ii8 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



April 1, 1913. 



victorious in the field, and himself the 

 idol of his people, the brother of Queen 

 Alexandra was struck down b}' tne 

 assassin's bullet. Kmg George as- 

 cended the Greek throne in 1863, after 

 it had been offered to almost every 

 royaI-pri«Ge_ in Europe, including the 

 late Duke of Saxe-Coburg, Queen Vic- 

 toria's second son. He had a troublous 

 time with his subjects, and several 

 times narrowly escaped losing his 

 throne. His somewhat difficult temper 

 did not help matters, but after an at- 

 tempt was made on his life in 1898 he 

 became very popular. He is succeeded 

 by his eldest son, Constantine, who is 

 just now the hero of the Hellenes. He 

 led the Greek armies against the Turks 

 in 1897, when they were so terriby 

 beaten, but this campaign has retrieved 

 his laurels, and he is again in high 

 favour. He will need all his popularity 

 in the trying times which are inevitably 

 ahead of Greece, when she has to 

 evacuate the Aegean Islands and ar- 

 range the partition of Thrace with her 

 Allies. The new King married the Ger- 

 man Emperor's sister Princess Sophia, 

 in 1889. 



British Politics. 



Parliament was opened in State by 

 King George on March loth. For the 

 first time since his accession he wore 

 his crown, and for the first time also 

 a suffragette succeeded in holding up 

 the State procession in an attempt to 

 present himi with a petition. The 

 Speech from the Throne said that the 

 Irish Home Rule Bill and the Welsh 

 Church Disestablishment Bill, both of 

 which were thrown out by the House 

 of Lords last session, would be reintro- 

 duced. They will become law at the 

 earliest, in May, 191 5. Measures are 

 also to be introduced to secure the 

 completion of land purchase m Ireland, 

 to establish a national system of edu- 

 cation and to abolish plural voting. The 



last two Bills, if they survive the ob- 

 structive tactics of a disunited Oppo- 

 sition, are safe to be rejected by the 

 Lords. Nothing was said in the Speech 

 about Woman's Suffrage, but reference 

 was made to the gift of battleships and 

 to the defence policies of the 

 Dominions, which would promote the 

 solidarity of the Empire. The Speech 

 omitted also any reference to the Par- 

 liament Act, which calls for the reform 

 of the House of Lords. Mr. Asquith 

 subsequently stated, however, that he 

 hoped soon to submit a plan for mak- 

 ing that Chamber a true and impartial 

 judicial authority. Mr. Herbert Samuel 

 stated that the new second chamber 

 would not contain a vestige of the 

 hereditary principle, and under no cir- 

 cumstances would the absolute veto 

 be restored. 



Unionists' Successes and Failures. 



The Unionist Party is still rent in 

 twain, despite the efforts that have been 

 made to patch matters up. As was 

 to be expected, such stalwart food- 

 taxers as Mr. Austen Chamberlain and 

 Mr. Henry Chaplin could not long ac- 

 quiesce in the throwing over of their 

 favourite specific for all ills. The re- 

 sult of their attitude is that the Union- 

 ist free traders of Lancashire and York- 

 shire will be exceedingly chary of ever 

 trusting them in power. So once again 

 there is a rift within the lute. The 

 Moderates have b cii more successful 

 in the London municipal elections than 

 have the L^nionists in the House. The 

 Reformers, as the}' call themselves, 

 won nine seats, the Progressive only 

 two, so the state of the parties now 

 is, 67 to 51. The Progressives ex- 

 pected to convert the narrow majority 

 of six by which the Moderates have 

 been able to rule London for the last 

 tliree }-ears into a working majority 

 for themselves. But they are again in 

 opposition, for the third time running. 



