472 



The Reviilw of Reviews. 



and 

 the South Pole. 



this grcaler work lie liad inirsucd irrespective of Party con- 

 siderations. 



With these laurels Sir Starr returns for a time to 

 England. The whole incident is one which proves 

 afresh the miracle of healing wrought by Home Rule in 

 South Africa. The old law of resentment and anta- 

 gonism seems to have been repealed in favour of the 

 higher law of mutual forgiveness and mutual trust. 

 A month after Amundsen's arrival 

 Britons ^t the South Pole had been 



announced to the world, the 

 news has come of the whereabouts 

 and achievements of Captain Scott's expedition. The 

 latest report of him shows that on the 3rd of 

 January this year he was about 150 miles from the 

 South Pole, and was going forward with a party of 

 five men. His year's record is full of the most exciting 

 adventures. At one time the whole of their dog team 

 fell into a crevasse and was extricated with difficulty. 

 At another time the ice on which they w^ere moving 

 broke up under their feet, and they only escaped by 

 leaping, ponies and all, from floe to floe, and finally 

 by being pulled up like Alpint climbers with 

 ropes to a place of safety. The gales seem to have 

 been chronic and terrific, and the temperature sank 

 sometimes as low as 77 degrees below zero. Motors 

 were tried at first with remarkable success, but had 

 to be abandoned because of the over-heating of the air- 

 cooled engines. Nevertheless, Captain Scott is con- 

 vinced that a reliable tractor could be constructed so 

 as to work anywhere in the Polar regions. The 

 scientific value of the information acquired by the 

 expedition is said to be very great. The explorers have 

 come upon coal, and for the first time fossils have been 

 discovered in the Antarctic. Among the stores left 

 by previous expeditions, the party was delighted to 

 find a box of old magazines. A private letter from 

 Captain Scott, dated October 28th, shows that he had 

 no intention of racing Captain Amundsen to the Pole. 

 He said, " As any attempt at a race might have been 

 fatal to our chances of getting to the Pole at all, I 

 decided long ago to do exactly as I should have done 

 had Amundsen not been here. He is taking a big risk, 

 and if he gels through he will have deserved his luck." 

 The Royal Commission on Imperial 

 Tho Empire Trade has now been appointed. 

 Economic* Whole. As this is perhaps the first organised 

 endeavour to regard the self- 

 governing parts of the liriti'^h Empire as an economic 



whole, and since the development so begun may leaii 

 us far, the names of the twelve appointed are fith 

 recorded here. The/ are : — 



For the United Kingdom : Lord Inchcape (chairman), Sir 

 Edgar Vincent, Sir Charles John Owens, Sir II. Rider Hag- 

 gard, Mr. Tom Garnett, Mr. William Loiimer ; for Canada : 

 G. E. Foster, Minister of Trades and Customs ; for Australia : 

 Donald Campbell; for New Zealand: Sir J. G. Ward; for 

 South Africa : Sir David de Villiers Graaf ; for Newfoundland : 

 Edgar Boyvi-ing. Secretary, W. A. Robinson. 



The same presentiment of historic importance calls 

 for the terms of reference : — 



"To inquire into and report upon the natural resources of the 

 Dominion of Canada, the Comnionwealth of Australia, the 

 Dominion of New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, and 

 the Colony of Newfoundland ; and, further, to report upon the 

 development of such resources, whether attained or attainable ; 

 upon the facilities which exist, or may be^ created for the pro- 

 duction, manufacture, and distribution of all articles of commerce 

 in those parts of the Empire ; upon the requirements of each 

 such part and of the United Kingdom in the matter of food and 

 raw materials, and the available sources of such ; upon the trade 

 of each such part of the Empire with the other parts, with the 

 United Kingdom, and with the rest of the world ; upon the 

 extent, if any, to which the mutual trade of the several parts of 

 the Empire has been or is being affected, beneficially or other- 

 wise, by the laws now in force other than fiscal laws, and, 

 generally, to suggest any methods, consistent .always with the 

 existing fiscal policy of each part of the Empire, by which the 

 trade of each part with the others and with the United Kingdom 

 might be improved and extended." 



About the same time was signed 



Vivifying the Trade Agreement between 



imperiaiTrganism. Canada and the West Indies, under 



which substantial preference will 

 be extended to Canadian breadstuffs, fish and lumber, 

 and to West Indian sugar, molasses, cocoa and fruits. 

 While the vascular system of the Empire— the circu- 

 lation of commodities and services — is thus being 

 gradually unimpeded, its nervous system is being 

 improved. The decision of the Imperial Conference to 

 link up the Empire by means of wireless telegraphy is 

 being carried out. The Marconi Company has con- 

 tracted with the Imperial Government to plant stations 

 at present in the following six places : England, Eg)'pt, 

 Aden, Bangalore, Pretoria, and Singapore. Each 

 station will be high-powered, working day and night, 

 and covering a radius of 2,000 miles, and the cost of 

 each will be £60,000. Stations in Australasia seem to 

 be postponed for a while until questions of patent right 

 are settled between the Commonwealth and the 

 Marconi Company. When the scheme is complete, 

 one of the terrors of sudden war — isolation of any part 

 of the Empire by the cutting of cables— is removed. 



