Janus in Modern Life. By W. M. Flinders Petrie, D.C.L.
(A. Constable and Co. 2s. 6d. net.)—Dr. Flinders Petrie, while dis- avowing the position of a partisan, allows that "to many of his statements and deductions one party or another would cry Anathema." Labour M.P.'s will not be pleased with what he says about Trade-Union practices, nor members of the "Upper Ten" with his remarks on the decadence of society. We cannot follow him into his arguments : to do so would be to discuss the great social questions of the day. It is quite safe, however, to say that his chapters are well worth reading. They are always suggestive : we may differ from their conclusions, but we cannot help thinking about them, and are sure to get some profit from them. Some- times, we think, Dr. Flinders Petrie exaggerates. He holds that "the low type of character prevailing in all classes in England at present needs to be fully recognised." But has there ever been an "at present" when this could not be affirmed ? Compare the time of the Regency, for instance, with this,—was it better or worse ? Again, there is something omitted in the argument that because Indian stock stands higher in proportion than that of the London County Council, capitalists think the dangers of municipal communism greater than those which threaten the Indian Empire. The Imperial guarantee makes the difference. Curiously enough, the fact is that what- ever may have been the case when the fourth chapter of Janus was written, it is not now true that London County Council stock stands at a lower price than Indian stock. At 1.30 p.m. on August 15th the official quotations were " L.C.C. stock, 861-86R"; " Indian 3L 84-85i."
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