Hrview of Reviews. 1J9/13. PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. 



667 



I 



WILL CROOKS, M.P., 

 The only Labour Member amongst the visiting 



M P '8. 



to support him, for the election resulted 

 as follows : — Kenyon (Lib. -Lab.), 7725 ; 

 Christie (Unionist), 5539 ; Scurr (Soc), 

 583. The Liberal majority is much the 

 same as was that of Mr. Haslam, the 

 late Labour member. The danger of the 

 present split lies in the probability that 

 at the next election many Labour can- 

 didates will be run in Liberal constitu- 

 encies, where the only result can be the 

 return of the LInionist on a minority 

 vote. England needs a system of pre- 

 ferential voting even more than does 

 Australia, but the f-Iouse of Lords would 

 never willingly allow such a democratic 

 measure to become law. 



Labour Unrest at Home. 



Employment has been ex(-eptionall)- 

 o-ood in Enu'land during the last few 

 months. This is partly due to the uii- 

 mense flow of emigrants to Australia 

 and Canada, and partly to the great 

 trade boom now being experienced at 

 home. Strikes have taken jilace here 

 and there. A good deal of trouble has 

 been experienced in the Government 

 offices owing to the employment of non- 



unionists. The same reason caused 50CO 

 ships' painters in London to come out, 

 although they also demanded an in- 

 crease of I .^d. per hour. Ten thousand 

 skilled workmen in the London build- 

 ing trades have also gone on strike, and 

 it is expected that some 50,000 labourers 

 will follow them. The workmen em- 

 joloyed by the Office of Works have re- 

 fused the offer of arbitration made 

 them, and are contemplating a strike to 

 show their dissatisfaction with having 

 to work alongside of non-unionists. On 

 the whole, though, there have been fewer 

 strikes this year than ever before. The 

 national insurance scheme appears to be 

 working satisfactorily, and has hardly 

 been used at all as a whip to chastise the 

 Liberals by the Unionist candidates at 

 recent by-elections ! 



South African Politics. 



Ever since General Hertzog had to 

 resign from the Union Government in 

 South Africa he has been attacking the 

 Botha administration furiously. So 

 strong is the feeling between the two 

 factions that there is a growing senti- 

 ment in favour of both leaders retirmg 

 to make way for a man who would 

 unite the two sections into which the 

 Dutch party is now divided. There is 

 not much likelihood of such a leader 

 being discovered so fundamental are 

 the present differences. Botha and his 

 following stand first of all for the 

 Empire ; Hertzog is temperimentally 

 parochial, and is all for the State, the 

 Empire a long way after. The late 

 ^Minister of Education has a strong fol- 

 lowing amongst the Dop Boers, the 

 solid farmers, who form, after all, the 

 backbone of the country. The most 

 likely solution of the difficulty is an 

 alliance between the Botha part\- and 

 the Op]X)silion, an understanding which 

 would leave General Hertzog and his 

 followers in a hopeless minority. 



Peace in the Balkans. 



RouuKvnia, after havuii;" assisted 

 Greece and Servia to force Bulgaria to 

 her knees, took upon herself the role of 

 i^eacemaker. With the arni\- of King 

 Charles and those of her quandom allies 



