Reinew of Reviews, 30/2/06. 



The Reviews Reviewed. 



i 99 



THE DUTCH REVIEWS. 



In De Gids Dr. Volgraff has a long and exhaustive 

 study of the origin of European civilisation. Did 

 Europe become civilised of itself, or did civilisation 

 come from the East or the South ? Did the old-time 

 inhabitants gradually grow refined, or did this refine- 

 ment come in consequence of immigration ? The latter 

 view is most generally held. There is, however, very 

 little doubt in the minds of the believers in both 

 theories that France was the centre of the budding 

 civilisation ; as far back as 5000 B.C. there existed 

 some kind of culture in that part of Europe. Italy 

 and Greece show traces of a civilisation of the same 

 period, but in a minor degree. It is probable that 

 many of the immigrants into Europe came from the 

 East through the South, that is, from Northern 

 Africa, but some came direct. 



The teaching of industrial art is a subject that 

 finds able treatment in the same review. A recent 

 regulation concerning the instruction to be given to 

 young architects and students has given rise to much 

 discussion ; there is an idea afloat that it is not useful 

 for the architects of the future to study old styles, 

 so the writer, in common with many other people, 

 stands up for this instruction and declares that 

 there is much to be learnt, both industrially 

 and morally, from a study of the allegorical and 

 Scriptural kinds of decorative architecture and from 

 all the well-known styles. The essay on " Scientific 

 Metaphysics," which I mentioned last month, is con- 

 tinued, and there is what appears to be the inevitable 

 military article, with several general articles, poems, 

 and a story to make up a good issue. 



Onze Ecuw has an article on the military situation 

 in Holland, like Be Gids and Vragen dcs tijds- The 

 Dutch are concerned about their ability to preserve 

 their independence and to take care of their Colonial 

 possessions, so the army and navy come in for a 

 goodly share of public attention. In order to increase 

 the efficiency of the people of Holland to protect their 

 country, a suggestion is being made that the term of 

 service in the army should be shorter, so that more 

 people than at present should have a military training. 

 It is believed that there will be little difficulty in con- 

 stantly maintaining the strength of the army at its 

 actual level, and yet have a greater proportion of the 

 inhabitants capable of bearing arms in case of need. 

 This seems to be the thin end of the wedge of univer- 

 sal military service, and the notion is not relished. 



There is another contribution on " Old and New 

 from Hellas,'' with a good description of notable 

 places, and a learned treatise by Professor Ohantepie 

 de la Saussaye on "The Absolute "—the absolute 

 knowledge which we all wish to obtain of things con- 

 cerning which we are likely to remain, to speak can- 

 didly, in uncertainty. 



In addition to its naval and military articles, Vra- 

 gen des Tijds lias an essay on the problem of success- 

 fully coping with beggars and vagabonds. It is really 

 a summary of a lecture delivered by the writer, Mr. 

 M. C. Niiland. It deals with past and present 

 methods of attacking this vexed question and with sug- 

 gestions about its future treatment. There are com- 

 pulsory work colonies or institutions in three parts of 

 Holland, but they are not satisfactory, mainly because 

 the law does not treat the offenders with discrimina- 

 tion. In some instances the law has no power to touch 

 the mendicants and tramps, while in other instances 

 it falls tyrannically upon those whom it should handle 

 with consideration. As an example, the writer men- 

 tions the. man. aged seventy-six. who could not work 

 for a living and had to beg; this man was convie'ed 

 about thirty times, and then sent to a compulsory work- 

 colony for a fairly long term! He ought to have had 

 a place found for him in a poor-house. 



Elserier is distinctly good; it contains four very 

 readable articles, all fully illustrated, in addition to 

 other contributions. One deals with the German 

 comic journal Simplieissimus, the journal which one 

 sees everywhere in the Fatherland ; a second de- 

 scribes a journey along the Tigris and in Persia; while 

 the remaining two are concerned with art subjects of 

 different kinds. 



THE TREASURY. 



The Treasury for January opens with an interview 

 with the Rev. Wilson Carlile on the Problem of the 

 Unemployed, by Mr. Raymond Blathwayt. 



Mr. Carlile agrees with the Bishop of London that it 

 is emigration of the right sort which will be one of the 

 most effective solutions of the present distress. He 

 says : — 



Successful emigration is emphatically a matter of the 

 selection of the fit, and rigid rejection of the unfit. To give 

 you an instance, of the magnitude of the task involved in 

 this selection of the fit, hist year we had no fewer than 

 5880 men and youths pass through our Labour Homes, and 

 yet out of that number we could only find 100 who came 

 up to our standard of fitness, but then these satisfied us 

 after a very severe test to their moral and physical fitness 

 before we emigrated them. 



In an article on French prisoners in England, Mr. 

 G. Clarke Nuttall describes some of the ingenious 

 models made from bone by the prisoners of war to kill 

 the time. One clever model representing a spinning jenny 

 was carved out of bones, and when the handle was 

 turned the wheels turned round and the figures 

 worked. Ships wore favourite models, but the most 

 wonderful effort is a model of the guillotine. 



THE NOUVELLE REVUE. 



In the first December number of the Nouvelle Ttevue 

 F. A. de La Rochefoucauld discusses the causes of 

 depopulation in France. 



THE DEPOPULATION QUESTION. 



The parliamentary commission of inquiry has come 

 to the conclusion that the chief cause of the diminu- 

 tion of French natality is Protection ; but this argu- 

 ment has not much value unless it can be shown w\\\ 

 other countries not less protectionist than Fiance — 

 such as Germany, Italy. Austria, Hungary, Russia, 

 etc* — see the number of their population constantly in- 

 crease under the regimi of Protection as well as under 

 that of commercial treaties, while the number of the 

 French population remains stationary, no matter what 

 the tariff max be. The diminution of the number of 

 births in Fiance is less economic than social, says the 

 writer; that is to say. poverty increases the number of 

 births, and wealth reduces it. The writer would im- 

 pose taxes on celibacy for both sexes, and other mea- 

 sures restrictive and protective. 



All: \XTA. 



Mita Dimitrievitch gives, in the second December 

 number, a picture of life in Albania. This country, 

 says the writer, is less civilised than any other part of 

 the Turkish Empire. Divided into numerous tribes 

 and warlike clans, the Albanians have never founded 

 such a national homogeneity as that which distin- 

 guishes the neighbouring people of Servia, Bulgaria, 

 or Greece. An account of the Albanian invasion ot 

 Servia and .Macedonia is given. To-day. when the 

 Porte is endeavouring to limit the fanaticism of the 

 Albanians in order to maintain the little power which 

 it is allowed to exercise over these people, Austria- 

 Hungary, concludes the writer, is supporting the 

 anarchy in Albania in order to break up the Slav 

 world in Servia and Macedonia. 



