THE MAGAZINES.
DB. SILADWELL in the Nineteenth Century insists that the crucial ordeal with which we are faced in 1917 is a trial not of virile capacity in the field, but of strength to endure at home. He is confident as to our fighting manhood ; as to the man and woman at home he is not free from serious misgivings. He finds reassuring signs in the determination to win the war, especially among working men, and in the greater energy displayed by tho new Administration; but as a set-off he finds slackness, self-seeking, and self-indulgence, not confined to any el iss, but exhibited by all in varying measure ; the weakness due to com- placency and newspaper optimism ; and growing trouble about food prices and profiteering. The cry of distress is not gamine. " There are distressed persons, tut they are not of the wage-earning clam there has been an orgy of self-indulgence, waste, and pleasure up and down the country in all conditions of life." " The great mass of the people are enjoying the war," and he is especially severe on swarms of idle women, loafers and louts, and above all on " flappers." In fine, 6‘ we have our goats, and it is Mr. Lloyd George's task to convert them with a firm hand on the basis of equal service and sacrifice for all without fear or favour."—Mr. William G. FitzGerald writes a highly coloured article on " President Wilson's Dream," in which he describes the origin and progress of the " drift to intervention, with pure pacifkism in its makeup as well as hyphenate intrigue on a huge scale, and subtle influence from the Foreign Office in Berlin working through Count Bernstorff." His conclusions are summed up in the saying that " America, long intent upon the mediating rile of two-edged profit to her pocket and her humanitarian pride, is not to be roused in the Allisi Cause, but Germany knows ho .v to make an Ally of her in the cause of Peace."—Lord Sydenham continues his discussion of "The Danger in India," holding that the true paths of reform lie in the direc- tion of decentralization. But five years have elapsed since the greatest Constitutional need of India was clearly set forth by the Government of India and no action has been taken, while " the paralysing effects of centralization in the military department of India have boon painfully demonstrated in the conduct of the operations in Mesopotamia." We may note that Lord Sydenham greatly regrets the abolition of Haileybury as the Training College of the I.C.S., and of Cooper's Hill as a prepara- tion for the engineering service of India, and advocates the foundation of a special Indian College at Oxford or Cambridge. Finally, think- ing only of the welfare of the Indian people, he is " driven to the conclusion that a strong, stable, and truly paternal Government is, and must be for many years, their only safeguard and their one hope of attaining nationhood."—M. Edgarda de MagilhIea has an intere_ting paper on Germany and South America. in which he condemns the Brazilian Government for their negligence in allowing the Germans to colonize in great numbers in the South, affirms that the numbers of Germanophiles in South America is decreasing daily, and quotes from the remarkable speech of Senhor Ruy Barbosa, the leader of the " Civilista " Party and a pioneer of the Pro-Allies League at Rio do Janeiro, in which he protests against the crimes of Germany and declares that between those who destroy the law and those who observe it there is no place for neutrality.—Other papers of interest in the number are those of Mr. J. A. Hill and Sir Herbert Stephen on "Communication with the Dead," Mr. G. B. Grundy's plea for the creation of the science of political psychology, and M. Yves Guyot's statement of the essential conditions of peace preliminaries.
In the Contemporary Sir Joseph Compton-Rickett, M.P., discusses " The Change of Ministry." In his view, the defeat of Rumania and the renewed activity of the submarine campaign were considerably responsible for the fall of Mr. Asquith's Cabinet. He does not appear to hold that the late Government wore to blame for either, and he combats the general charges of supineness and lack of 'eroded which have been urged to condemn and to disqualify them. He concludes his article by describing Mr. Asquith as one of the greatest Minis:ere who have controlled the Empire, and as having served his country well during this life-and-death struggle by his sagacity, insight, and firmness. Then follows an equally glowing tribute to his successor, and an appeal for whole-hearted support, of a leader chosen by general acclamation. The article is prefaced by a few lines stating that it was written early in December from the point of view of an ordinary observer, and that the defence of the Coalition Ministry and of its late Prime Minister must be regarded as including all his colleagues, Conservative, Liberal, and Labour alike.—Mr.Harry Elmore amplifies the interesting letter which he contributed to the Spectator on the parallel between Lincoln and Mr. Asquith. The value of the article is not impaired by the candour with which the writer points our their dissimilarities in tempera- ment,—Mr. Aubrey Bell has a short paper, packed with information, on " Portugal's Effort," in which he pleads for a more intelligent appia el- ation of the character and literature of the Portuguese, and remind/ us of their Prime Minister's recent saying that " the future of Portugal is in the trenches," where Mr. Bell is confident that the Portugueie solders will render an excellent account of themselves.—Mr. Hobson discusses the question, " Shall we be Poorer after the War " and concludes that it all depends on our ability " so to raise the total productivity of industry as simultaneously to provide out of the enlarged output of annual wealth the increased aggregate of interest and public' . revenue, together with a higher standard of wages and consumption far the working Glasses." That such a course is partible
ls shown by the increased production achieved under an improvised organization in war time :-
" Our supreme task must be to devise stimuli which, though less acute in their appeal than those supplied by the emergency of war, shall yet be adequate in peace to operate successfully in a carefully reformed organization of industry, in which the interests of all partici- pants, capital, labour, ability and the consumer, shall be duly represented."
—Mr. Knott contributes an extremely able and dispassionate study of " Tho Lawyer in Polities." The political importance of lawyers, he admits, has increased of late and appears to be increasing ; but in arguing for or against its diminution, we must not omit to take into account the case of some of the men who have been conspicuous examples of lawyer-politicians. And on the whole there have been more instances of disinterested and public-spirited statesmen than of self-seeking intellectual gladiators.—We may also notice Dr. E. J. Schuster's acute examination of the defects of our law as to nationality and naturalization, and Mr. Wilson Mackair's account of " The Red Cross at the War."
It may readily be guessed that the National Review is in high feather this month. Indeed the editor's contributions consist of one long war dance over the bodies of the fallen Ministers. He is generous enough to acquit the Coalition of consciously contemplating treason, but ho does his best to make our flesh creep at the " hairbreadth escape" from which wo were saved by Mr. Lloyd George's timely intervention with his " Hands off " interview. The result of that interview on the Coalition Cabinet is described in such vivid terms that we can only imagine Mr. Masse must have been there himself. As for the notion of a newspaper conspiracy or intrigue, it is scouted by him with derision. Mr. Lloyd George had not so much as met Lord Northcliffe for months before the recent crisis. " It was the revolt of the ` man in the street' against the Mandarin of the Cabinet, and its result is the emancipation of the country from a Political Purgatory. The Independent Press [i.e., the Times, Daily Mail, Evening News, and Morning Post] simply told the truth," and the British Empire is immensely indebted to the editors of the Times and the Morning Post, and above all to Lord Northcliffe, " the outstanding figure of our profession--a very remarkable personality," for their efforts, of which British journalism has every reason to be proud, in achieving the miracle of " ejecting the Vicar of Bray from Downing Street." As for America, "the United States is essentially anti-British," and Mr. Wilson is now described as the Potsdam President. At the same time, the editor declares that "the delusion fostered by expatriated Americans that any propaganda on our part could have made the United States pro-British is more creditable to their hearts than to their heads.. . . The only reason the United States is not more solidly pro-Potsdam to-day is because Potsdam played its cards uncommonly badly." He thus entirely dissents from the corre- spondent of the Times who cried out, " Bad Propaganda to blame." —"A Naval Correspondent" takes an extremely gloomy view of the submarine menace, which of course is due to the naval and foreign policy of the late Government ; and " One of the Victims " describes the chaotic condition of the Ministry of Munitions, involving endless inter- departmental friction, great waste of public money, and serious inroads on the health and output of the workers.—The number also contains a second instalment of "The Conversations of Christopher," by the late Captain the Hon. Robert Palmer, in which the Public School system is discussed, criticized, and defended with much humour and insight.
Second Lieutenant Wodehouso's poem in the Fortnightly is a powerful description of the familiarity with horrors and " hideous enervation " which leaves the poet " untroubled, unperturbed " in the trenches before Ginchy in September, 1918. How can such things be borne ? The answer comes : " For, lo, we are in hell " ; and the dreadful thought arises that such experiences must leave a mark on the transformed soul. It is no doubt natural that the poet should as yet bo unable to allow for the healing hand of time.—Dr. Dillon's article mainly consists of a survey of the Rumanian disaster, which he attributes to the pressure put upon the latest country to enter the war before the Allies were ready to give proper assistance. [As a matter of fact there was no such pree- tore.] The situation is summed up from the German point of view thus : Can a desperate effort increase the Central Powers' output of munitions so as to equal or surpass that of the Allies ? Can the submarines sink a large proportion of the sea-borne material of war ? If so, the man-power and sea-power of the enemy will have been neutral. ized. In a note Dr. Dillon says he knows for certain that Hindenburg estimated in his official report that he expected to draw from Poland, Lithuania, and White Russia one million three hundred thousand recruits.—" Auditor Tantum " discusses the new Government sym- pathetically, and holds that the root of the matter which made Mr. Asquith impossible as a War Minister was his constitutional inability to come to a rapid decision. Ho cannot blame Parliament or the country, who were ready to give him anything he asked for. It was this irreso- lution which nearly gave us civil war in Ulster and all but wrecked the Derby recruiting plan.—An article signed " Y." declares that a new spirit is arising in Holland, which is dissatisfied with what it considers the Court's favouring of Germany. No real reparation is demanded for infringements of the frontier ; lately a German sentry shot through the wire fence and killed a Belgian on Dutch soil Neither is the protest agals.1 the sinking of ships made effective. Also the selling of everything eatable to Germany is causing scarcity. The writer considers that Holland by joining the Allies now could produce a great effect and be in a position in the final settlement to exact reparation. If she enters too late, her help will be unnecessary and her influence small, while to take no part will exclude her from the Conference at which only those who have fought against the evil will be represented.—" Statist " points out the enormous importance of the education of the children who will have to take the places of those killed or incapacitated by the war. Education is an affair not merely of the school but also of number. less outside influences, for which workers are wanted. " Statist " holds that women are not doing their share of national work at present, and instances the numbers of women without apparent occupation to be seen in towns. It is suggested that from this source an important body of workers could bo raised, who could greatly increase the effects of education by means of after care and other related means.—Mr. John Kershaw in a paper full of figures comes to the conclusion that in wealth, men, food, and raw material the Allies are in a far better position than the Central Powers, and that " the English nation can view the prospect of a long war with calmness and confidence."
" Odysseus " in Blackwood tells us that when his wanderings brought him back to England contact with the British soldier at once raised his spirits and gave him the assurance of victory. The Irish sergeant of Scots Guards who presided over a queue at a passport office with his " Ladies in fursst " was notable as being the first instance of chivalry met with between Salonika and Havre. The wanderer returned to the seat of war, and so we get a series of pictures of the Western line. Among these is one of Sir Douglas Haig explaining a raised map. " As he does so there is a characteristic movement of the hands, elucidatory, incisive." Then there are the soldiers from the ends of the Empire, whose presence cannot fail to raise emotion, and who give the lie to the American pretence that Europe is only engaged with its ancient rivalries. Of the battle of the Somme we get several glimpses, and of the prisoners being taken to the rear and their kind treatment. A guard gave one of his charges a cigarette, but the man's hands were wounded, so the guard lit it himself, and when it was well alight placed it in his late enemy's mouth.—After an interval the "Gaspipe Officer" resumes his tales. Among other things, we get a pleasant account of a French family evhere the officer is billeted, with the hard-working wife and sister of the absent husband. Charming too is the account of the return on leave of the soldier to his home to see his family and prune his roses. —" A Royal Field Leech " takes up the tale of a casualty clearing- station in the early days of the war, and a very interesting tale it is of a hospital at B( thune that was shelled by the Germans till it had to be moved.— —" Ganpat " brings to an end with the story of the last lap the account of the workings of one of the O.T.C.'s which have played so important a part in the creation of the Army. The description of the final examination shows with what wisdom the whole education is conducted, and how much more account is taken of the active qualities than mere learning. and above all how the gift of leadership is recognised.
" Officier do Liaison " gives a very curious narrative of a winter spent in Albania helping the retreating Serbian Army ; and " Zeres's " story from the Outposts of the raising of a camel corps, called police to please Radical Members of Parliament, is well worth reading as showing what Englishmen can do in the way of making bricks without straw.
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