"ALL Quirr oN THE Westiay Frost,—By FIN. Remarqae, from the German London Po Putra Shanghai: Kelly This is quite the most powerful story of the war we have ever read, To an Englishman it has two on standing novel features; first th it presents the war from the angle of the German private on the We ern Front, and second in its manner of telling the story. This disjointed, like a succession of cinema scenes strung together by their common subject, the war. We say this in no disparagement; if anything this method of telling the story increases its realism, and one without effort from one to another. While the al most continuous use of the present tense, instead of wearying often' does, enhances the interest.
Now we have read "All Quiet on the Western Front" we wonder how any one ever attempted to tell th story of the private in the war any other way. The man in ths ines received his general impressions through a ceries of just incidents as the author Behind the lines "resetense waits in the trenches for Kingdom.
Prior to the war, the! ratio and New Zealand from the '%ck and count Wirection of the general Foreign] Home Country, and to. a lesser #cls like to be Policy of the British Empire was: in] extent India, is a higo obstacle in the S#¥dment; leave and its di theory and also in practice vesta! in the Government of the United King. The War brought about x great change in the status of the Dominions.
Before the War the Dominions and Colonies had little or no say' shaping the Foreign Policy of the Empire, but in his opening speech to the Imperial Conference in 1921 Mr. Lloyd George said:
In recognition of their services aid achievements in the War, the Britian Dominions have now been wily into the comity of nations. by the whole world, 'They have achieved full national' status, and. they stand beside the United, Kingdom ug qual partners inthe Fesponsibiities of the Be com:
In 1919 Sir Robert Borden in hie speech to the Canadian. Parliament stated the position of the Dominion representatives in the Imperial Coxineil Chamber in clear and comprehensive terms, as follows:—
We meet here. on terme of equality under the. presidency of the Firs Minister of the United Kingdom. Ministers (rot six nations around the coun rt, all of them responsible to"'their respective Parliaments and to the peuple of the countries they represents. Buch nation has ite voice pon an of common concern ad portance a the deli proceed; wadi preserves unimpaired perfect autonomy, its self-governme the rewonaibiity io la ome And in 1919 also General Smuts during, the debate in the South way of full disewesion of important matters, and until the time of] transit " between these counter and England can be very* materi ally diminished, it makes anything like frequent Inperial Conferences almost an impossibility. "With the coming of a regular and' secure air service, this obstacle should shortly be done away with.
Air. Hughes deals with the di culties which are bound to arise from party polities in relation to Foreign Policy. Even if the Dominions are able to exercise their right to an effective voice in the Empire's Policy, they may, after having done soon any particular question and having -agreed to cer tain general principles and a definite line of policy in Rurope or elsewhere, be confronted with a new Government in Great Britain, whose conception of Foreign Policy is fundamentally different from that of its predecessors. Mr. Hughes has good deal to say in elaboration of thi convincing. Whether any particular. reader agrees with Mr. Hughes' point of view or not, it fe that his interest should not be roused and his mind stimulated by Mr. Hughes' masterly handling of his-subject. The whole ques jon in review is one of absorbing interest to anyone who holds views of any sort on the British Empire or who realizes at all st as they happened. They tare the stamp "Absolutely genuine.
There are occasional flashes of humour of a rather broad variety, but none the less true to life, and sratches of veal "Tommy" philosophy leap ovt on one in pleasing surprises. There are also a lot of things one does not usually write about—latrines, for instance. Some.
as soon as a true-to-life character appears in a took, he is supposed never to want to relieve himself; whereas any army officer wi tell you that latrines are as important, if not more so, than the cook-house.
The simple style of telling the story, without any perceptible seck ing after effect, saves the grim scenes from becoming turgid. The author appears to be describing Just what is before his eyes in stob a way that one sees it with him. Than which there can hardly be any better tribute to his act.
Tf anyone who was not there wants to get an idea what it really was like, told in the most fascinating way; or if any ex-service mao who has had the experience wants to compare his own sensations with another's, we can recommend this book. To the latter we say that it will probably tell him his own impressions better than he knew thes: himself.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.