The animals which were driven back to Germany were as a rule the property of the army. With regard to furniture, the position was similar. In order to make the empty houses and barracks comfortable for the soldiers, the troops and the army factories produced vast quantities of furniture, while the officers purchased large quantities of furniture for their own use. It is therefore not right to consider furniture which was taken to Germany on military vehicles as unjustly acquired property.'

The report mentioned is full of complaints about Marshal Foch, and asserts frequently that demands were made through sheer greed, while military necessity was used as a pretext. For instance, we read on p. 25 in spaced type:

'The handing over of arms and munitions, which at first was obviously considered to be a measure for weakening the fighting power of the German army, became at last purely a business matter. The enemy wished to enrich himself as much as possible; and the Allies proceeded to disarm Germany in a spirit of persecution and of greed.'

Under the heading, The Surrender of Works of Art to France and Belgium,' we do not find a single line admitting the fact that vast quantities of art-treasures were stolen by the invaders. On the other hand, we find statements such as the following, which serve to create the impression that no such robberies took place :

'For the protection of works of art during the war measures were taken which were explained to the world in a richly illustrated publication in German, English, and French. . . . The works of art which were taken to Germany during the war by the authorities were, with a few exceptions, objects which were public property. They had been sent to Germany either through ignorance of the regulations, or because they came under the category of arms. . . . The French Government sent to the Armistice Commission a large number of claims of private men who missed art-treasures belonging to them. If the objects claimed should be found in Germany, they will be collected in Frankfurt and sent thence to Metz.'

...

The concluding chapter of the Report of the Armistice Commission frankly appeals to German indignation, for we read:

"The Allied commanders have repeatedly tried to describe the behaviour of their troops in the occupied districts of Germany as excellent. In view of these assertions it must be put on record that acts of violence on the part of the troops have compelled the German Armistice Commission to act unceasingly for the protection of the population. Brutal violations of the regulations regarding the use of arms have caused the death of many innocent people of both sexes. Numerous outrages on women, physical ill-treatment and violence, theft, burglary, etc., perpetrated on the helpless population must be put on record. Commanding officers have often taken part in such transgressions with complete disregard of all consideration; extravagant punishments have been inflicted for trifling transgressions; and unjustifiable orders have been given by the commanders of the occupying troops which were bound to outrage the feelings of German inhabitants.

...

"This volume shows what the Armistice conditions mean to Germany. Unfortunately they are not designed to carry out the great aim which President Wilson proclaimed in his speech of the 4th of July, 1918, in the words: "What we seek is the reign of law, based upon the consent of the governed and sustained by the organised opinion of mankind."'

The Great War broke out owing to a number of causes. Among these, a very important, if not the most important, one was the fact that the mind of the German people had been utterly warped by centuries of mis-education. Successful war had been exalted to the utmost. A spirit of chauvinism and of aggressiveness had been aroused among the people. The average German was as much interested in military affairs as the average Englishman is interested in sports and politics. The Universities, the schools, the Prussian State Church, and the Press had by their teachings aroused a militant spirit which greeted the outbreak of war with hysterical jubilation. Unfortunately, Germany's defeat and the revolution have not killed that dangerous spirit; and, unless the German nation is enlightened in time, the great tragedy of 1914-1918 may be followed by another and an even greater catastrophe.

J. ELLIS BARKER.

Art. 6. THE LABOUR PARTY AND ITS POLICY.

THE Labour Party appeals with growing insistency to popular suffrage in opposition to the old political parties; it styles itself the champion of democracy; it describes them as effete social forces, as nothing more than pretentious reactionaries against democratic progress. Soon the country must weigh in the electoral balance the avowed principles of the Labour Party in relation to national interests and the common weal. What is the Labour Party, whom does it comprise, what is its declared policy? To these questions this article attempts, in broad outline, an answer.

There are two great Labour organisations: the Trade Union Congress, with its Executive, the Parliamentary Committee, whose expansion into a General Council of Labour is now under discussion, representing the industrial wing; and the Labour Party, with its National Executive, representing the political wing. The present Labour Party dates from 1900, when the Labour Representation Committee was formed at the instance of the Trades Union Congress, the Independent Labour Party, the Social Democratic Federation, and the Fabian Society. Of fifteen Committee candidates who ran at the subsequent General Election of 1900, two were returned, Mr Keir Hardie and Mr Richard Bell, nine Trade Unionist members being also returned, but not under the auspices of the Committee. Before 1900 1900 individual Trade Unionists had been, from time to time, elected to Parliament. After the Reform Act of 1868, the first effective steps were taken in that direction by the Labour Representation League, formed in 1869; and in 1874, thirteen Labour candidates went to election; the first two 'Labour Members' were elected, one being the Right Hon. Thomas Burt. In 1880, three were returned; in 1885, eleven; in 1892, fourteen; in 1895, twelve. The successful Labour candidates stood on an industrial and not a socialist 'ticket'; where Socialists did stand they received no support. At the election of 1885, the Social Democratic Federation ran a candidate in Kennington and one in Hampstead; the former polled 32 votes, the latter 29.

In 1886 the Trade Union Congress formed an Electoral

Labour Committee, the Labour Representation League having been dissolved. It soon fell under the influence of the Liberal Party; this led to Mr Keir Hardie's campaign, opened at the Swansea Trade Union Congress in 1887, for an independent parliamentary Labour Party. Mr Keir Hardie himself unsuccessfully fought Mid-Lanark as an independent Labour candidate in 1888, but was returned for South-West Ham in 1892. At his instance the Independent Labour Party was founded in 1893; it sent 28 candidates to the poll in 1895, with no success. But the political activity of the Independent Labour Party roused the Trade Union Congress. In 1899 the Congress passed a resolution directing its Parliamentary Committee to arrange a conference of Trade Unions, Co-operative and Socialist Societies, to secure an increased number of Labour members in Parliament. The Labour Representation Committee was then formed in 1900.

The constitution of the Labour Representation Committee in 1900 was as follows: 41 Trade Unions, with a membership of 353,070 members; 7 Trades Councils and Local Labour Parties; 3 Socialist Societies, adding a further membership of 22,861, and making a total of 375,931. At bye-elections between the General Elections of 1900 and 1906, three prominent candidates of the Labour Representative Committee were elected: Mr (now Sir) David Shackleton for Clitheroe, Mr Will Crooks for Woolwich, and Mr (now the Right Hon.) Arthur Henderson for Barnard Castle. The Newcastle Trades Union Congress of 1903 passed a strong resolution enjoining political independence, and instituted a parliamentary fund. At the General Election in 1906, out of 50 candidates run by the Labour Representation Committee, which in that year rechristened itself 'The Labour Party,' 29 were elected; and under the Chairmanship of Mr Keir Hardie, the Parliamentary Labour Party was immediately established with all the paraphernalia of a separate political party in the House of Commons. At the General Election of January 1910, out of 78 candidates, 40 were elected; at that of December 1910, out of 56 candidates, 42 were elected; at that of December 1918, out of 392 candidates, 59 were elected. At this last election, with a total vote in Great Britain of 9,690,109,

2,375,202 were polled by Labour; under proportional representation Labour would have 120 members.

At the Trade Union Congress at Nottingham in February 1918, a revised constitution of the Labour Party was proposed and was adopted in London in March of that year. That constitution preserved the Party as a Federation of Trade Unions, Socialist Societies, Trades Councils, and Local Labour Parties; and it established the principle of individual membership in the local organisations. The Women's Labour League, previously affiliated to the Labour Representation Committee, ceased to exist as a separate body. Every man and woman, therefore, accepting the objects and constitution of the Labour Party, may now join the Party and exercise a voice in its Local and National Councils. It is intended to form a Local Labour Party in every Parliamentary constituency, as a unit of organisation to which Trade Union local branches and local Trades Councils, Cooperative, Socialist, and other societies will be affiliated; each individual local supporter of the Labour Party will be a member of the local Labour Party. Every candidate for Parliament must be chosen or approved by the local organisation and accepted by the National Executive. He must stand as a Labour candidate, and, if elected, must act in harmony with the constitution and standing orders of the Party, and be guided by the decisions of Party meetings. He must include in his electoral address those issues defined by the National Executive as the Labour Party's programme for the election. For the year 1917, prior to its re-constitution, the Labour Party's membership was as follows: 123 Trade Unions, 119 local Trades Councils and 80 Local Labour Parties, with a total membership of 2,417,991; 3 Socialist Societies, namely, the British Socialist Party, with a nominal membership of 10,000; the Independent Labour Party, with a membership of 35,000; and the Fabian Society, with a membership of 2140, bringing the total membership of the Party up to 2,465,131.

Turning from the Labour Party to the Trade Union Congress, Labour's annual Parliament,' we find that, when founded in 1868, it consisted of 34 delegates, representing about 20 Societies, and an affiliated membership of 118,367; in 1919, although it does not