high wages had to be paid to induce them to come. There they told the local natives of the better land under the Union Jack.

According to the South African Constitution the Parliamentary elections had to be held before November 1915. Five parties had placed candidates before the electorate of South Africa when the polling took place on Oct. 20-the South African Party, the Unionists, the Nationalists, the Labour Party, and the International Socialists. The South African Party, headed by General Botha, took its stand on the doctrines on which the Union of South Africa was founded. It stood for the fusion of the British and Dutch races on the basis of the Treaty of Vereeniging. The Prime Minister said that he had undertaken to suppress the recent rebellion in order to save the honour of those who had sworn allegiance to the British Crown as one of the clauses of a solemn pact between the two races. His party announced that they would loyally discharge their obligations to the Empire, and would maintain the constitution which had been framed by South Africans for the purpose of insuring the continuance of peaceful, orderly and prosperous development. In reply to a Nationalist candidate, who opposed General Smuts' return for Pretoria West, the Government declared that, if the Nationalists again made 'an armed protest,' they would not hesitate once more to declare Martial Law; and even before the elections took place they went so far as to prohibit the sale of rifles and ammunition in the Orange Free State.

Sir Thomas Smartt, the Unionist Leader, was in general agreement with the Government policy, but he was prepared to go further in certain particulars. He announced that the Unionists stood for the retention and for the strengthening of the Imperial tie between Great Britain and the Union of South Africa.

The Nationalist Party, headed by General Hertzog, obviously had great difficulties in formulating a programme; but the common motto of the party throughout the Union was 'South Africa First,' and they criticised certain schemes of Imperial Federation which had been propounded in England. General Hertzog, however, while demanding an amnesty for the rebels, announced

himself in favour of retaining German South-West Africa after the conquest had been made. At a party congress in December 1913, General De Wet had put forward a curious scheme for getting over all difficulties within the South African Party, according to which the present Government should resign and ex-President Steyn should be invited to select a Prime Minister under whom all the leaders of the Africander population could serve. It was never disclosed who this heaven-born leader was likely to be, and probably we shall never know, for the fantastic scheme was defeated then and there.

The Labour Party was split from top to bottom by the war. Mr Creswell, the old leader, joined the forces to fight in German South-West Africa; and the party grievances against the Government in respect of the drastic suppression of the Johannesburg strikes seem to have been forgotten. The taxation of land values, which would otherwise have been popular, did not interest the electors. The South African Labourites appear to have desired before everything else to insure the victory of their own country. The official organisation was split between Mr Creswell, who supported the Government policy, and Mr Andrews, who raised the standard of International Socialism.

The results of the elections are as follows:

Among the South African Party are included six Independent Unionists, who advocated the abandonment of Unionism in favour of the South African Party. The party has thus become in reality a fusion between British and Dutch elements.

Among the Nationalist candidates there were seven elected in Cape Colony, all of whom urged reconciliation between the two wings of the old Dutch Party. They were not pledged to follow General Hertzog, and their programme was far more moderate than that put forward

in the Orange Free State, so that it is doubtful how far General Hertzog can rely on their support in Parliament.

Both Mr Creswell and Mr Andrews lost their seats; and the circumstances of the moment made it impossible to arrange the expected working agreement between the Nationalists and the Labour Party. The coloured electorate in Cape Colony supported the Government, for to them the conquest of the German Protectorate implied the liberation of the local natives from a tyranny. With the exception of one seat at Bloemfontein, General Hertzog swept the board in his own province, though some of his majorities were small. The Unionists lost ground to the South African Party in the province of Natal; and Mr Merriman has strengthened his position in the South African Party by winning a wonderful victory at Stellenbosch, which is the intellectual centre of the Africander propaganda.

These results have enabled the Government to continue in office, although in fact they have not a majority over all parties combined. The South African Party is a centre block; and neither Unionists nor Nationalists dare turn out the Government, as there is no other organisation which can give South Africa the stable government it requires.

The problems which face the Union are very different from those facing a European community. The Native question must be solved; the whole commercial organisation of South Africa depends for its existence on European markets; and before another election takes place there must be a solution of three grave external problems, viz. (1) the government of the Protectorate of German SouthWest Africa, (2) the relations with Rhodesia, and (3) the renewal of the Mozambique Convention concerning Delagoa Bay, which expires in 1919. The Imperial Government has promised that South Africa shall be consulted on all these problems; and the result of the recent elections will ensure for Pretoria a powerful voice in their settlement.

R. C. HAWKIN.

Art. 7.--WAR RELIEF AND WAR SERVICE.

1. Memorandum on the steps taken for the Prevention and Relief of Distress due to the War, 1914. [Cd. 7603.] Wyman, 1915.

2. Report of the Administration of the Relief Fund up to 31st March, 1915. [Cd. 7756.] Wyman, 1915.

3. Interim Report of the Central Committee on Women's Employment. [Cd. 7848.] Wyman, 1915.

4. Annual Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories. Chap. IV, 'Women and Girls in Industry,' by Miss Anderson, H.M. Principal Lady Inspector of Factories. Wyman, 1915.

5. Proceedings of Conference on War Relief and Personal Saving. London, June 10, 11, 12, 1915.

6. War Distress and War Help. A short catalogue of the leading War Help Societies. By Helen Donald Smith. Murray, 1915.

IN August 1914 the mobilisation of the Fleet and the Army were accompanied by the almost equally rapid voluntary mobilisation of the civil population, intent on doing, and doing promptly, what in them lay to help the nation successfully through the tremendous struggle which lay before it. The practical sense of the nation at large realised at once when the war broke out that the country was involved in the greatest struggle known in its history-a life-and-death grapple with the greatest military power in the world. Faced by this tremendous task, every man and woman in this country asked the question, 'What can I do?' The young men answered in millions by joining the army and navy. Doctors, both men and women, answered by serving in war hospitals and field ambulances. Nurses, of course, had an equally ready answer. Young men on their way to training camps, and doctors and nurses, were among the comparatively small number of people who at the beginning of the war looked happy and satisfied, because they had found an obvious and certain way of helping their country through its great struggle. But the mass of men over military age, the women who were neither doctors nor nurses-what could they do? The answer

to this question quickly narrowed itself down to 'money or personal service, or both.'

The way in which this call to help the country was answered covers an immense field of activity. It will be impossible here to give anything like a complete survey of it. Only a few of the chief points can be indicated. The number of societies founded for the express purpose of doing war work is immense; and to them must be added societies of old standing which have either suspended their ordinary work or diverted it into new channels in order to help war distress or render war service. Miss Donald Smith's little book, giving names and addresses of societies of both types, enumerates 147 societies; but omissions will be readily detected by almost anyone who has had practical experience of war-relief work. This criticism detracts little from the value of Miss Donald Smith's compilation. A new edition of such a list would be needed at least once a month if it is to keep pace with the facts.

The first place in any account of War Relief must be given to the National Relief Fund founded by the Prince of Wales. War was declared at midnight on Aug. 4 and this fund was opened on Aug. 6. The co-operation of Lord Mayors, Mayors, and Chairmen of County Councils and Urban District Councils was invited; and they were requested to form Local Representative Committees to deal with the prevention and relief of distress owing to the war. The fund rapidly grew to very large proportions. It is probably the largest ever raised by voluntary contributions. In November 1915 it amounted to 5,615,9057., of which a little less than half (2,673,000l.) had been allocated to various objects.

On Aug. 4, 1914, a letter was addressed by the Local Government Board to the Central (Unemployed) Body for London, asking, in view of the probability of serious lack of employment and dislocation of trade in consequence of the war, that schemes of work should be formulated for dealing with such an emergency. The result proved, however, that the distress among the general population was much less than had at first been feared. The absorption of large numbers of men in the new army partly accounted for this; and the demand on the part of the Government and the Governments of