THE MAGAZINES.

In the Nineteenth Century Sir Charles Lucas, who discusses the sugges- tions for the future government of -the Empire made in Mr. Basil Worsfold's book, The Empire on the Anvil, inclines to the "half-way house" solution of the problem, on the general ground that he can find in the past no encouragement for making a wholly fresh start, nor any satisfying safeguards against the pitfalls of a brand-new Constitution. He accordingly hopes that at the first Imperial Conference after the war it may be decided to call an ad hoc Convention representative of the whole Empire to discuss what steps should be taken to pro. mote its further unity.—Lord Cromer in "Democracy and Diplo- macy " points out that modem Foreign Ministers and their agents must to a great extent reflect the public opinion and national aspirations of their respective countries. As regards British diplomacy, he observes that whilst it failures are patent to all the world, its successes are less well known and appreciated. The essential issue with which he is concerned is whether democracy makes for peace, and while on the whole inclined to agree that it does, he shows that, judged by the light of history, the case in favour of democracy breaks down com- pletely. Even in America the guiding principle has often been sell-interest, and, in regard to Mexico, has been the negation of the fundamental democratic principle that every nation has a perfect right to choose its own government. The American people, according to some of their most eminent interpreters, though non-militarist, are both militant and aggressive. Lord Cromer disclaims any desire to decry democracy. On the contrary, his personal opinion is that on the whole a distinct vein of high morality runs through democratic action which is con- spicuously absent under absolutist rule. "But it would be a mistake if, in a fit of anti-absolutist enthusiasm, we were to imagine that demo- erotic diplomacy can or will assuredly inaugurate an era of universal peace or the realization of all the ideals of democracy." Human nature, in fine, can only gradually be changed, if indeed it can be changed at all.--Of the three articles on Ireland, that of Mr. J. R. Fisher finds the root of the present evil in the weakness of the Executive, and ridicules the notion of saving the situation by setting up "another debating society." We have to reckon with the "ineradicable and unreasoning hatred of England" admitted by Mr. Lecky, Sir Horace Plunkett, and Mr. Birroll himself. This sentiment asks for no reforms and will accept none, and the movement which translated it into action was "encouraged to gather strength and prepare its plans by a few years of notoriously incompetent rule in Dublin." Mr. J. Clore Sheridan, writing as an Irishman who has boon a resident official in South Africa since the Boer War, pleads for an "entente with Ireland" on the model of the South African Union, with as its first step 6 Conference of wise, patriotic, and moderate Irishmen to agree on

stud frame the necessary amendments to the Irish Self-Government Act. Finally, the Rev. Robert Murray gives a very interesting and fully documented account of the growth of the Sinn Fein rebellion and the personalities of its leaders. It is at best a painful study of- perverted idealism. Mr. Murray sums up in the following memorable words :— " There are after all but two alternatives, two national ideals. Ireland must either be one with England as a portion of the Empire to which she contributes in a large measure imagination, soul, intensity, wit, resourcefulness ; or she may refuse her share in a great and glorious Empire—she may spend her soul, her intensity, her wit, her resourceful- ness in fostering a scheme which is essentially and eternally impracticable. It may lead in the future, as in the present, to the detriment of England. It may lead Ireland to the destruction, partial or complete, of herself. But there is one goal to which it can never lead, and that is to National Independence."

—We may also note Mr. Ellis Barker's long article advocating the neutralization of Asiatic Turkey after the war ; Professor Joseph Delcourt's fascinating study of "Shakespeare and the French Mind" ; and Commander Currey's well-deserved tribute to the magnificent spirit of the Navy and the splendid serviees of the merchant marine.

Mr. Edgar Crammond, one of our ablest and best-equipped statis- ticians, writes in the National Review on "British and German War Finance." His conclusions are in the main decidedly reassuring. A survey of Germany's expenditure, war loans, commerce, &c., leads him to pronounce that her financial outlook is desperate, and that all tho evidence available points to the approach of the greatest financial dadcle which the world has seen. As for ourselves, though we were the least prepared of all the Great Powers on the financial as Sven as tte military side at the outbreak of the war, we have "overcome the financial difficulties of the first eighteen months with astounding ease." But the outlook for the coming financial year gives cause for anxiety, and the energies of the nation must be concentrated on the problem of the reduction of expenditure. Our greatest hope of re- trenchment on a large scale lies, in Mr. Crammond'e view, in the reduc- tion of consumption by private individuals. "If an all-round reduction of, say, 15 per cent, could be effected in our total civil and military expenditure, our deficit in the coming year might be reduced from £850,000,000 to, say, £450,000,000, a sum which would be quite within manageable limits."—The editor prints an interesting memorandum of a conversation between the late Mr. Alfred Belt and the German Emperor at Potsdam in 1906, in which the Emperor's animus against England, especially in connexion with the Entente Ccrdiale with Fran). ce is markedly shown. The editor also reproduces the striking chapter, "The Week of Tragedy," from Germany Before the War, by Baron Beyene, the Belgian Mint/Nor in Berlin. The gist of Baron Beyens's impressions of the crisis of July-August, 1919, goes to prove that Russia was used by the German Government as a diplomatic bogy, and that the Emperor made war to consolidate his dynasty, to extend his dominions, and to increase German power, wealth, and prestige. As for Great Britain, we cannot do better than quote Baron Beyens's own words :—

" The events leading up to the present war have revealed to us the honesty and scrupulousness of British diplomacy, side by side with the bad faith of German diplomacy ; and they have thrown ample light upon the loyalty of Great Britain and her Ministers, as contrasted with the double-dealing of Germany and her Imperial functionaries."

—" The Reconciliation," by the Comtesse de Luz, is a charming sketch of the union eau& that has united all Frenchmen with one object. On the eve of the war she pictures for us a French country gentleman of old stock, completely estranged from his neighbours, sulking in his old castle, and supplanted by Socialistic tradesmen in the local offices which he had regarded as his right. We leave him a few days later agreeing with the commit municipal that "from to-day there were no longer any politics or parties—only France and Frenchmen standing shoulder to shoulder, until the soil is free from the foe that has set its heel on our childhood's inheritance."--Mr. W. H. Hudson writes a delightful paper on " Life in a Pine Wood : People, Birds, and Ants " ; while Mr. Eustace Miles in " Cookless Meals" discusses in a tone of friendly criticism the dietetic reforms advocated by Mr. Aird, and pleads for a Department or Institution for the fair and unbiassed investigation of various dietaries. Personally, he believes that "any wholesale con- demnation of cooking as destroying food-values can only be put down its ignorance."—The editorial comments are, as usual, mainly made up of more or less violent tirades against the Cabinet.

Sir W. Ryland Adkins, M.P., defends the Coalition against its critics In the new Contemporary. But while condemning carping, unfair, and destructive criticism, he maintains that "many things can be achieved by pressure which is not disloyal, but which is based on knowledge," and pleads for more information. The powers of exposition which the Government possess might, in his opinion, be much more freely used than they have been. There are some disputable statements in the article—e.g., that the neutrals grow more friendly, and that Mr. Ramsay MacDonald is seen and not heard—but on the whole it is a temperate _and Well-reasoned argument for the maintenance of the Coalition.

Mr. Hugh Law writes on the situation in Ireland. Here again the manner is moderate, but some of the statements are open to question—as, for , example, that "the insurgents, in the main, appear to have fought a clean fight." He tram, the movement partly to economic discontent and

the survival of the old inextinguishable hatred of the Irish-American irre. concilables, but largely to the rise of the Ulster Volunteers. He estimates the total number of insurgents at hardly a tenth of the number of Irish recruits to the British Army since the outbreak of war. Lastly, he finds Castle government weak and inefficient, while declining to lay the blame on individuals, and going so far as to declare that Mr. Birrell'a policy in past years "won for him the respect and affection of the great mass of the Irish people. This alone, it may well be, kept thousands front joining or sympathizing with the insurgents."—Dr. Dillon, writing on "Sweden and the Belligerents," does not minimize the pro-German movement or the plausibility of the arguments of the "Activists," who favour a pooling of Swedish and German interests. None the less, he holds that the nation as a whole is averse from this movement, - and convinced of the solid advantages of maintaining neutrality. —" Polonue " outlines the new partition of Poland contem- plated by the Central Empires, showing that by the progress of the war a division of zones of occupation has taken place closely recalling the Austro-Prussian delimitation of 1795. The fate of the kingdom of Poland remains at the moment absolutely undetermined, but the writer

holds that the continuance of the old partitioning conceptions, which led the world into war, will not load the world out of it. That way can only be found inn Poland "really now-born, strong, vigorous, and healthy."

In view of the suffering of native peoples, the terrible depopulation of their territories in the last fifty years, and the crying need of a reform of

the labour question, Mr. John Harris utters a powerful plea for tho sum-

moning of another European and International Congress—overdue when the war broke out. Ho accordingly urges that the European Powers

should agree that within one year of the declaration of poem such a Congress should be held to amend the existing agreements for main- taining the rights, liberties, and welfare of native races. Of the reforms,

the first alike in time and value is that of the abolition of forced labour,

and he finds encouragement in the fact that the commercial world is "not only beginning to realize the importance of conserving native

life, but is recognizing that the application of fraud or force upon the

labour supply is a ruthless and unerring boomerang." We may note, amongst othor suggestions, his recommendation that, on the analogy of Basutoland, the white colonizing nations should agree to set aside

an area in each Colony or Protectorate for the exclusive use of the native inhabitants ; his advocacy of short labour contracts ; and his plea for the appointment of Protectors of the native labourers chosen from the country from which the labourers are secured and able to speak their language.

Mr. Sidney Low, writing in the Fortnightly of English and American sea rights and powers, describes how he watched the last Hague

Conference, and noted that it was not peace which was discuss31 but war. Germany's envoy agreed to everything that would limit sea warfare, but to nothing that would interfere with the action of armies.—" Auditor Tantum " traces the history of "The Late Crisis and the New," and with regard to the new one tells a story of Mr. Birrell which, even if not authentic, exactly describes his mental attitude. The late ruler of Ireland is reported to have said : "Doing is the very devil ; dreaming is the real thing." To see the result of his dreaming Mr. Birrell has only to go to Dublin and look around.— " Judex " pours forth a sloppy appeal for mercy in dealing with Irish

rebels. Nobody wants retributive vengeance, but to assert that the Sinn Feiners in all numbered less than three thousand, and that "there was

no looting, no wanton destruction of property," is stretching things a good deal. The writer has the impudence to say that "the Sinn Feiners did no more than Sir Edward Carson and his followers threatened to do."

One party proclaimed an independent Republic, while the others said

they would not be cast out of the United Kingdom. It is characteristic of such a writer that he is in ecstasies over the Irish soldiers who remained faithful, and cannot speak too highly of their gallantry, but makes no mention at all of the English troops who died to save Dublin front anarchy and destruction.—Mr. Archibald Hurd writes of "America's Bid for Sea Power." He gives various extracts from the document drawn up by the Board over which Admiral Dewey presides. These advisers of the Government evidently do not believe in the approaching end of the big ship, for they recommend the construction of larger units than any existing. Mr. Hurd holds that in considering the size of the proposed Fleet account has been taken of the probability of our Fleet being reduced in strength whatever the outcome of the war. There has always been among some Arce:icans a feeling of delight at the growth of the German Fleet, it being believed that by putting a strain on our resources the ends of America were being served.

In Blackwood an article on "The Nature of the Beast" gives an analysis of the German character and mind. One of the most difficult qualities to combat is that of absolute acquiescence in a Government pronouncement. You may prove to a German that a statement is false, and he will follow your logic, but close the discussion with, "But the Government has mid so-and-so." What you say may be true, bat authority is greater than truth. " Truth ' to the German, then, does not present itself in the least as it does to us. To him, truth is that version of facts which best suits the progress of the German Empire."— " An Exchanged Officer" writes his hospital experiences at Cambrai after being wounded and taken prisoner at the beginning of the war. He pays a fine tribute to the skill and devotion of the French doctors and

nurses. Whenever it was possible, the French people dressed our men in French uniforms to help them to escape the cruelties specially reserved for the English. The German surgeons who used the hospital seem to have been callous, and would start an operation before the anaesthetic had taken effect. There was one exception, Professor Feaster, who was most humane, and who wished that those responsible for the conflict could realize the horror of a war operating-room. A German officer with a stomach wound was told that he must not eat or drink for twenty-four hours. He forthwith ordered his servant to bring him a bottle of champagne, half of which he drank, and died in five minutes.—Mr. Holmes. the well-known Police Court missionary, gives a startling narrative of a spy. He was a man who had been a burglar for the sheer love of it, but had drifted out to India, settled, and then married a native somewhere in the region of Aden. When the war came he felt he must do something, and his old love of adventure led him to take up spy work in Mesopotamia. Ho did this with success, but in the end he had to relinquish his work, tortured and maimed, but satisfied.—" Moira O'Neill" writes a sober, ungarnished account of what it was like to be in an isolated country house during the rebellion in Wexford. Robbery under arms and every form of intimidation were rampant. The peasants, formerly friendly, shut their doors and would exchange no greetings. The irresponsible girls and boys seem to have made the most of things, the former putting red crosses on their sleeves, rushing off with raiding parties, and carrying a revolver as a nursing outfit ; while boys paraded with guns and bayonets, halting and threatening every one within reach. As for the terrorism, the writer declares that had the rebellion lasted a week longer the terrorized people would have joined it, and been the most cruel of the lot.