Keview of Reviews, 1(7106. 



Leading Articles, 



71 



THE CROWNING VICTORY OF CONSERVATISM! 



The reviewer remarks that the Party cries which 

 •were mo^t successful -were negative: The wish was 

 to get rid of vexatious innovations. There was no 

 clamour for novelties. The instinct of the people 

 was critical, not constructive : — 



Pitted against one another were the warm, hopeful, 



promising, discontented fiscal reformers and the cold, 



cautious, sceptical, complacent fiscal conservatives; and 

 conservatism prevailed. 



This victor)- of Conser^'atism in 1906 is paralleled 

 by what occurred in 1895 : — 



It is inaeed curious to ohserve how much the plan of 

 battle of Lilierala in 19.6 resembles that of Conservatives 

 eleven vears aso Tiie defence of free trade took the place 

 of the defence of the Union; the education quesdon 

 brought into great activity the Nonconformists, just as 

 the attack on the Welsh Church roused churchmen ; and 

 the great influence of the licensed victuallers, alarmed in 

 1895 bv the Local Veto Bill, was matched by the great 

 influence of tlie trade unions, alarmeJ in 1906 at the judg- 

 ments of the House of I.^rds. . . lu both elections the 

 place of honour in their proi^ramme was given by the 

 victors to what was negative; the positive reforms were 

 subordinate. As the electors are now minded, the nega- 

 tive position is the advantageous one; they are much 

 readier to say ' No " than ' Tes." 



IS DEMOCRACY PROGRESSIVE? 



The reviewer goes on to quote from Sir Henry 

 Maine's "Popular Government'' as follows: — 



" The delusion." he wrote, " that Democracy, when it has 

 once had all things under its feet, is a .progressive form 

 of government lies deep in the convictions of a particular 

 poHtical school; but there can he no delusion grosser. It 

 receives no countenance either from experience or from 

 probability." 



The reviewer deals faithfully with Mr. Balfour for 



his mistaken strategy in endeavouring to keep up a 



semblance of unity in his Party when no such unity 



reallv e.xists. The writer is not specially alarmed at 



the strength of Labour. He says : — 



For even in its strongholds— much less in the country 

 generallv— Labour could scarcely s:and against the com- 

 bin.ed forces of moderation. Only so long as the Labour 

 party is contented to pl-ny a subordinate part and to act 

 as the auxiliary of Ijiber.alism will its power be great. If 

 it aspires to stand alone as the equal of the old historic 

 factions it will fail. 



The article concludes with an earnest plea that 

 the whole subject of Tariff Reform should be 

 shelved. "' Then we shall be clear of the damning 

 imputation of plutocracy." 



that the messenger has come to ask for a calabash of 

 water, namely, tor a wife. The mother is then informed, 

 and it both 'are agreeable, the messenger is anointed with 

 fat, which means that the answer is ' Yes.:' In case of a 

 refusal he is not anointed. . . j .1 , 



The cow ia a guarantee that the bargain is made and that 

 the girl cannot be given to anyone else. 



All the members of both families are informed ol tne 

 arrangement. On one side they will have to contribute to 

 the marriage, on the otlier to receive then share, f-very 

 member of the bridegroom's family having given his beast, 

 will liave a claim on the children who may be born ot the 

 marriage, especially on the girls, as when thes; are married 

 the cattle given for them will revert to the donors. 



At the time of the marriase the cattle collected are 

 brought out of the enclosure by the aunt or mother. 



THE PRICE OF A WIFE. 



When the marriage party reaches the village, with 

 the cattle in the rear, the relations of the bride dress 

 themselves in rags, which means that the other party 

 must enrich them : — 



After the cattle have been driven into the enclosure greet- 

 ings are exchanged. The cattle having been counted, the 

 bride's parents must declare whether they are satisfied with 

 the number and quality of the cattle; if not, more inust 

 be added till thev are. .4s a rule twenty head ot cattle, 

 about ten sheep or goats, and a horse is the amount paid 

 for a girl, although in the case of a chief's daughter more 

 would he demanded. 



On the ceremony being completed, the bride does 

 not follow her husband at once. Weeks and. even 

 months elapse before they live together. Two 

 months before the birth of a child the wife returns 

 to her own mother. 



MAR'MAGE AMONG THK BASUTOS. 



The Journal of the African Society contains a 

 most interesting account of the Basuto of Basuto- 

 land, by the Rev. A. Mabille. He says that every 

 custom is law, and even' law is custom. He gives 

 an account of the marriage customs. It will be ob- 

 served that the traditional inabilitv of the young man 

 to find words in which to propo.se is mercifully ac- 

 commodated bv sparing him the task of utterance : — 



A young man wishing to marry does not express his in- 

 tentions by words but by deeds While all are asleep in his 

 village, he drives the cows out of the eat tic-enclosure and 

 lets the calves suck their mothers. 



The reirents will understand what this means, and as the 

 bride has long iM-en chosen liy the father, a messenger is 

 sent with a cow to the father of the '-'irl. The latter is told 



IRISH UNIVERSITY EDUCATION. 



In the Drib! in Review the Bishop of Limerick says 

 that we are entitled, to. ask the Liberal Government 

 what it means to do for higher education in Ireland, 

 which is '■ in a .state that is a scandal to the Go- 

 vernment and an insuperable barrier to all progress." 

 Irishmen can no longer be told that educational 

 reform must wait upon Home Rule, and that Home 

 Rule will come with the advent of the Greek Ka- 

 lends. The Liberals want a " buffer " between them 

 and the endowment of an institution which may help 

 the Catholics. It seems to the Bishop that this may 

 be found in the Senate of the Royal University : — 



If they will not give us political, surely they may allow 

 tis educational Home Rule. If they will not permit Irish- 

 men to manage their own national afi'airs. it is not easy 

 to see on what grounds men of their principles, at least in 

 theory, can refuse us the power to manage our own educa- 



The senate of the Royal Tniversity labours for Irishmen 

 under the disadvanta?e. which will probably l>e its greatest 

 recommendation to the Engli.sli Parliament, that nearly all 

 its members have been nominated bv the Crown. 



Every religious body in Ireland— Catholics. Episcopalian 

 Protestants. Presbyterians, Methodists— have some of their 

 members upon it. , . t , j 



Englishmen are prone to think of us here m Ireland as 

 torn bv religious dissension and ready to ily at one 

 another's throats: it would he a furnrise to them to witness 

 the deliberations of the senators of the Royal University, 

 and see how Irishmen, if lei't alone, can come to know and 

 to respect ea,-h other's convictions, and work together for 

 a common purpose 



With plentv of money the work of the Royal 

 University would be easy. And again the Bishop 

 pleads that 



If Parliament for once would deal in a broad and trust- 

 ful manner with this quesiion of higher education, it 

 would see an illustration of Irishmen's capabilities of 

 managing their own affairs. 



