The Reviews Reviewed. 



THE FORTNIGHTLY RE\TEVV\ 



The September number is an excellent one. Most 

 of its papers deal with current problems of politics. 



WHAT TO DO WITH ALBANIA. 



M. P. P. (!e Sokolovitch gives an extensive survey 

 .1 the history of the Albanians, leading up to the 

 present disturbances. He urges : — 



The Turk> should Icarn to realise that ihe Achilles heel of 

 Empire in Kurope is to be found in Northern Albania. They 

 should with iniiexible determination create real order in these 

 parts and inspire the inhabitants with respect for the Consti- 

 tution and the l.iws. This once accomplished, it would not bo 

 diftlcult to win over the Albanians to the new CJovcrnmint, 

 which is as much to their advantage as to that of all the other 

 subjects of the Empire. When they have advanced in the path 

 of progress they will form an important factor in the future 

 confederation nf the Balkans without any renunciation of their 

 language, their religion, or their loyalty to the Ottoman Empire. 

 The peace of Kurope at this moment largely depends upon the 

 solution of the .\lbanian question. 



FRANCE PERMANENTLY REPUBLICAN. 



Mr. Sydney Brooks, writing on France and the 

 Republic, dissipates the idea that frequent changes of 

 .Ministry indicate instability in France. He says both 

 in France and the United States the people are superior 

 to the politicians. The real life-work of the two 

 countries proceeds uninterrupted by the fretful 

 clamour of politics : — 



The staff is constantly being changed, but the programme 

 remains the same. To maintain peace abroad and order at 

 home ; to keep the Church in its proper place without per- 

 secution ; to secularise education ; to maintain the .'Vrmy and 

 the laws that insure respect for property ; to build up a powerful 

 Navy ; to fouml Colonies, and to protect French agriculture and 



dustries ; ami, in foreign afl'airs, to encourage the clo.^est 

 I'-lations with Kus>ia — this has been the programme which the 

 . nunlry as a whole has w illed and which every Ministry has done 

 omcthing to carry out. 



If the permanent officiaLs administer the country, 

 ;t is the peasant who is its ultimate ruler. His thrift 

 and tran(|iiillity and devotion to the main chance are 

 the determining factors in the policy of the State. 



FIVE STAGES OF COLONIAL LIFE. 



Mr. J. A. R. Marriott describes the evolution of 

 Colonial self-government. He says : — " Those portions 

 "I the Colonial Empire which have now attained to 

 the highest point of political development have passed 

 through the fiillowing stages: — (i) Military Govern- 

 ment ; (2) ("rown Colony administration ; (3) repre- 

 intative go\ernmtnt ; (4) responsible government ; 

 (5) federation or tinion." The formal links which 

 bind the great I)onninions to the .Motherlaml arc, apart 

 from the (li-eper ties — first, the King ; secoml, the King 

 in Parliament ; third, the King in Council ; fourth, 

 the Executive control. 



OUR WITHDRAWAL FROM THE SUGAR CONVENTION. 



Mr. Edw.trd Salmon writes with purple indignation 

 against the policy of the Government. He reports 



the opinion of the West Indies. Barbadoes anticipates 

 acute financial distress, British Guiana an arrested 

 development and commercial depression, Trinidad 

 joins in the chorus of dismay. Mr. Salmon also says 

 that since the Convention East Anglia has laid the 

 foundation of a beet industry with the prospect of 

 increasing employment. 



OTHER ARTICLES. 



Mr. Norman I'entwich discusses the Russian passport 

 question, and the difiuulties involved in greater free- 

 dom being given under treaties than the local law 

 admits. Jlr. Hilairc Belloc attempts to define the 

 classical spirit in art. Mr. E. B. Chancellor describes 

 the changes taking place in London, and grants that 

 though much has been lost in picturesqueness and the 

 outer semblance of historic tradition, much has been 

 gained in dignity of daily life and architectural achieve- 

 ment. Mr. E. H. Moorhouse gives a charming paper 

 on aspects of William Morris. Mrs. A. Barter recalls 

 the escapades of Casanova, whom she styles " a prince 

 of adxenture.'' Mr. A. Beaumont surveys the life and 

 work of the musician Massenet. 



THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 



The SepteiTiber issue covers a wide range of interest, 

 no fewer than six out of the seventeen articles dealing 

 with India, China, and Japan. 



" THE PASSING OF THE ENGLISH JEW." 



Mr. L. Benjamin traces the steady advance of 

 .\nglicisation among the Jews of England, one of the 

 most active elements being the advance of Jewish 

 w'omen. He asks : — 



Have we outlived our destiny? Is our isolation a me.ining- 

 less relic ? Is the ancient race to be .Vnglicised out of its 

 distinctive existence? These are the <iuestions which every 

 thoughtful Jew must ask himself. And the answer ? Who c.in 

 doubt that it is in the allirniative. The disintegration of the 

 Jewish community has begun at the top, though the innnigration 

 of the foreign Jews, not yet emancipated from the trammels of 

 the tribal laws, constantly recruits the orthodox section, .ind 

 doubtless, for a very long time to come, will continue to do so. 

 The end is not yet, but in this country at least it cannot be 

 indefinitely postponed. 



PROGRESS IN CHINA. 



Captain A. Corbetl-Smith olTers some aspects of 

 Chinese reform. He suggests that five-si.\ths of the 

 Chinese people have no concern with the revolution or 

 with reform of any kind. \'et in the ca;;tern provinces 

 there has been a breaking-up of old traditions and an 

 influential progress in thought and action such as man, 

 cither east or west, has never conceived. At present 

 5,400 miles of railway arc in course of operation, with 

 plans for an additional 14,000 miles. Thirty-two and a 

 lialf millions of foreign capital have been invested in 

 ihc-^e railwavs. In the sphere of education over 50,000 

 schools and a million and a halt students arc reporlcd. 



