Review »f Reviews, 2012/06. 



L ea ding A rticles* 



1S1 



HOW ANTI=GERMANS ARE FOES TO FRANCE. 



Sir Thomas Barclay's Warning. 



'• France and Germany in our Foreign Policy " is 

 the title of a short but pointed paper by Sir Thomas 

 Barclay in the Independent Review. Continuity in 

 foreign policy may be all very well; he says, in effect, 

 but if the policy is bad, the sooner it is changed the 

 better. He advises Sir Edward Grey to examine 

 our relations with Germany and see if some more 

 pronouncedly friendly attitude may not be requisite 

 to stem the anti-German current in this country. 



Sir Thomas holds that the recent break in the 

 continuity of French policy which was illustrated in 

 the dismissal of M. Delcasse saved Europe from 

 war. The traditional policy of France was to have 

 a first-class ally as a counterpoise to the Triple Alli- 

 ance. Russia having been worsted by Japan, M. 

 Delcasse sought to find a new ally in England. In 

 so doing he had no wish to isolate Germany : — 



He was only carrying out the traditional policy of the 

 French Foreign Office. But France had been moving while 

 the Foreign Office had been standing still. The frequent 

 changes of Cabinets and the large contingent of able men 

 supplied to Parliament and to the Ministers by the Press — 

 men who for a few months have charge of great depart- 

 ments, sit at Cabinet Councils, are honoured as great 

 officers of State, and who, after this interlude of office, 

 go back to their journalistic duties — have brought Parlia- 

 ment and Press into close touch, for their and the public's 

 common benefit. And thus new men are constantly step- 

 ping in and out, carrying progress from outside into the 

 drowsy arcana of the Ministries, and returning with a riper 

 knowledge of facts and conditions, which enables them to 

 spread a greater spirit of moderation among an impatient 

 democracy. 



FRENCH JOURNALISTS AS STATESMEN. 



As statesmen bent on peace have had most trouble 

 from ignorant and excitable journalists, France, in 

 making many journalists statesmen, seems, accord- 

 ing to Sir Thomas' testimony, to have done the best 

 thing possible to dispel ignorance and allay excite- 

 ment. For, he goes on to say : — 



The result has been a popular understanding of the 

 national interests and requirements which, I venture to 

 think, exists in no other country to the same extent. This 

 has worked out in a great distrust of, and distaste for, 

 all " bigstickism." bluff. Jingoism, Imperialism, " national 

 expansion," etc., and in a conviction that the only foreign 

 policy of real benefit to the great masses of Frenchmen is 

 one of peace and amity with France's neighbours, that, in 

 particular, every cause of friction between France and 

 Germany must be carefully avoided, that war, whether 

 successful or unsuccessful, is equally prejudicial to popular 

 liberties, and that internal development is infinitely more 

 important to a democracy than military or diplomatic 

 glory. 



ENGLAND MUST BE FRIENDS WITH GERMANY OR— 



The French Premier, not having been long in 

 office, was aware of this new sentiment, and de- 

 manded, therefore, a policy of steady uneventful re- 

 lations with Germany. As these were threatened by 

 the traditional policy, the traditional policy had to 

 go, and with it M. Delcasse. For Englishmen to 

 ignore the French desire to live in peace with 

 Germany " would simply jeopardise the entente." 



Sir Thomas pushes his plea half cynically by say- 

 ing " there are some people who appear to under- 

 stand friendship as hating somebody in common," 



and by pointing out the suspicious circumstance- that 

 the anti-Germans, who are now so red-hot in favour 

 of the entente, were not long ago rabidly anti- 

 French. 



—FORFEIT THE ENTENTE. 



He concludes by quoting Mr. Bryce*s recent 

 ■■ admirable letter " to Die Nation, " that the leaders 

 of the Liberal Party, without abating any of their 

 desire to develop the good feeling between ourselves 

 and the French, were unanimous in their desire for 

 better relations between the English and German 

 peoples." Sir Thomas goes farther, and says : — 



This is the policy which we shall have to follow to pie- 

 serve our good relations with France; and, whether it 

 represents continuity of the foreign policy of the late 

 Government or not, it will have to be followed, hecause 

 it is in the joint interest of the three great people* ot 

 Western Europe 



AN EX=PUBLIC SCHOOLMASTER ON PUBLIC 

 SCHOOLS. 



The writer of the charming papers running in the 

 Comhill, " From a College Window," who confesses 

 that he was a public schoolmaster for twenty \ears, 

 devotes his January paper entirely to the public 

 schools. Now that his school-teaching is really over. 

 he wonders, sometimes rather sadly, what it was all 

 about. He says : — 



It used to go to my heart to see a sparkling stream of 

 bright, keen, livelv little boys arrive, half after halt, ready 

 to work, full of interest, ready to listen breathlessly to 

 anything that struck their fancy, ready to ask questions- 

 such excellent material, I used to think. At the other end 

 used to depart a slow river of cheerful and conventional 

 boys, well-dressed, well-mannered, thoroughly nice, reason- 

 able, sensible and good-humoured creatures, but knowing 

 next to nothing, without intellectual interests, and, indeed, 

 honestlv despising them. I do not want to exaggerate; and 

 I will frankly confess that there were always a few well- 

 educated boys among them; but these were boys ot real 

 ability, with an aptitude for classics. 



His solution is at all costs to simplify and to re- 

 lieve pressure. " The staple of education should 

 be French, easv mathematics, history, geography, 

 and popular science." At first he would not even 

 begin Latin or Greek. Then, when a good ground- 

 ing had been given, specialisation for any bo\ with 

 special aptitudes, so that every boy would know 

 something of some one subject at least. To the 

 defenders of the present system he would reply that 

 its results seem to him so poor that any experi- 

 ments are justified. The defenders of the old clas- 

 sical system hive a high ideal, but it is unpractical; 

 and the writer would rather have the old system of 

 .lassies pure and simple than the present hotch- 

 potch a mixture of modern subjects and of classics 

 taught in the old-fashioned manner. 



At present the schools make large and reluctant conces- 

 sions to utilitarian demands, and spoil the effect of the 

 ^sics to which they cling, and in which they sincerely 

 believe by admitting modern subjects to the curriculum 

 in deference to the clamour of utilitarians. A rigid system, 

 faithfully administered, would be better than a slatternly 

 compromise. 



