official corruption in some modern States, a fact about which we fear there can be little doubt. We had not when we wrote seen an account of the great scandal which is now...

T HE most interesting news from the Far East this week is that furnished by the war correspondent of the Daily Telegraph. He reports that the Japanese have promised to relax the...

to be benefiting greatly by his tour in the Mediterranean. It must certainly be an enjoyable one, for it enables him, under the pleasantest and least formal conditions, to see...

Lhasa, for the Lamas refuse to negotiate, and are accumulating a force between the expedition and themselves. The Bhutanese, who have proved unexpectedly faithful, have given...

of the Budget which was produced at Simla on March 23rd. It is most satisfactory, the returns for 1902-3 showing a surplus of £3,069,549, and those for 1903.4 (partly...

that attend possessions in Africa. On Sunday last, for example. Berlin was startled to hear that the Hereros, who are being treated "punitively" in reprisal for their attack...

case.

Friday week by Lord Coleridge, who condemned the Ordinthice, and reached its most interesting stage on Monday evening. The Bishop of Hereford made a strong attack on-- Lord...

Sully, has broken down; and his creditors, rejecting his pro- posals, insist, it is reported, on an " involuntary liquidation" of his affairs. He himself affirms that his assets...

has been discovered at Chayaltaya, a place in Bolivia, where a party of American engineers have unearthed about £3,000,000. The discovery was accidental. The story requires...

Roosevelt and the Presidency," and signed by " A Spectator," gives a clear and convincing summary of the present political situation in the United States. The writer points out...

" in the disadvantages which may accompany the importation of cheap Asiatic labour. The Indian coolies have developed the true bubonic plague, and that in a form so virulent...

of Arts on Tuesday night Mr. Emmott, M.P., discuised a queition which is becoming one of our most urgent economic problems, —the cotton supply-grounds of the future. At...

the Commons on Monday • by Sir H. Campbell-Banners/Ian in a speech of great ability. After dwelling on the failure of theTreini- vaal Government to show any decisive evidence...

with the details of Supply, but on Tuesday Lord Stanley made the interesting announcement that the Post Office is in nego- tiation with the National Telephone Company for the...

Arthur Elliot protesting against the action of the majority of the Liberal Union Club in passing at ite annual general meeting, by a vote of 72 to 40, a resolution which will...

the exclusively Parliamentary standpoint. Judged by the standard of the reader, it was singularly unconvincing. His best point— but it was little more than a debating...

vulgar attacks that have been made on the Rev. R. J. Campbell, of the City Temple, because when he attended the King's Court he was presented by the Bishop of London. Instead of...

the loss of a British submarine with all hands on the previous afternoon. It appears that the Union Castle liner ' Berwick Castle,' from Southampton to Hamburg, re- ported at...

the Imperialist standpoint upon the reckless way in which the Government had disregarded the opinion of the self-governing Colonies, and pointed out that, even if the Canadian...

the case for the Government as well as it could be put. " Are you," he asked, " going to veto this scheme and declare that nothing shall be done ? That is one alternative. Are...

CHINESE LABOUR AND THE EMPIRE. T HOUGH we may be certain that we have not heard the last of Chinese labour, the support accorded to the Government by a majority of the present...

as the unanimous sympathy expressed by Americans for the apparently weaker side. They have always relied, one does not quite understand for what reason, upon sympathy from the...

T' . great Governments and the great municipalities of ' s the world have a problem before them which as yet they have not fairly faced, but which they must face it they are to...

Protective system that the party in the State which supports Protection is almost bound to become, not merely careless hbont the national finances, but actually interested in...

left by the education debate last week—at least so we have read in various news- papers—was that compromise is in the air. Things that are in-the air have sometimes away of...

F OR a private Englishman to acquire a famous painting with a view to exhibiting it in the Colonies, purely from philanthropic motives, is, we believe, an entirely new departure...

a Roman Catholic writer—the author of " The Catholic Church from Within "—entitled "A Short Cut to Happiness" (London : Sands and Co., 2s. 6d. net). "Happiness is," accord-...

" Zoo" was not a difficult matter, and what were once, quite wrongly, reputed to be among the most in- tractable of animals were so far tamed that it was predicted that they...

ask space for a final word in answer to your correspondent "An Old Cromwellian" in the Spectator of March 19th P He has fallen into a mistake by overlooking one of the sections...

expunged from the programme of the Liberal party at the last General Election ? Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman upon that occasion in the address to his constituents refers to the...

THE "SPECTATOR. ") Sin,—I venture to write to you and copy the following extract from Boswell's Life of Johnson (Vol. VI., p. 61, of the Birrell edition), as interesting...

Sia,—In reply to Mr. Farrer Ecroyd's question in your last issue regarding the alleged connection between foreign Pro- tection and English "dumping," may I quote the following...

to send you the accompanying cutting from the Yorkshire Observer of March 22nd in regard to a display arranged by us which is attracting very great attention in Bradford, and...

[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR. "] SIR,—There is a point referred to in your article df March 5th which I did not touch on in my letter last week,-a- namely, the expense of...

[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR. "] SIR,—May I be allowed to point out, in reference to the letter in the Spectator of March 12th from Mr. C. H. Fox, with whose remarks on...

[TO THE EDITOR OP TEE "SPECTATOR. "] SIR, — Enelosed is a translated condensation of an article in the Corriere della Sera, one of the most thoughtful and influential of...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPZOTILTOR."] STE, - -In your article on " The Efficiency of Japan" (Spectator, March 12th) you say ; " We would confidently ask the most experienced...

Sin,—I enclose a card I have just received from my cousin, Mr. F. E. Garrett, formerly editor of the Cape Times. May I ask the favour of your publishing it ? If his...

[To TEE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR. " ] Sut,—Seeing that elementary-school teaching is probably the only profession now open to women in which the demand is greater than the...

the opinion of many Frenchmen that in your article on "M. Combes and the Congregations" (Spectator, March 12th) one or two important considerations have not been sufficiently...

[To THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR.1 Sin,—It may interest your readers to know that a recent law of the State of Victoria permits women to practise as barristers and...

of the conspicuous fairness and intelligence of the Spectator in venturing some observations on your• argument in the issue of March 12th, that the French Government, in l,l...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR. "] do not suppose that " C. L. G." wished to convey the impression that Mr. Reeves was indifferent to the charm of German Lieder, but he is...

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—May I add one more to the rhyming proverbs in your issue of March 12th ?— Dimidium penis radius quam venter inanis.

[To THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR."] SIE,—Might I venture to ask the writer of the lines on " Shakespeare and Bacon " in the Spectator of March 19tli to give me the reference...

story of the pony and the pig in the Spectator of March 12th is the following narrative in the life of Sir Walter Scott, illustrating his fondness for animals and their...

SONS of the Sea, for any onset ready, With inrush swift, their Mother caught them home ; Eye saw not—but we know, that strong and steady, Their souls went forth upon the...

THE ART OF PRAISE. HITHERTO the great musicians have in the main contrived to keep eulogists at arm's length during their lifetime. Indeed, in the ease of the greatest of the...

what they are worth. Two ladies at a picture exhibition are looking at, say, No. 420, " The Death of King Lear," near to which picture happens to be hanging one of the late Sir...

experi- ences in South Africa have given our soldiers an incontestable right to be regarded as the only Army who have any knowledge of modern warfare, and it is even urged that...

THE first Englishmen who learnt Persian in order to transact the business of the Law Courts of the East India Company, and were thus able to read Sadi and Hafiz, little thought...

No form of book is so easy to write, and so hard to write well,. as the topographical For generations it bas been the favoured preserve of the amateur, often titled, rarely...

IT would be not a little surprising that no Life of Lord Gough has been written before, if we had not Mr. Raft's explanation. Like many another brave soldier, Gough did not...

a delineator of rural life and manners in Ulster, has turned his intimate knowledge of that province to new and sensational account in The Red Leaguers, which is nothing more...

is really a very dashing young cavalier who, in consequence of a duel (the date of the book seems to be Georgian) is in hiding in the house, and costume, of his sister. The...

a new collection of popular novels (Eveleigh Nash, is. net each) which in format is closely modelled on that of the Tauchnitz edition. The type and paper are so good that the...

10s. net.)—The "path of Empire" is the railway, says Mr. Lynch ; and he manifestly thinks that the Trans-Siberian line is a very important thoroughfare from the Empire point...

This is a semi-political novel, in which there is much talk of a certain " Bill" which is to bring peace and happiness to the " dis- thressful counthry." What " Bill " this is...

The Modest Man's Motor. By Major C. G. Matson. (Lawrence and Bullen. 35. 6d.)—Major Matson tells us that the inception of his admirable little book, most of which has already...

6s.) —Mr. Percy White is always readable, and sometimes very clever as well. The present, however, is one of the occasions on which he is only readable.—for it is difficult...

of the siege of Plataea, as Thucydides tells it, were found in the Old Testament, to what a destructive criticism would it be subjected ! Frankly, it is an impossible narrative,...

12s. 6d. net.)—Mr. Lynch draws a vivid picture of the gold region of the far North-West. Some of the colours are very lurid indeed; man does not show to advantage, for the...

(Henry J. Drane. 15.6d. net.)—Mrs. Gearey follows up her humble description of herself by the modest confession that some of her stories may be " condemned as chestnuts." To...

and 31s. 6d.)—A single volume, even though it contains close upon fifteen hundred pages, seems to make a large pretension when it claims to " contain the history of the world...

by Professor J. B. Bury, we have The Chronicle of Morea, edited by John Schmitt, Ph.D. (15s. net). The sub-title describing the contents of the Chronicle runs thus : " A History...

Grave, by William Watson.—In the " World's Classics" (Grant Richards, ls. net), Aylwin, by Theodore Watts-Dunton. It may be, perhaps, a little soon to make this supremely...