THE MAGAZINES.

Mn. WILFRID WARD'S elaborate and ingenious apologia for Mr. Balfour's attitude in the Fiscal controversy, which heads the contents of the June Nineteenth Century, and is entitled "A Political Fabius Maximus," illustrates in a striking way the dangers of premature exegesis. Mr. Ward endeavours to show that by a deliberate policy of delay Mr. Balfour has reasserted his leadership, partially reconstituted the party, and exposed alike the "unpractical optimism" of Mr. Chamberlain and the uncompromising dogmatism of the Free-fooders. Hen vat urn ignarae m.entes. Since the article was written the concordat over the two-Elections formula has been arrived at, Mr. Balfour has made a Chamberlainite speech at the Albert Hall, Mr. Chamberlain has proclaimed himself a Balfourite at St. Helens, and has claimed Mr. Balfour as his man in the House of Commons.—Sir George Lambert puts the case for a Roman Catholic University in Ireland in a forcible article, in which be main- tains the inadequacy, of previous concessions, and opposes the proposed extension of Trinity College, Dublin, on the ground that it is inadvisable, if not inadmissible, to centralise the whole University training of the country in one national institution. "The course suggested has been tried in France with very unsatisfactory results. The tendency of the day is against centralisation, and in favour of the multiplication of

replies that the claim of the Bishops, formulated in 1897, makes it clear that no such control is demanded.—Mr. George Lynch in his interesting paper on "The White Peril" predicts as the result of Japan's success the Japanisation of China, but anticipates no danger from the drawing together of the two great Asiatic Empires. The last paragraph of his article is worth citing in full :—

"It is obvious that the time has come when no further territory in Eastern Asia can be annexed by European Powers, and it is not by any means improbable that before long a movement in the opposite direction may begin. Now that the Russians have been driven out of Port Arthur, we will soon be under notice to quit Wai-Hai-Wai. If for any reason Japan should pick a quarrel with Germany, and insist on their evacuating Kiao-Cliou, it is difficult to see what effective opposition the Germans could make. Very much the same applies to France in the case of Cochin China. The menace of the White Peril is passing away, if it has not already passed, from Eastern Asia. The Monroe doctrine of the Pacific, if it has not been announced in so many words, exists as a reality in the minds of hundreds of thousands of Asiatics. There will be many who will find in this confirma- tion for their worst fears of the Yellow Peril. M. Anatole Franco says Aussit6t nous discornons un danger qui nous menace. S'il existe, qui l'a cree P Ce ne sent pas les Japonais qui sent venus chercher les Blesses. Co ne sont pas les jaunes qui sent venus chercher les blancs. Nous decouvrons, it eette heure, le peril jaune. fly a hien des ann4es quo lee Asiatiques connaissent le peril blanc. Le sac du Palais d'Ete, les massacres do Pekin, les noyades de Blagovestchensk, le demembrement de la Chine, n'etais-oe point lit des sujets d'inquietude pour les Chinois ? Et les Japonais se sentaient-ils en silrete sous les canons do Port- Arthur ? Nous evens cree le peril blanc. Le peril blanc a cree le peril jaune.' As the White has created the Yellow Peril, so will the passing of the White Peril lay the ghost of the other. To anyone really familiar with the peaceful character of the Chinese people, and conversant with their history, the idea of their ever becoming aggressively warlike is thoroughly absurd. It would certainly mean a radical and fundamental change in the whole disposition of the people, and the Chinese are not prone to change."

—Bishop Welldon contributes an exhaustive account of the fate of Oliver Cromwell's remains, with regard to which it is enough- to state that, after a careful examination of all the evidence available, he refuses to admit that the head now preserved at the house of Mr. Wilkinson near Sevenoaks is genuine ; successively dismisses the stories of Cromwell having been buried in the Thames, on Naseby Field, in Northampton- shire, in Chiswick Church, at Newburgh Hall, or in Red Lion Square ; and comes to the conclusion that the remains, after being buried privately in Westminster Abbey, were exhumed and mutilated—the trunk being buried at Tyburn and the head exposed on Westminster Hall—and have long since irrecoverably disappeared.

No article in any of the magazines this month is likely to provoke more comment than the "Candid Impressions of England" by an anonymous German resident in the National Review. That there is a good deal of truth in the article we are not prepared to deny, and criticism of this sort, however unpalatable, may be valuable and regenerative if conveyed by the right person and in the right spirit. The writer's observations on our methods of education are shrewd enough. He notes that our public schools are "good in a way so far as they form character, but bad in that they neglect intellect." Per contra, "in your primary schools you go to the other extreme; there you train intellect without paying the smallest attention to character." But it is rather strange to find a German condemning the English for having banished religion from the majority of our primary schools, and adding : "we have been far wiser than you in this." Candid criticism begets candid retort, and we would like to know how it comes about, if Germany is the paradise of efficiency painted in these pages, where trade flourishes under a strong and prudent Government, where wealth accumulates and men do not decay, that the writer finds it worth while to make his home and engage in business in England, where "men of character are powerless before a characterless mob," where the working classes are idle, ill-educated, and thriftless, and the aim of the State is apparently to produce a nation of degenerate paupers. It certainly cannot be from any affection for the English, for the article is infected from beginning to end by a spirit of undisguised contempt. On the whole, we prefer the criticism of Germans who remain Germans to that of those who "reside many years" in our

midst, and then vindicate their long-dormant patriotism by requiting hospitality with anonymous slander. We may note that the writer speaks of our "impertinent patronage" of the Japanese, and then says : "a generation hence we shall be protecting you, and you will be only too glad that we built a great fleet and became a naval power." He also tells a story of a boy fresh from the Board-school who thought that Hong- kong was in the Mediterranean, adding : "A German would know the position of Kiaochau, though we have not held the place so long." That may be, and yet in five years' time the Germans may have excellent reasons for forgetting where Kiaochau is. To sum up, if the article is a bond-fide con- tribution by a German resident, we have excellent reasons for believing that its tone will be strongly reprobated by many who belong to that class, and who will hold that it reflects far more discredit on the writer than on the country whose hospi- tality he has abused.—Mr. Maurice Low's monthly letter on "American Affairs" has some valuable comments on the extraordinary and unsettling influence on the public mind of Mr. Thomas Lawson's sensational articles on "Frenzied Finance," and the neglect of the New York Press to realise that Lawson is a power, and that he has set the entire West not only talking, but thinking. The situation, according to Mr. Low, is accurately diagnosed by Professor H. L. Nelson when he finds that Socialism exists in both parties, and that there is a danger of a revolt of the people against the money power, because of its wrong-doing, which threatens a war on prosperity itself. Mr. Low has also some pungent comments on Mr. Cleveland's recent attack on women's clubs as a solvent of domesticity, and the rather irrational prejudice existing in the States— illustrated by the ease of a young millionaire, manager of a great life insurance company, whose business capacity has been impugned because he recently gave a great fancy ball— against the business man who is prominent in society or sport. "In America it would be an unheard-of thing for a young lawyer to follow the bounds once a week ; it would be inviting ruin, it would be evidence of a frivolous mind and indifference to the opinion of the community."—We may also note Mr. Churton Collins's attack on the administration of the Gilchrist Trust, which is devoted in the main to the dissemination of popular scientific instruction, whereas, according to Mr. Collins, it was originally designed to promote the study of the humanities.

Mr. Leonard Courtney's paper on "The Regeneration of Parliaments" in the new Contemporary turns out to be an eloquent plea for proportional representation, as the best means of arresting and repairing the decay of the authority of the House of Commons. The numerical argument is neatly put in the following passage :—" A majority of a majority, as has been often said, may be a minority. If a House represented two-thirds of a nation, and two-thirds of its members voted in favour of a particular law, it would be affirmed with confidence that the vote represented the national will ; but two-thirds of two-thirds amount to four-ninths-- that is, to less than half, and the supposed security is illusory. A House practically representing all the political elements of the nation in proportion to their strength would be a presentment of the nation, and its decisions would command a confidence that can never be given to the chance results we have now to accept." Mr. Courtney, we may add, is convinced that the racial sentiment as between Boer and Briton is likely to be accentuated under the single-Member system introduced in the new Transvaal Constitution, whereas under proportional representation it might have been mitigated and appeased.—Mr. Thomas Lough, M.P., in "Ten Years' Tory Rule in Ireland" admits a great improvement in the temper in which Irish affairs are now discussed. He attributes the smoother working of the legislative machine, however, to the great national bribes with which recent legislative proposals have been accompanied, and traces this munificence in turn to the Report of the Royal Commission on Financial Relations.—M. Erik Givskov gives under the head of "Germany and her Subjected Races: a Struggle for the Soil '.' an instructive survey of the attempted Germanisation of the Polish provinces on the Russian frontier and of Northern Sleswick. His account of the ingenious methods by which the Poles have sought to counter and thwart the German Colonisation Committee, backed by the resources of the Prussian Government, is most interesting. Roughly speaking, his contention is that the chief results of this policy have been to unsettle. economic; conditions and to force up land ,values, but that in the main the Poles have not only main- tained but extended their position in Prussia, while the Danes

have at least held their own in the provinces annexed forty years ago.—Mr. Warwick Bond contributes a thoughtful paper on " Ruskin's Views of Literature," in which the strange limitations and aberrations of RuShin's Critical faculties are strikingly illustrated ; and an anonymous " Colonial " sends a curious onslaught on Anglo-American as compared with Anglo-Colonial marriages. According to this writer, the former.are the result of plutocratic social ambition, they are less than half as productive of children as the latter, and while helping to Make society brighter, they have also helped to make it shallower, more extravagant and vulgar than it ever was before.

An article in the Fortnightly Review by Mr. L. Higgin prepares us for the visit of the King of Spain by an account of that youthful Monarch. Certainly the history of the King's father was not untouched by romance. Thirty years ago the son of. the dethroned Isabel II. was a student at Sand- hurst, and at the age of seventeen he was called to rule over Spain. According. to Mr. Higgin, Alfonso XIII. has views of his own, and he narrates anecdotes which, if authentic, point to a certain independence of character. When the

King's advisers spoke. of an early marriage, be replied that he was not going to marry a photograph, but choose

a wife whom be had seen.—Mr. Bashford writes of Germany's attitude towards the Moroccan question. From a summary of the German view of the situation, it

appears that besides the question of direct trade there is

also what is called the " economic " side to be considered. By this is meant the development of the resources of Morocco: .the making of railways and harbours, mining and other enter- prises. These the Germans look upon as possible outlets for their capital, and are jealous of France having a prepondera- ting influence. They fear that France may fortify the coast, so that she and England together could close the entrance to the Mediterranean. Mr. Bashford thinks that the late outburst of the Kaiser was largely due to the military party, who had not at all realised the strength of the understanding between France and England. Whatever may have been the origin of the German policy, the question now seems to resolve itself into a struggle as to who can exert most influence over the Sultan. The German statesmen think they can succeed better with negotiations in Fez than in Paris.

It is a question whether they have realised the Oriental power of doing nothing when different counsellors are urging opposite courses. The Sultan may play off one against the other, but if a decision has to be arrived at, there will always be the influence of the French army on the Algerian frontier.

—Mr. W. P. Groser suggests a solution of the question of Colonial Preference and Imperial defence. His plan is for the Colonies to give us Preference in return for our expendi- ture on the Navy. The idea is ingenious, but the practical application would be difficult, and we fear it is not likely that the plan will commend itself as an alternative to those who have set their hearts on Protection.—Captain von Herbert writes a very interesting account of the Bulgarian Army.

He shows how many and how great are the virtues of the Bulgarian peasantry. These people, as seen when under arms, neither drink nor smoke; they are clean and hard- working. At the same time, we are told that they are very stupid. Here is the difficulty if it should come to war, for the enemy—the Turk—is not only more intelligent, but more than double in numbers. The writer pays a high tribute to the excellence of the military system, and to the way in which the Bulgarian soldiers are taught and looked after. The want of intelligence both .of officers and men, in spite of their powers of hard work, makes the issue of a conflict with the secular enemy anything but certain.

The first article in Blackwood, which is not signed, con- tinues the attack of last month upon the Admiralty. The charge is that of wantonly getting rid of small ships which might, the writer believes, prove very useful. The theory advanced is that while the big ships are encountering each other and fighting, the small cruisers should be scouring the seas snapping up the enemy's merchant shipping. Historical precedents are cited in favour of this view, and we are told that such a policy is being prepared by the German Navy. The question is one for a war of experts rather than for the outsider. Will the Japanese and Russian naval war "bring to light facts which those on each side of the controversy will acknowledge P—Mr. George Maxwell's description of fishing for crocodiles makes one realise the power and general undesirableness of these amphibious marauders. The crocodile whose capture is recounted was ten feet long, and, lived in a Malay lake. The creature had taken to carrying off cattle, and it was high time for its depredations to cease. This was done with the aid of a baited hook and a rope. There is a description of the yellow crocodile struggling in the blue water of the lake and looking like a contorted Chinese dragon. The danger must have been considerable to the fishers in their dug-out native canoes.—General Chapman discusses the recruiting question, and shows that there must be something wrong in our system. After the difference in the purchasing power of money is allowed for, it appears that in America the soldier is no better paid than he is here. But for some reason the desire to enter the Army there is so great that there are four candidates for every vacancy. General Chapman blames our system of recruiting, rather than the condition and pay of the soldier, for the scarcity of recruits in England. We are given the outline of a plan for improving recruiting by not allowing it to be a merely military affair :—

" The responsibility of obtaining recruits for the territorial regiments should be transferred to the local authorities. Com- mittees should be established in every county and municipality, under the lord-lieutenant or mayor, with the deputy-lieutenants, county councillors, magistrates, and other persons of authority and influence as members, whose duty it should be to make known the requirements of the service, and to encourage suitable men to come forward."

The local authorities would naturally be also the means of finding work for discharged soldiers. The idea is certainly an attractive one.

"Idealism in Protection" is the title of an article in the Monthly Review by Mr. W. R. Malcolm. The writer brings to bear that important contribution to all true knowledge, the "sympathy of comprehension." Free-traders and Protec- tionists are both given to calling each other sordid, and refusing to inquire into the underlying ideas of either policy. Mr. Malcolm traces the Protectionist spirit back to Tudor times, when a man was liable to be put to death for the second offence of selling rams to a foreigner. The mediaeval ideal was to keep your own country strong and keep your neighbour down. Efficiency, too, was an ideal which the authorities maintained, and monopoly was prevented. A wine merchant who did not adhere to the regulation price was liable to have his wine sold for him by the constable to

any who would buy it at the price fixed by law. The modern Protectionist who sees in the policy he approves a way of carrying out his ideals of nationalism and efficiency is very different from the man who merely regards it as a plan for increasing his wealth. Mr. Malcolm's paper is most striking and suggestive, and we hope it will be widely read. The fact that there is no more ardent Free-trader than Mr. Malcolm, and that no one is better equipped than he to fight Protection with facts, figures, and arguments, makes his plea for the understanding of the underlying ideals of a large section of Protectionist feeling all the more important and noteworthy. We must understand our opponents fully in order to beat them thoroughly and finally.—Mrs. Hessey gives us more of her "Quaint Memories," in which many good stories are to be found. There is a delightful picture of a village clergyman whose fancy was to bring up the boys of his parish as grooms. For this purpose he kept eight donkeys, which he drove either tandem, four, six, or eight. One of these grooms had to take a cap and gown to his master at Oxford. The vicar, to his astonishment, saw the boy enter the town driving a tandem of donkeys and wearing the garments in question.

Miss Doris Birnbaum gives us in the Independent Review a useful comparison of the different systems of indentured labour in force in various parts of the Empire. From this inquiry it appears that the system employed in the Transvaal compares unfavourably with every other in use. This arises from the fact that in other Colonies the Governments have framed their Ordinances with a view to the interests of the labourer. But the regulations for the Chinese labourers were drawn up by the employers, with the High Com- missioner as their advocate and the Colonial Secretary to

register their decisions. That this represents the facts is shown by the way in which the minimum daily wage of Is. 6d. desired by the Government was granted by the Chamber of Mines in order to set the Ordinance in motion, and then reduced to is. by Lord Milner, on the plea of levelling down to the earnings of the native labourers. The root difference between these coolies and others in various Colonies is that in the Transvaal they cannot, after their term of service is over, work for themselves. This the Indian does in Jamaica and elsewhere.—Canon Barnett brings the weight of his experience to bear on the question of the "Public Feeding of School Children." In his article great stress is laid on the importance of doing nothing to impair home life, which so much centres round the preparation and partaking of meals. Canon Barnett argues that the modern tendency has been to loosen the family bond, and that it would be disastrous to encourage the process. Incidentally he points out that the aliens, especially the Jews, maintain a high standard of family life, and set a good example in this way. Canon Barnett acknowledges that there are evils attendant upon doing nothing, and his belief is that less harm would be done by giving school children milk than by any other system of charity or of outdoor relief. Milk is the essential nourish- ment which children need, but it is not a meal in the ordinary and domestic sense.