in strong condemnation of the vacillating nature of the Government's policy. Law in Ireland, he declared, no longer existed. There had been sixteen murders committed within three weeks, and the murder record was steadily rising.

The Irish disorders showed signs of crisis around the middle of May. In a single night (May 12-13) no fewer than fifty police barracks were attacked by armed bands of Sinn Feiners, captured after pitched battles, and many of them burned to the ground. A score of income tax offices were also raided and all papers destroyed. New attacks occurred the following day.

A new system of treating Irish political prisoners through a special judiciary body was adopted by the Government, and new measures of control by military action decided on. The policy advocated by General Sir Nevil Macready, commander of the Government forces in Ireland, was that of closer co-operation between the police and the military. General Macready favored the establishment of military posts in isolated districts where police barracks had been abandoned or burned down. Soldiers were being used instead of police in the first two weeks of May for patrol work and for checking the land agitationists. Cavalry was being employed to prevent further cattle driving, and in some of the western towns, where disorders had been most prevalent, cavalry contingents had been permanently quartered. No evidence of a reported dissension between Lord French, General Macready and Sir Hamar Greenwood, the new Irish Secretary, had been perceptible. Lord Birkenhead, the Lord High Chancellor, on May 13 declared that the Irish police would be protected in their "heroic work" by the armed forces of the Crown.

Debate of the Home Rule bill, which had passed its second reading at the end of March, continued through April and May. In these discussions the Government made clearly manifest its determination not to abandon the bill, though it was admitted on April 22 that concessions in respect to Irish control of customs were being planned. The Irish Nationalist members on May 1 repeated their refusal to take part in further dis

cussions of the bill. A plea made by Mr. Asquith at the session of May 10 in favor of a single Irish Parliament was voted down decisively.

Mr. Lloyd George, on his return from the San Remo Conference, April 30, at once took up the Irish question, conferring with Mr. Bonar Law, Lord French and Lord Lieutenant Sir H. G. Denis Henry in London.

Some eighty-seven members of the United States House of Representatives on April 15 made a formal protest to Secretary of State Colby against the British treatment of Ireland. A memorandum was sent on May 4 to the British Government, signed by eighty-eight Congressmen, embodying a similar protest. This memorandum was commented on by the London press with resentment. Irish-American feeling was also shown on May 6 at the Democratic State Convention held in Providence, R. I., when the Sinn Fein organization was approved and the project of an Irish republic eulogized.

SCOTLAND

A bill providing home rule for Scotland passed its second reading in Parliament on April 16. The author and defender of the bill was Robert Munro, Secretary of State for Scotland. Its announced object was to create a Scots Legislature to deal with purely Scottish interests. The debate following the reading showed a strong current of opinion against it as unnecessary, and above all inopportune. The House rose without coming to a vote, and the issue of the debate was left in doubt.

CANADA

Announcement of the completion of arrangements whereby a diplomatic representative of Canada will be stationed at Washington was simultaneously made in the British and Canadian Houses of Commons on May 10. The official announcement appears on Page 544 of this magazine.

For the Liberal opposition the Hon. W. L. Mackenzie King, the leader, asked that all the papers relative to the matter be brought before the House as early as

possible, which was promised. Mr. King expressed surprise that "the whole transaction is finally settled by the British Government, the Canadian Government and the United States Government, and this Parliament has had no opportunity of giving any consideration to the question in its far-reaching, interimperial and international relations." This is a feeling that seems to be shared by a good many of the newspapers, which express the hope that now that the Premier, Sir Robert Borden, has returned to Ottawa after a prolonged absence in search of renewed health, there will be a full and frank explanation of all the reasons for the step, and of the attitude that Canadian Ministers propose to take in respect to a number of questions relative to the constitutional relationships of the British Empire, which are to be discussed at a conference to be held in London, The Toronto World remarks in its discussion of the decision to send a representative to Washington: "Nothing seems plainer than that, without the advice or knowledge of Parliament, there is being set up at Washington a sort of diplomatic entity that is neither fish, flesh, fowl nor good red herring. But it is said to be an authentic portion of Canadian nationality."

Assent having been given by the Governor General to the necessary legislation passed by the Commons and the Senate, the Grand Trunk Railway has become Canada's property and part of the publicly owned Canadian National Railway system. The country is now in possession of some 22,000 miles of railroad on the former privately owned sections, of which there are large deficits to be faced, an estimate for the year putting the aggregate as high as $47,000,000. The Government and its advisers nevertheless hold to the opinion that with proper management the system can be made to pay, and a good deal of rolling stock and equipment has been ordered. It is intimated that the rates on the lines will be increased. This could not well be done without granting similar rights to the Canadian Pacific Railway, which will be the only rival to the Government system.

Lieut. Gen. Sir Arthur Currie, In

spector General of the Canadian Militia, has resigned to accept the principalship of McGill University of Montreal, which had been tentatively accepted by Sir Auckland Geddes, who later became British Ambassador to Washington. The announcement was reecived in Canada with profound interest. The incident is unique in the annals of the country. General Currie, who is six feet four inches in height and built in proportion, is a native Canadian. He went to the World War in command of a regiment and became commander of the Canadian corps, directing its most striking offensives. On his return he reorganized the Canadian milita, which had formed the nucleus of the Canadian corps, and was made Inspector General. The General, who has received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from McGill, is not a university man. Educational circles in particular are watching McGill's experiment keenly.

At this writing it would appear that the Federal Government has no intention of taking any action in respect to racing and race track gambling, which was recently the subject of an exhaustive inquiry by a specially appointed Commissioner, Dr. Rutherford. The FarmerLabor Government of Ontario is apparently convinced that nothing may be expected from the Federal authorities this year and is taking action itself to get more revenue from race track license fees, this being a matter coming under its jurisdiction, while gambling is not.

Several thousand Mennonite settlers in Saskatchewan, dissatisfied with the attempts of the Provincial Government to get them to send their children to the provincial schools, are threatening to emigrate in a body to Missouri, which State they claim has offered them the rights and privileges they were assured they would be allowed to enjoy in perpetuity on coming to Canada years ago. Chief of these is instruction of their young in private schools under the direction of their Bishops and in the German language.

AUSTRALIA

Australia is knitting closer her bonds with the British Empire through her new tariff, which provides for three sets

of rates the British preferential, to be applied to imports from the United Kingdom; the intermediate, to be granted upon conclusion of reciprocity treaties, and the general rates, to be applied to all countries not entitled to either of the other tariffs. It is stated unofficially that preferential treatment will be withheld from British dominions with a lower economic standard than that of Australia. In general the difference between the general and the preferential tariff is 10 per cent. ad valorem, and between the intermediate and the other two 5 per cent. The new tariff is far more protective than its predecessor, one of its announced objects, as stated by the Prime Minister, being "to protect industries born during the war and to encourage others that are desirable and will diversify and extend existing ones."

Australia last November restricted the importation of a number of articles, with a view to giving them additional protection pending the preparation of the new tariff. These restrictions were withdrawn on May 13.

Several Australian shipping firms are planning to build a huge coal and oil bunkering depot in Sydney for the rapid supply of fuel to ships. Steps are also being taken to convert most of the Australian passenger steamers into oil burners. Experts of the Anglo-Persian Company are busy seeking new sources of oil in Papua, for which the Australian Government is granting authorization.

The House of Representatives has passed the Labor bill in favor of introducing the initiative and referendum in Australia.

With the view to assist Australia's trade and industry the Government has established a Board of Trade, a Bureau of Commerce and Industry and an Advisory Council of Science and Industry. There are fears in Australia of a wheat hortage next year owing to the bad and the necessity of exporting to Great Britain wheat already contracted for. Steps to remedy this situation, as well as the wool shortage, proved unsuccessful.

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Like the wheat harvest and also the wool clip, the mineral output of New South Wales is expected to show con

siderable decrease, mainly owing to the drought. Many mines were forced to shut down.

Queensland is resorting to chlorine gas as used in the war to rid its pasture lands of the prickly pear or cactus, which originally came from the United States, being intended for use as a natural hedge. More than 20,000,000 acres are now infested with the noxious growth.

An All-Australia Peace Exhibition has just been opened at Adelaide, South Australia, which is the most comprehensive display of its kind ever held in Australia. Goods from the various States are on view, and the collection gives a good idea of the industrial progress made by the Commonwealth.

NEW ZEALAND

Lord Jellicoe's appointment to be Governor General of New Zealand in succession to the Earl of Liverpool, whose term was extended to cover the Prince of Wales's visit to the islands, is especially pleasing to New Zealanders, who remember his two months' tour last year and his recommendations for an increase in the Australian and New Zealand Navies. This was followed by Great Britain's gift of a number of warships, of course not entirely disinterested, for in case of war the empire would have to depend largely upon the New Zealand Navy for the defense of her trade and commerce in the South Pacific.

The National Defense League recently organized in New Zealand is another notice to the world of the unity of the empire. General Russell, President of the league, has issued a statement of its policy in which he points out that the world's storm centre is moving eastward and that New Zealand as an outpost of the white race must prepare for outpost duty.

The visit of the Prince of Wales coincided with a railroad strike, but it was represented to him that there would be no difficulty in finding crews to take his train on its tour, although the people in general were deprived by the strike of railway accommodation. Then," said the Prince, "I will not ride either, for I am one of the people "-a remark which assured him a hearty reception wherever

he went, especially at Auckland, Wellington and Nelson. At Rotorua there was a picturesque celebration arranged by Maori tribesmen, formerly enemies of the British.

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Another recent visitor to New Zealand has been Theodore E. Burton, United States Senator from Ohio, who says he was surprised and amazed at numerous manifestations of unfriendliness to the United States." A New Zealand newspaper, commenting on his statement, says that the people of the country cannot be charged with being unfriendly in a general sense, but admits they have been alarmed by the threat they see in the Webb act. This measure, the paper adds, is being interpreted there to mean that American manufacturers and exporters are being encouraged to capture foreign trade by trust methods, such as underselling competitors for the purpose of gaining a footing and using freely every device of monopolistic trading, which, if practiced in America, would be punished as criminal.

EGYPT

Great Britain has officially recognized as heir apparent to the throne of Egypt Sultan Fuad's infant son, Prince Faruk, now about three months old. The British thus far, however, have not succeeded in conciliating the masses of the people. Conspiracies and assassinations continue. Two British orderlies were shot and wounded, and these attempts at assassination were followed on May 6 by the murder of a Lieutenant by four "Young Egyptians " in one of the main thoroughfares of Cairo. A bomb was thrown at Hussein Darviche, Minister of Public Works, as he was returning home from his office in Cairo on May 8, but he was unhurt. A student standing near by was mortally wounded and died the next day.

A serious railway accident to the express train from Vienna to Berlin recently drew attention to one source whence the "Young Egyptians” are recruited. Among the killed and badly wounded were a large number of Egyptian students. Investigation showed that the Nationalists in Egypt had arranged

with the German reactionaries to have sent to Berlin all those Egyptian students who formerly were sent to Vienna, Geneva, Paris or English universities. At Berlin such students were placed in charge of Abdul Aziz Shavish, a Turkish official conspicuous for his enmity to the Ailies.

Aside from politics, Egypt has been prospering as never before. Egypt's revenue receipts for the fiscal year 19191920 have been so large that instead of an expected deficit of $7,750,000 there will be a surplus of $15,000,000. Illiterate natives have made thousands of pounds and mortgage loans have been reduced from $200,000,000 to $140,000,000. The production of cotton was stimulated greatly by the war and Egypt built up a large favorable trade balance. One reason why food is so dear in Egypt is that farmers have been rooting up cereals to plant cotton. General Allenby has issued orders that cultivators doing this shall be fined £100 an acre and a restriction of the cotton area for 1921 is under consideration.

UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA

General Smuts in South Africa on May 17 was still holding his own in Parliament with his meagre coalition majority. The Prime Minister proposed to General Hertzog, leader of the Nationalist or Separatist party, that they should sink their differences and a best man government" be formed. General Hertzog made the counterproposition that a Premier should be appointed by a majority of the co-operating members in the House of Assembly and that the cooperation should be limited to the two parties, nothing to be done in Parliament to promote or counteract the secession movement. This proposal General Smuts rejected as unworkable, saying that it would have the appearance of an anti-British combination and a return to that racial policy which South Africa had outgrown. Meanwhile the Assembly has voted for the extension of the franchise to women.

One of the best indications of the progress of South Africa along industrial lines is the amalgamation of the

Pretoria Iron Mines with the Union Steel Corporation. Plans have been adopted for the erection of new blast furnaces, fully equipped, with coke ovens and with a by-product recovery plant, so that tar, sulphate of ammonia and benzol will be produced. Steel furnaces will be installed and, in fact, the company will

be able to provide everything that can be used in the way of iron and steel.

There is no shortage of sugar in South Africa. The result of the crushing season in Natal shows the greatest output so far recorded, about 185,000 tons of manufactured sugar, compared with 155,000 last year.

FRANCE

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where, the most important event. for France was a series of strikes in nearly every department of industry, from mining to transportation. The Bolshevist leaders, beginning with May 1 for a great general strike, launched several waves of attack against the so-called 'capitalist" Government.

Few unions responded to the call for a walkout on May 1, except as a matter of demonstration in the principal cities, and in Paris three persons were killed owing to an attack on students who had attempted to keep the bus lines running. Then the General Federation, at the request of the extremists of the Railway Federation, called a general strike for May 3. This was responded to by 20 per cent. of the railway workers and the sailors and dockmen at Marseilles and Havre. On May 6 this strike extended to the metal workers of the Department of the Seine. So the strikes gradually spread, in some cases only amounting to one or two days of demonstration, with no claims against employers, but all with the aim of attaining the overthrow of the Government and the establishment of an administration controlled by the proletariat.

On May 11 the Government announced its determination to dissolve the General Federation of Labor by virtue of Articles III., V. and IX. of the law of March 28, 1884, which lays down the exclusive rights of syndicates and unions to mere

study of the defense of their economic interests. With this threat no more unions obeyed the dictates of the General Federation, and by May 16 the Government looked for normal conditions within a few days. Meanwhile, the activities of the extremists, growing more and more unpopular with the general public, had cost the country some $20,000,000 in products and the workers little less in wages.

The stories of alleged atrocities practiced by the French black troops at Frankfort, which originally appeared in the London labor organ, The Daily Herald, reached Berlin in the first week in May, and were set forth as truth by their own discovery in the Socialist Vorwaerts and other papers. On May 8 Premier Millerand made a formal denial of the allegations, which had meanwhile obtained the support of the German Government; he added that all black troops had been withdrawn from the occupied Rhine zone. The General Staff completed its plans to keep a standing army of 700,000 men until Germany should have executed the terms of the Versailles Treaty.

The tension produced by the Government's announcement that France was absolutely dependent upon Germany for potash, iron, coke and textiles was relieved by the discovery of extensive phosphate deposits as well as oil fields in French Morocco.

On April 23 the Chamber adopted an amendment to the new tax bill taxing business transfers, which, it was said, would produce a revenue of 5,000,000,000 francs per annum.