THE MAGAZINES.

THE Nineteenth Century this month is a fair average number. South African topics are still the most interesting reading for a good many of us, and the two articles which come under the beading "The Needs of South Africa" both are valuable contributions to the discussion of the " after-the- war " problem. Mr. J. W. Cross, writing on "Capital and Population," deals with the economic status of the Mother- country, considered especially in regard to what he calls our national extravagance, and goes on to make a rejoinder to, or rather comment on, Mr. Frederick Greenwood's "Violent Proposal" to "put up the bars" against foreigners, in tackling the question of immigration into South Africa after the war. He asks,—Is it practicable ? Before the war it was estimated that the combined amount of French and German money invested in the Rand was greater than the amount of English money. To-day it is perhaps half Con- tinental and half English ; are we to suppose that the Con- tinental capital will not make its voice heard ? Again, we can estimate the wrongness of our theory that we paint the map red to provide us with dumping-grounds for our growing population by observing that while in the last ten years we have sent only thirty-eight thousand emigrants to Australasia, and while our average annual contri- bution to Canada has been nine thousand, we send yearly fifty- two thousand to the United States. We must have popula- tion, and we must have capital, in our new South African Colonies. Can we get them if we exclude foreigners F But is it not at least possible that the prospect of a vast " boom " in South Africa may divert from the United States many of those fifty-two thousand immigrants ? If the boom were sustained, so would be the stream of emigrating Englishmen. —Another most interesting paper is the Hon. Mrs. Evelyn Cecil's " Female Emigration." Mrs. Evelyn Cecil gives a convincing account of the work done by the South African Expansion Committee, formed two years ago as an offshoot of the British Women's Emigration Association. She argues that since the future of South Africa must largely depend upon the character and the attainments of the women who become the wives and mothers of the settler population, it is right to examine the possible careers open to women of de- termination and ability. These careers are now, she believes, and will be, numerous and attractive. There is an excellent opening for women "to occupy small farms of their own, working together on a co-operative system, within any newly

settled areas "; and such co-operation, she thinks, would be facilitated by some assistance by loan,—as safe an investment in the case of women settlers as in the case of men. In many localities fruit and vegetables could be grown where none are grown now. But there will be need for female labour of other kinds,—for dressmakers, milliners, and laundresses ; for keepers of tea-rooms, lodging-houses, and so on. As to servants, Mrs. Evelyn Cecil points out that what is wanted is the girl who can do housework as well as cooking ; in fact, the typical English farmer's daughter, who perhaps would not go into service at home, but who can expect such wages and possible openings in South Africa as are unheard of in England.—Miss Agnes Lambert has collected into "The King's Declaration and the Catholics of the Empire" most of the protests which have been made against the form of the Coronation oath, expressing the view that the new Imperial sentiment will be the chief factor in procuring the modifica- tion or abolition of the phrases objected to.—Mr. Lloyd Sanders suggests that the Liberal Leaguers might well style themselves Whigs pure and simple, in view of the past history of that party ; and an able paper on "Colour Blind- ness" is contributed by Dr. F. W. Edridge-Green, who con- structs the rather fascinating theory that primitive man saw all objects of a uniform hue, while as in course of time the faculty of colour-perception developed, there was an accom- panying loss in keenness of vision.

The Contemporary Review opens with a lengthy and able article by Dr. E. J. Dillon entitled "The Commercial Needs of the Empire." Dr. Dillon's view is that the commercial policy of a nation must depend upon external conditions, and that as those conditions change, so the commercial policy must change with them. If, he argues, we owe our manu- facturing supremacy to the cheapness of primary productions, and if we are now being ousted from that supremacy, the question is,—By what means have our rivals managed to undersell us ? To that question Dr. Dillon supplies the answer,—" Protective tariffs reinforced by Trusts " ; and to the further question,—How can the disturbed balance be righted again ? he thinks that "even minds unfavourably biassed" can supply but one answer,—namely, Protection as a means of defence within our own Empire. "There must be one homogeneous commercial policy throughout the Empire ; and as the Colonies are determined not to give their adhesion to the system of Free-trade, it is for Great Britain to con- sider the advisability of adopting Protection." Dr. Dillon concludes his paper with a sketch of a possible Central European Zollverein—the whole of Europe except Russia and France formed into a Confederation—which strikes us as too dreamy for serious discussion. "The day on which that scheme becomes a reality, it will be somewhat late for us to set about following the example."—There are few men whose opinion on the new Licensing Bill, as regards the effects it is likely to have among the classes to whom he has given his life's work, is of more value than that of Mr. Thomas Holmes, whose most convincing paper ought to be in the hands of every politician interested in this difficult subject. Mr. Holmes divides his criti- cism of the Bill into (a) general approval of the Bill so far as it applies to licensed premises, and the punishment of persons drunk in public places, or when in charge of a young child ; (b) the strongest possible disapproval of Clause V., especially of Part 2, by which a husband whose wife is a habitual drunkard may obtain a separation order, the Court making certain orders in regard to the custody of the children, the maintenance of the wife, and so on. We have not space to catalogue all Mr. Holmes's objections, but chief among them, perhaps, is, according to his experience, the inevitable and hideous degradation of the wife.—We cannot here do more than draw attention to the first of what promise to be most amusing articles, "How I Governed Buffalskraal," by a British officer; and to two papers, by Mr. Charles Douglas, M.P., and the Rev. Guinness Rogers, on the state of disunion in the Liberal party.

In the Fortnightly Mr. Sydney Brooks analyses the attitude of America towards the Chinese problem in view of the Anglo- Japanese Alliance, The main contention of the writer is that although in theory American policy and interest are on the side of the Alliance and of the " open door," no support but that of paper and ink is to be expected. America, according to the writer, cordially disliked the operations against the

Chinese, was horrified at the brutality of the Germans and Russians, and distrusted the German commander and his master, whom they suspected of being on the look-out for another Kiao-chow. America is 'quite cynical in desiring England to maintain the" open door" by force, but has not the smallest intention of taking any of the burdens of the process upon herself, only desiring the trading opportunities obtained by us. At the same time, she does not grudge despatch- writing and diplomatic action, which she regards as being as efficacious as if it were known to be backed by force. If a crisis were reached, and America were called upon to back her policy with something of a more material kind, she "would point out that her policy of avoid- ing 'entangling alliances' would keep her from offering it." —Mr. J. L. Bashford does not definitely answer his ques- tion, "Is A.nglophobia in Germany on the Decline ? " but we gather that he thinks common-sense is making itself felt among educated Germans, and that their influence will in the end tell. The author seems to suggest that the Government is essentially friendly to England, and that the Chancellor's speech about biting granite was merely the mistake of a man who did not understand the English temperament. Also we are asked to believe thkt the Kaiser is our firm friend because he showed proper family feeling on the occasion of the death of his grandmother, and exhibited that feeling in a strongly marked manner in England. But is it too ungenerous to suppose that this opportunity of exhibiting friendly feeling was welcomed as a way of counteracting the effects of the Kruger telegram ? That calculated piece of un- friendliness, at any rate, produced far more resistance than its august author expected,—the German bands in Australian cities were forced to play "Rule Br:1-Annia " all day long. This German policy of alternate threatening and soothing seems to have been resorted to again of late. Count von Billow hectored and found that we did not grovel, and so a soothing application of butter and bread-poultice was applied by Baron von Richthofen. In commenting on the pleasing "caviare and oysters" speech by the Prussian Secretary for Foreign Affairs Mr. Bashford says :—" This speech was received with applause; and it is a very significant fact that though when Baron von Richthofen went down to the Rouse that morning it had 'been the intention of the Boer friends to make a demonstration in favour of the latter, they themselves joined in the applause, and approved of the Foreign Secretary's counseL" Apparently other people besides the Press in Germany are charmed by official piping. —Mr. Donald Mackenzie writes of Morocco, and of the jealousy of the European Powers in regard to it. This fine country, with every possibility of wealth and happiness for its people, is overshadowed by two upas trees,—the indigenous variety being the black ignorance and oppres- sion of the Sultan and his government, the imported specimen being the jealousy of the Powers, who make attempts at reform or development impossible. Strangely enough, the upas-tree of the Powers has borne one good fruit. Mr. Mackenzie says that the appalling state of the prisons, in which the prisoners died of hunger, thirst, and disease, was taken up by the Howard Association with energy, and that "Sir A. Nicolson, the present British Minister in Tangier, with great skill and tact, united all the European Powers together in order to put pressure on the Sultan so that His Maj esty might be compelled to improve his prisons and prisoners throughout the Empire. It was the first time, I think, that the representatives of the Powers were united with regard to Morocco."

The National Review is chiefly remarkable for a long, care- fully developed, and most able proposal of a scheme for the re- construction of South Africa, by "Johannesburg." The scheme resolves itself into four parts,—organia ation, purchase and finance, management of settlements, and arrangement as to tenure. As regards the first, "Johannesburg" suggests that his Majesty's Government, in taking the initiative, should establish a Department as a Land Board, under which a number of co-operative companies should be formed to act as information bureaux, collect settlers, and organise in groups —i.e., the hundred-pound man with the hundred-pound man, the thousand-pound man with the thousand-pound man—the capital which the settlers provide ; such companies to be managed by well-known agriculturists salaried by Govern- ment. As to purchase, Government is presumed to acquire a large quantity of land of the hest kind, either by direct pur- chase', by acting as foreclosing mortgagee, or simply as heir to the late Governments. It will then (1) establish some kind of Encumbered Estates Court, the Government having the right of pre-emption at a fixed valuation; (2) make compulsory purchase from individuals or land companies. To certain classes of settlers the Government would advance part of the working capital as a loan repayable with interest by instal- meats; to other classes the co-operative societies would advance capital,—of course supposing that capital is needed. Irrigation would be undertaken by a Government Depart- ment. As to tenure, farms would be let at first on short leases, to allow for the withdrawal of incompetents; the State to begin with would strictly preserve the freehold, which, how- ever, could eventually be purchased under certain conditions. The first condition of tenure must be such military service as should be agreed upon by the military authorities. Without committing ourselves to wholesale approval of "Johannes- burg's" scheme, we welcome such thoughtful and statesman- like contributions as this to a difficult question. We believe it to be true that if it should prove that a recon- struction scheme likely to be really satisfactory would cost some four or five millions extra, we ought gladly to invest that sum, its security being "nothing less than our faith in the country's future." In any case, we strongly recommend "Johannesburg's" striking piper to the atten- tion of all who are interested in the problems of poet-bellurn settlement and reconstruction. It is well worth their most serious consideration. — Mr. Spenser Wilkinson, refusing on grounds of military expediency to discuss in any sort of detail what should constitute on our part a proper "Preparation for War," yet, taking as a work- ing hypothesis that we may some day be involved in a war with Germany, lays down one or two sound guiding principles. The Government must first get a clear under- standing of German policy. Next, one thing is imperative, seeing that Germany is building a navy, and that is to re- organise the office of the First Lord of the Admiralty,—tho chief objects being the systematisation of strategical knowledge under the immediate supervision of the First Sea Lord.— Dr. Miller Maguire contributes a characteristically vigorous defence of our generals' punitive measures in South Africa, illustrated by well-selected references to German proclama- tions and protective measures adopted in the war of 1870, which might well be commended to the recollection of certain German Professors.--Another most interesting article is the short paper by Admiral Bruce on the question of separate Colonial Navies. We cannot, however, find space to discuss on the present occasion this difficult and most important matter, and will merely put up a sign-post to the Admiral's trenchant contribution to the problem. We do not agree with him, but we admire the force and point with which he writes.

Although there are several pleasant and readable articles in the April Blackwood, none call for any detailed com- ment. As usual, the writer of the series "On the Heels of De Wet" gives us striking pictures and believable inci- dents.—Mr. Andrew Lang tries to disentangle the mass of fraud and forgery of the Gowrie mystery,—a plot to kidnap James I. The intricacies and cleverness of a forger, one Sprot, seem equal to the combined efforts of Esterhazy and his official colleagues.—" At the Play in Burma" is an amusing account of a dramatic performance. There seems to be no theatre, but any one wishing to give a party engages a troupe of actors to perform in the street in front of his house. Evil spirits have to be propitiated by dances, and the police induced to allow the traffic of the street to be suspended. When these are both accomplished, the per- formance proceeds.

The Monthly Review contains Mr. Julian Corbett's second article on "Education in the Navy." The paper is one that carries conviction to the lay mind, and the author's outline of his proposal is so eminently reasonable that we sincerely hope it will be discussed by experts. By experts we do not mean the people who patched together, or who carry out, the existing system. The official belief in the universality of the use of leather has been too often demonstrated. The kind of expert who it is to be hoped will criticise Mr. Corbett's scheme is:ibe naval officer of exrerience, who could say whether

he would rather have as a subordinate a young officer trained under the existing conditions, or under some such plan as the one we are considering. Mr. Corbett says:—

" To get a clear direction it will be well at the start to restate with as much precision as possible what is the end in view; or, in other words, what are the character and attributes with which we desire to endow a naval officer. First then, and above all else, we must make him a seaman. Whatever the changes which the advance of science may make in the art of naval war- fare, seamanship, in the broad sense, must always remain the foundation of success. First, then, we have to make of him a sailor,—ready, alert, and bold, familiar with the sudden changes

of the sea. Secondly, we must make a man of him. We must teach him to obey mai command, to bear responsibility

without flinching Thirdly—and for all the vast strides naval science has made in the past generation I will place it third there is his technical instruction, whereby he must be made a man of science and a skilled craftsman to get mastery over the complex organism that is to be his weapon."

The writer's proposal for achieving these ends is to make naval education begin at between twelve and thirteen years of age. The boy would have four years at a special naval school, where besides the mental training he could get an instinctive familiarity with the affairs of his profession,

instead of the scientifically organised 'competitive athletics of the public school :— " Tower& this end boat-sailing, rowing, and the like will do a great deal, but still more might be dine by attaching to such schools a torpedo boat, which the cadets should be taught to work and handle themselves. One or more small cruisers might also be used, on which from time to time the senior cadets should live as much as possible, and perhaps altogether, sleeping on the lower decks and roughing it like bluejackets."

The writer proposes that in these schools all Service instruc- tion should be given by fully qualified naval officers, "but

none of them should remain more than a year at the work." Another point is that when the boys leave school they should not be herded together, as then they will re- main boys, but they should be distributed into all kinds of ships where real work can be found for them. Mr. Corbett considers that the finishing course at Greenwich and Ports- mouth is taken too early, when the young man's desire for pleasure is not controlled by ambition, sudden compara- tive liberty at that age not making for serious study. Mr. Corbett's scheme — of which we have given but a bare outline—has the merit of being a consistent and organised whole, and not the collection of patches so greatly beloved of the ordinary mind.—Mr. Owen Green gives a curious account of the Paris Press. English people, who regard newspapers full of telegrams from the ends of the earth as natural productions, will be surprised to hear that it was only in October last that one paper, the Echo de Paris, started correspondents in the European capitals. The offices of the newspapers are not supplied direct with telegrams from the tape, but by printed sheets sent from the news agencies. This news practically all comes from London, which controls the ends of the cables. A great departure was made by the Matin in sending a special correspondent to South Africa. He never got very near the front, but the fact that a French paper should have any account of the war not written in Paris was a startling innovation. Mr. Green tells us that the Parisian public are, he thinks, beginning to look for news in their papers, and not only for able literary and artistic criticism, violent political diatribes, and the evening issues flavoured with "Nouvelle defaite des Anglais," "Suicide de Lor Kichenere."