SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
Volk. in dais roiontn don not noccuarily preclude subssnont maw.) The JuLy Mocrerwass.—Tho Nineteenth Century opens with a very able and impressive article by Professor A. V. Dicey, answering with a decided negative the question " Is it wise to establish Horne Rule before the end of the war ? " His remark that " a negative policy need not of necessity be either futile or ineffective " is by no means a truism in regard to Ireland. He warns the Govern- ment that, in any case, they must govern, keeping order in Irofand as in Groat Britain, and he repeats our quotation from the Irish N.C.O.'s words : " England has never been just to Ireland, because she has never been firm." Dr. Shadwell's thoughtful and depressing article on " The Coining Revolution "—of an economic and social character—deserves attentive reading, though no one can say how the millions of soldiers returning to civil when peace COMM.
Will view the situation. The real crux of the whole matter," • Marmoduls. By Flom Annie Wel. London IV. Belnenana Vs. :Noy he says, " is the bad employer." Professor Ewart pleads for " The Saving of Child-Life," and especially for pure milk, which would save many thousands of babies. Professor Simpson has a notable account, hopeful in tone, of a visit to Russia in May ; and Miss Rowland-Brown reminds no in a pleasant article that the centenary of Jane Austen's death falls this month, on the 18th.—In the Fortnightly Mr. Archibald Hurd advances the seeming paradox that we have never won a decisive battle at sea. Ho points out that Spain made greater efforts at sea after the defeat of the Armada, end that Napoleon tried hard to destroy our trade by his numerous cruisers after Trafalgar. This is an effective reply to the pessimists who lament the incompleteness of our Jutland victory ; but that battle, like Gravelines and Trafalgar, was, after all, decisive in that it proved the superiority of our Navy. Mr. Vallentin gives an interesting account of Mr. Branting, the Swedish Socialist leader, who, unlike the Daniell and Dutch Socialists, is friendly to the Allies. MM. Lavisse and Pfister summarize clearly " The Question of Alsace-Lorraine," whose history the Germans have perverted, but whose affection for France they have never been able to weaken.—Dr. R. M. Burrows in the Contemporary describes " The State of Feeling in Old Greece," where, he thinks, forty per cent. of the electors are, or were, opposed to M. Venizelos barely ten per cent. are pro-German, but many of the old party politicians are jealous of the great Cretan statesman. Mr. Hugh Law, M.P., under the title of " Plus Fait Doucour," discusses the prospects of the Irish Convention, not unhopefully ; his plea for mildness is, we are glad to find, addressed to his countrymen and not to the Government, who have been mildness itself, Bishop Hamilton Baynes argues well for State Purchase as a solution of the drink problem, and Mr. Chancellor, MP., argues against it as an incentive to drinking. Mr. 0. A. Harris in an attractive article recalls the days " When Britain was the Most Musical Nation."—General Sir James Willeocks contributes to Blackwood a remarkable article on " The Indian Army Corps in France," in which he not only describes the great work that they did at the most critical period of the war, but also explains why the Indian Army, as an organization, had failed to keep up to the standard of the Homo Army. It did not benefit by the experi- eneoa of the Sudan and South Africa ; for twenty years past it had ceased to attract the boat of the young officers, as it did under Lord Roberts ; and promotion by strict seniority took the heart out of the keenest soldier. The cheeseparing economy of the Indian Government kept the Army short of modern equipment. It bad no modern howitzers, aeroplanes, or balloons, very few telephones, no wireless, no motor-cars or wagons ; its rifles were unsuited to service in France, and now rifles had to be served out to the Corps at Marseilles. The officers and mon were superb, and fought magnificently under the most adverse conditions, despite their heavy losses, at Festubert, Givenchy, and elsewhere. General Will- rocks's article is a valuable footnote to the Mesopotamian Report. —In the National Review, besides Mr. Maxse's political reflections, there are interesting articles by Mr. Hamilton Fyfe on " German Efforts and Aims in Spain," and by Lady Grogan on "South America and the War." But the most novel item is the ungallant but candid article on " Deformed Foot in Women," by " Moralist, M.D.," who gives some alarming statistics and deprecates the short skirt.
Previous page
