church I.ads" Brigade. Barbara Smythe contributes an interesting discussion on Dante's edu- lation. J. M. Hunter pithily epitomises the spirit of .Machiavelli, and shows how his Italian environment demanded it. Mr. J. H. Allen describes the under- graduate as a politician in a way that makes the reader feel that the undergraduate is certainly not to be taken seriously.
THE ENGLISHWOMAN.
TiiK Englishwoman for December publishes in full the letter which Lord I.ytton addressed to .Mr. .•\si|uith, a valuable document setting forth calmly and lucidly the eviilence of the determination of the women of this country to gain admission within the pale of the Constitution. Mrs. Flora Steele, in an article entitled " The Curzon-Cromer Combine," pleads strongly in favour of the citizenship of women on grounds which will only partially conimcnd them- selves to many who sympathise with her in the main. .\ lady who tells us that in its very nature sex is ephemeral, and that the great ideal of hum.iniiy is to look forward to the happy future when it will have emerged from the slavery of sex, can hardly be regarded as a guide whom the ordinary rnan or woman would be safe to follow.
There is an excellent and useful article on the need for women's lodging-houses published under the absurd title of " Bow and Spear." It might as well be entitled " Boots and Gloves," or " Corsets and Slippers," but the article is very good all the same. The subject, which is one of ever-increasing import- ance, is dealt with in a sympathetic spirit. There is a bright paper on the North-country pitmen at home, and an interesting description of the Ainu Women — their works and their ways. Dr. Violet Shillington writes an Open Letter to the Editor discussing F'reiich gardening as a career for English women. In the "Echoes" it is mentioned that thirteen wo;nen stood as candidates in the municipal elections, of whom nine were returned. Oldham and Brecon have elected ladies to fill the mayoral chair.
The English Historical Review. The English Historical Review comes ever and again to remind us of quaint connections between past and present, and to throw fresh light upon ancient story. The October number contains a paper by Mr. Wilfrid Hooper on the Court of Faculties, which is of this kind. When Henry VIII. broke with Rome a number of dispensations, faculties, and indulgences were transferred from the Pope to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Defects of birth, delict, or physical blemish were held to prevent a man entering the Church, unless dispensations and faculties were issued by the Papal Curia. Illegiti- mate birth, for example, was a bar to the priesthood, but as it h.-id been dispensed with by the Popes so it has been frequently relaxed by the .-Vrchbishop, on application made, with certificate of character and fee. The rule that persons illegitimately born and seeking Holy Orders should apply to the .\rchbishop for a dispensation, after being in abeyance for upwards of two centuries, has been revived during the primacy of Dr. Davidson, the present .Archbishop of Canterbury, and is now being enforced by the Bi-shops. .A copy is given of a licence granted in 1905 to a candidate for Holy Orders, to present him- self for ordination, notwithstanding his illegitimacy.
592
The Review of Reviews.
THE SPANISH REVIEWS.
Im an article on "Greater Spain" in Espani Moderna the writer deals with the variations of the Spanish language to be found in America, and the importance which has been attached to those varia- tions by certain writers. There are dictionaries of " Peruvianisms " and on various words anl phrases used in the present-day Spanish spoken in the South American Republics. These books, carefully com- piled, suggest that the language is undergoing serious changes in that part of the world, but as a matter of fact (according to the writer of this article) these changes signify very little, for many of the words found in those dictionaries, and described as being peculiar to this or that Republic, are to be found in Andalusia and in other parts of Spain ; they are not good Spanish words, and cannot be found in the dictionary of the Spanish Academy, but they are in use, nevertheless.
Another article deals with poisoners discovered by science. The writer gives many illustrations of poisons which have been detected by means of chemistry, and he furnishes details concerning the changes which have taken place of late years in what he calls the Chemical Law Service in Spain and the law relating to the examination of the bodies of those persons whose death has given rise to suspicion of poisoning.
Sr. J. P. de Guzman writes about portraits as historical documents, pointing out the historic value of the productions of old masters and the importance of similar modern productions for future generations. He says that the historical and artistic portrait was not appreciated as it is to-day in Europe until about the end of the fifteenth century, and calls attention to the fact that the progenitors of the modern por- trait are Diirer, Cranach and Holbein.
Sr. Amador de los Rios WTites about Granada, and gives us a sketch of a man named Pepe Hereria, the King of the Gipsies, who professed to know better than anyone else the secrets and wonders of the Alhambra and the whole of Granada.
Among the articles in Ciudad de Dios we may mention that on Me.\ican independence, in which the writer makes some strong remarks concerning certain Mexican students. He says that September i6th is the great day in Me.xico, and the celebration has been especially important this year for the reason that it is the centenary of the beginning of the struggle which ended in the separation from Spain. The writer deprecates what he calls the unjustifiable hatred towards Spain, encouraged principally by students who, having no great merit of their own, find them- selves eclipsed entirely by those coming from outside, and in revenge endeavour to thrive at the expense of an unpatriotic patriotism.
JSiiestro Ttempo contains the concluding article of the series on the " Philippine Theatre," by W. E. Retana.
An article on Bologna and Carducci forms the
most interesting contribution to the current issue of La Lectura. Bologna is rightly called the city of towers and arches (or arcades) ; the principal streets are lined with arcades of all periods and styles— a happy arrangement which affords shelter from the rain in winter and from the hot sun in summer. The towers are to be found everywhere, not only on churches and palaces, but in the squares and corners of streets ; they are all of red brick, blackened by moisture or green with moss. They are of high elevation, straight and quadrangular, plain, with but few windows, and, in many instances, without spires or other ornamental finish. The churches of the city, unfinished or entirely restored, do not offer the splendour of those of Pisa or the interest of those of Florence, although each one has some special feature worthy of religious contemplation. The writer gives a sketch of the career of Carducci, and declares that as a regenerator of the language Carducci is worthy of the title of '" The Poet of the Third Italy " bestowed upon him by his compatriots.
THE CENTURY : FORTIETH ANNIVERSARY.
The issue of the November number marks the fortieth anniversary of the founding of the Cerifiiry, which first came out in November, 1870. A short survey is given of the progress of the magazine in the arts of illustration. When it first appeared there was only one pictorial naonthly of prominence, and that drew its pictures to a large extent from the other side of the Atlantic. The Century at first followed a similar policy, but introduced the innovations and advances in engravings, illustration and printing which have resulted in the pre-eminence of American illustrated periodicals. A very interesting feature of this anniversary number is a collection of engravings drawn from earlier numbers of the Century. The magazine's policy is said by the editor to have been always to promote national unity and to oppose ■ sectionalism, class pretensions, and class feeling. The list of contributors contains most of the eminent writers of the time in the United States and also in Europe. It has given special prominence to art and poetry. Non-commemorative articles are Mr. Augustus Post's description of the evolution of the flying man in the person of Mr. Glenn H. Curtiss, Mr. John Burroughs' beautifully illustrated " Spell of the Yosemite," and one or two other papers separately noticed.
The mid-November issue of the Rmie de Paris begins the publication of the first version of Gustave Flaubert's " Education Sentimentale." Unlike the original version of " The Temptation of St. Anthony," which had considerable connection with the second, the first " Education Sentimentale," written in 1843, has nothing in common with that published in 1869. The only resemblance seems to be the title.
Tup. Rhvihws Ki:vik\vi:d.
593
THE ITALIAN REVIEWS.
'I'm; A,i.<S(\i;iiii A'<izu>/iii/(- is enabled to piibli>li an advance article about Foga/.zaro's new novel " I.eila," the event of the iniblishing season in Italy. Accord- ing to G. Vital!, " Leila " would appear to be some- what of a return to the author's earlier manner : it is in tlie main a psychological study of a girl and of the men and women who form her circle, interspersed with vivid word-i)i('tures of the ,\lpinc scenery the author loves so well. The novel does not deal in any direct way with Modernism ; but religious ex- perience fills so large a space in Fogazzaro's horizon that it plays no inconsiderable part in his book, which contains lifelike sketches of ecclesiastical society. .Although Fogazzaro has reached his seventieth year, his critic believes that " Leila " will rank among the greatest of his novels. Writing on " Catholicism and Clericalism," G. Giuntini points out the deliberate confusion created by the misuse of the latter term. The old clericalism which clamoured for the restora- tion of the Temporal Power is, he declares, dead. To-day Catholic activity in the peninsula in no sense deserves the term, and the contest of the near future lies between true I^iberalism and religion on one side and Socialism and Republicanism on the other. He emphatically condemns the recent utterances of Mr. .N'athan. Under the title " Prisoner at Wilhelms- holie and Exile at Chislehurst," L. Cappelletli has collected letters and anecdotes of the last years of Napoleon III.
The article in Scientia, the learned international quarterly, which will attract the most attention is that by Alfred Loisy on the Four Gospels. The development of Christianity through the first century is traced out on a historical and purely rationalistic basis, the supernatural element being not only ignored but controverted. It is amazing that M. Loisy's admirers should still regard him as a Christian. The first three articles in the review deal with astro- nomical subjects ; Prof. Rignano, of Milan, contri- butes a judicial survey of Socialism, and maintains th.it there has arisen through it " a greater social sensibility towards the suflferings under which innumerab'e human beings languish and the develop- ment of a new and higher ideal of social equity."
The " Policy of Pius X." finds an outspoken defender in Crispolto CrispoUi, though doubtless not one wholly agreeable to the Vatican. The article appears in the Riissfgiia CoiiUmporanca. The Church, in Signor Crispolti's opinion, stood in urgent need, after a prolonged period of " leonine megalomania," of a policy of internal reorganisation. " To an army, numerous indeed, but undisciplined and compro- mising, Pius X. has preferred a battalion of the faithful, obedient in act and thought." Again, " The Pontiff undoubtedly holds a profound and tenacious conception of the dignity and interests of the Church." Yet, the necessary reforms once complete, the author foresees dangers in an undue prolongation of the actual Papal policy.
To the Nuovti Autoloj^a T. Rossi- Dorier contri- butes a timely article on the cholera, pointing out that of all contagious diseases it is one of the easiest to escape, that it has no terrors for |)eople living healthy lives in clean surroundings, and that it is only propagated amid dirt. He regards the recent mild epidemic in Italy as a warning to the authorities to |)ut their house in order in regard to sanitation, water supply, etc. .A. Galante reviews Mr. Latlibury's volumes of Gladstone's corresiwndence, and dwells on the international importance of the letters on the Temporal Power.
Emporium contains a fully illustrated account of the recently discovered fourteenth cenii;:y mosaic in the church of .Ara C<cli in Rome.
THE DUTCH REVIEWS.
Dkai.ing with the questions of International Arbitration and Disarmament, a writer in De Gids suggests that it may be the duly of Holland to bring about some such scheme of universal peace. Holland may appear small to some other countries, and not important enough to follow the vocation of general peacemaker, but small people and nations can, and often do, accomplish great things. The Peace Con- gresses have been held in Holland, so why should not the Netherlands act the part suggested ? .Another article treats of the fortification of the Dutch coast, and especially of the rok of the West Scheldt in the event of a European war. Suppose that Clermany becomes involved in a war and that the sea power of her adversary be sufficient to block the passage to her ports ; Holland might be a road for the transit of supplies and the Scheldt would be the passage for those supplies. How about Holland's neutrality, and what could she do ? Suppose the adversary were to blockade the Scheldt ?
Vragi-n des Tijds has two long contributions, one concerning the reform of elementary education, and the second on the proposed new army tax. Perhaps it would be better to call this latter the National Defence Tax. Holland is thinking of adopting an idea already carried into practice in various European countries; it is to levy a tax for the army and the defence of the nation. There may be a small fixed sum per annum, such as three shillings, and a further sum to be levied according to position, property, or income.
TijJspiegd opens with a long article on Count Cavour and the struggle for Italian unity. In " Music in London and England " the writer makes some scathing remarks about our musicians and vocalists. We seem to hold a poor place in his estimation. Only one newspa])cr has a good musical critic !
Elsrcicr contains an account of the French rule in Holland a century ago ; the illustrations are instruc- tive, showing the uniform of soldiers, a flag, coins, a warship in a storm oft" Flushing, and so forth. French prints of the nineteenth century aflford scope for another good article.
594
The Review of Reviews.
CHRISTMAS NUMBERS.
Cassell's. Casse/i's Christmas Number opens with a storj' by Mr. Pelt Ridge, " Christmas Confederates," and other fiction writers are Miss Marjorie Bowen, Mr. Warwick Deeping, Mr. Keble Howard (or is his " Happy Vanners " a good deal more faction than fiction ?), and Mr. Orme Angus. Mr. William Haslani Mills gives his opinions on " The People of Man- chester,'' and Mr. A. Ireland Robertson describes Yuletide in Scotland, that is to say, he writes a very little of Christmas festivities north of the Tweed and a great deal about " Hogmanay " — New Year festivities. No one seems to know for certain what is the deriva- tion of Hogmanay, which is Scotch for the 31st of December. Mr. Robertson gives an interesting .account of New Year customs in Scotland. Directly the clock strikes twelve in some places on December 31st everyone rushes ofT to be "first-foot" to some of his friends, though in other places they leave first- footing till a decent hour on the morning of January ist. Mr. Walter Wood proves once more, as if it needed proving, " the Badness of the Good Old Times " of a century ago, with press-gangs, recruiting sergeants, highwaymen, slavery, the pillory, public e.xecutions, and merciless punishments (often capital) for trivial offences. In fact the wonder is, with so much capital punishment, that anyone kept his head on at all.
Pall Mall Magazine. An excellent Christmas number is the /'ir// J/<r// Magazine — of course a double number. Among the articles is one by Mr. Charles Clarke upon the pantomime season and the training for dancers, with interesting illustrations, and another on " Christmas Pictures in the Alps," by Mr. Julian Grande, F.R.G.S., with some good illustrations of winter sports. Other topical articles are " How Christmas is Kept by Some of the Poor," by Mrs. Barnett, and " Christmas in Arctic Lands," by Mr. S. K. Hutton — a Christmas spent among the Eskimos, who had never before the writer's visit heard of Christmas, yet who had a Christmas tree, and cele- brated it as far as possible in orthodox style. The Eskimo Christmas dinner of frozen seal meat eaten raw, ribs of seal stewed, weak tea, ship's biscuit or Eskimo currant bread, does not sound appetising to us. There is an interesting little discussion as to what the Star of Bethlehem really was — whether a comet, or a nova (new star which suddenly flares up and soon returns to it former magnitude), or a con- junction of two planets. Of the contributors of fiction may be mentioned Miss Marjorie Bowen, Mr. Perceval Gibbon, Mr. Clive Holland (who provides the ghost stories, which should always be included in a proper Christmas number), and Mr. Francis Gribble.
Windsor. Of the Windsor Magazine the contents are particu- larly interesting and varied. The opening paper is upon the fine collection of pictures in the Leeds City .A.rt
Gallery, and is accompanied by illustrations in colour and black and white. Mr. E. F. Benson contributes a paper on winter sports, with some good illustrations of bobsleighing, "skeletoning," and ski-ing, most of them apparently taken at St. Moritz. Mr. C. G. D. Roberts writes a clever little story of the ill-fortunes of a cat marooned during the winter on a desert island ; and the contributors of fiction are Mr. Maurice Hewlett, Mr. A. E. W. Mason, Mr. Eden Phillpotts, Mr. Robert Barr, Mr. H. h. Vachell, etc. Mr. S. L. Bensusan has a brief paper, " The Shep- herd's Year," prettily illustrated from photographs. Mr. J. Holt Schooling shows how rapidly the number of letters, postcards, halfpenny packets, and news- papers sent by post is increasing every year. Such an article at this season is topical, since everyone gets letters and cards now if at no other time of year. In 1900 the total number of letters, etc., per head of population was 86 ; in 1909 as much as 109. In the same period the number of parcels delivered in the United Kingdom increased from 75,000,000 to 113,000,000. A great many other interesting figures have been collected and included in this article. Miss Ellen Terry's reflections on " Shakespeare's Heroines" are briefly noticed elsewhere.
Lady's Realm. Another very good Christmas number is that of the Lady's Realm, which is, as usual, excellently illustrated. One article, " The Square-Inch Value of Celebrated Pictures," is sufficiently important to be noticed separately. There is a paper by Carine Cadby on Ski-ing, especially considered as a sport for ladies ; an article about exiled royalties, and another about Royal children — " Real Fairy Princes and Princesses" — by the Lady Helen Forbes. The exiled royalties include the Empress Eugenie, who last summer revisited, apparently alone and unattended, the Chateau de Compiegne, the place where she came when at the height of her brilliant beauty, a young bride, " the most dazzling young creature in Europe." Other exiled royalties are the e.x-Empress Charlotte of Mexico, who lives in Belgium, her native land : Queen Natalie of Servia, who spends much time at Biarritz ; ex-Queen Marie of Naples, and e,x-Queen Ranavalona of Madagascar, who prefers Paris to any other place, and who looks sufficiently ridiculous in a Parisian hat. The editor has a plea for compulsory military service in England. Most women, he considers, are in favour of the intro- duction of such a measure. There are some colour illustrations of w^ell-known actresses.
Harper's.
This bright, unconventional Christmas number contains several full-page coloured illustrations. The frontispiece is not the conventional Madonna, but an American mother in her kitchen, prepar- ing her babe for the bath. A paper in defence of old songs, by Richard le Gallienne, has three very striking coloured pictures. Several articles suggest
LiiAoiNG Articles in tut. Riiviiiws.
595
Ihat this might have been a midsummer travel number. A very awesome, not to say gruesome, series of pictures are given by Waller I'richard ICaton, of the real dismal swamp on the south coast of Virginia. There is something Dantesque about the weird horror of some of the pictures. There arc several tinted reproductions of pictures by Charles Cottet, painter of Brittany, which take one away into that old world of poetry and picture.s<iueness. " Chance the Cicerone" is Mr. Lee Wilson Tood's title for his <lescriptions of travel on the Continent, with shadowy etchings by Walter Hale. Youngsters of the Seven Seas are the sailor boys cared for in the Seamen's Church Institute, New York, as described by Mr. Norman Duncan. There is plenty of fiction, fun and poetry besides.
Pearson's.
A feature of the Christmas number of Pearsotis is a series of illustrations of photography in colours, which are singularly beautiful. 'I'here are a number of other coloured pictures, comic and serious. .\ curious skit on Socialistic aristocrats is given in an illustrated series of tragic tableaux called " The Duke and the Flower Girl,' by Mowbray Percy. The Duke of Strawberry, burning for a new thrill, is taken by a burglar to the East End to see his own tenements and tenants, and falls in love with a flower girl. He is forced to marry a rich noble- woman, who mercifully is killed in a motor collision, and the Duke returns to find his tiower girl dead of starvation. Another illustrated skit on impecunious Dukes who wed American heiresses appears under the heading of "' The Widow Wise." There is plenty of fancy, fun, and frivolity to brighten up the dark days of winter.
STR.\Nt).
The Strand Christmas number arrives just as we go to press. It is double in size, gorgeous in coloured plates and pictures, bright with constant variety. A genial suggestion, prettily illustrated by Mr. H. M. Brock, is that of a Dickens Christmas party, with guests dressed up as some of Dickens' most famous characters. Artists who draw their own Christmas cards — reproduced— form the theme of a brightly- coloured i)aper by Sydney Boot. Perhaps the most tlaming pictures in colour are those sup- plied by Mr. S. S. Lucas to Mrs. Baillie Reynolds' " Hiding a Heretic." M. Hacket-Souplet ingeniously traces the resemblances between the living wing and the aeroplane. The monoplane is compared with a buzzard gliding ; the biplane with a stagbeetle. Hagenbeck's prehistoric Zoo at Hamburg, described by Harold Shepstone, makes one grateful that one's lot was not cast in the days of the Diplodocus and other fearsome brutes. But there is a host of good things in the Strand which cannot be here enumerated. Centlrv.
The Christmas number of the Ctntury just to hand has as frontispiece a coloured portrait of Martin
Luther's mother — a very ugly I'rotcstant .substitute for a Madonna ! — to illustrate Prof. McCifTcrt's scries of papers on the reformer. Th<! Colony Club for Women in New York is set forth with beautifully tinted pictures, and seems to be as dainty and elegant as American women and .Vmerican wealth can make it. Mr. A. S. Riggs begips a series of articles on the Trade of the World, and treats first of ihe commerce of Spain.
SCRIUNKR.
Scribner's Magazine also preserils a good Christmas number, very well illustrated, partly in colour. For example, the drawings of Dickens's children. Tiny Tim, David Copperfield, Paul Dombey, and Utile Xell, are all in colour ; but Peggotty is much too old. For such an old woman Barkis would never have been willin'. Many reproductions of the art of Jac<iues- Emile Blanche are given in an article on his work. They include fine portraits of Thomas Hardy, Rodin, and Henry James. Mr. Ernest Thompson Seton contributes the second chapter of " Arctic Prairies," with excellent snapshots of animals. .Among the writers of fiction are Sir A. Conan Doyle, Richard Harding Davis, John Fox, Jun., and Miss G. B. Lancaster.
LOXDOX.
The London Christmas number is very light, but full of stories which, judging by the illustrations, look exciting enough to keep anyone awake after the heaviest Christmas dinner. Among the contributors are Sir Gilbert Parker, Sir .\. Conan Doyle, .Mr. F. A. McKenzie, who retells the story of the Indian Mutiny, and argues that unless we awake to the danger of the present situation in India, another mutiny as terrible as that of fifty-three years ago is likely to break out : Mr. John Foster Eraser, who writes amusingly on the way Parliamentary reporting is done ; and " Q," who contributes a complete novel. The Christmas num- bers this year devote much space to eating and also to overeating- first to telling us what is nicest to eat, and then that we eat too much. Thus the London con- tains an article by Dr. Riddle, entitled " .\ Medical Sermon for Christmas," wiiich no doubt many of us would be the better for reading.
Woman at Homk. The Woman at Home Christmas number is much more specially intended for women. It contains a coloured fashion supplement and several articles on cookery, including one by Constance Beerbohm on " The Ideal Christmas Dinner," which comprises a great many sweet dishes, and an article on "The Greatness of Furs," especially such furs as few can afford to buy. .Another article on winter sports appears here — winter sports considered in connec- tion with children's holidays in Switzerland. There is a conjuring article which is likely to be useful now, stories by Dorothea Deakin, Anne \\'arner, and Elizabeth Banks. Lucas .Malet's tale, "The Wreck of the (lolden Galleon," is concluded.
596
Topics of the Day in the Periodicals of the Month.
HOME AFFAIRS, SOCIAL AND POLITICAL. Agriculture, Land :
The Relation of Rent to Increased Productiveness of
Land, Capital, and Labour, by B. Pratt, Jun.,
'■ Westminster Rev," Dec.
Armies :
Lord Kitchener and the Committee of Imperial De- fence, by Ignotus, " National Rev," Dec.
The Case for a Democratic Army, by Ex-Non-Coni., " United ServiceJ^Iag," Dec.
Unsolved Military Problems, by Major A. B. N. Churchill, "United Service Mag," Dec.
Does France want Officers ? by Gen. Francfort, " Correspondant," Nov. lo.
Changes and Tendencies in the Russian Army, "Jrnal. ofthe Royal United Service Inst," Nov.
Ballooning, Aerial Navigation :
-Aviation Records, by E. Borel, " Rev. de Paris," Nov. 15. Children :
Saving the Children ; Articles by Miss Margaret McMillan and others, "World's Work," Dec.
Children's Care Committees, by iVIarv' Longman, " Contemp. Rev," Dec.
-A. School of Fathers, by R. F. Cholmeley, " English- woman,'' Dec.
The George Junior Republic, by Jeanne Robert, " .^mer. Rev. of Revs," Dec.
TheCreed of ourChildren,bvJean H.Bell, "Nineteenth Cent," Dec.
Conservative and Unionist Party :
Is there a Conservative Parly? by J. A. R. Marriott, " Nineteenth Cent," Dec.
Electoral — The General Election, December, 1910 :
The Issue, by H. Spender, "Contemp. Rev," Dec.
The Great Stake, " Blackwood," Dec.
The Crisis and the Nation, by J. L. Garvin, " Fort nightly Rev," Dec.
Democracy and the Crisis, by Sydney Brooks, " Fortnightly Rev," Dec.
The Right to Vote, by A. B. Wallis Chapman, " West- minster Rev," Dec.
Feeble-Minded :
Sandlebridge Colony, by Mrs. Agnew, " English- woman," Dec.
Finance :
The Duty on Unearned Increment, by Sir R. H. Inglis Palgrave, "National Rev,'' Dec.
Tariff Reform and the Cotton Trade, by A. Bonar Law, "National Rev," Dec.
Aspects of Tariff Reform, by Benjamin Taylor, " Fort- nightly Rev," Dec.
Food :
Cheap Meat : the German Freibank, by C. Smith Rossie, " Contemp. Rev," Dec.
Housing Problem : The A Tj C of Town-Planning, by R. R. Buckley,
" T. P.'s Mag," Dec. The Berlin Housing Problem, by Dr. Bruno Schmitz,
" Nord und Slid," Nov. 25.
Insurance Monopoiy in France, by E. Buisson, "Grande Rev," Nov. 25.
Ireland :
Home Rule, by Outsider, " Fortnightly Rev," Dec. Mr. William O'Brien and the Irish Centre Party, by
Canon P. Sheehan, " Fortnightly Rev," Dec. Labour Problems :
The Labour Party, by J. Koettgen and others,
" Socialist Rev," Dec. Insurance against Unemployment, by R. Broda,
'■ Documents du Progres," Nov. The Cause of Unemployment, by Lex, " Westminster
Rev," Dec. The Legal Minimum Wage in France, by L. M.
Compain, " Grande Rev," Nov. 10. The Legal Minimum Wage in England, by J. F.
Renauld; " Grande Rev," Nov. 10. Collective Bargaining and the Conditions of Labour, by R. Simon, " Documents du Progres," Nov. Navies :
The Naval Crisis, by Sir W. H. White, " Nineteenth
Cent," Dec. The National Service League and the Navy, by S. N.
Anglin, " United Service Mag," Dec. The New Naval Situation — and the Old, by Excu-
bitor, " Fortnightly Rev," Dec. The .'\11-Big Gun Battleship and Naval Supremacy, bv
Rear-Adm. A. T. Mahan, " World's Work," Dec. Quebec and the Navy, bv A. R. Carman, " National
Rev," Dec. The French Navy, by L. Marin, " Nouvelle Rev,"
Nov. 15. • The Russian Navy, by Commander Davin, " Ques- tions Diplomatiques," Nov. i. Old Age Pensions :
How to improve and extend Our National Pension
Scheme, by A. C. Roberts,s " Nineteenth Cent,"
Dec. Parliamentary, etc. :
The Political Situation, by P. \'illars, " Questions
Diplomatiques," Nov. 16. Politics in 1910, by H. B. Matthews, " Westminster
Rev," Dec. The Question of the House of Lords, by W. S. Lillv,
"Nineteenth Cent," Dec. For the People's House, " English Rev," Dec, The General Election, see Electoral. Population Question in France, by J. Rambaud, " Uni-
versite Catholiquc," Nov. Public Trustee, by E. K. Allen, " National Rev," Dec. Social Conditions, Sociology, Socialism :
Social Science, by C. T. Ewart, " Westminster Rev,"-
Dec. The Radical Party and Social Reform, by Sir H.
Seton-Karr, " Nineteenth Cent," Dec. The Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Idle Rich,
by One of Them, " Blackwood," Dec. The International Congress at Copenhagen, by G.
L^vy, " Grande Rev," Nov. 10. Social Problems on the Stage and in Fiction, by G.
Fonsegrive, "Correspondant," Nov. 10. Social Purity :
The Fourth International Congress for the Suppres- sion of the White Slave Traffic, by W. A. Coote,
" Englishwoman," Dec. Women :
Votes for Women in England, by Archibald Hender- son, " Forum," Nov.
ToiTcs oi' Tiui Day in the 1"'i:k[odicals
or THE Moxrir. 597
Letter ol Lord L>tton to the Prime Minister, " Eng- lishwoman," Dec.
The Ciirzon-CroiiKT Combine, by Flora Annie Steele, " Englishwoman,'' Dec.
Women's Tosilion in Jewry, by Joseph .Strauss, "Westminster Kev," Ucc.
The .Married Working Woman, by Anna M.min, " Nineteenth Cent," Dec.
Women's l.odKinK Houses and the Woman Worker, " Englishwoman," Dec.
Death of the Eternal Feminine, by Jean Finot, " La Kevue," Nov. i and 15.
COLONIAL AND FOREIGN. Africa :
EfcOlit and the English, by H. Marchand, " Xouvelle
Kev," Nov. 15. The Population of Eg>pt, by P. .\rniinjon, " Corrc-
spondant," Nov. to. Turkish Pretensions in Africa, by H. March.md,
''(Questions Diplomatiques," Nov. 16. The Belgian Congo, by F. Challaye, " Grande Rev,"
Nov. 25. South .'\frican Union, by M. .Sauve, " Questions Dip- lomatiques," Nov. 16. The Settlement in South .Africa, by Lionel Curtis, "Canadian Mag," Nov. Balkan Peninsula, etc. : The Danger Point in the Near East, by IL J. Darnton-Fraser, "Westminster Rev," Dec' Brazil :
Hermes da Fonseca and the Presidential Succession, by D. Lambuth, " Amer. Rev. of Revs," Dec. Finland :
Finland's Struggle for Freedom, by A. M.icCaMum Scott, "T. P.'s Mag," Dec. France :
I'roportional Representation, by G. Lachapelle, " Rev.
de Paris," Nov. 1 5. The Radical and Radical-Socialist Congress at Rouen,
by J..L. Bonnet, " t'.rande Rev," .Nov. 10. Budget Charges and Public Wealth, by J. Michel,
" .Nouvelle Rev," Nov i. Brest as a Transatlantic Port, " Rev. de Paris " Nov. I. '
The French Railway Strike, by E. Bernstein, " Sczial-
istische Monatshefte," Nov. 10. The Organisation of the Ministry of the Colonics, by
Pierre -Ma, " Questions Diplomatiques," Nov. 1. A Franco-Italian Alliance, by E. Ldmonon, " Nouvelle Rev," Nov. J. Germ-ny:
Parliamentarism in Germany, by T. Boisly, " Deutsche
Rev," Nov. The Causes of the General Discontent, by H. Moyssct,
" Correspondant," Nov. 25. German Views of an Anglo-German Understanding, by Sir H. H. Johnston, " Nineteenth Cent," Dec. India : King Edward's Peace Tour in India, by S. M. Mitra " Nineteenth Cent," Dec. '
Indo-China and Its Gain to France :
Pouvourville, .\. de, on, " Nouvelle Rev," Nov. i. Varton, R. P., on, " Grande Rev," Nov. 10 and 25. Italy:
A Franco-Italian Alliance, by E. Ldmonon, "Nouvelle Rev," Nov. i.
Italiaii Social Democracy at the Par.ing of the Ways, by Dr. L. Bissolati, '' Sozialistische Monatshefte." Nov. 24.
The Recent Econonii.- M"v.-menl, by H. Jolv "la Keviie," Nov. 15. Manchuria :
The Russo-Japanese Treaty, by Dr. F, Lipp, " Nord und Slid," Nov. 1. Persia :
Ilie British Note to Persia, by Lovat Frascr, "National
Rev," Dec. The Development of Persia and the Interests of the h":""='" Working Class, by G. Hildebrand, Soziahstischc .Monatshefte," Nov. 10. Portugal :
The Revolution, by A. Marvaud, " Questions Diplo-
m.itiques," .Nov. t. Portugal and Spain, by N. Salmeron y Gadian
" Deutsche Rev," Nov. '
Spain :
rhe Situation, by R. Girard, " Documents du Protrris " Nov. , ° '
Portugal and Spain, by N. Salmeron y Gadian " Deutsche Rev," .Nov. Turkey :
li.uikrupt Turkey, by Allen Upward, " Forum," Nov I he \„„ng Turks at the Parting of the W.iys, by - 1' reiherr von Mackay, " Konservative Monatsschrift " Nov. '
Abdul Hamid, by C. Chryssaphides and R. Lara " lortnightly Rev," Dec. United States:
laft and Roosevelt, by F. E. Leupp, " Atlantic Mthly," Nov. "
President Taft and the Extra-Constitutional Function
ol the Presidency, by S. J. Kornhauser, "North
.■\mer. Rev," Nov. The Character of American Politics, by E. Fitirer Deutsche Rundschau," Nov. '
Can a Tariff Commission succeed .' by H. S. Smallev
" North Amer. Rev," Nov. Protest of Senators against Protectionist Tariff, by Sir
Alfred Mond, " English Rev," Dec. Negro Suffrage in a Democracy, by R. S. Baker
"Atlantic Mthly," Nov.
A Magazine of Eastern Mysticism. I WONDER how many of my readers have ever heard of a magazine called T/i,- Z/V/// ,/ Tn/f/t ; or, the Siddhatita Dipika and At^amic Raiai; which has completed its tenth volume, and began its eleventh in July. According to the editor it is — the only Journal extant devoted to an academic cxposilion of the Indo-DravidKin culture in all its phases, the philosophy ami niyslicismof theAganianta, including iis three branches, to wit the Siuldha-Saiva .Ipclrine of the .Si\advaita-Siddhanla of Southern India, the Saiva doctrine of the Pratyabhijila-Mahes- yaras of Northern India, and the ViraSaiva doctrine of the V ira-.Mahesvaras, and the higher reaches of the Celestial Science or Prognostic Astronomy, so far as they have a bearine on mysticism. Consequently the scope of otir Journal can in the main be summeil up in the words " Eihic and Theology," but it IS ethic and theology as propoundc<i in .\gamic literature be It .Sanskrit or Indo-Dravidian. To sum up : this is the only organ ol its kind in the whole world, being exclusively devoted to the unearthing, translation, and study of the Hindu mystic scriptures which have been the delight of the VogachSryas of Agamic antiquity, and no pains will be spared to make the Jcjr.nal worthy of its policy and propaganda.
598
The Book of the Month.
"THE ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA": ELEVENTH EDITION.*
THIS is indeed a Bilile, a book of books. When I was a guest at the first of the five Savoy dinners given to the contributors last month I looked with awe at Mr. Chisholm, the editor, who has organised omniscience in twenty-nine volumes. Like the rustics in Goldsmith's " Deserted Village " it might be said of us —
And still we gazed, and slill the Monder grew That one small head could carry all he knew. To bring out at one fell swoop a compendium of all the knowledge of all the world, corrected up to date so as to include the story of the Portuguese revolu- tion, was an achievement which reflects some credit upon the profession of which Mr. Chisholm was once a bright and shining light. An encyclopcedia edited by an ex-editor of a daily paper and published by the ancient University of Cambridge promises well, and the performance has more than equalled the promise.
SEVEN years' reading.
Let me at the onset disclaim any right to sit in judgment upon this Encyclopaedia. No one has any right to do that — until he has read it. And no mortal man can hope to do that within a term of years. The Encyclopaedia contains 26,000 double column pages. If a student set himself to read ten pages, or, say, 15,000 words a day, it would be seven years before he reached the letter Z. I have only seen one complete volume of the Encyclopedia and copious extracts from the other volumes. But I have not even read that one volume out of the twenty-nine. This preliminary notice, therefore, is of necessity limited to a description of what is one of the most notable monuments of the literary activity of the twentieth century.
I have called it " The Book of the Month." It is in reality a book of seven years. Fifteen hundred con- tributors recruited from many peoples, kindreds, and tongues have been employed under the pastoral supervision of some scores of assistant-editors in creating this vast storehouse of what is known to the human race at the beginning of the twentieth century. French, German, Dutch, Swiss, Italian, Russian, and American savants and scientists have laboured in fraternal co-operation in order to make this edition of the Encyclopaedia a condensed library of all human lore. They have made mankind their debtors, and I confidently expect that before the end of the year every public library in the world which has any pretension -to be a library will have on its shelves what is at once the latest, the greatest, and the best of all the Encyclopaedias which are in existence.
* " The Encyclopaedia Britannica."' Eleventh edition. Cambridge University Press. January, rgii. Twenty-nine volumes. From 17s. to 30s. per volume, accord ng to binding.
A WONDERFUL INDEX.
Beginning at the end, let me say a special word o' praise for the ample space which has been allotted to the General Index. The first eight editions of the Encyclopedia appeared without any General Index. The ninth was the first to contain such a key to its contents. But this Index, which contains no fewer than 500,000 references, throws all its prede- cessors entirely into the shade.
Another special feature of this Encyclopaedia is that it is printed on India paper. People who want the edition on the old thick heavy paper can have it if they please. But ninety per cent, of the new pur- chasers will prefer the edition on India paper, which is so light that any reader can hold it, in his hand and read it without a stand as he sits before the fire in an easy-chair. If anyone asks what is India paper he may like to know that —
in 1841 a graduate of 0.\ford, returning from the Far East, presented to the Clarendon Press a small quantity of paper combining, to a degree then unknown in Europe, the qualities of thinness, opacity and toughness. The paper sutticed for the printing of twenty-four copies of the smallest Bible then known. Subsequent attempts to trace the source of the paper were fruit- less, and it was not until 1874 'h*' an examination of one of the Bibles in question led to a series of experiments resulting in the present invention. The name " India," in this connec- tion, contains no more than a general reference to the fact that the original specimen came from the Far East, the "Indies."
THE COST OF PRODUCTION.
The cost of printing the Encyclopaedia on India paper is is. 2d. per volume more than the cost of printing it on ordinary paper. But the increase in price is more than counterbalanced by the decrease in weight. The India paper edition weighs 31b. as against the 81b. weight of the other edition. The twenty-nine new volumes, which contain two million more words than the thirty-five ^Id volumes of the tenth edition, go into twenty-e'ght inches of a library shelf, whereas the old volumes spread them- selves over 7ft. 4in. The net weight is 8olb. as against 2401b. The plates are printed on thicker paper. But the India paper takes line drawings /
perfectly well. The thinness of the page does not }
allow the printing on the other side to show through. «
It is as tough as, if not tougher than, the ordinary book i
paper. Anyone can lift a volume of the India paper edition between his finger and thumb, whereas to lift the half-stone weight of the ordinary volume requires the use of the two hands.
The binding of the Encyclopaedia is in cloth, in full flexible leather sheepskin, and full flexible morocco goatskin. The difference between the cheapest and the dearest binding is ;^i4 los. for the
Tin: Book oi- THii Month.
509
Inlia pap'-r and ^20 lo";. lol. for llie ordinary paper edition. To provide (he covers for ilic full lU-xililc leathor bindings the tlorks of the Hrili.sh Isles have licen laid under i-onlriluition, while the goats of the Cape furnish the covering for the more expensive n:oroci'o liound volumes.
The cost of producing this monumental work before it was placed on the machines was ^230,000. This total is made u|) as follows : _;^i 63,000 literary ex|jenscs ; ^12,480 illustrations and maps ; ^49,000 composing and making plates; ;^i 2,000 oflice expenses. To this must lie added the cost of [)ai)er, machining, and hookl)inding. If we average this at 7$. 6d. per volume, or ^,"12 los. a .set, some idea may be formed of the capital expended in producing this i:ncyclopa;dia. Sujiposing tl'at 20,000 copies are printed, tliis would bring up the total expenditure to half a million.
THF. HISTORY OF A GREAT UNDKRTAK ISG.
Having said so much concerning the outside of the Ijicycloprcdia, it is time to turn to a description of its general contents. The Encyclopedia was first published in 1768, consisting of three volumes, and was published over a period of three years. The second edition had ten volumes, the third had eighteen, the fourth, fifth, and sixth had twenty each. The seventh rose to twenty-one, the eighth to twenty- two, the ninth to twenty-five, and the present edition consists of twenl)-nine. Supiilenientary volumes were published to the third, fifth, and ninth editions. On an average there has been a new edition every four- teen years, but twenty-eight years have intervened since the ninth edition. The supplementary nine volumes published in 1902 may be regarded as a tenth edition. The publication of the nin'.h edition was spread over a period of fourteen years, so that the inlbrmation contained under the first letters of the alphabet was quite out of date by the time the latter letters, X, Y, and Z, were [)ubli.shed.
The contents of the Encyclopedia being treated as a homogeneous whole, it is possible to avoid a good deal of repetition, so that the editors claim that they are able to give in the present edition twice as much as in the ninth, although the actual number of volumes has only been increased by four.
The whole Encyclopedia has been revised from beginning to end, and this has necessitated the cast- ing out of a number of essays which appeared in former editions. Freeman's essay on England, for instance, has been discarded in order to make room for an article based upon later researches. The great ambition of Mr. Chisholm and his assistants has been to be up-to-date in everything, and to embody in the Historical and Philological depart- ments all int'ormation which has been delved out of the earth or out of dusty archives in which historical research has been so busy during the last few years. Judging from what was stated by the assist.nnt editor in the Department of History, almost all
historical conclusions cmhodieJ in previous editions of the Kncyclopeiia are out of date. So many new facts have been obtained ih.at the verdicts of the previous historians have been continually reversed by the latest apijcal.
417 MAPS, 450 PLATKS, AND 7,000 LINK SKETCHE.S.
Mr. A. J. Evans, who is one of the most successful and intrepid of modern excavators, maintained with truth that the spade has proved itself to be the most re- volutionary instrument. The history of earlier days has been dug out of the ground in which it has been so long buried. Languages not yet known and unde- ciphered, but, it is hoped, not indecipherable, have been brought to light. It is curious, but true, that in the generation in whose shaping fingers the physical universe has shrunk from a wide expanse of unknown and almost illimitable area into a well surveyed sphere which the tourist can run round in a couple of months, the ex])lorer, the excavator, and the archeo- logist have enormously extended our knowledge of the ancient world. Vast new worlds seem to rise before our gaze, and the new edition of the Encyclo- pedia has a story to tell of many vanished civilisa- tions of which the compilers of earlier encyclopedias had not the faintest notion. All these discoveries are carefully illustrated by one hundred and seven- teen plate maps and three hundred maps in the text. The Encyclopedia is not exactly a picture book, but it contains four hundred and fifty full page plates, a number of which, especially those on Knight- hood and Chivalry, edited by the late King, are I)rinted in colours. There are seven thousand line drawings in the text.
EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS.
The editors of the Encyclopedia have taken all knowledge as their province, and they claim, not in any boasting spirit, that the Encyclopedia, originally conceived to include the arts and sciences, has now developed its field of survey so that it may claim to contain a complete circle of instruction. It is not only a great international dictionary of biography, but by far the most complete world history in the English language. The lexicon of Brockhaus, its only serious competitor, is in bulk comparatively insignificant, containing sixteen as against forty million words in the new Encyclopedia. In age it is quite juvenile, the Encyclopedia dating back to 1 768, while that of Brockh.aus is only in its fiftieth year.
At the Savoy dinner, to which I have already made reference, the menu was a morocco-bound pamphlet containing extracts and specimens of the first edition. In 1768 the Encyclopedia contained among its illus- trations an extraordinary picture of Xoah's Ark floating upon the waters of the deluge. Various articles extracted from the first edition show that Japan was dismissed with a line and a half, Greece had four lines, while Prussia had exactly two and a half. France was dismissed with about a dozen lines,
6oo
The Review of Reviews.
and Babylon, concerning which such copious details are given in the new Encyclopedia, was stated to be " a celebrated city of antiquity, supposed to have been situated in the valley of the Euphrates, but that of this city there are now no remains, nor is even the place where it stood known with certainty." And that was all !
The chief drawback to be feared in so compre- hensive an accumulation of the results of the lati st scholarship is that the array of facts tends more and more to liecome like the arrangement of specimens in an entomological museum. The editor has striven against this, but it is to a certain extent unavoidable. The literary value of the contributions is high, but it is the literature of professors.
One very interesting contrast which deserves notice is the immense change which has come over the spirit of religion since the first edition of the Encyclopaedia was published. In those archaic and simple days the encyclopedist divided religions into those which were true and those which were false. In the new edition no such arbitrary classification is dreamed of. All religions are more or less true, all religions more or less false. A praiseworthy attempt has been made to present each religion at its best, as it is conceived by the highest and purest of its disciples. The whole modern science of Biblical criticism comes in for sympathetic and ample treat- ment. The discovery of the Babylonian origin of much of the Pentateuch dates from since the ninth edition appeared.
THE VARIETY OF ITS CONTENTS.
Some idea of the space allotted to different sub- jects, as well as of the immense multiplicity of sub- jects treated, may be gained from the following list, made up at random: — France, 154 pp.; England, 237 PP- ; Egypt, no pp.; Africa, 43 pp.; Bible, 45 pp. ; Bacteriology, 34 pp. ; Ceramics, 57 pp. The following list of subjects is taken at random from the 1,231 articles in volume six : — " Earl of Chatham," " Chatsworth," " Chaucer," " Cheating," " Chemistry," " Chess," " Chilblains," " Children's Games," " Chiltern Hundreds," " Choir," " Cholera," " Chopsticks," " Christian Science," " Christmas," " Lord Randolph Churchill," " Cicero," " The Cid,"
"Cinematograph," "Circus," "Civilisation," "Civil List," "Cleopatra," "Climate," "Lord Clive," " Clock," " Clown," " Coal," " Coast Defence," "Cock Fighting," "Cock Lane Ghost," "Colours (Military)," " Colours of Animals," " Columbus," " Comedy," " Comet," " Company," " Compass," " Confessional," " Conjuring." Altogether there are 40,000 distinct articles, long and short, in the Ency- clopaedia.
All the artful methods employed to dispose of the last edition by the Times are brought into play to induce the public to purchase the new edition Bookstands in single and double tier for holding the books are provided at the following prices : — The portable rack, in oak, 1 2s. 6d. ; single-tier, mahogany, 57s. ; double-tier, 35s., for the India paper edition. For the ordinary paper edition revolving bookcases are supplied at 21s.
ABOUT THE PRICE.
Anyone who wishes to purchase the Encyclopaedia is asked to state what binding he prefers, and whether he wants the light or the heavy edition. When the volumes arrive he can then, and not till then, make up his mind as to whether his payment shall be made in cash or in instalments. If he decides to pay by instalments he must fill in orders upon his bank or send a series of post-dated cheques. Fie is allowed credit for four, eight, or twelve months, or longer. Suppose that he orders the full sheepskin flexible India paper edition, he can either pay for it at 21s. per volume or ;^3o 9s. cash down, or he can send in thirty-one guinea post-dated cheques spread over as many months. He thus will possess the whole Encyclo- pedia at once for the payment of the first guinea, and he will not pay the last guinea till he has had the set for two years and seven months. If he takes the full morocco heavy edition he can spread his payments over three years and eight months.
By insisting upon post-dated cheques or orders on a bank when the Encyclopedia is bought, the publishers are able to free themselves from all further responsibility for the collection of instalments. Of course, in case of death or default they stand to have the cheques dishonoured ; but if they insure against this risk the premium would probably not be heavy. .
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Til© tjuestion of provi<ling additional water for hre extinction in the metropolitan area was discussed at tlie recent conference, and the recommendation sen' on to tho Public WorLs Department. -Mr. Jiaillieu, Minister for Public Works, brought tliem before the Cabinet, tut pressure of busine.ss prevented Ministeis going into the matter, wliicli will rec<-ive attention during the recess. Mr. Baillieu stated that parties were not unanimous with respect to the agreement. The insurance companies objected to paying one-half of the cost, and there was the further condition that tho Government should finance the agreement. Legis- lation dealing with the matter would not have too smooth a passage, and it would not have been much use introducing it at the end of the session. He ad- mitte<l the importance of the question, but said the session had been a strenuous one.
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The Review of Reviews.
THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC.
The Story of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907-1909.
A RECORD OF BRITISH PLUCK AND ACHIEVEMENT, a*
By E. H. Shackleton, C.V.O.
rr^ HERE is no need to tell who Lieutenant -*- Shackleton is or what his book describes. His BoarvellouK dash for the South Pole has thrilled the world, and he himself, modest, retiring, a typical Briton, is now being lionised in an almost unpre- cedented way. We all know what the book is about, but, with the exception of a handful of privileged persons, no one yet knows whether the wonderful story is told in a way to grip the attention of the reader or whether it is befogged with technical mat- ter and overloaded with insignificant details, a forest of achievements which cannot, be properly discerned because of the trees of minor events and experiences.
snow blindness, dysentery, and bruises innumerable staggering along on the last day, starving, half-frozen, gasping for breath in the rarefied atmosphere of the gigantic plateau 10.000 feet high, on which they were the only living things, but indomitable and deter- mined to place the Union Jack ne.Trest the Pole. These men are our countrymen, Britons every; one. Who dare say that our race is declining when it pro- duces men like these?"
Further description of the way in which the sub- ject is treated is unnecessary. The work is in two volumes, 7J x 10, the first having 269 pages of text, the second 238, and 180 pages of appendices, contri-
f'ortunately we have before us the opinion, of a fereat critic who has read the proofs of the book. He gays, " I have seldom read so human a document. Every line throbs with the straightforward earnest- ness of one who has been universally hailed, as above everything else, as ' a man.' The book grips the reader from the first paragraph to the last. Its charm lies in its simple style, and lack of technical details. If it were not for the splendid appendices the book would have little scientific value, but as it is it stands easily first amongst books on the Polar regions. The plain, unvarnished diary kept from day to day by Lieutenant Shackleton of his prodigious journey of within ninety-seven miles of the Pole will take its place as the epic of Polar exploration. No one could read through the record of the super- human efforts against the arrayed forces of natiire without ft choking in the throat, and a feeling; of in- tense pride in these four men who risked their lives crossing ghastly crevasses, struggling forward often at the rate of only a few hundred yards an hour, against a howling blizzard, on quarter rations, with- out a full meal in over three months, sufiEering from
buted by the scientific members of the exploration, dealing with the scientific results obtained.
Nine cameras were taken by the " Nimrod," and some of the explorers must have been adepts in their use, for the photographs are magnificent.
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