NEW BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 15989, 25 August 1917, Page 7

NEW BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

AFTER-WAR. PROBLEMS. An extremely valuable and interesting work which every student of public affairs ought to read at this juncture is "After-War Problems," a series of papers by the Eari of Cromer, Viscount Haldano, tho .Bishop of Exeter, Professor Alfred Marshall, and others, tho whole being edited by Mr William Harbutt Dawson. The book is divided into four series: (1) "Empire and Federation," (2) "National Efficiency," (3) "Social Roform," and (4) "National Finance and Taxation." . The late Earl Of Cromer's paper on "Imperial Federation" would in itself make the volume memorable. Dealing with the question of the creation of an Imperial Cabinet, and an Imperial Parliament, Lord Cromer, although putting forward his views with modest diffidence, 6ays: "Personally, although I am strong]v convinced that some changes should, if they aro at all possible be made, I am inclined to think that, looking to the extreme complexity of tho subject, and to the groat importance of avoiding a false step, it would be wise for all concerned to proceod very'.cautiously and tentatively, to be satisfied for the time being with dealing with the comparatively easy subject of somewhat closer association in executive matters, and then to see how the revised system works before proceeding to reforms of a more drastic and far-reaching description."' Bishop Welldon deals with "The State and the Citizen," the Earl of Meath with "The Cultivation of Patriotism," and Sir H. H. Johnston with "The Alien Question." The most important paper in the second section of the hook is that on * 'National Educa-

tion," by Viscount Haldane, to which we have already made refarence in °' jr leading columns. Among other vainable papers -we may mention "Tho State and Labour," by Professor S- JChapman, "Tho Standpoint of Labour and Capital," in which tho standpoint of Labour is dealt with by Mr G. HRoberta, M.P., and that of Capital bj Sir Benjamin C. Browne. There i=> really no very vita] difforenco between the two standpoints here laid oown. Mr Roberts fully realises that the elevation of Labour is dependent upon llourishing industry. Regularity of employment and high wnges arc only assured by good and stable trade. Ho goes on to eav :—

"Undeniably j even under existing conditions, ali-round improvement ui 60cial standards would be efftfc-ico .by a juster distribution of wealth- Ihe colossal expenditure on the W;tr j 1 ? 3 ; however, diminished the possibilities in this direction. Hcncc ii war wastage is to be rapidly repaired, and tno satisfaction of Labour purtued, wealth production must bo augmented. This problem presents peculiar difficulties in an old and settled country like Great Britain, where tho resources of land, minerals, etc., are already in course of exploitation. Hero progress must rest particularly on the application of intensive methods, such as the utilisation of the most perfcct mechanical _ equipment, tho most scientific organisation, and the rnc.st efficient labour. Our great industrial rivals, aro attending to these principles of industry, besides which they possess the advantage of unexploited natural resources. Thus for us a general increase of output becomes a matter of extreme urgency. If not sccured. we shall soon be outstripped by competitors whose keenness and thoroughness over becomes more clearly manifest.

"Output-, then, being the outstanding factor, national -welfare demands the harmonious co-operation of all parties for this purpose. As output expands, the greater the wealth createcl and divisible. Hitherto tho workers have not scon this very clearly, mainly because they have boon denied the sense and advantage of partnership. Labour must be givon the certainty of reaping extra reward for extra skity and effort, otherwise the additional exertion will naturally not be made, and tho needed results ■will not be forthcoming. In tho past, workors have been haunted with tho fear that expansive output would result in glurtod markets and unemployment. Tho occasion is favourable for removing; this dread. Terrible warfare will have reduced the nation's man-power, and the nocessity to readjust tho balance of our financial relations to other countries will render it desirable to reduce tho excess of imports over exports. These conditions, coupled with an equitable diffusion of national wealth whereby the demand for, and tho consumption of, commodities will bo stimulated, will tend to steady both trade and employment." Sir Benjamin Browne pleads for abetter understanding and closer corporation between employers and workmen. He eays:— "There are especially three men who are, I think, responsible for the bad stato of things, and who may be looked upon, in fact, wherever they are found, as the absolute enemies of those of their own class 'and of tho happiness and prosperity of all mankind. Tho first of these is tho employer who tries to combine artificially to raise prices: ho is simply diminishing the amount of trade, and thereby making less work for himself and for tho workmen. Tho second is tho workman who combines artificially to restrict- the output: ho is doing the 6.1 mo tiling. " 'Probably- both these men, in an ignorant and selfish kind of way, believe that they are doing some good to their own class, and we may give them a shade of pallia- • tion on tho plea that they mean well! Tho third man is .much worse: he is the man who . disbelieves in unselfishness, conscientiousness, duty, and who, in fact, thinks that every human being is isiriiply guided by what he believes to be his own personal material interest. It seems to me that thi3 principle, carried- to. an extreme, is what has boen the curse of what is called tho Gorman 'Kultur.' "

Tlio third section of. tho boob is nob the least interesting, tho paper cn "National Health," by IXr. James Korr, being especially valuable, while "National Taxation After the War," by Professor Alfred Marshall, is, of course, written by an acknowledged authority. We cannot too strongly recommend this valuable work to our roaders. (London: George Alien and Unwin, Ltd. 7s 6d net.) THE ROUND TABLE. The first article in the June number of the ".Round Table," 1 ' "A War of Liberation," is an addition to the admirable scries in which, in past issues, the origin, character, and direction of Prussianism have been analysed. £i The struggle which began as a 'war of domination became a war of and as a war of liberation it will end." The writer suggests that Germany planned the war—or, rather, that the Kaiser and the stalwarts of absolutism planned tho war—because they felt that only by a strong and successful blow could military despotism recover the ground it was losing under the rising tido of democratic thought. From the Prussian standpoint a war was sound tactics, but the Prussian "statesmen and soldiers failed 'to grasp the real character of the forces they would encounter: "Ifc is the nemesis of despotism not only that it must always bo striving to enlarge its power,, but also that it should fail to estimate aright the strength of the antagonism its efforts must arouse, till sooner or later it overreaches itself and meets its fate. Schooled in the creed of blood and iron,. it misjudges the forces of tho spirit. It cannot understand the free man's moral hatred of slavery. It thinks I that all men measure life by its own material standards: that democracy has no aim Or meaning beyond the° appeasement of the mob; that jusI tice and good faith in international I relations are the catchwords of conscious hypocrisy; that no one in his heart denies that right is might." In "Tho New in the Constitution of the Empire," the significance of the Imperial War Cabinet is discussed, and tne opinion is expressed that the new development will be permanent. The new interest in the Empire's duty to re-shape its conception of education, which has been much stimulated bv the appointment of Mt- Herbert Fisher to the post of President of the Board of Education, is treated in a Ions: and suggestive article. Perhaps the most interest-J ing feature of the review is an illu . minating account of the entrv < America into the war. The _ writemakes a telling point in explaining ft long delay in America's 1 the basic fact oP the war. y ie ] "For a long time the aveah. American regarded the war a>:ty- < nnmitigated abomination suehbn- ; f could never afflict his she! ent t hemisphere. Ilis lack of hist- j background and his remoteness c the European agony led to a * c allv detached attitude simir ' , that of the British people a, j beginning of the crisis. O.rn.) i 25th. 1914.-' Sir Edward Grey 24 • to the British Ambassador at ~ grad: 'I do not consider the' x opinion here would or ought

tion our be for some timo America-a subject oi. but not of immediate practical • - . An exhaustive examination of the past and future of Turkey, jjolitic-allj, sodallv. and economically, and tno. sl *aj general survey of events m B - n^ m ant J the Dominions, make _ui\ a ... and varied number of tnis indispensable quarterly. PIERTCE LOTI OS THE Under tho simple heading of '"War, Pierre Loti has published a number of interesting sketches of various aspects of the waT wliich cam© under his notice at tho front. As n* os t °* our readers are aware, the distinguished author who writes under tho namo of Pierro Loti is Captain J. Viand, a retired officer of the French Navy. As a member of the Naval Keserve, he was called to active service in the beginning of tho war. Apart from che fact tliat he is no'.r sixty-seven years of age, the French Navy has not been called upon to take a very active part in tho war, and Pierro Loti was able to obtain some work at the front, and was employed on a mission to tho King and Queen of Belgium. His descriptions of his visit to theso Royalties form two of the most interesting cnapters in tho book. Of the Queen of tho Belgians ho says: —

"From the different portraits _ I had seen of her Majesty, portraits so little faithful to life, I had gathered that she was very tall, .with a profile almost too long, but on the contrary, sho is of medium height, and her face is small, with exquisitely refined features —a faco almost ethereal, so delicate that it almost vanishes, eclipsed by t'noso marvellous, limpid eves, -like two puro turquoises, transparent to reveal tho li<rht within. Even a man unaware of her rank and of everything concerning her. her devotion to duty, the superlative dignity of her actions,, her serene resignation, nor admirable, simple charity, would say to himself at first sight: "The woman with those eyes, who mar she be? Assuredly one' who soars very high and will never falter, who without even a tremor of her cvelids can look in tho face not onlv temptations, hut likewise danger and death." The Queen first talked of tho East, «-here they had both travelled, and then they talked of books she had read.

Soon, however, her Majesty began to speak of tho destruction of Yyprcs and Furnes, towns from which Pierre Loti had jast come. And then, lie says, "tho two blue stars gazing at me seemed to mo to grow a little misty, in spite of an effort to keep them dear. . He suggested that there still remained standing enough of the walls to enable tho buildings to bo practically reconstructed in the better times that arc in store. "Ah," she answered, "rebuild! Certainly it will bo possible to rebuild, but it will never bo more than an imitation, and for me something essential will always be la-clving. 1 shall miss tho soul which has passed .nvay.*'

The author goes on to say: "Ypres and Fumes incline us to subjects loss .impersonal, and gradually wo at last come to talk or Germany. One of the sentinlents predominant, it seems, in her bruised heart is that of amazement, the most gainful as well as the most complete amazement, ufc so many crimes. j "There has been some cliango in j them," she says, in hesitating words "They used not to ho like t»nis, Crown Prince," whom" I knew very well in my childhood, -was gentle, and nothing in him led one to expect think of it as I may, day andmght, I cannot understand—>io, m the old days they were not like this, of that I am sure." ... Finally, tho Queen, raising hand, from where it rested on the silken texture of her gown, o"times a gesture which, signifies something inexorably final, and in a grave low voice she utters this phrascwhicli falls' upon tho silence with the solemnity of a sentence whence thoie iS "lt a^ P nt an end. Between them and me has fallen 'a curtain of iron which will never agarn bo 111 tea. Pierre Loti's comparison of the King of the Belgians with the Kaiser is also very eficctivc: — "Ni"lit is falling when the audience comes to an end and Ifind myself again 011 the footpath that leads to tlie abbey. On my return journey, along those roads broken up rain and by military transport wagcons, T. remain under the charm or his welcome. And I compare these two monarchs, situated, as it 'were, at opposito poles of humanity, tne ono at the .polo of light,, the other at the polo of darkness; the one. yonder, swollen with hypocrisy and arrogance, a monster 'anion" monsters, his hands full of blood, lus nails full of torn flesh, who still dares to surround himself with insolent pomp; the other here, banished; without a murmur to a little house in a tillage, standing on a last strip of his martyred kingdom, but in whose honour rises from the whole civilised earth a concert of sympathy, enthusiasm, magnificent appreciation, ana tor whom are stored up crowns or most pure and immortal glory.'"' In conclusion, in the chapter entitled "The Two Gorgon Heads," Pierre Loti fairly lets himself go in vituperation of the Kaiser and Ferdinand of Coburg. [London, T. Werner Laurie, Ltd., b Essex street, Strand.]