Select Constitutional Documents illustrating South African History, 1795-1910. Edited by
G. W. Eybers. (Routledge. 21s. net.)— This well-edited collection of documents will be of great value to students of the complex history of South Africa. Some of the papers relating to the" Great Trek" of 1836 are printed for the first time, and throw light on the beginnings of Natal. The South Africa Act of 1909, the Union Constitution, is printed in full. An appendix contains the British South Africa Company's Charter, with which the Law Courts are now occupied, the ill-omened Heligoland agreement of 1890, and the terms of capitulation of the Germans in South-West Africa in 1915. The author's long Intro- duction is admirably written. He lays stress on the importance of the Central Executive in the Constitution, the smooth working of which "depends very largely on the ability and tact of the Prime Minister." In his closing remarks on the future of the Empire he hints guardedly that Federation will not commend itself to the Dominions for the present.
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