January 4, 1917 
LAND & WATER 
Books to Read 
By Lucian Oldershaw 
17 
THERE arc few people in this country who have 
not treated the great (ierinan peace trick with 
the contempt it deserves. A great deal of the 
derisive anger with which the news of the famous 
Note was receivecl was no doubt due to an intuitive 
distrust of a criminal that has been so thoroughly 
found out. This is a true feeling but, in such 
matters as this no man should trust simply to feeUng 
where knowledge is a\'ailable. As Lord Cromer says, in 
his introduction to an excellent English version of iVI. 
Andre Cheradame's The Pan German Plot Unmasked 
(John Murray, 2s. 6d. net) : " It is essential that, before 
the terms of peace are discussed, a clear idea should be 
formed of the reasons which led the German Government 
to provoke this war." For this purpose Lord Cromer, 
with good reason, recommends this popularly written 
and forcible little book. ;\1. Cheradame has proved a 
true prophet in the past and this book, which was written 
before recent events in the Balkans, shows that he still 
has the power of reasoned foresight. He dwells par- 
ticularly on German schemes in the East, and one of tlie 
best chapters is that which is explained in its somewhat 
cumbrous title : " Go-man inancvuvyes to play the A/lies 
the trick oj the 'Drawn Game,' that is, to secure the 
accomplishment of the ' Hamburg to the Persian Gulf ' 
scheme as the minimum result of the war." 
»>: ^ H^ ^ ^ 
Another brochure that is remarkably a fropos, par- 
ticularly in view of the prominence gi\'en t,o the subject 
in the Allies' reply to the German peace-note is Belgium 
and the Great Powers (Putnam, 3s. 6d.) It is written by 
the late Emile Waxweiler, who was Di^-ector of the 
Solyay Institute of Sociology at Brussels, and who is 
already known to many English and neutral readers as 
the author of Belgimn, Neutral and Loyal. In his latest 
book he answers, in a way that should convince the most 
obstinate unbeliever, the enemy's attempt to prove that 
Belgium had already violated her own neutraUty. He 
shows clearly, for example, that the Belgian conversation 
with England in 1913 had precisely the same object as 
similar conversations with (Germany in iqii — namely, to 
dispel her fears with regard to current rumours as to 
sending troops through Belgium. He also shows that the 
disposition of her troops in the fateful months of 1914 
clearly proves that she was prepared to defend her 
neutrality at every frontier. It is well to keep alive by 
such books as this the sacra indignatio that all right- 
minded people experienced when Germany violated, the 
neutrality of the courageous little State she had under- 
taken to protect in 1839. 
* * * :•: H! 
When on August 4th, 1914, England put an end to the 
fear that, according to M. Waxweiler, some Belgians had 
that she would not completely fulfil the obligations as a 
guarantee of the treaty of 11)14, lio^^" rapidly the Dominions 
threw in their lot with the Motherland ! One aspect of 
this is graphically described by Frederic C. Curry in 
Frorn St. Lawrence to the Ys'cr (Smith, Elder and Co., 
3s. 6d. net), in which the author, late Captain in the 
2nd Eastern Ontario Regiment, describes the adventures 
of the first Canadian Brigade from its mobilisation to the 
end of 1915. As the narrative includes the Canadian's 
terrible experiences at Ypres, and the subsequent fighting 
at h'estubert and Givenchy, it is sure to appeal to a wide 
circle of readers. What, however, interested me as much 
as anything else in the book, being familiar with most of 
the incidents of the great struggle in France, was the 
early chapters which described the organisation of the 
Canadian militia and its sudden improvisation into an 
overseas force. The story makes an interesting jmrallel 
with that of our own militia, and it is, as is indeed the 
whole book, which is written with in\incible good humour, 
most interesting reading. 
***** 
Two French books in translation are before me, the 
one a record of actual experiences, the other a romance. 
i\I. Gaston Riou had before the war achieved a consider- 
able reputation as a young writer who was helping to 
lead the reaction from the materialism of contemporary 
thought. In his Journal d'tm simple soldat, guerre- 
captivite 1914-15, he tells the story of his experiences in 
the war and as a prisoner in Germany. Those who have 
not read the original should at least get the translation 
The Diary of a French Private 1914-1915 ((ieorge Allen 
and Unwin, Ltd., 5s. net), for it is a very moving and 
enthralling piece of work. Moreover, M. Riou knew 
(lermany before the war, and his experiences and more 
especially his interpretation of them have therefore especial 
force and interest. The most \-i\-id episode in the book, 
perhaps, is that which describes the coming of Russian 
prisoners to Fort Orff and their fraternisation (to the 
disgust of the German authorities) with the original 
French inhabitants. My French romance is Marcel 
Prtnost's Benoit Castain (Macmillan and Co., 2s. net), 
most fluently translated by Mr. A. C. Richmond. It is 
what one would expect of its author, a drama of passion 
with the war as a background, an old theme with a 
new setting, an interesting' problem of ethics in war- 
time, but 
* ■ ;}s :(: * si; 
Among the volumes of verse this week I see William 
H. Davies's Collected Poems (A. C. Fifield, 6s. net). In 
this volume Mr. Davies gives us, " in response to a fre- 
quently expressed wish "from the press and public," what 
he believes to be his best pieces. The poetry of the 
" super-tramp " has so many genuine admirers that I 
have taken the opportunity this \olume has given me 
to try to convert myself to their way of thinking : I have 
not wholly succeeded. Mr. Davies's work has certainly 
qualities I like. He has the clear vision of a child and 
generally a complete lack of poetical self-consciousness. 
One or two of the lyrics are quite perfect expressions of 
the little they have to express and there are some vivid 
pictures painted in with a sense of wonder, notably the 
description of the sea-faring man which is the last and 
longest poem in the book. But for the most part I must 
confess that I find I am little interested in what he has to 
say and find his manner of saying a little too stark for 
me to take pleasure in. 
***** 
Of novels this week I have two, both imported goods, 
and the most violent contrasts to one another. The 
Man of Promise, by Willard Huntington Wright (John 
Lane, 6s.), is a bo^ of considerable power which makes 
the hardened reviewer smile at its naive attempt to be 
audacious. The idea that a man is betraying his 
better self unless he is continually combating all estab- 
lished ideas is so beautifully young that I have hopes of 
Mr. Wright, especially as many of his characters live 
in spite of (and often quite out of agreement with) his 
views about them. My other novel, also from America, 
is chaste and simple. Under the Country Sky,^ by Grace 
S. Richmond (J. Murray, 5s. net), is a really pretty story 
which healthily occupies the tired mind with other thoughts 
than tho.se of the war, " George " is a cc,mpanionable girl, 
and sufficiently attractive to keep one from being bored 
while hstening to the tale of her little woes. 
Union Jack Club Fund 
Tlie following is a list of subscribers to the Union Jack 
Club Extension Fund up to the end of 1916 : 
£ s. d. 
Previously acknowledged , . . . . . 2,849 ^^ ^ 
" Colony of Mauritius " pp. Mr. H. Henniker 
Heaton, Acting Colonial Secretary . . i/OOO o 
Barkly East Brancli of the Red Cross Guild . . 50 o o 
Ernest Garrett, Esq. . . . . . . . . 10 o o 
G.R.H * 500 
Lt;-Col. H. M. Cliff 500 
G. G. C. Honolulu . . . . . . . . 500 
The Rev. T. Moreton, S.C.F 300 
Mrs. Manlcy Hopkins . . . . . . . . 10 o 
