THE MAGAZINES.

Mi. D. C. LA.THBURT. contributes to the Nineteenth Century. an'article.npon ",The Failure of the Opposition." He main- • (1) Boy Scouts Beyond the Seas. By Sir Robert Baden-Powell, K.C,B.• London : • A. C;Penrson and Co. ' [2s. net.]—(2) The Book of Woodcraft and Indian Ler,. By. Ernest Thompson Beton. • London :.Constable and Co. [6s. net.]-4) The Scout Song Book. Edited by Arthur Poyser. London : A. C. Pearson and Co. [2s. 6d. net.]—(4) London*. By John Hargrave. tendon:

Constable and Co. [Is. net.] • --

tains that it is not enough for an Opposition to criticize the actions and policy of the Ministry, but that the electorate must be told something of the alternative policy which is proposed as a substitute. After setting out in succession the various topics upon which the present Opposition has failed alike in its criticism and in its constructive suggestions, Mr. Lathbury draws the following conclusion :—

"It is not so much the promises of the Liberal Government that have bred so much irritation as the disparity between promise and performance. Some of them have proved quite unlike the pictures painted of them by their authors. Others have had wholly unexpected consequences. The condition of mind produced by these causes is likely, as it seems to me, to dispose the electors to welcome another policy aiming at like ends but proposing to reach them by different roads,. I suspect that this view of the politica situation is more common than many Conservatives think, and, if so, those who hold it will not be greatly attracted by general assurances that the Millennium will certainly follow a Unionist victory at the polls. If they remain indifferent to these vague references to coming blessings this victory is not likely to be won ; and in that case a fresh spell of Liberal law-making will give the Opposition an ample interval in which to discover their miscalculation."

We do not agree, but Mr. Lathbury's long experience of public affairs and his clear vision make his criticism worthy of note.

—An alarming picture is drawn by Mr. Arthur S. Underwood of the danger incurred by the public from the great number of untrained dentists who practise in Great Britain. There are believed to be about twenty thousand of these, and there is at present no means of enforcing any standard of efficiency among them or of bringing home to them the consequences, very often fatal according to Mr. Underwood, of their incompetence. It is, of course, wholly among the poorer classes that the victims of

this state of things are to be found, and since the hospitals are not able to cope adequately with the situation, Mr.

Underwood asks for legislation to set up a Dentists' Register, and to forbid anyone whose name is not upon it to practise —In her article upon " Republican Tyranny in Portugal" Adeline Duchess of Bedford continues her admirable cam- paign against the condition of the political prisoners in Portugal. Among the melancholy stories which she tells is one of Father Henriques, curate of the Cathedral of Madeira, who had been in the habit of travelling to Mondaris, in Spain, to take the waters for his health. In the summer of 1911, on returning to Madeira from his usual holiday, he thought it wiser not to cross Portugal, and therefore embarked at Vigo in a British ship—the Royal Mail steamer Araguaya.' On the 9th of August the steamer anchored in the Tagus, and Father Henriques was at once arrested by an officer who boarded the ship. He was charged with "having spoken against the Republic during the voyage," and in spite of the captain's protests was taken ashore. It was not till seven months later that, owing to representations from England, he was let out of the overcrowded prison in which he was confined. The end of the tragic story is as follows :—

" But his release came too late. The prison hardships—cold and damp, bad food; insanitary conditions, and indescribable misery and discomfort—had so reduced his strength that ho did not live quite seven months longer. His death was caused by rapid consumption, contracted in the damp cell at Trafraria; and he is only one of many martyrs. His old father died the same, day, a few hours afterwards, from grief and shock ; and his brother's health has been seriously impaired by nerve-strain and acute distress in contemplation of so much undeserved and cruel suffering."

This tale is only an instance, adds the Duchess of Bedford, of the cruelties which she urges the British nation to insist upon ending.—An interesting criticism is contributed by Lord Cromer of Mr. Bland's recent book upon China. Lord Cromer regards the prediction of the latter as to the uncertain nature of the Republic's future as "calculated to commend itself to those of general experience who have studied Oriental character and are acquainted with Oriental history." He dwells especially upon the necessity "that the financial administration of the country should be sufficiently honest to

inspire the confidence of those European investors who alone can provide the necessary oapital." Lord Cromeea pregnant and well-founded criticism should be studied carefully and as a whole by all who are interested in problems of th'e-Chinese Republic. An attempt to summarize the contents of the article would not do it. justice.—We may finally draw attention to an article by Major Morrison-Bell stating various objections,

,none of which seems to us convincing, to Proportional Representation.

With the exception of the usual "Episodes of the Month," the whole of this month's National Review is occupied by a discussion of " The Great Marconi Mystery," by Mr. Leo Maxse. It is impossible for us in this place to comment upon this " interim report from an interested onlooker," or to do more than summarize very briefly the contents of its two hundred pages. Mr. Maxse begins by explaining in his preface that his monograph, if we may so describe it, " is intended neither for financial nor political experts, but solely for the nurnose of assisting the all-powerful man in the street, who has other business to attend to and cannot give his days and nights to digesting the ever-accumulating details by which this case is becoming encumbered, to form a sound judgment on a topic which no man has a right to shirk." He then proceeds to give a narrative of events since the date of his own examination before the Committee on February This narrative is interspersed with a very large number of quotations from the official reports of the proceedings before the Committee and before Mr. Justice Darling, and is accompanied by a constant stream of pointed commentary. The somewhat well-worn paths of the maze are in this way enlivened by Mr. Maxse's dashing though controversial sallies, and at the same time the reader is prevented by the ample documentation of the story from regarding it as being entirely ex parte in

character. The earlier pages are devoted to the object of showing, by means of -many citations, that the Ministerialist

newspapers (with the exception of the Nation) have executed a valle-face since the Malin libel action; for that, while before that case " anyone who hazarded the suggestion that Ministers had probably been unable to resist the temptation to gamble in Marconi shares was forthwith to be relegated . . . to the category of confessed forgers and convicted criminals," since that case these papers encourage their readers "to regard Ministerial speculations in Marconi shares not only as a perfectly natural and proper proceeding, but almost as a meritorious act." Mr. Maxse goes on to analyze the evidence given by Sir Rufus Isaacs and Mr. Samuel in the libel action at great length, and next that given by them and Mr. Lloyd George before the Committee. We can only mention one of the chief points which Mr. Maxse seeks to emphasize—the question, namely, whether the contract was really completed and published on March ith

"Either," says Mr. Maxse, "the Marconi contract was sub- stantially completed on March 7th, . . in which case conceal- ment of its terms by the Government while a huge gamble took place in the shares of the various associated companies, from which insiders made fortunes while outsiders were fleeced, demands impeachment ; or alternatively, the contract being con- ditional was the subject of serious negotiations between the various Government Departments concerned, for Ministers to gamble or' invest ' in any of the `associated' companies before July 19th, when the contract was signed, is conduct that speaks for itself."

As an appendix Mr. Maxse prints a number of documents relevant to the controversy, including the Marconi contract itself. We are most grateful to Mr. Maxse for putting upon record this well-documented account of the case ; though we may again repeat, in order to make our own position clear, that we do not lend—and have never for a moment lent—the least support to any charges of actual corruption against the Ministers concerned. We maintain our charge, made in the first instance, of want of delicacy and discretion—of action unbecoming Cabinet Ministers. Since the revelations we must add another charge, which can be best expressed in the words of Lord Halifax : "The defending an ill tiling is more criminal than the doing it, because it wanteth the excuse of its not being premeditated." The refusal of the Ministers involved to admit that they did anything unbecoming in engaging in Stock Exchange transactions in American Marconi shares or in their practice of an economy of truth in regard to those transactions during the debate in the Commons last October, makes a precedent so fraught with peril to the purity of public life as to constitute an offence even more serious than the original offence—though that was in a very high degree reprehensible. Let it be clearly understood that not to charge the Ministers involved with corruption, and to controvert the worst allegations against them, is by no means to give them a certificate of character. To declare that a man is not guilty of murder or burglary is not the same as saying that he is a model citizen and above all criticism.

In the Contemporary Mr. H. N. Brailsford defends the claims of the Albanians to independent nationality, and produces a number of reasons for-believing that they possess qualities which will enable them to maintain it. The primitive Albanians of the

mountains—though even of them Mr. Brailsford does not despair—are only a minority of the inhabitants, while "the greater part of Albania is not more turbulent than Macedonia at its best, and much more settled than Macedonia at its worst." Mr. Brailsford dismisses the fear that religious differences are likely to retard the progress of the new State, for " religion, one must admit, sits lightly on the Albanians."

The one essential condition for the success of the experiment, as Mr. Brailsford describes it, is that the Powers should allot to Albania a territory compatible with economic independence. He concludes by appealing to Liberals to support the Powers in their determination that Montenegro shall not hold Scutari.

—Lord Henry Bentinck writes upon " Co-partnership in Land and Housing," and describes the work done in many districts by Rural Co-partnership Housing Societies. The

chief obstacle in the way of the extension of this work is the difficulty of raising capital, and Lord Henry Bentinck appeals to the Local Government Board for better facilities for loans. Our readers will be interested by the description he gives of a pair of cottages at Somersham, which he says are probably the cheapest pair of brick cottages that have yet been built in England:—

" The total cost of the pair works out at £232, inclusive of all extras, pumps, paths, fencing, gates, and fees for plans and supervision. The accommodation is ample ; it consists of a living room, 12ft. by 12ft.; scullery, 8ft. by 7ft.; pantry, 6ft. by aft.; and three bedrooms, the largest of which is 12ft. by 12ft., and the smallest 1011t. by Wt. One of the bedrooms is on the ground floor, and can be used as a parlour."

—A speech delivered by Sir Joseph Ward, the late Premier of New Zealand, at the Nationalist Party's banquet on St. Patrick's Day is taken by Mr. Swift MacNeill as the text for an article upon " Home Rule and Imperial Unity." The familiar arguments are advanced once more, and it is to be noticed that both Sir Joseph Ward and Mr. Swift MacNeill appear to speak as though it were proposed to grant to Ireland colonial self-government. The financial side of the relations between her and the Mother Country are, needless to say, never mentioned.—The Wagner Centenary affords Mr. Ernest Newman an opportunity for discussing the position held by Wagner in music to-day. Mr. Newman believes that, in spite of certain weaknesses in the operas, " he will probably see most of his contemporaries and suc- cessors off the stage." He adds that "though the Wagnerian apparatus has been improved upon, no oue has been great enough to manipulate the apparatus as a whole with anything like Wagner's power, scope, and freedom, and opera is still waiting for its new redeemer."—Among the remaining articles we may mention one upon the work of Christianity in India by Dr. R. F. Horton, and a discussion upon modern criminology by Mr. A. M. Brice.

Writing in the Fortnightly Sir Max Waechter advocates nothing less than the federation of the States of Europe as the only cure for the burden of armaments. He claims that his views " are founded upon impressions obtained through long conversations which the author has had with the sovereigns and leading statesmen of Europe." The division of Europe into two hostile parties nullifies the good intentions of the European Concert, but the writer believes that could England and Germany compose their differences the other States might be induced to follow, with the result that a federation of States would be possible. Switzerland is instanced to show the possibility of different races and creeds acting together. This analogy is not very convincing, because the circumstances are so different. Was not Switzerland welded together by pressure from without rather than by a desire to avoid internal quarrels ? If Europe was faced with the rest of the world in arms at her doors, self-preservation would dictate union. Sir Max Waechter looks forward to an Anglo-German understanding as the beginning of a policy which will end in the federation of Europe, when colonies will exist not for individual countries but be held in common. To further these ends it is intended to start a propaganda, and the temporary office of the European Federation League has opened at 39 St. James's Street.—"Excubitor " thinks that Germany, having realized that it was impossible to win in the race of naval armaments with us, has turned her attention to the air, thinking that thereby she can redress the balance by ber forethought and our negligence. It is the old story of the submarines over again. We can make up for lost time, provided we have some years of peace before us, and that the authorities realize that the danger is a real one.—An address by Mr. C. A. Parker, which was delivered at the Cambridge Medical School, is here printed. In it the author advocates a State Medical Service, for one reason, because in existing circumstances doctors are more occupied by trying to cure disease than in preventing it. At the present time the tendency towards improvement of sanitation, school medical inspection, and a number of other activities, in so far as they reduce disease, affect the doctors' earnings and thus make competition keener and reduce efficiency. As a remedy for these evils, affecting both the doctors and the public, the author recommends a State service, with a Government department presided over by a Cabinet Minister. The writer is so enamoured of his scheme, which, on the face of it, has many attractions, that he does not atop to consider any objections. Many devoted Church- men regard the State connexion as a hindrance to the Church.

Many business men doubt if the control of the Post Office makes for enlightenment and efficiency, and who has not criticized the organization of the Army ? Why should a State medical service be- free from all the defects everyone acknowledges to exist in Government concerns P—Mr. Lancelot Lawton has obtained the views of Field-Marshal von der Goltz and of General Imhoff as to the causes of the Turkish defeat. The former authority traces the entire breakdown to the policy of Abdul Hamid, who was so afraid of his army that be never allowed it to receive any training. The soldiers were kept in barracks like prisoners, and the officers were no better off as regards knowledge of their profession. The reorganization after the revolution was interrupted by a mutiny in 1908, and since then the time was not long enough to train men to fight against the Bulgarians, who had been specially training for this war for seventeen years. In the future the Turkish soldier drawn from Anatolia may do much, according to Field-Marshal von der Goltz, who considers that the severance from Macedonia will be a source of strength to Turkey.

Mr. Maffey's story from the outposts in Blackwood keeps to the high level we are accustomed to in this attractive

kind of paper which is peculiar to this magazine. With no sense of monotony we return to the north-west frontier of India, and are shown the machinery which keeps safe the fertile plain at the foot of the barren mountains where the raiders live. These people, like the Vikings, make fighting the equivalent of trade ; they cannot live upon their own barren soil, and, having nothing to exchange for the desired produce of India, they take what they can by force. In the story we find a very striking picture of a native officer, an elderly man, absolutely loyal, and of high and priestly rank, a master of intrigue, understanding every move in the border game of faction and feud.

"Strange that such a man should serve as the subordinate of a British captain, aged thirty-one ! Stranger still that he should accept the position without protest, and yield honest devotion to his youthful commandant ! . . . In frontier work, where delicate questions of policy harass the administration, it is not unnatural that native officials should prefer that a shield should stand between them and the risk of failure and discredit."

The methods of the English remained a mystery to this Pathan : why should not a raider who had retreated into his own country be quietly disposed of by poison or the hand

of an assassin P What was the difference between this method and that of being hanged in gaol P But even if there was no room for the more obvious of native methods,

there remained many tortuous ways of policy, some of which bring about the climax of the story. The English officer never found out through what diplomatic channels the information was obtained which led to the capture of a notorious bandit.—In writing of " The Duke," " C.W.O."

gives a short and clear sketch of the Peninsular cam- paign, and makes a very interesting study of the qualities of Wellington. To begin with, he had the advantage of having risen in less than seven years from ensign to lieutenant-colonel, and in the same time he served in seven different regiments. By minute and painstaking study he knew what was wanted in every part of his army ; this is shown in the fourteen volumes of despatches, " which

are really letters on every conceivable subject connected with the war." He took no risks, and his system of supplies, which were always paid for, enabled him to move and con- centrate in impoverished country in a manner impossible to the French, who lived on plunder. Great, too, was Wellington's moderation. After Waterloo be dissuaded Blucher from wanton destruction in Paris; he caused reduction in the claims made by all Europe upon France ; and his negotiations with regard to the loan raised to meet the payment caused the bankers to regard him as a great financier. Was it not also Wellington who insisted on the plundered works of art being returned to their lawful owners P—Major Knox gives an account of a touching scene in the burial-ground of the Residency of Lucknow, when a funeral took place of one who as a young man had helped in the heroic defence, and, having lived to old age, was brought back to rest among the numbers who had fallen at his side years before.—" Chasseur," in his account of the defence of Adrianople, considers that with better management the Bulgarians could have taken the town at any period of its investment. He is far from accusing them of any want of courage, but rather of misdirected energy and failure to seize the right moment. The Turkish defences were badly made, the trenches exposed, and the wire entangle- ments so arranged that they made counter-attacks by the garrison impossible.

The most interesting article in the May issue of The United Service Magazine—which, by the way, contains a reprint of an article by Lord Wolseley entitled, "The Old Trenches before Sebastopol Revisited "—is the account of "Universal Military Service in the Argentine Republic." Such service was instituted by the law of 1905, and now appears to be in full operation. Owing to the fact, however, that the peace establishment of the army is only about 20,000 men, the number of young men who are taken each year is not very large. The opinion of the writer, Major H. Y. Richardson, is on the whole very favourable to the Argentine army. After mentioning the only corps d'dlite, the extremely smart cavalry regiment of Mounted Grena- diers which was raised as long ago as 1810, Major Richardson describes a visit to the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment. The men, he tells us, were splendid, " and it can be confidently affirmed that we can produce nothing smarter in the way of go' and 'jump."' The results produced by three months' training under "skilled instructors, unhampered by all sorts and kinds of fatigues,' were, he states, very much like those produced in the Spectator Experimental Company. The cavalry was very good. They were mounted on " rather rough but tough Argentina horses." They were heavily armed with lance, sabre, and slung carbine. Major Richardson ends his article with the following sentence, " To sum up, one saw a nation in arms' in the making, and the view was inspiring."