SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
(Notice in Las column does not necessarily preclude Namaland resins.1
TKE JANUARY MOICTIITIFS.—The Nineteenth Century opens with an article on " Unrepentant Germany by Mr. D. 0. Lathbury, who points out that the German people have exulted in the barbarous methods employed by their armies, and show no sorrow for their crimes. Sir Herbert Stephen, under the title of " The League of Dreams," subjects the project of a League of Nations to a destructive analysis, and suggests that the existing League of the Allies and America will keep the peace for a long time to come. Professor A. V. Dicey institutes " A Comparison between Cabinet Government and Presidential Government," and hints that, in time of war at least, we need something like the American system ; we are not at all sure that Americans would agree with him. Mr. Henry Pearson's account of his imprisonment with other British subjects by the Bolsheviks is a grim story, which easy be commended to those who pretend that the Bolsheviks have all the homely virtues. Another victim of Lenin, the venerable Prince Kropotkin, who has probably been murdered, is represented by an article on " The Direct Action of Environment and Evolution." Mr. George Saunders draws attention to a very important question, affecting France, Switzerland, and Holland directly, and our own shipping trade indirectly, in his article on The Free Navi- gation of the Rhine "—guaranteed by many Treaties, but obstructed by German bad faith. Prebendary Boyd's plea for " Comprehensiveness in the Church " is timely and plain-spoken.—The Fortnightly has an instructive article on " Islam and the Future of Constantinople " by Sir Valentine Chiral, who urges that Constantinople must be freed from Turkish rule in the interests both of Islam and of the subject races of Turkey. The Ottoman Sultans have long conducted a propaganda in the Moslem world to spread the belief that Turkey was the appointed sword of Islam," and their expulsion from Constantinople would put an end to that dangerous movement. Sir Valentine Chirol suggests that America should undertake the supervision of the free city and the Straits. Sir Frederick Maurice writes on " The First and Second Battles of the Marne " ; and Dr. Dillon, in one of his pessimistic tirades, laments over the alleged mistakes of Allied diplomacy in Russia, though surely the Russians themselves are the people chiefly to blame. Miss Gertrude Tuckwell discusses " Equal Pay for Equal Work " from the woman's standpoint. Mr. Handley Page's brief but practical article on " Air Trans- port" deserves attention; he regards the large aeroplane as a useful adjunct to other means of communication over long distances, but not for journeys of less than a hundred miles over land.—In the Contemporary Mr. Hamilton Pyle gives from personal knowledge what he regards as " The Truth about the Fifth Army." His view is that General Gough's Army was not surprised but overwhelmed by numbers, and that it made a very creditable defence. Lord Parmoor writes cautiously on " Presi- dent Wilson and the Peace Settlement," and Sir Sydney Olivier discusses the general principles of tropical administration in connexion with "The Repartition of Africa." Sir Andrew Fraser defends the Montagu-Chelmsford Report on Indian Reform. Mr. Aubrey Bell has an interesting and sympathetio article on " Spain and the Allies." Miss Clementine Black's indictment of the average builder under the title of " Domestic Idiocies " will please every housewife. Professor Souter describes "The Earliest Surviving Book by a British Author" ; namely, the commentaries of Pelagius on St Paul. We think of Pelagius as an obscure heretic ; he was, in truth, a most influential theologian in the early Middle Ages. His writings were suppressed by the Church, but an almost complete text has now been recovered and is being publishfd at Cambridge.— In the Naliwwl Review Mr. Masse has a lively article, " Not `According to Plan,' " in which he reviews Ministers' election speeches, shows how they gradually became aware that the country demanded a severely just peace, and suggests that "in order to secure votes the Coalition committed itself to a policy for which it has little heart," for fear of hurting Germany. There is an admirably clear exposition of what we mean by " Freedom of the Seas " by an anonymous naval writer. Mr. Whibley contributes a burlesque of a meeting of "The League of Free Nations" in 1939, and Mr. H. E. M. Stutfield discusses the old but ever-new problem of " Romanism and the State."— Blackwood's contains another lively article by General Calheell on "The War Office in War Time." He says that in October, 1915, General Mourn advised the Government to evacuate Gallipoli, but that the Cabinet could not make up its mind to do so and sent _Lord Kitchener to examine the situation. On November 23rd General Callwell was sent to Paris by the War Council to tell General Ganiani, the Minister for War, that Gallipoli must be abandoned. But when he arrived in Paris, he learnt by telegraph that the Cabinet would not confirm the decision of the War CounciL He waited till the 27th, and, as the Cabinet was still halting between two opinions, he returned home. The incident is illuminating. General Callwell, who went twice to Russia in 1916, blames the present Coalition Government for mishandling the Russian question before the Revolution of March, 1917, and declares that the Revolution might have been delayed or modified " had our Government turned its opportunities to account." We must also notice his firm belief that the Russian. victory at Sarykamish in the winter of 1914-15 had relieved the Armenian front several weeks before our Fleet first bombarded the Dardanelles forts, and that British intervention there was not needed by Russia. Among the war articles a further instalment of "The Return Push" last August, by " Quer," deserves special mention.
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