SOME BOOKS OF 'ME WEEK.
[Under this heading we notice such Books of Cl,, week as have net been reserved for review in other forms.] Cuba and the Intervention. By Albert G. Robinson. (Long- mans and Co. 'Ts. 6d. net.)—Mr. Robinson sums up the whole case of the United States and Cuba with admirable impartiality. He thinks that the United States Government declared war, or, anyhow, made war inevitable, with too much haste, and that it did not adequately realise the nature of its duties when it took upon itself the management of Cuban affairs,—affairs, it must be remembered, in a state of almost hopeless confusion. But his general conclusion is that, "in spite of all that lies open to criticism or condemnation, it is entirely beyond question that when it withdrew on May 20, 1902, the United States left in Cuba an immeasurably better and surer foundation for a Cuban Republic than any upon which the Cubans could have built had they succeeded, without American aid, in expelling the Govern- ment of Spain." This is virtually an acquittal. Mr. Robinson thinks that the verdict "will come as a surprise to many, perhaps as an offence to others." The critics who cannot believe that their own country can do anything that is right and wise are to be found in other countries besides the United States.
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