546 



The Review of Reviews. 



THE PERSIAN PROBLEM. 



Mr. Lovat Fraser discusses the problem of 

 Persia in the Edinburgh Review. He says that 

 the first key to the Persian problem is that the 

 country is drying- up. The climate is at the 

 bottom of the Persian problem. Another factor 

 is the extraordinary variety of the people in- 

 habiting- the country, which makes mutual 

 antagonism a stronger instinct than common 

 nationality. The Persians are a lovable if per- 

 plexing^ race, presenting- a spectacle of much 

 physical and mental vigour. Can this medley of 

 tribes ever govern itself constitutionally? 

 Autocracy is out of the question. It was under 

 the auspices of Sir Edward Grey that the 

 Persian constitutionalists obtained their first 

 chance of freedom. The Mejliss, or Assembly, 

 soon proved to be an impossible body. The 

 corrupt traditions of Persian politics were taken 

 over into the new rdgime. 



MR. SHUSTER SELF-CONDEMNED. 



Mr. Shuster is, says Mr. Fraser, condemned 

 out of his own mouth : — 



No man ever had a more wonderful opportunity than 

 lay before Mr. Shuster when he crossed the Elburz 

 range in May of last year. No man ever misused his 

 chances more grievously. He arrived inflamed with the 

 belief that Russia and Great Britain were the enemies 

 in his path, and that Sir George Barclay and M. Pok- 

 lewski-Koziell were their chosen instruments of evil. 

 But his greatest mistake was not his open and avowed 

 antagonism to Great Britain and Russia. The manner 

 in which, from the outset, he placed himself at cross 

 purposes with the diplomatic body in Teheran is of 

 comparatively minor importance. The cardinal error 

 which Mr. Shuster committed was that from the very 

 beginning he violated the spirit and the letter of the 

 Persian Constitution. 



The Mejliss was properly the National Consul- 

 tative Assembly, but tried to assume executive 

 functions and to hinder the Cabinet exercising 

 the true functions of an executive. Mr. Shuster, 

 instead of acting in accord with the Constitution, 

 ignored the Ministers, the true executive, re- 

 garded the Mejliss alone as his employer, and 

 hoped in time to command a force of 12,000 

 men. Had this been realised, he would have 

 become Dictator. " It is tolerably certain that 

 Mr. Shuster never consciously aspired to be 

 Shah in all but name, but had he carried out his 

 plans he would have become so." First and 

 last, he was constitutionally in the wrong. " All 

 the abuse of Great Britain and Russia with 

 which his pages are filled cannot alter the con- 

 clusion that he brought hTs fate upon himself." 



Mr. Fraser imagines that the Balmoral inter- 

 views will lead to an attempt to establish a 

 stronger government, will establish a line of 

 division between Russian and English spheres. 

 In the neutral sphere Great Britain must operate, 



and substantial financial help must be given to 

 Persia. 



"WE WANT NUMBERS, NUMBERS, 

 NUMBERS." 



" Reveille " writes in the Oxford and Cam- 

 bridge Review for October on our military posi- 

 tion. It is an impassioned plea for conscription. 

 He says that " we know that either France or 

 Germany, and at least two other European 

 nations as well, could walk us down without 

 arms if on a level plain they were to advance 

 upon our men armed. Our entire personnel 

 would just about suffice to officer the forces of 

 the Tsar or Kaiser." Partisanship blinds our 

 eyes. Not long ago, he says, certain country 

 people refused to supply the Government with 

 information about horses, stabling, garages, 

 etc., available for war time, because, forsooth, 

 the Government was Liberal. The Territorial 

 scheme is to the writer a solution of the problem 

 pour rire. " Compulsion is the only possible 

 true solution." 



HOW LONDON UNDECEIVED INDIAN TROOPS. 



He laments that the Indian Army soldiers 

 were brought into London at the Coronation to 

 see the deplorably unfit condition of the mass of 

 our population. In India the native thinks of 

 Englishmen as he sees them there — civilians 

 and soldiers. But in London he saw them as 

 they are : — 



When he comes to London ! Men lacking in every 

 quality that discipline imparts shuffle off the pavements 

 to let him pass. Their womenfolk waylay him in his 

 camp or in the streets. Crowds of white " coolies " come 

 to gaze at his simple military encampment, obviously 

 not comprehending anything. In India the white man, 

 even when friendly, has been aloof and haughty. How 

 the native soldier, returning again to India, must ponder 

 these things in his heart ! No longer can he admire 

 the white soldier as an exemplar of his race He 

 knows him for a paid specialist, and he knows with 

 what cost and effort he has been produced. Small 

 wonder if the returned Indian soldier becomes impatipnt 

 of control. Regiments who sent men home for a corona- 

 tion will tell you how in some cases they had to be 

 weeded from the ranks on their return. 



THE BRITISH EMPIRE A PAINTED SHAM. 



He winds up by declaring :■ — 



The truth is the British Empire is fast becoming a 

 pamted sham. It might almost be said to owe its con- 

 tinuance rto the restraint of its enemiets, or to the 

 arrogance of its bluff. Once that bluff is called, the 

 game is up. 



The wear and tear of war, apart altogether from the 

 fighting, will wipe our men out fast enough. Science, 

 discipline, efficiency, courage will be of no avail. Wp 

 want numbers, numbers, numbers ! 



