Revieic of Reviews, 1111106. 



History of the Month. 



435 



Two Views of 

 IVIilitarism. 



much as we like. But we shall 

 have to follow it or we shall get 

 as badly left in the twentieth 

 century as was George III. in the 

 eighteenth. 



The Kaiser told 

 a French guest 

 the other day 

 that he regarded 

 anti-militarism as an international 

 plague, and that he could no more 

 rejoice at its appearance in 

 France or any other country than 

 he could welcome the outbreak of 

 cholera across the frontier. It 

 was a significant observation. 

 Would that anti-militarism were 

 as catching as cholera ! As an 

 expression of an exactly opposite 

 sentiment to that of the Kaiser 

 note the remarkable speech de- 

 livered at Toronto recently, by 

 Sir William Mulock, formerl} 

 Postmaster-General of Canada. 

 He said : — 



Photo. ))j/] 



IThe Yachting Season at Cowes 

 The Kaiser'B yaehf, " Meteor " (412 tons) in the Solent. 



[Ktrk. 



This Canada of ours is the only country in the world 

 worth living in. the only country that is not burdened 

 with grea.t military debts handed down by previous gene- 

 rations. Keep it on those lines. Watch carefully every 

 tendency towards militarism, for we know that preparar 

 tion for war leads to war. Kemember this is the last 

 spot of refuge on God's green earth where men can come 

 and not pay for the sins of their ancestors. 



Amen ! and Amen ! 



[This applies with equal force to Australia, and 

 the " Amens " mav be said as heartily. — Ed. " Aus. 

 R. of R."] 



■ The Fruits of The War Stores Commission has 

 Militarism now published its Report, which 



at acquits our Army officers of cor- 



Hotne. ruption, but con\icts them of a 



stupidity and ineptitude so crass that they allowed 

 the nation to be robbed of a million and a-half 

 sterling in South Africa, after the war was over. 

 Of course no one believes that there was no corrup- 

 tion. Everybody who had any business to do in 

 South Africa during the war knows that without cor- 

 ruption no business could be done. It is asserted 

 now that it was only warrant officers and men from 

 the ranks who took bribes. People may swallow 

 that in London ; in South Africa it would be re- 

 served for the exclusive consumption of the Marines. 

 The canker of corruption has eaten very deeply into 

 our society both at home and abroad. A great con- 

 tractor once told me that the Chinese were the only 

 nation left where you could do business honestly, 

 and they were in danger of succumbing to this uni- 



\ersal maladv of a civilisation in which the making 

 haste to get rich leads men to tolerate practices 

 which are little better than downright picking and 

 stealing. Mr. Haldane will do well to apply the 

 probe continually, and when a culprit is caught 

 red-handed punishment should be both public and 

 merciless. Some evils need to be cauterised with 

 red-hot iron. 



Mr. W. J. Bryan is back again in 



W. J. Byran's the United States, and is being 



Return, welcomed with all the pomp and 



majesty of the Heir Presumptive to 

 the Presidency. He is to begin the campaign forth- 

 with, and for months to come the silver-tongued 

 orator will endeavour to win back the support of 

 those who were alienated by his devotion to the 

 silver standard. Mr. Bryan has apparently con- 

 vinced himself that he must pose as a Conservative. 

 He is too Conservative even to approve offhand of 

 President Roosevelt's spelling reforms. It is all 

 very well to play up to the cautious men of the 

 party. But if you play Othello you do not need 

 to black yourself all over, and this excess of zeal 

 seems to be at present the chief obstacle to Mr. 

 Bryan's realisation of the ambition of his life. Mr. 

 Bryan's opening speech contained one novelty. He 

 definitely and in good set terms demands the State 

 ownership of railways. This is a more practical 

 plank than his old sixteen-to-one silver standard 

 hobby, and its declaration, amidst the execrations 



