THE. MARCH MAGAZINES.
THE Nineteenth Century opens with an article on " Real Difficul- ties of the Indian Problem," by Sir Frank Beaman, who reminds English readers of the virtual impossibility of reconciling Western democratic theories with the Hindu caste-system, under which many millions of people are " untouchable," and can never be regarded as equals by the Brahmans. Dr. Addison, in a piquant article on " How We are Governed," cites the agreement with the engineers which he, as Minister of Munitions, made in May, 1917, and shows how the secretariat edited the document so as to attribute the settlement to the skill and diplomacy of the Prime Minister alone. Dr. Addison's analysis of the recent Coalition Press campaign for a January Election deserves attention.
a " Most of us feel," he says, " that in the long run it is better for our country that a Government should be trustworthy and consistent, even if we do not agree with it, rather than that it should forfeit trust and be leading us we know. not whither." Lord Wester-Wemyss writes on " Washington : And After"
in a very serious strain. We have, he says, voluntarily resigned our naval supremacy, so that " British policy will henceforth be deprived of its strongest driving power, and the voice of Great Britain in the councils of the nations will no longer carry the same weight as before "—" truly a paradoxical result of the greatest victory ever won." He regrets the open differ- ence with France over the submarine question, in regard to which he thinks that Mr. Balfour was wrong. Ho doubts whether America, bound by the Monroe Doctrine, will take an active part in world-polities, and he is obviously fearful lest the Four-Power Pact should prove to be an illusion, though to obtain it we have given up the Japanese alliance. Mr. St. Loe Strachey describes "The World's First War Book"---the Chinese book written by Sun Thu in the fifth century before Christ. Dr. Lyttelton, writing on " The Feeding of Schoolboys," is caustic and ironical at the expense of the fussy parent, especially the mother. Boys are, he thinks, much more likely to suffer from over-feeding than from under-feeding. Sir Henry Reid contributes some attractive " Recollections of Lord Rhondda," at the Ministry of Food. Sir Henry Craik laments the " Social Revolution in Progress "—the passing of the old landowner. Miss Edith Sellers deals with " An Unknown Quantity : The Woman as Voter," and inclines to the view that for women it is " a question not of politics but of personalities." Mr. W. M. Meredith describes the new portion of Box Hilt given to the National Trust by Kiss Warburg. Dr. Hagberg Wright gives an interesting account of the London Library as " The Soul's Dispensary, London," and Sir Theodore Cook deals with the mathematical theories of Mr. Hambidge and Dr. Lund as " A New Disease in Architecture."
In the Fortnightly Dr. E. J. Dillon discusses in a pessimistic vein " The Thirteenth Conference," to be held at Genoa. He asks why the Powers should recognise the Bolshevik despotism when they will not recognise Mexico. Mr. John Bell, in an article " How the Communist Movement Stands in France," declares that Moscow has failed to gain control over any but a small fraction even of the wilder French-Socialists. Mr. Marriott commends" Conservative-Principles" as the true cure for present maladies ; " what the nation at this moment needs are not elaborate prescriptions and heroic remedies but wholesome diet and rest." General Dunsterville, who has had a long experience with Indian troops,. writes well on The Coming Changes in India." There is, he declares, no racial- hatred except among the educated or• half-educated dames ; the social gulf between them and Europeans " is so enormous that nothing can bridge it "—not through' the fault of Europeans, but because Indians are prohibited by caste rules from eating with us and because they keep their. women in seclusion. " Swaraj " would mean the replacement of British officials by Indian officials and the silent millions would suffer by the change. Mr. Henry Baeriein has an informing article on " The Jugoslav-Albanian Frontier " ; he regards the Italians as the chief mischief-makers in Albania. Mr. W. L. Courtney contributes a thoughtful study of " John Galsworthy as Dramatist " ; he complains that, with all his technical skill, Mr. Galsworthy lacks human feeling. We must mention, too, a charming article by Mr. Anthony Dell on " The Birds of Switzerland," which travellers are inclined to overlook.
The Contemporary Review contains four short articles on " Parties. and Programmes," by Sir W. Joynson-Hicks for the Conservatives, by an unnamed Coalition Liberal, by Mr. Geoffrey Howard for the " Wee Frees," and by Mr. Henderson for the Labour Party. Sir W. Joynson-Hicks believes in the future of his party, provided that it can get clear of the Coalition. " There is always a 40 per cent. Conservative vote in the country ; when it rises to 51 per cent. we get into power." The Coalition Liberal is quite satisfied with things as they are. Mr. Howard outlines an Independent Liberal policy ; he. would exalt the League of Nations, restore Free Trade and reduce expenditure. Mr. Henderson- would strengthen the League of Nations, but he omits to say that the only official Labour daily newspaper, in agreement with Moscow,. incessantly denounces the League. Mr. Henderson is all for economy, but not for " starving the public services ; he says that
"'the Labour- Party does not
believe in dictatorships,"and he is opposed to the Pact with France. Lord Beauehamp writes vaguely on "Our Foreign Policy," and Mr. Walter Runciman still more vaguely on " A New Start in Europe." Dr. Gooch contributes a pleasant memoir of Lord Bryce and Dr. Sarolea a memoir of Sir Ernest Shackleton. Mr. Saxon Mills, discussing " Unemployment and the Empire," advocates emigration to the vast unoccupied spaces in the Dominions ; it is a pity that the proposal, so obvious and so necessary, finds so little vigorous support either here or overseas. Mr. Middleton Martin states " The Problem of Medical Services," giving some details of the co-operative scheme now iii operation in Gloucester with the aid of the County Council and the British Red Cross Society.
The National Review has an instructive article by " Delhi," entitled " From Downing Street to Simla," in which Mr. Gandhi's daring and skilful conduct of his revolutionary agitation is clearly described. " The Irish parallel is closely studied in India, and on all sides—Congress, commercial, official, in the very speeches of Lord Reading—is growing the conviction that India will go the way of Ireland. Before the summer is over, there will be a truce and a conference. The surrender in Downing Street will be repeated in Simla." Mr. Shibly Jamal, the secretary of the Palestine Arab delegation, states "The Arab Case in Palestine " in detail. " If the Jew can be accommo- dated without any harm to the Arab, so much the better, but the Arab asks for guarantees that nothing shall now be done which shall prejudice his future." The promise to the Jews is to come second to the earlier promise to the Arabs. " A Stupid Soldier " prints, under the title of " A Dip into the Political Pie," the correspondence that he has had with a Coalition Unionist agent and another politician of the same shade on the general situation, giving both sides of the controversy very fairly. Colonel E. N. Motley, who was a Housing Commissioner, gives " An Inside View of the Civil Service," doing justice to the diligence of the officials but commenting severely on their love of circumlocution and delay and their fear of responsibility. Lord Astor commends the Carlisle experiment in the State purchase of licensed houses ; within ten years all the capital expended at Carlisle will have been paid off, and the houses have been greatly improved. Mr. Frank Fox, taking as his text the Morning Post inquiry into the expenditure of trade unions, . writes vigorously on " The Trade Unions and the Mischief- Makers." He points out that the supposed restrictions on the right of a trade union to spend the members' money on political or revolutionary propaganda are entirely useless : much trade union money, for instance, is invested in the Daibj Herald, which is notoriously more of a Communist than a Socialist organ. Mrs. Warre Cornish contributes some pleasant reminiscences of " Eton—Then and Now," with anecdotes of William Johnson (Cory). It is curious to learn that " a recent Old Etonian of the first decade of our century . . . had never heard the name of Moliere at Eton."
Blackwood's records the experiences of a contributor who tried the " Sortes Virgilianae " to find out what would next happen in Ireland. The oracle made reply that Mr. Griffith would be torn in pieces by wild women and that Mr. De Valera would order the annihilation of the Southern Protestants. We must wait and see whether the oracle spoke falsely. " Fula- nain " continues his sketches of Arab life on the Euphrates, in " Echoes from the Marshes." Mr. Edmund Candler and " Bartimeus " contribute pleasant articles on an Asiatic traveller and on the Navy in War-time, and Mr. F. L. Farrer describes _" A Shooting Trip in Mamba," in the foot-hills of the Himalayas. An anonymous correspondent, in " The Irreconcilables," gives a painful account of the racial and religious feuds in Palestine.
The World's Work, continuing the publication of " The Life and Letters of Walter H. Page," by Mr. Burton J. Hendrick, prints some very remarkable correspondence of 1915 arising out of the sinking of the Lusitania.' Mr. Page was bitterly disappointed with his old friend, President Wilson, for refusing to take action against Germany, and the breach between them steadily widened. He told the President in February, 1916 :-
" The British Cabinet have directed the Censor to suppress, as far as he can with prudence, comment which is unfavourable to the United States. It has taken this action for the reason that public feeling against your Administration is constantly increasing. . . . If you immediately refuse to have further parley ' or to yield one jot or tittle of your original ' Luaitania ' notes, and if you at once break diplomatic relations with the German Empire and then declare the most vigorous embargo on the Central Powers, you will quickly end the war. There will be an immediate collapse in German credit."
But President Wilson rejected his Ambassador's advice.
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