Leading Articles in the Reviews. 



265 



PROBLEMS OF DOMESTIC POLICY, 

 By Politicians of All Parties. 



Parliament having assembled, great are the multi- 

 tude of counsellors in the magazines as to how our 

 legislators should solve the various problems con- 

 fronting them. 



MR. F. E. smith's ADVICE TO FREE CHURCHMEN. 



In a paper entitled " Recent Developments of 

 Education Policy " in the Fortnightly Review, Mr. F. E. 

 Smith, M.P., tells Nonconformists to look the facts 

 in the face and to cease crying for the moon. He 

 says : — 



.\ denominational majority in now installed in bolli Houses 

 of Parliament. A Bill amending the Education .•Vet of I9"2 

 and tased on the principles of parents' rights could pass both 

 these Houses, and no other tducalion Hill could. It Noncon- 

 formists want the redress of their educational grievances, they 

 can get them. 



In this way, says Mr. Smith : — 



l.tt '.he suspicions of the Nonconformists be met by Church- 

 men with a frank offer to concede the fullest possible public 

 conlrol over all the village schools in England. Let Churchmen 

 den,and of P.irliamcnt fair regulation for the conduct of 

 religious teaching, and then let them surrender to the public 

 authority the conduct of the schools so regulated, trusting 

 ciiiirely to the operation of a carefully drawn statute imposing 

 upon local education authorities the terms and conditions of 

 I'lrental choice and denominational equality in the conduct of 

 I'lMif elenitntaty schools. 



MR. Gardiner's optimis.m. 



.Mr. (jardiner, ot the Daily \e7ps. writing on the 

 prospects of the Government in the same review, takes 

 ii wonderfully cuuleur de rose view of the position. 

 He favours giving the control of customs and e.xcise 

 to the Home Rule Parliament. The Government is 

 nio^t assailalilc on the subject of electoral reform. 

 Hut he says : — 



There ought not to be any danger to the Government in a 

 siiaightforward fulfilment of Mr. Ascjuith's pledge on the 

 subject. It will put to the test the reality of the House of 

 Coinnions' sentiment on the subject. If the sentiment is sincere, 

 the vote for women «ill be won. If it is in a large ineasure a 

 pioui opinion not intended for a work-a-day world, it will be 

 defeated. In either case the Cabinet's prestige is unaflfected. 

 MR. E. T. COOK ON THE SITUATION. 



.Mr. E. T. took, writing on "The Political Prospect " 

 in the Contemporary Review for March, maintains that 

 ih« Home Rule fiill may reasonably hoi)e to succeed. 

 the same time he is absolutely opposed to giving 

 .'.I autonomy to Ireland. He looks forward to the 

 |M^.sage of a Bill which, by the toncession of Home 

 Kiile to Ireland on '" Federal " lines, will give a new 

 efliciency to the Imperial Parliament, and bring a new 

 Strength and solularity to the British Empire. He 

 thinks the Opposition will make nothing out of the 

 Insurance Act and nothing out of Welsh Disestablish 

 mcnl. As to the evidence supplied by the by-< lections 

 showing a weakening- of the Liberal position as com- 

 pared with the Conservative, he arjmils that it is 

 ii^iderable, but not large enough to portend any 

 isive movement. There have been twenty by- 

 tions since the Insurance Bill wa.s introduced' The 

 position have gained some ground, but whereas in 



1895 those seats were held by eleven Conservatives 

 and nine Liberals, to-day they are held by six Conser- 

 vatives and fourteen Liberals. .\s to Women's Suffrage, 

 he finds it difficult to believe that the present electorate 

 would support Parliament in swamping them at one 

 swoop by the enactment of Female Suffrage on the 

 larger scale. 



THE GROWING POWER OF THE KING. 



A VERY clever writer in the World's Work for March 

 discusses the growing power of King George. The 

 writer says that the Indian journey has added some- 

 thing to the King's stature. It was the King's own 

 business, his own proper doing, and it adds much to 

 his prestige. The writer goes on to say, " The King is 

 the most characteristic Englishman who has ever sat 

 upon our throne " : — 



His intelligence is highly objective, so that fa,cts intpress him 

 more than theories, and actions more than principles. Yet, 

 below the surface, is a deep vein of imagination and enthusiasm. 

 His opinions and practice in the sphere of morals are what the 

 enlightened Continental would condemn as painfully narrow. 

 His praise is for achievements, his enthusiasms are for achieve- 

 ments yet to be. 



A SIGNIFICANT STORY. 



An interesting instance is told of the King's attitude 

 to one of the most pronounced of Liberal Ministers : — 



Before his accession it was understood that his political 

 opinions were emphatically not on the lines of sentimental 

 Liberalism. There was curiosity as to how he would agree 

 with his Ministers. Then came that one of the Ministers 

 whom it might be thought the King would have appreciated 

 least of all, and talked to him about King Edward's death. 

 The expression of sincere sympathy at such a moment counted 

 for much more than any opinion on p.irty politics. Common 

 sorrow, and an atmosphere of the most natural and human of 

 all sentiments, made the basis of future intercourse. How 

 readily one can believe this of the common " unemotional " 

 Englishman ? 



" DEFENDER OF THE FAITH " — MORE, A BELIEVER. 



.A deeper trait may be quoted : — 



It may be just decent to recall the story of his retiring early 

 to bed one Saturday night at a country house because he liked 

 to have a little time to prepare himself for the Holy Com- 

 munion. It is one thing to be " Defender of the Eaith ;" it is 

 another thing to take that Kaith so seriously. 



DECAY OF PARTIES THE KINC's CHANCE. 



The writer goes on to ask, What is this man destined 

 to make of the British monarchy ? He declares : — 



of all the features of our public life at this moment there is 

 none more remarkable than the growing alienation of the 

 political parlies from the people. 



Whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are holy, 

 whatsoever things are noble and generous and wholesome, teml 

 to fall outside the bounds of party feeling. Here it is that the 

 monarchy c.in lead the nation. 



In every respect the minds of Englishmen arc prepared for 

 rapid and decisive changes, and for a succession of momentous 

 events. There is a weakening of the sense of national con- 

 tinuity. 



Here the monarchy has something approaching to a manifest 

 destiny. It is a visible syml>ol of national unity through all 

 changes, and an enduring chain of connection between the 

 national past and the national future. " Constitutional " 

 restraints only heighten the importance of the monarchy in this 

 respect. 



