In regard to the conduct of foreign affairs, and in particular the line taken by the Government in the Far East, some discussion arose in the Commons (July 26) on the Foreign Office vote, when Sir Charles Dilke (Forest of Dean, Gloucester) contended in effect that while we had been forced to acknowledge the preferential rights of Russia in Manchuria and of Germany in Shan-tung, we had abandoned our own in the Yang-tsze Valley. In reply, Lord Cranborne, dealing with the AngloGerman Agreement, observed that there was no limit to the application of the clause in it stating that the contracting parties would "direct their policy towards maintaining undiminished the territorial condition of the Chinese Empire," but that the "open-door" clause was limited to the ports, littoral, and rivers of China and those parts of the country where the contracting Powers had influence. If, therefore, the German Government held that they had no influence in Manchuria, the latter clause did not, in their case, apply to that region. Incidentally Lord Cranborne mentioned that Japan had adhered to the AngloGerman Agreement. On the other hand, the Manchurian Agreement between Russia and China had not been signed, owing to the friendly representations of the British Government and to the support which had been given to patriotic Chinamen. Respecting the concession which the Russians claimed to have secured at Tien-tsin, it had been agreed that the question of the right to the disputed ground should be reserved for future settlement, and that nothing should be done in the meantime to prejudice the matter, and, although on more than one occasion the Russian military authorities had not shown as great a regard for that agreement as we had a right to expect, the Russian Government had always received our representations in a very different spirit. As to the landing of foreign troops at Shanghai (which had caused some anxiety in England), Ministers were given to understand that the occupation would only be a temporary one. The British troops on the spot were actually more than the equivalent of all the foreign forces put together. Nearly everything was settled with respect to the indemnity. His Majesty's Government had agreed to the raising of the maritime Customs to an effective 5 per cent. ad valorem, and in return for this concession the river approaches on the Peiho and Yang-tsze were to be facilitated. Certain Powers had suggested that the Customs duties should be raised to 10 per cent., but to that the Government could not agree unless further and material commercial facilities were given to British trade. While the Government did not favour an aggressive policy, they were fully alive to the necessity of protecting our merchants, and they kept our treaty rights always in view. Sir E. Grey (Berwick, Northumberland) feared that the Powers were imposing on China the maximum fine that she could pay, which seemed to him a mistake, as it would leave no means of exacting reparation by indemnity in future years. He could

not but consider the Anglo-German Agreement a one-sided one, from which Germany derived most profit. With Russia he held that an understanding was vital, and he urged the Government to impress upon that Power the importance of being frank and open. The legitimate aims of Russia could be satisfied without danger to this country; but if we could not convince Russia that her expansion must not injure British interests very unsatisfactory consequences might follow.

In the House of Lords (Aug. 6) the Foreign Secretary made the last of his series of statements as to the course of events in China, and was able to report much more definite movement than at any former date since he took up office. The negotiations, he said, had of late proceeded more rapidly, and the Government were able to regard that progress without dissatisfaction. While we had been ready to meet other Powers upon matters of comparatively secondary importance, there were points on which it had seemed inexpedient to make any concession. We could not allow the credit of this country to be used for the purpose of securing debts due to other Powers, nor could we be a party to any arrangement under which the commerce of this country would be taxed beyond the limits at present laid down by our treaty rights in order to raise the money necessary for the indemnities. There had, however, been a general acceptance of our proposals on these points, and there was a general agreement also with regard to the rate of interest, the sinking fund arrangements, and the revenues which were to be ear-marked for the service of the indemnity loan bonds. The number of foreign troops in China was being steadily reduced, and before long it would be brought down to the " provisional total" of 13,000, of whom about 4,100 could be British troops. The eventual strength of the force would probably be an aggregate of 1,800 men for the guards of the different Legations, with some 3,000 more men for the occupation of certain important positions between Pekin and the coast. Referring to the Anglo-German Agreement, Lord Lansdowne observed that, in the disclaimer of any desire to seek territorial advantages and the assertion of the intention of the Powers to maintain the territorial condition of China, the words of the agreement were entirely unqualified and unlimited; so that its provisions, in the view of his Majesty's Government, most unquestionably extended to Manchuria. He hoped it might be possible to arrive at a comprehensive settlement of any difficulties that had arisen with Russia. All we wanted of Russia in Manchuria was that our treaty rights should be respected, and that Russia should not use the preponderance which belonged to her to our detriment or to the detriment of the Powers with whom we were associated.

On the whole, the effect of these Ministerial statements was to strengthen the doubts entertained in this country, and expressed by Sir C. Dilke and Sir E. Grey, as to the value, from

the British point of view, of the Anglo-German Agreement; but, on the other hand, to produce the impression that while King Edward's Ministers had been unable to impose their own moderation in demands for compensation on the other Powers, they had succeeded in averting any sacrifice of British commercial interests in connection with the arrangements for the discharge of the indemnity. A few points remain to be brought together as bearing on the South African policy of his Majesty's Government so far as it was developed up to the end of the session of 1901. It has been seen that an important part was played in the divisions of the Liberal party by references to the concentration camps, and particularly to the light believed to be thrown on the management of them by Miss Hobhouse, after her visit to South Africa. That lady, whose courage and devotion no one ever questioned, however opinions might differ as to the dependence to be placed on her judgment, enumerated in her report to the Committee of the Distress Fund for South African Women and Children the following, as among the things tending to undermine the health and constitution of the women and children in some of the camps: lack of fuel, lack of beds and mattresses, lack of soap, a monotonous diet deficient in vegetables and unsuitable for children, bad water, overcrowding, want of warm clothes and blankets, and inadequate sanitary accommodation. She forwarded a series of recommendations to the Secretary for War, who clearly gave them prompt and earnest consideration. He replied to them in detail under date June 27, apparently not many days after they had been received, stating that in several cases attention had already been and would be given to the points raised by Miss Hobhouse, so far as military exigencies would allow. Whereas, however, Miss. Hobhouse had recommended that free access should be given to a band of at least six accredited lady representatives of English philanthropic societies, to be responsible to the Government as well as their societies for the work of remedying defects of administration in the camps, Mr. Brodrick said that he thought it was "desirable to work through local committees, and through persons sent out by the Government to act with them." With that view it was announced in the House of Commons (July 22) that a committee of ladies would go to visit the concentration camps, consisting of Lady Knox, Mrs. Fawcett and Miss Lucy Deane (his Majesty's Inspector of Factories) who had that day left England for the seat of war -and also Miss Scarlett and Dr. Jane Watherston (medical graduates of considerable practical experience, and both already in South Africa), and Miss Brereton, who had been in charge of the Yeomanry Hospital, the appointment of the two lastnamed ladies being contingent on their being able to quit their professional work. A few days later (July 26) Miss Hobhouse wrote to Mr. Brodrick urging that she also might be allowed to return to work in the camps, where she thought that her

experience and knowledge of the people, and to some extent of their language, would enable her to be a useful auxiliary to the committee he had appointed. The War Secretary, however, replying on the following day, expressed the inability of the Government to accept Miss Hobhouse's services, while declining, as they had done, those of other ladies connected with various philanthropic agencies, on the ground that they could not be regarded as entirely impartial in regard to the system adopted. He added that it was the more impossible for them to make an exception in Miss Hobhouse's case, "as her reports and speeches had been made the subject of so much controversy." Of that fact there was no doubt, though it was matter for much regret that in several cases the authorities of halls in different parts of the country had felt obliged to refuse to allow meetings to be held to hear addresses from her, on the ground that disturbances were to be feared. At the same time it should be recorded that, on the invitation of the Victoria League-an organisation of influential ladies recently formed for promoting Imperial consolidation in various ways-a committee of wellknown ladies and gentlemen of both parties was formed for the provision of extra comforts and clothing to the inmates of the concentration camps. This movement was cordially welcomed by Mr. Brodrick, and he undertook that the Government would be responsible, through the local committees or ladies sent out to co-operate with them, for the distribution of any funds, "whether intended for the concentration camps or for loyal subjects of the Crown who had suffered through the war."

While the Government thus evinced a genuine desire to mitigate as far as possible the hardships of non-combatants, there was a perceptible hardening in their tone towards those continuing to participate in the obstinate guerilla warfare, stained in some cases by cruelty and crime, which was still desolating great tracts of South Africa, and preventing the general resumption of industry. In Committee of Supply (Aug. 2) Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman asked the Colonial Secretary for information as to the situation in South Africa, and in doing so took occasion to express the fear that by devastation, the destruction of farm-houses, and the concentration camps great racial hatred was being fostered. Having touched in an anxious tone on the administration of martial law in the Cape Colony and the suspension of the Constitution there, he expressed the hope that terms would be offered to our brave foes of so generous a kind as to overcome their objection to coming within the Empire.

Mr. Chamberlain, in reply, commented with considerable bitterness on Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman's want of interest in the misconduct of our opponents, reminded him that the policy of farm burning had been abandoned, and said that there was no longer anything approaching a wholesale destruction of houses. He justified the policy of concentration

camps on the ground that it would be inhuman to leave the women and children on the desert veldt, and maintained that, lamentable as the mortality had been in some of the camps, it would have been still greater if they had not been established. There had been no complaint from the Cape Government as to the administration of martial law, and if, as was alleged, criminals were sometimes convicted on Kaffir evidence he saw no reason for interfering. Accused persons had the benefit of legal advice when it could be obtained. As to the Cape Constitution there would be no real breach of it, unless the Parliament of the Colony was not called together in October. The war was now entering upon a stage of brigandage and outrage. For the past four months there had been an average monthly depletion of 2,000 among the Boers, and the number in the field was now undoubtedly small. Lord Kitchener's blockhouse policy was succeeding so well that he believed it would be possible to send home a considerable number of men in September. Severe measures would have to be adopted in the protected districts, for we could not allow the re-establishment of industry and the work of conciliation to be indefinitely postponed. The bulk of the people would be ready to settle down after the war, and we must show that we were able to protect them. The contention that the negotiations between Lord Kitchener and Botha had broken down by reason of the alterations made from home in the former's terms was futile in view of the subsequently revealed fact that Botha and De Wet were not prepared to accept any terms short of complete independence. The Boers would look upon any fresh opening of negotiations on our part as weakness, but when the settlement came this country might be trusted not to be vindictive. With regard to Kruitzinger's avowed determination to shoot down all Kaffirs in our employ, whether armed or unarmed, the Government had telegraphed to Lord Kitchener that such acts as the Boer commander threatened, or as the killing of the wounded, being contrary to the usages of civilised warfare, all persons charged with having committed or authorised them were to be tried by court-martial, and, if found guilty, to suffer the penalty of death. Mr. Chamberlain said, in conclusion, that he was not discouraged by the state of the war, and did not believe that irreconcilable hatred would remain when it

was over.

Sir E. Grey deprecated the tone of Mr. Chamberlain's rejoinder to Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman, but gave a general support to the substance of his declarations. Again, on the second reading of the Appropriation Bill (Aug. 15), when Sir W. Harcourt challenged Lord Kitchener's proclamation of August 6, of which an account will be found in the African chapter of this volume, and questioned whether we had a right to deprive the Boers in the field of their belligerent rights, and Mr. Bryce condemned it as an outburst of anger and a futility, Mr. Asquith declined to