SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
(ruder this heading we notice such Books of the 'week as hare sot been rf !erred for review in other forms.] A Friendly Germany : Why Not ? By Lady Phillips. (Constable and Co. 2s. 6d. net.)—We cannot do more than summarize the contents of Lady Phillips's very able little book upon the relations between this country and Germany. With much of what she says we are in agreement, while other of her arguments have been dealt with in these columns on many previous occasions. Lady Phillips devotes her earlier chapters to a summary of the reasons in favour of Anglo-German friendship. The chief of these, in addition to the general reason that it is desirable that the peace of Europe should be preserved, are that Western nations need to unite against the dangers of the non-European races on the one' hand and against the dangers of social unrest on the other. After commenting upon the " kinship " between England and Germany, and discussing the history of the relations between the two countries, Lady Phillips proceeds to deal with the various difficulties which stand in the way of a good under- standing. Finally, in a chapter headed " What we can gain and what we can give," she puts forward some suggestions for ameliorating Anglo-German relations. Among these we may note a proposed rearrangement of various African possessions, and especially of the Portuguese colonies, upon lines not altogether unlike those put forward by us in a leading article last week, though we may repeat that our proposal was not made, like Lady Phillips's, with a view, as it were, to buying off German. hostility. Such a policy is not one which we think likely to be. successful, however well-intentioned it may be. We may add that there is a point, and that a very essential one, with which Lady Phillips does not appear to deal, namely, the fact that however much the people of Germany might wish to avoid a conflict, the ultimate decision does not lie with them, but with an almost independent oligarchy. It is with the rulers of Germany and not with its people that we are concerned in considering such questions as these.
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