146 



The Review of Reviews. 



Irish, wirli the assistance of the German 

 communities, who defeated the Arbitration 

 Treaty when it was before the Senate. How 

 much more sane the relations between the 

 two countries have become may be judged 

 by the question of the Panama Canal tolls. 

 A few years ago this would have marked 

 the occasion for an outburst of invec- 

 tive on both sides of the Atlantic. As 

 it is, one saw a reasoned discussion on 

 treaty rights, and a decision that treaty 

 rights must be respected. One curious 

 fact which came into prominence during 

 the debates on the Panama tolls was that the 

 United States has a deep conviction that 

 the International Arbitration Court at the 

 Hague is hopelessly European in its point 

 of view, and that, therefore, America could 

 never hope to obtain absolute justice there. 

 In this we think thev are mistaken, and 

 that their mistake arises out of the very 

 complete detachment from world politics 

 which characterises the greater part of 

 American thought. 



The idea of the announce- 

 The New ment of a new Monroe 

 Monroe Doctrine, doctrine, backed not only 

 by the United States but 

 by the British Empire, is rapidly gaining 

 ground. A very noteworthy fact with 

 regard to this idea is that the Latin 

 Re|)ublics of the Americas, both North 

 and South, have practically subscribed to 

 the old Monroe doctrine, and that they 

 will be more than delighted to have an 

 additional guarantee that, shielded on closer 

 terms with both the British Empire and the 

 United States, they can reap to the full 

 their enormous advantages without fear of 

 outside ])eril. It is not generally known 

 that at the time of the Pcnttlicr incident 

 the Latin Republics of America at Rio de 

 Janeiro gave a striking, in fact almost start- 



ling, demonstration of their unanimity vvith 

 regard to the Monroe doctrine as applied 

 to South America. At the time of the 

 incident, with only the delay contingent on 

 cabling. Cabinet councils were held in every 

 capital of South America, and resolutions 

 were passed in favour of supporting Brazil 

 against German aggression. These resolu- 

 tions were at once communicated to Rio, 

 also to Washington. It was this, far more 

 than anything else, which caused the inci- 

 dent to finish as it did ; and once more the 

 danger of outside aggression was repelled. 

 This American solidarity, together with a 

 world-wide declaration with regard to the 

 Monroe doctrine on behalf of the two great 

 English-speaking nations, would transform 

 what too many statesmen are apt to think 

 is a musty record of a long-dead American 

 President into a living actuality pregnant 

 with peaceful force. 



The appointment of Dr. 



The Value Morrison, the famous cor- 



British Advice. respondent of the Times, 



as special adviser to the 

 Chinese Republic is another proof, if proof 

 were necessary, of the prestige which this 

 country enjoys throughout the world. The 

 sound common sense of the Englishman 

 appeals more than any other aid to countries 

 in the throes of change, or to people 

 emerging from the darkness of autocracy 

 into the light of constitutionalism. If we 

 might urge in advance any possible disad- 

 vantage of the choice of Yuan Shi-Kai, 

 it would be that Dr. Morrison knows too 

 much about China. In other words, he 

 must have many friends, many enemies, and 

 undoubtedly many settled convictions. For 

 a cou«try in the melting-pot it seems to us 

 a drawback to have as adviser anybody who 

 is not ready to take things as they are, not 

 as they may have been, and make actual 



