Ihf. Reviews Reviewed. 



607 



THE NINETEENTH CENTURY AND AFTER. 



The issue for December is an exceptionally good 

 number. The most notable article is Mr. Alfred 

 Lyttclton's sketch of Mr. Balfour as leader. This, 

 along with the other principal papers, has been 

 separately mentioned. 



THE DEVASTATIXl: nELLGE OF GOLD. 



M. de p. Webb, Chairman of the Karachi Chamber 

 of Commerce, writes on the coming deluge — the 

 ever-increasing output of gold, the annual total of 

 which has risen from 16 j millions in 1851 to 94 mil- 

 lions in 1910, with consequent decrease in the value 

 of money and heightening of tiie prices of all other 

 commodities. He declares : — 



During ihc next ten years a tliou5.ind millions sterling or 

 more of the glittering mci.il will be added to the volume of 

 gold already unearthed. And in the following decide, anolliev 

 thousand millions ; and so on. To the rich minority far 

 removed from the forefront of life's battle, the loss of sub- 

 stantial portions of (heir accumulate I wealth consequent upon 

 the slirinkage in the value of money is not a pleasant prospect. 

 To the poor majority (including those thirteen millions of our 

 home population who are always on the verge of starvation), a 

 continuation of thd rise in prices now in progress will mean 

 not merely the stereotyping of the unsatisfactory conditions 

 amidst which they arc at present living, but an increase in the 

 severity of their struggle for existence that can only result in 

 the untimely downfall of large numbers of the more unfor- 

 tunate. 



The remedies that he suggests are the establish- 

 ment of gold reserves for war and for commercial 

 purposes, in the United Kingdom "and other parts 

 of the Empire, as well as increased facilities and 

 opportunities for encouraging the flow of gold to 

 India and the East. 



LORD AVEBURV ON TARIFF REFORM. 



Lord .\vebury writes on the Duke of Devonshire 

 and Tariff Reform, and concludes : — 



It seems clear that : (i) Our commerce is increasing most 

 satisfactorily ; (2) It is increasing more rapidly than that of any 

 of our Protectionist rivals ; (3) While any plan which would 

 lend to consolidate the Kmpire is entitled to respectful and 

 sympathetic consideration, even if it involved a substantial 

 sacrifice, no practicable plan has yet been proposed ; and I 

 submit, therefore, that the Duke of Devonshire was fully 

 justified in his conclusion "that no sufficient case has been 

 made out for disturbing ihe foundations on wljirh ili.- fiscal and 

 commercial policy of the country rest." 



WHAT MRS. HUMPHRV WARD LACKS. 



Mr. Stephen Gwynn, M.P., criticises Mrs. Hum- 

 pliry Ward's novels. He declares that her success 

 is the success of a publicist rather than of an artist, 

 that the salt of humour, the fire of passion, the jier- 

 sonal charm of style are lacking. She is too much 

 of a good citi-^en, but too little of an artist. She 

 wotild sooner found an influential sect than write a 

 supremely good book : — 



There ii, bro.ndly speaking, in all Mrs. Ward's books cither 

 the adventitious inlcresi all.aching to a lonum more or less d clef, 

 or what I venture In call (he guide-book interest : whciti. ? i[>.' 



L;iiide-book introduces us to Italian landscape, to the Quartier 

 I.nlin, to the environments of artist life in London, to the 

 House of Commons and its appan.ages, or to Ihe domestic 

 circles of the really great, does not matter ; these various 

 llicmes are treated a lillle in Ihe guide-book's vein. Or, again, 

 there is the propagandist interest of an attraclive and well- 

 accredited heresy — a heresy on the side of the angels. 

 TO SOLVE THE SMOKE PROULEM. 



Mr. J. B. C. Kershaw anticipates that when manu- 

 faiturers know that smoke abatement means money 

 in their pocket smoke will rapidly abate. The domestic 

 problem is more complex : — 



.\ smokeless fuel, suitable for burning in the ordinary un- 

 scicnlific open-lire grate, so long as this retains the affections of 

 ihc F.nglish man or woman, is what is required. When this I'nel 

 is obtainable in large quanliiies, and is sold at a price which 

 will compare favourably with that of coal, the domestic 

 smoke problem will be solved. If in the process of manufacture 

 all sulphur can be fixed in some non-volatile form of combi- 

 nation, or can be removed enlirely from the product, the 

 general use of the new fu-^l will solve another and far greater 

 problem, namely, that involved in Ihe daily production of and 

 dislribulion throughout our atmosphere of ten thousand tons of 

 one of (he most destructive and corrosive acids known. 



OTHER ARTICLE.^. 



Mr. Fabian Ware would avert Home Rule by a 

 national finance council of the United Kingdom, 

 which would prepare the w.^y for subordinate English, 

 Scottish, Irish, and Welsh councils, which should in 

 their turn form the nucleus of provincial legislatures. 

 .Sir Henry Blake, ex-Governor of Hong Kong, points 

 out that no Chinese dynasty has lasted longer than 

 two hundred and eighty-seven years. The years of 

 the present dynasty number two hundred and sixty- 

 seven. He wonders whether Yuan Shih-Kai will 

 come as deliverer or as the ambitious strong man. 

 Mr. E. E. Williams calls earnest attention to the 

 tyranny of bureaucracy, against which the authority 

 of the Courts is the sole protection of the individual. 

 Mr. C. W. Emmet, replying to the Bishop of Win- 

 chester on the liberty of criticism in the Church, 

 accepts Dean Inge's statement that the authority of 

 the Church is the authority of the stored spiritual 

 experience of humanity. Sir .\rthur Clay finds the 

 only protection against the terrible consequences of 

 industrial revolt on a large scale in promi>t and 

 resolute action by the Government. Rev. E. McClure 

 sheds the latest light from Egypt on the Holy Scrip- 

 tures. Mr. Vernon Rendall gives genial reminis- 

 cences of Joseph Knight. 



The Century. 

 The November number is adorned with several 

 plates, coloured and other, of marked merit. Miss 

 E. R. McCabe gives a very interesting account of a 

 visit to Lafayette's chateau, and MissC. Cruger recalls 

 the story of his imprisonment at C)lnnit/. Dramatic 

 students will be interested in William Winter's sixth 

 paper on Shakespeare and the Stage, dealing with 

 " The Merchant of Venice." .Mr. H. T. Einck's theory 

 of wholesome eating, along with Professor McGilVert's 

 " Martin Luther," and Professor Davis on co-educa- 

 tion, are noticed separately. 



