... o o j jpj j| o o United Belgium. BELGIUM before the war was, to a certain extent, a divided country, the Wal loons on the one hand and the Flemings on the other, pro viding two distinct sections of the population, and at the same time an opening for the driving of a sinister wedge into the unity of the country, a fact which Germany has always borne well in mind. I here is no doubt that after ...

... PICTOREAL POLITICS. Mr. Asquith's Return. The volume of enthusiasm which greeted Mr. Asquith's return to the House of Commons last week sur prised even the small but loyal following of that able gentleman. But the reason is not in truth far to seek. The community as a whole trusts Mr. Asquith, trusts his mental balance, his judgment, and above all, his moral and political probity. Mr. ...

... Worlhin^ton Worfhin^lpn revives enthusiasm ...

... Pictorial Politics. Stockholm. THE reduction of a majority of 1,296,000 to one of only 3,000 in favour of sending peace delegates to Stockholm to confer with the enemy, and, as one of the most prominent Pacifists has asserted, bring back the basis of peace in his pocket, is a sufficiently elo quent comment on the real atti tude of Labour towards the proposal for a parley with unbeaten Germany. ...

... Pictorial PolitlcSo Our Business Government. THE Business Govern ment is on its trial, and it must be said that its critics grow daily more formidable in number and in attack. Mr. Lloyd George's National Ministry raised great expectations for the efficient conduct of the war on account of the inclusion of big business men such as Lord Rhondda, Lord Devonport, Sir Albert Stanley, and one or ...

... . Plot or Not AT the time of writing it has not been decided whether the great strike shall be settled, or whether negotia tions will be resumed on the basis of the men going to work, or whether the strikers will decide to fight the community. By the time these lines are read that all important matter will be decided but what the community ought to know is the whole history of the proceedings ...

... ,, Mr. Balfour's Triumph. NOT only our Empire but the whole of the Allied nations owe a deep debt of gratitude to Mr. Arthur Balfour, whose presenta tion of the agreement of the En tente Powers to the President of the United States last week was the clearest, most concise, and masterly statement of our case before the world that has up to the present time been given. Its effect upon thinking ...

... . One Step Enough IN accordance with the plan of campaign which was laid down at the recent Trade Union Congress at Glasgow, the miners again saw the Premier last week with a view to renewing their demand for full nationalisation. But oh, what a change of atmosphere since the time of the Congress permeated this proposal; in the recent strike the railwaymen were for all practical purposes the ...

... Pictorial Politics. The Voice of Labour. MR. PURDY, the presi dent of the Labour Party Conference at Nottingham, is to be congratulated on the manner and matter of his presidential address, which provided an agreeable contrast to the utter ances of many of the men who profess to speak in the name of the British working man, but who are in reality only the paid minions of anarchy and disruption ...

... ifiw, I 1 mm: STVWES STERls'w^l^ 1 ...

... . Snort Reviving:. t ngland certainly paused in the midst of her toil of self- -L-' reconstruction last week to watch with intense interest the result of three of the most interesting competitions in her national sports. At golf the amazing Duncan, not withstanding a bad start, carried all before him, and foreign competitors were practically nowhere. At Wimbledon, alas, Mrs. Lambert Chambers ...

... * The Mad Dog. THE old saying that those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad is the most applicable comment pos sible upon the German challenge to the world which was issued last Thursday, prohibiting sea commerce and the travelling of neutrals within large and impor tant areas round the British Isles and France and Italy under penalty of death and destruction. It will be remem ...