LAND AND .WATER. 
August 7, 1915. 
BOOKS OF THE WEEK. 
A LUEKARY REVIEW. 
" i(oi,a,anii si.d the Great War." By R. W. SetouWatson. D.Litt. 
(Const.ii)!eO 2s- cet. 
'• What is Rouinania dciiig? Will she joiu in? Why 
is she clelavin-? " Ihc^e are the questions which are con- 
stantly asked about, tlie biggest and strongest of the Balkan 
States At first it was as.-iuned that she would come ni last 
autumn. Then it was assumed that she would begin when 
Italy declared war. But she is still a neutral, and still 
undecided. , 
To understand the exact situation f,he reader cannot do 
better than study Dr. Seton- Watson's little book. The author 
is one cf the most reliable of our younger historians, who for 
the la.=t .seven or eight years has devoted his time to the first- 
hand study of the HuufRiiaup, the so\ilhern Slavs, and ths 
Eoumanians. He know.'tlie people. He is on friendly terms 
with statesmen of all parties. His books on Hungary and the 
southern Slavs have established him as a unique authority on 
these questions. 
He gives a lucid sketch of the processes by which modern 
Roumnnia, with her seven million Roumanians, disentangled 
herself from the surrounding Empires and became a pros- 
perous and progressive kingdom. He describes the strong 
race feeling of the three and a half miUions of Roumanians 
who live In Hungary under the oppressive rule of the 
Magyars, and the quarter of a million who inhabit the Buko- 
vina; and there are also more than a million and a quarter in 
Russian Bessarabia. 
Against au alliance with the Eiite'ito Powers was the 
fact that Russia, France, and Great Britain had done nothing 
to win Roumauia's friendship. Germany and Austria, on the 
other hand, had cultivated her. and the lat.e King had actually 
Taound himself to Auitria-Hungary by a secret military con- 
vention for defensive purposes. Moreover, Roumania wa? 
not yet ready. She had no great store of modern explosive 
ammunition,"^aud could not face with equanimity a long winter 
war in the mountains. But that was not all. 
(1) She feared Bulgaria. And Bulgaria could not make 
an alliance unless Serbia and Greece were willing to make 
concessions. 
(2) It was supposed, though erroneously, that Great 
Britain did not favour the absorption by Roumania of her 
irredenta in Hungary. 
(3) She awaits some guarantee that her commerce and 
warships will have the same rights of egress from the Black 
Sea as Russia will undoubtedly acquire when Constantinople 
falls. 
Mr. Noel Buxton, one of the first English authorities in 
Bulgaria, has vehemently urged the importance cf an effective 
diplomacy. By that means alone can the whole Balkans be 
brought into the Entente Alliance. Dr. Seton-Watsou's book 
points to the same conclusiou. 
"Russia and the Great War." By Grcgor Alexinsky, Ex-Deputy to 
th& Duma. Traosiated by Bernard Miall. (Unwin.) 10s. Cd. net. 
Grcgor Alexinsky, the brilliant Russian, who addresses 
this book especially t-o an English audience, is liere to be seen 
torn between two conflicting ideals. He is one of those who 
have devoted themselves in the past to the vital struggle 
against Russian autocracy, and knows how deeply his country 
has been involved in the toils of corrupt officialism. It has 
been his business in the past to oppose the Russian Govern- 
ment and desire its overthrow. But now, like every other 
true Russian, he supports its war policy completely. He 
praises the Government because it did not fail to support 
'^" Serbia. He denounces those who have urged a withdrawal 
from the full vigour of war before Germany has been crushed. 
He combats the propaganda of the " dread of victory" and 
the " desire for a Russian defeat." He will have nothing to 
do with those who think that the masses of the Russian people 
can be beiiefited by the discomfiture of the Russian generals. 
Nevertheless, he does not abate one jot or tittle of his 
antagonism to the old order, and insists that it is stiU in the 
ascendant in the Government and domestic policy of his 
New Edition (ISth), Cloth, Is. Cd., Board) Is. Of all Booksellers, or post free from 
the Pulilishers. 
THE DIETETIC CURE OF OBESITY. 
WITH a CIIAI>TKJi on GOUT and its DIKTKTIC TREATMESX 
By Dr. Y01;Ivi;-l)AVJi;8. 
CONTEXTS.— Evil! of Corpulency. Dangerous condiliona due lo Corpuienc.?, Siicli aj 
W eak Heart, Gout, *c. Diet the only aife and permanent cure at any agj. Quack 
Medicines to reduce weight danaerom and tiaclesi. Evils of Over-eating and 
Sedentary Haljits. Food In it? relation to Work, Exercise, &c. Analysis and com- 
position of some largely advertised secret preparations lor reducing weiaht. 
LO.\DO:i: CHATTO & WINDUS, lu, Ct. Martin's Lane, W.C. 
country. There are still, he says, "two Ru.ssias." "One h 
the popular liussia, democratic Russia, the Russia of vast, 
labouring, suffering human masses. The other is the Ru.ssia 
of the ' directing elements,' the nobles and the upper bureau- 
cracy." Neither desired this war, the first because it is by 
instinct pacific, the second because it was not prepared, and 
had nothing to gain by war. But he warns Englishmen — 
and we must take the statement only for what it is worth, 
remembering how deeply lie has had reason to be prejudiced 
against official Russia — he warns us that the ruling classes 
of Russia still " contain in their midst many enemies of tha 
French and English democracies and friends of the Prussian 
reaction." 
We must, of course, bear in mind that Alexinsky has 
been an absentee from his country, and, however closely ha 
may be in touch with his countrymen, he may not be fully 
aware of the changes that are at work within Russia. But in 
the interests of th« great majority of Russians v/ho are fight- 
ing with us and for us we must bear in mind the fact« which 
he adduces : that in spite of the wave of national enthusiasm 
which swept over the Empire in support of the Government, 
there was no political amnesty; that the exile Bourtsev, who 
returned confidently to work for his country, v/as deported for 
life to Siberia ; and that five deputies of the Duma, charged 
on the flimsiest grounds, suffered the same fate; and that 
Jewish refugees from the war-zone are still beyond the pale of 
the law. " Tsari.?m," he says, " has not changed during the 
war, and the attitude of the English democracy ought not to 
change." 
To that, we are inclined to think, the English democracy 
will reply that Tsarisni is at prese/it our ally, and that just as 
the masses of the Russian people, whose interests we care for, 
have rallied to the Russian Government, we cannot do less, 
and we note in the meantime that that Russian Government 
has abolished the Stat-e traffic in drink, has promised autonomy 
to Poland, and has authorised the Zemstvos, the local self- 
governing bodies, to organise national work. This is a great 
step forward. The author is aware of all this. He is divided 
between conflicting impulses. He observes that the Russian 
troops are persuaded that this is a " war of liberation." In 
spite of all his strictures upon the political directors of Russia, 
he reminds himself, in this profound and informing work, th.it 
" the young Rus.sian armies are defending the cause of 
European democracy and the world's progress." How to 
reconcile, he asks, " our own misfortune " with the " ' lucky 
chance ' so necessary to our Allies " ? He finds a good and 
simple reply in the words of a Russian mother to her son in 
the fighting-line ; 
Wc shall not live for ever in this world. What is the life of » 
human being? A drop of water in the life of glorious Russia. We shall 
not live for ever, but Russia must have a long and prosperous life. I 
know we shall be forgotten and our happy descendants will not 
remember those who sleep in the graves of soldiers ; but what matter ! 
Under the title of " A Sure Income for Life," a little book has just 
been issued by the Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada which deals 
in a most interesting manner with the many kinds of annuities made 
practical by the enterprise of this company. There is also A chapter 
on "Income" Insurance — a plan for leaving a widow a certain incoma 
instead of the responsibilities of capital. A copy will be sent post free 
to anyone who writes for it to the Manager, Sun Life of Canjida, 33, 
Canada House, Norfolk Street. 
CENTURY 
The NIMETEEr^TH 
AND AFTER. 
A ua us r. 
The Industrial Factor In the War. By Dr. ARTutra Shadweii. 
The Neutral Merchant and the ' Freedom of the Sea." By Sir rBAHCis 
PiaooTT {ta'e Chu\f Justice of Hong Kong), 
Criticism and the National Government. By D. C. lATHBimr. 
German Missionaries in India. By A. Yusuf Aii. 
L'AvonlP de la Belgique Latine. By Batjiono Colieyb db Wekedi. 
On Active Service : Leaves from a Field Note-Book. By Professor J. H. 
MOUOAN (hie name Office Commissioner with the British Expedrttonary iorce). 
' The Cinderella ol" tha Service." By E. G. FAisBOLira, 
With Captains Couraftcous ' Somewhere In France.' By Lbxa Aehwkll. 
The Anatomy of Pessimism. By Sir Jamks Yoxah, M.P. 
Teutons and the New Testament. By H. B. Smpsok, c.B. 
The Sickbed of Cuchuluin (concluded). By the Right Hon. Lord KiiiAJfiK. 
Ireland and the War. By the Rev. Canon Hanhay (Qeorge A. Birmingham). 
Scenes from the Drama of Italian Intervention. By C hasiks Toweb, 
The Coal Industry under War Conditions. By W. H. REywiCK. 
A Russian View of Reprisals. By Alexandre Woi.Korp-MocBOHTZorj. 
Russia's Strength and her Certainty of Ultimate Victory. By Captain 
A. C. Alford, II.A. 
The Sands of Fate-Berlin, July 24 to 31, 1914: a Historical Phantasy. 
By Sir Xhohas Babolat. 
London : Spottiswoode k. Co., Ltd., 5 New-street Square. 
Printed by the Victoeia Housk PaiNxiNa Co., Ltd., Tudor Street, Whitefriars, London, E.Ce 
