5o8 



The Review of Reviews. 



Rome Rule." The ven* weighty and 

 judicial rebuke administered by the 

 Conservative Quarterly^ noticed else- 

 where, is another proof that the better 

 sense of the Unionist Party in Great 

 Britain is rising against the insurrec- 

 tionary- campaign favoured b}^ the 

 leaders of the Opposition. The Govern- 

 ment on their side have made an 

 important concession to the demo- 

 cratic opinion which could not tolerate a 

 purely nominated Senate. According to 

 Mr. Asquith's statement in the House of 

 Commons, the first Irish Senate will be 

 composed of nominees, but its successors 

 will be elected b^' the several provinces 

 on the principle of proportional repre- 

 sentation. 



In the protracted battle 

 ,, ,. , between the Chancellor 



Medical 



Syndicalism. of the Exchequer and 

 the doctors' trade union 

 the latter have won, not on all points, 

 but on most. Mr. Lloyd George's threat 

 of starting a pubhc medical sendee, 

 quite apart from the existing organised 

 facultv, has proved a hrutum fulmen. 

 ]\Ir. Lloyd George ^announced his sur- 

 render to the House of Commons : 



The doctors had demanded 8s. 6d. a head apart from 

 drugs and extras, or a total of 13s. a head of the 

 insured population. The Government's original offer 

 was 6s., but they had now decided to increase the 

 original 6s. by 6d. for tuberculosis work, and by an 

 additional sum of 2s. 6d., making gs. in all. The 

 annual cost of the new concession is estimated at 

 ^1,650,000. 



\Mien an industr\^ is so well organised as 

 to extract from an un^\illing Govern- 

 ment about 50 per cent, increase on the 

 terms approved b^^ Parliament, who 

 can denv that we are coming under the 

 sway of the trade union ? That the 

 particular trade union is one of medical 

 men makes the outlook more ominous. 

 Sombre prophets have long ago pre- 

 dicted that we were rapidl}" drifting to- 



wards a despotism of doctors. ^^Tlen the 

 British Medical Association has, single- 

 handed, overruled the decisions of the 

 Government and of Parliament, who 

 can sav that we are living: under a 

 democracy ? 



The curious relation 

 The between Imperial and 



Municipal -i i -t-,- •,-, 



Elections. local politics IS annually 

 illustrated in our muni- 

 cipal elections. In spite of all that 

 moralists have urged, the choice of 

 nominees, for the Borough Councils is 

 still largely left in the hands of the 

 Liberal, L'nionist and Labour Associa- 

 tions, and a flavour of the larger 

 controversies is introduced into the 

 local strife. The political weather- 

 prophets are therefore eager to seize on 

 the municipal results as an indication 

 how the tide of national opinion is 

 running. This is a very doubtful resort 

 in political meteorology-. But if any 

 value attaches to municipal reflections 

 of national sentiment, then the elections 

 on the first of this month do not 

 indicate an}' seismic change in public 

 opinion. L'nionist gains are set down 

 as 67, Liberal and Labour 64. 



The tension between 



New Great Britain and 



Ambl^^or. Germany, which was, all 



unknown to the world. 



at its acutest when Lord Haldane's 



mission collapsed, has been steadily 



slackening since. Prince Lichnowsk3-'s 



appointment in succession to the late 



Baron ^larschal von Bieberstein is 



another proof of the happier tendency. 



The new ambassador, who is of high 



rank and much diplomatic experience, 



has spoken \Wth the utmost frankness 



of his hopes in the matter. In yord und 



Sua he declared for mutual respect 



