THE ROUND TABLE.
THE Round Table for June contains, as usual, some able articles, well informed but anonymous, on the leading political questions of the day, together with letters from America and from the Dominions which are particularly deserving of atten- tion. In home politics this admirable quarterly seems to be shifting its ground—to speak in the terms of French politics— further to the Left. The article on Ireland, for example. might be the work of a moderate Irish Nationalist, so unfair is it to the sorely tried Ulster Protestants, who are told, in very vague terms, that they must make " a difficult sacrifice " for the sake of a " treaty " which their enemies show no intention of respecting. It is suggested, moreover, that the Ulster Protestants are as much to blame as the Roman Catholics for the reign of terror in Belfast, though it is notorious that the Irish Republican Army began and deliberately con- tinues the outrages ; the murder of the Macmahons, as the writer of the article ought to have known, was almost certainly the work of Republican ruffians, whom the victims had refused to assist in their foul work. The Genoa Conference is described with care. It is stated that Dr. Rathenau, " in desperation or a fit of pique or in a moment of bravado," signed the German Treaty with the Bolsheviks on Easter Sunday because he could not see Mr. Lloyd George, who had gone to church ; but it is added that Dr. Rathenau had had the treaty in his pocket " for weeks." The negotiations with the Bolsheviks came to nothing, it is said, partly because the Moscow delegates inspired profound distrust, and partly because the Allies differed widely in their views regarding Russia. The danger impending from the Red Army, it is urged, has been much exaggerated, because the Russian railways, never efficient, are now paralysed. " The central problem of Europe at the present time is not Russia but Germany, not the recognition of old debts so much as the remission of new ones." The Round Table echoes the Manchester Guardian in asking whether the Entente, as an object of policy, can any longer be attained and in declaring against all " entangling alliances." The writer of an attractive series of " Letters from Egypt " argues that complete self-government must be given at the earliest possible moment. He admits that a very small minority of educated and wealthy people will have all the power, and he sees that the vast peasant majority will not count at all. Nevertheless, " the Egyptian people " must be left free to do as they like ; our troops must be moved to the Canal zone or beyond it, and foreigners in Egypt must face the risk of a renewal of the Alexandria riots. The writer's remark that " to help such peoples to arrive at self-government is part of our mission in the world " does not carry conviction as it might have done ten years ago. Many Englishmen are beginning to wonder whether a mission that costs so much and does not guarantee either peace or prosperity should be oontinued. An article on " The Communist Experiment in Russia " expresses the belief that the Bolsheviks are bound to go still further in reversing their Communist policy, and that they will have to abandon their attempt to con- trol foreign trade. But the writer admits that until they inspire confidence in foreign capitalists they will be unable to restore transport, industry or agriculture. The fact, for instance, that there is no law of contract in Bolshevik Russia shows how extremely difficult it will be to attract capital to the Communist Paradise. The letter from South Africa gives a good account of the Rand insurrection of March and of the share which the Nationalist Party had in the agitation which led up to the outbreak of violence. It seems that General Hertzog, always fishing in troubled waters, had sought to gain Labour support by accusing General Smuts of letting the strike develop into an insurrection so that he might have an excuse for declaring martial law and breaking the Labour Party. Such a charge is, of course, wholly unfounded. That General Hertzog should deliberately put it forward shows how desperate the Nationalists have become since their defeat at the general election. It will be remembered that the strikers, most of
whom are Dutch-speaking, killed or maltreated many natives in order to promote a native rising, which might deter the Dutch farmers from obeying the Government's order for a mobilization to restore order on the Rand.
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