by the country of a really democratic franchise. The report proposes for men that the qualification shall be based on residence in lieu of occupation, and that the qualifying period should be reduced to six months; it sweeps away the irritating disqualification now attached to removal to different premises in the same constituency, leaves plural voting a shadow of its former self, provides for the revision of the register every six months instead of twelve, places the cost of registration partly on the rates and partly on the State, throws Returning Officers' expenses wholly on the State and provides in a General Election that all elections should take place on the same day. As a whole it goes a long way in the direction of manhood suffrage and raises the number of male electors from 8,000,000 in the United Kingdom to between 10,000,000 and 11,000,000 in Great Britain. It also recommends in certain constituencies the adoption of Proportional Representation on the basis of the single transferable vote, and suggests important improvements in the Local Government Register.

1

For women the confer

Woman ence, not unanimously Suffrage. but by a substantial majority, has recommended that "Some measure of Woman Suffrage should be conferred." This is all to the good; but it is not so good that the basis recommended for women is entirely different from the basis recommended for men. The conference was of opinion that those women who are on the Local Government Register should also be placed on the Parliamentary Register, with, however, this important addition, that the wife of any man who is on that Register should also be entitled to be registered and to vote as a parliamentary elector. The conference added a further recommendation that the age limit for women voters should be 30 or 35. The absurdity from the point of view of the respective ages at which men and women reach maturity of this high age limit for women is immediately obvious, and this part of the Report

has received much adverse criticism. It was doubtless adopted for the sake of reducing the numbers of women voters very materially below the number of men voters. The estimated number of women electors under the proposals (if the age finally authorised is 30) being about 6,000,000, while the number of men would be almost twice as large.

The Report naturally What Women aroused very great inteThink. rest, especially in Suffrage circles. Among Suffragists unqualified satisfaction was expressed at the breaking down of the sex disability; but there was much disappointment over the actual terms suggested. It is, however, more and more fully recognised that these are compromise proposals arrived at by each side giving way on some points in order to find something on which all could agree, and it is safe to say that the Report is now regarded as marking an immense and significant advance in Women's long struggle for citizenship. It is satisfactory to learn that in the second half of February, at a conference in which thirty Societies were represented, twenty of whom stood for suffrage only. and ten for various political objects of which Women's Suffrage was one, it was found possible, after prolonged discussion, to arrive, with only two dissentients, at the following resolution: "That we, representing the undersigned Societies, recognising that a Bill based on the recommendations of the Speaker's Conference will confer the Suffrage upon Women, though not upon the terms for which we stand, urge the Government to introduce such a Bill without delay, provided that it contains as an integral part provisions for the enfranchisement of women."

to register under the Act, with the result that very many traders have turned themselves into companies to avoid registration -only temporarily, as it has turned out, for a Bill is to be introduced almost immediately to extend the principle of the Act to limited companies; we suggest that this Bill, whenever passed, should operate retrospectively at least to February 22nd. But there are other flaws, hardly less serious in the Act. To give only one example; a foreigner or a number of foreigners trading in his or their own name or names, need not register, nor need the letter paper of such a firm show the true names and nationalities of the members, for this essential provision applies only to persons who are bound to register under the Act. The clause as to letter paper, etc., might very well be made to apply to all business men and firms without exception, whether carrying on business in their own names or not, and to all one man companies. It is obviously impossible to foresee and guard against every contingency, but it is equally obvious that if the Registration of Business Names Act is adequately to fulfil its object it must be amended with a strong hand with all convenient speed.

66

The perennial subject of Enemy Aliens. enemy aliens came up for

debate in the House of Commons on February 14th, when the Home Secretary gave some interesting figures and outlined some new measures which have been taken since the new Government came into office. Sir George Cave said that there are something over 30,000 interned aliensmen only-while there are 20,000 uninterned, nearly half of whom are women. The number of male aliens of military age is 7,500, of whom less than 2,000 are Germans. The total number of aliensmen, women and children-in prohibited areas is 4,294, of whom only 287 are of military age; 300 or 400 of these are regarded as doubtful, and the Home Secretary is now considering what is to be done with them. He is also reconsidering the whole of the cases of persons exempted

from internment, and is taking the opportunity of ascertaining how many of these are doing work of national importance; and a committee is taking steps to secure that, as far as possible, interned aliens are doing useful work. Sir Herbert Samuel intervened in the debate to assure the House that there is not and never has been any "Hidden Hand."

Enemy Banks.

The Report of Messrs. Walter Leaf and R. V. Vassar Smith, the bankers whom the Treasury appointed to inquire into the present position of the London branches of the enemy banks which are being wound up by Sir William Plender, has been received by the public with very mixed feelings. The report is highly technical, and we can well believe that in view of the difficulties with which he had to contend Sir William Plender. has conducted his work of realisation and distribution with the highest ability and expedition. But the point at issue is not whether the best possible has been done in the circumstances; it is that here is a crying evil in our midst, and that if technical difficulties exist in the way of its utter destruction, the Government must find means to remove them. The existence of the German banks in this country must, somehow or other, be brought to an end before the war is over; it is for the Government to say how, and if their present powers are not sufficient, to arm themselves with powers that are.

Japanese Crisis Aggravated.

The Japanese Prime Minister has aggravated the political situation. by making contemptuous references to parliamentary aims and practices in the course of a speech that he delivered before a gathering of the Governors of Prefectures last month. He had previously accused the Diet of not representing the nation, and had been made to recant his words. No wonder that the impression has been strengthened in Japan that he is a reactionary. Marquis Okuma-his predecessor in office-is reported to have questioned Field-Marshal Terauchi's sanity. The forthcoming elec

China's Firm Stand.

tion is likely to surpass previous elections in excitement, for it is certain that the Diet will be hostile to the administration, and will be dissolved as soon as it meets. The political shortsightedness of the Government is the one regrettable feature of prosperous Japan. The balance of trade was in favour of that country to the extent of £37,100,000 last year. The estimates for 1917-18 provide for the liquidation of £8,000,000 worth of foreign loans, of which £5,000,000 are to be provided by the sinking fund, and the rest by means of domestic loans. Money is so plentiful that the Government proposes to raise internally £13,830,000 in addition to the domestic loan already mentioned. The firm stand taken by China last month over the submarine issue must have surprised Germany, which has been intriguing in the Republic ever since the war began. The Chinese Minister in Paris made it clear that the Chinese action has been taken in the interests of humanity, and not merely in defence of China's own rights, which have suffered much through the war, and are likely to suffer still more through the mad course that the Germans are pursuing in respect of their submarine policy. We wonder if China has forgotten how Germany despoiled her of Kiao-Chao a few years ago. The severance of diplomatic relations has not yet been officially announced at the date of writing; but the Chinese are withdrawing money from German financial institutions in China as fast as they can. Germans in China are straining every nerve to ward off the catastrophe, and are not hesitating to resort to bribery to further their ends. If the break occurs, the Far East will be rid of a foul cesspool of intrigue. China will stop remitting payment to Germany of the Boxer indemnity, amounting to about £500,000 a year, and interest on the German loans, and German trade will receive a blow from which it will find it hard to recover. Whether China will or will not join the Allies will depend largely upon the Japanese attitude. The courage

displayed by the Chinese Government at this juncture is a forceful reminder of the strength that President Li Yuan Hung's Administration has been steadily acquiring during recent months. Internal disorder has been yielding place to tranquillity. President Li is reversing the old order of things. A few weeks ago he travelled unceremoniously in a motor car to Paotung-fu-the old capital of Chihli Province to address the 1,000 cadets who are being trained there in modern military tactics to hold commissions in the Army. The journey, extending to 100 miles each way, was accomplished in a day, and no unusual event occurred, either in the streets of Peking (which the late President Yuan Shih Kai shunned as dangerous) or elsewhere. The absence of pomp and of arrangements to protect the person of the head of the Chinese Administration, and the revision of the old Manchu policy of seclusion in the Palace grounds to which Yuan Shih Kai adhered, all indicate progress.

Oriental Studies.

The formal opening of the School of Oriental Studies by His Majesty the King towards the end of February at the capital of the Empire marks the beginning of a new era. Henceforth London will possess facilities for teaching Eastern and African languages and thought in no way inferior to those existing in Paris, Petrograd and Berlin. and the scandal of administrators, merchants and missionaries going out to Asia and Africa without being properly equipped for their special tasks will have no excuse to continue. His Majesty's reference to "the ancient literature and the art of India" in his address was felicitous, and will be, we are sure, greatly appreciated by Indians, who will also welcome the belief expressed by Lord Curzon that every year the gulf between the East and West is becoming "less wide and less deep." Every humanitarian will echo the wish voiced by all who spoke at the gathering that the work of the institution will promote a better understanding between our people and Orientals.

On Tuesday, February

The War Office and Mr. H. A. M.P., asked in the House Barker. whether the War Office would appoint a Committee composed of men of high attainments but not connected with the medical profession, in order to inquire into the question of utilising for the benefit of our wounded soldiers the services of experts in manipulative surgery who did not hold medical degrees. Mr. Macpherson replied that the War Office could not appoint such a Committee as was suggested. We have again and again in these columns deplored the shortsightedness which has led led those in authority in the Medical Profession and the War Office to stubbornly refuse to allow to the common soldier this means of restoration while the leaders of the Army and Navy are profiting by it. Ignorance of the good wrought by manipulative surgery cannot be the reason, therefore we can only put it down to stubbornness, Sir George Greenwood, in a letter to the Evening Standard, gives the number of qualified practitioners of Osteopathy in America as 8,000. It is as ridiculous, he says, to boycott it at a time like this, as it would be to bar the use of American artificial limbs. The War Office boycott has caused indignation throughout the country. Headed by Mr. J. MacVeagh, over 60 members, drawn from all parties in the House, have formed a committee to secure official recognition of Mr. H. A. Barker's skill in manipulative surgery. A sub-committee is to be appointed to investigate the controversy between Mr. Barker on the one side and the medical societies and the War Office on the other. We hope that before long the pressure which is being brought to bear on them may force the authorities to acknowledge Mr. H. A. Barker and other experts in manipulative surgery and that we shall

20th, Mr. J. MacVeagh,

see every facility given to them to use their powers on behalf of our soldiers and sailors.

The Passing

of Notabilities.

The closing days of January witnessed the passing

of

man a great from among us. On the 29th Earl Cromer, who had been ailing for some little time, had a seizure from which he did not recover. Great as have been his services to his country in other ways, he will always be identified with his struggle to cleanse the Augean stables of Egyptian misrule. As Major Baring, his first post in Cairo, in 1877, was that of Commissioner of Public Debt; for this he had been prepared by his work in India, to which country he returned for a time. In 1883 he was back in Egypt, and there, for over twenty years, he put a new spirit in the old land. Never hurried, keeping Egyptian affairs out of the swirl of British party politics, encouraging any aptitude the Egyptians showed in managing their own affairs, he governed Egypt in the interest of the Egyptians themselves. A few weeks afterwards the Duke of Norfolk also went to his rest. Premier Duke and Earl, Earl Marshal and hereditary Marshal and Chief Butler of England, he was the most unpretentious of men. An Englishman to the core, he was also the head of the English Roman Catholic world, yet when he gave preferment it was to merit he gave it, whatever a man's religious proclivities. Of a dignity so high that nothing could deprive him of it, his simple manners and kindness of heart endeared him to his people, and story after story is told about this by the country folk around Arundel-how, for instance, a newly engaged labourer, mistaking the badly dressed man for a sightseer, turned him off his own lawn; or of his carrying a heavy basket for a poor old woman he met in a lane. Of him we may truly say we shall never see his like again. The friend of three monarchs and four Roman Pontiffs, he belonged to a time and conditions which have passed away.

Grandcourt.

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In time of peace a railway ran up the valley of the Ancre from Hamel, through Grandcourt, to Miraumont, where it broke away from the little river valley and turned more directly north toward the junction of Achiet-le-Grand. By capturing Beaucourt in the middle of last November, the British forces had formed about Grandcourt a salient of which this railway almost formed the northern side-it passed through no man's land" at the northwestern corner of the salient, which, commanded as it was from Beaucourt to the west and from the direction of the Regina trench to the south, must have been a very uncomfortable position for the Germans to hold. The only way of making it tenable at the end of the winter, when activity revived, was by capture of ground toward Beaucourt, which, from the lay of the country, dominated Grandcourt and its surroundings. Consequently, a German thrust toward Beaucourt was made on February 4th and 5th, attempting to recover the ground which had been won by the British on the two preceding days this latest British success had made the salient not only uncomfortable, but dangerous. The German attacks failed, although six separate attempts were made to recover the lost ground, and the result of the failure was a decision to abandon Grandcourt altogether, so that, instead of the enemy line pushing a salient into the British positions at this point, it should become a shallow British salient thrusting into the enemy line. On the night of February 6th-7th the enemy forces were withdrawn altogether from Grandcourt; the next night Baillescourt farm fell into British hands, and what is left of the railway running up the valley of the Ancre changed hands for about a mile of its length, toward Miraumont, which at the end of these minor operations lay less than a mile behind the enemy positions.

Economy in

Men.

It has been said that this action showed, for the first time, a desire on the part of the enemy to economise his effectives, but it shows nothing of the kind. The enemy made six determined attempts to render the Grandcourt salient tenable by increasing his holding toward Beaucourt, and all six attacks failed. He was left with no alternative but to abandon the Grandcourt positions, which would have cost him as many men as he chose to put into them. His statement, that he abandoned the positions without loss, is approximately correct-there is no claim of captures of any account in the British reports on this affair, and it is worthy of note that, for once, the enemy report contains truth. Another point worthy of note, and observable from any large-scale map of this area, is that the abandonment of this salient has merely created another salient a little farther to the east; not so pronounced a bulge, certainly, but one that gives the British troops an opportunity of converging their fire on it both from west and east. The whole thing is a minor action in the long-drawn battle of the Somme area, as it is called, which has not ceased since the beginning of the Franco-British offensive last July; it is not even locally decisive, though it is a definite advance toward an important objective—the railway junction of Achietle-Grand it is an illustration of the power of the British troops in this area to move forward at will, and of the inability of the enemy, in spite of the persistency of his attacks, to delay the moving forward. It is also evidence that the enemy has been unable to repair the damage to his lines in this sector, having been robbed of the winter quiet that he hoped to get. Had he been able to render the new line in the Somme and Ancre valleys as strong as the rest of his defensive system he might check the Allied advance in these winter months these local advances prove that