,i6 



The Review of Reviews, 



March 20, 1906. 



THE EDINBLkGH REVIEW. 



The Edinburrih nei^ieic suffers unavoidably Irom the 

 fatt tliat the General Election, by disposing ot Protec- 

 tion, has put its leading article out of date. The other 

 articles are good genei-al average. 



THE AMERICAN FAILURE IN POKTO RICO. 



The writer of the aiticle on American foreign 

 policy incidentally expresse.s a very gloomy opinion 

 upon tlx- result of the Ameiican annexation ot I'orto 

 Hico. He says : — 



The present, condition of Porto Rico is deplorable, and 

 this is entirely due to well-meant but mistaken leKielation. 

 That island, which i?-- capable of producing annually half 

 .1, million tons of sugar, only turns out about 100.000. a good 

 <leal less than durinir its In-st days under Spanish rule. 

 There is to-day more trade with the nnit«d States, hut 

 much less total trade than uiuler Spain. The «reat pro- 

 duction of coffee, which formerly found a market in Spain, 

 and ie now kept out by heavy duties, has not l>een com- 

 pensated for by an increase in the ex|>ort to tlie United 

 States. No new railroads have been built in the island 

 owing to restrictive lejrislation. which prohibits an.\ cor- 

 porations from engaging in fiusinesa there. 



THE DUTCH REVIEWS. 



Botli V lagoi de^ Tijds and Onzc Kruw contain 

 articles on labour questions, and cx)nsequent]y become 

 more than usually int<'r<'stitvii to British readers. The 

 first-mentioned review deals with the Unions that have 

 been fornu-d in (Jermany, while the last-mentioned 

 treats of the strike in the building trades of Amster- 

 dam and its results. 



In both Holland and Germany the Socialist party 

 has striven to force the working men to adopt violent 

 measures in order to secure better conditions, and in 

 both they appear to liave been only mcnlerately suc- 

 cessful. At the present time the working men are 

 showing a distinct preference for more constitutional 

 metho<ls, and are organising their forces, hxing a 

 minimum wage for various trades, and taking other 

 steps to obtain the advantages which have been ob- 

 tained by their fellow-craftsmen in England. So far 

 as Germany is conceined, these organisations are of 

 interest to the British people from another point of 

 view. One of the reasons why the Germans have been 

 able to sell their manufactures at low prices is the 

 condition of the labour market, in wliich longer hours 

 and an inferior rate of pay have inevailed ; when a 

 change has been brought about in these, the chances 

 of the German will not be so good. 



Onze Eeuw also contains a thoughtful contribution 

 on the Schiller Festival ot last year. It was in com- 

 memoration of the centenary of Schiller's death, and 

 the manner in which the people of Germany interested 

 themselves in it was a proof that they have ar- 

 rived at a turning point in the development of their 

 ideas and mental powers. It is the opinion of thought- 

 ful observers that the Germans are making a start in 

 a new direction, a path of great intellectuality. Their 

 minds are now capable of assimilating stronger food, 

 and they may be expected to throw aside the lighter 

 dietary which has hitherto satisfied them. In this, 

 connection it is curious to note a fact stated by Mr. 

 Sidney I^ee at the Royal Institution about three years 

 ago — namely, that Shakespeare is played to a con- 

 siderably greater extent in Germany than in the 

 British Isles. 



Ou:r Tlruw gives us an article somewhat similar to 

 that published la.st month in Be Gids. inasmuch as it 

 concerns prehistoric Europe. In a review of a book by 

 Sophus Miiller of Copenhagen, the writer gives many 

 readable details concerning the habits and customs of 

 the ancient peoples of Europe ; he tells of the rock or 



mountain tombs, and describes one, informing us by 

 the way that such a tomb was found at New Grange, 

 in Ireland ; he speaks of the worship of serpents, 

 a rite which seems strange to us in view of the nature 

 of this reptile and its part in the Fall, but probably 

 to be explained by the dread which the creature in- 

 spired and the consequent desire to propitiate it : and 

 he touches upon many other ideas and facts which 

 enable us to see more clearly that whioti is past and 

 its effect upon the present. 



LA REVUE. 



Tiio revolution in Russia continues to be discussed 

 in the French reviews, and an anonymous writer deals 

 with the question in the two January issues of La 

 Revue. 



THE REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA. 



The writer sees little resemblance between the 

 French Revolution and the present revolution in 

 Russia. What Russia needs to restore the unity of 

 the nation and reconcile theocracy with the furious 

 aspiration.s of the people is not a simple political re- 

 organisation, but a social reorganisation, a social re- 

 volution, and there is no hope that the struggle will 

 resohe itself into a series of mutual concessions. 



The divergence of the principles of Tsarism and of 

 the p>coplo is absolute. It is a struggle between the 

 twentieth century and the Middle Ages, and the re- 

 volution against such an anachronism as the Russian 

 autocracy will be slower than any other simply be- 

 cause it has been put off so long. To understand 

 the action of the Russian revolutionist, we must le- 

 meimber that he has to have recourse to mean.s which 

 have not existed on other occasions. He has before 

 him the formidable task of wresting from the estab- 

 lished authorities their last means of power — tlie army, 

 the administration, and the prestige which they have 

 so long upheld over the peasant population, whom they 

 have intentionally degraded to the intellectual and 

 moral level of the brute. 

 HOLLAND AND BELCIIWI: .VN KCONoMU ENTENTE." 



Eugene Bale, whose recent brilliant campaign in 

 the Petit Bleu of Brussels in favour of an Economic 

 and Defensive Entente between Holland and Belgium 

 has made his name known in all Eiirope, opens the 

 second January number with an article on the pro- 

 ject he has so niuch at heart. His case may be thus 

 briefly stated : — 



To constitute, bv the union of their economic activities 

 and by the co-operation of their material interests, an 

 influence capable of reacting against the commercial policy 

 of the Great Powers who are growing more and more 

 desirous of perverting to their profit the free play of the 

 la-ws of value and competition. 



To give guarantees of security bv the undivided organisa- 

 tion of their defensive system, already united at least at 

 two points, namely, the confines of Limburg and the mouth 

 of the Scheldt. 



THE PHYSIOLOGY OP READING. 

 Michel Breal. writing on the Physiology of Reading 

 and Writing, discusses a book recently published by 

 Dr. Javal. a famous oculist, who may be said to have 

 lost his sight in the service of his profession. In 

 his book the doctor gives much valuable advice con- 

 cerning the care of the sight. Children shoidd not 

 be allowed to pursue their reading or writing when 

 they are tired, and architects of schools should learn 

 to "avoid errors in lighting. The real causes of short 

 sight are insufficient light and the reading ot small 

 print and long lines. Reading rec|uires the absolutely 

 constant application of the sigiit. Light in abun- 

 dance is recommended. 



