Let him in whose ears the low-voiced Best is killed by the clash of the First, Who holds that, if way to the better there be, it exacts a full look at the Worst, Who feels that delight is a delicate growth cramped by crookedness, custom, and fear, Get him up and begone as one shaped awry: he disturbs the order here. Let him stay and let him speak if he can speak with Thomas Hardy's charity. We need such a one to face the worst of truth. Without his pains we shall never reach the best of truth. And he perhaps will come with us. Certainly he will if he honestly can. The volume of selections ends with that chorus from The Dynasts in which hope is sung: And all through a light glimmers and gathers from 'the something that saved him,' when The clock rang; The hour brought a hand to deliver; And looked back at den, ditch, and river, What hand this was, may be partly guessed from quotations already given. The constant reader will guess more precisely; then he will change his mind and be less ready to define. Whatever the deliverance, it has left its happy mark on three pages out of every four in these books. 'Life laughs onward,' and 'the too regretful mood' is always dying on the poet's tongue. 'Mornings Consciousness the Will informing, till It beryl-bespread, And evenings golden fashion all things fair! Would Mr. Hardy have allowed it that emphatic position if he did not incline to that side? We must not make too much of that sign. But in Moments of Vision there are others. When he 'wonders about himself,' he asks a pregnant question: Part is mine of the general Will, The war has called from him solemn notes which resound determiningly, not determinedly. These allow us to put a meaning deeper than the first that offers itself on that tremendous oracle among the Poems of War and Patriotism which begins: I met a man when night was nigh, "I have seen the Moulder of Monarchies, red' return after the gray. 'Lalage's coming'; there is no melancholy there. And yet, more grateful still to ears attuned, is such a piece (so clever, too, in its echo of the lilt of the minuet) as the wistfully gay Lines to a Movement in Mozart's E-flat Symphony: Show me again the time northerly! and mountains Yea, to such freshness, fairness, fullness, fineness, freeness, Love lures life on. Show me again the day We looked together upon the pestered sea! Yea, to such surging, swaying, sighing, swelling, shrinking, Love lures life on. There is no room to quote the rest. This review is belated. The reviewer found at first that these poems were almost too tersely, masterfully carved, too naked, if the word may be allowed, for him. He shrank from writing, kept them in his pocket and at his bedside, and read and read. Now his trouble is that he wants to quote a ECONOMICS, TRADE, AND FINANCE THE ECONOMIC FUTURE OF THE UNITED STATES: A BRITISH VIEW IN an address to the public of the United States, President Wilson declares for a very remarkable and very important change in the financial legislation of the great republic. The reader will naturally remember that the United States as one great republic is very new, that it was recognized generally throughout the world only in 1782, and, consequently, that it is not yet a century and a half old. It is quite true, of course, that several of the States are much older, some dating as far back as the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and others coming down to the time of the Guelphs. Still, the United States is an exceedingly new country. At the outside it cannot claim a greater antiquity than about four centuries, and a great part of it is quite new. Already, however, it has made such extraordinary progress that its population at present will probably be proved, when the coming census is taken next year, to be at least 110,000,000, if not more. And after that we may reasonably look for an extraordinary rapidity in the growth of population. It is reasonably to be assumed that, as an immediate consequence of the war, there will be a very considerable migration from the older to the newer countries. It is quite true, of course, that there are now very many countries even newer than the United States, and that many of these offer splendid rewards to labor and enterprise. Therefore, there will not be that almost confinement of migration to the United States which a little time ago was so remarkable. On the contrary, we may reasonably look for a great increase in the removal of Europeans to British territories, and even to French. Nevertheless, the United States will be able to offer prospects so brilliant that it is reasonable to anticipate that the migration will be upon an exceptionally large scale. The reader who wishes to understand for himself the probable course of events in the early future will do well to bear carefully in mind that several great inventions have just been made, and, although even during the war they played a great part in the struggle, no man living at present can undertake to say what will be the results of those inventions in the course of a quarter of a century, and still more if we extend our view to a later date. We can see already how almost certain it is that air locomotion will play a great part in the development of nations during the next century. He would be a very rash, as well as a very foolish, man who would undertake to say in what directions the greatest changes will be effected, and in what special form they will make themselves most observable. But it is certain that traveling through the air must have a great effect before very long. Then there comes the submarine. Owing to the peculiar employment of the submarine by the Germans during the war, people in general are apt to look upon the submarine as a mere instrument of destruction. Unquestionably, it is a very formidable instrument of destruction. And quite possibly it will be found to be even more formidable than at present is at all generally recognized. But that the effect of the invention will only occasionally be destructive we venture to lay down. Its real influence will be in directing human enterprise in manners hitherto never thought of. How the submarine, during the remainder of the present century, is to be developed we shall not be rash enough to undertake to say; nor shall we affect to see the directions in which certainly some great changes will be made. But it may be stated with confidence that as yet we have only the mere beginning of a great invention which is destined to play a most important part in the development of human affairs. We have, then, two inventions which seemed the other day so incredible that when we wished to denounce anything we were apt to compare it with traveling great distances under water, or some similar figure of speech. There can be no reasonable room for doubt, then, that we are about to see a very great change in much of the economic work of the world. The development of these great inventions may be delayed. Even Watt's great invention was not applied on any large scale for a considerable time after it had been made known. It is quite possible, therefore, that the new inventions for some time may not have much effect. But sooner or later they will go far toward changing the whole aspect of human affairs. It is as certain as anything can be that the influence upon the United States will, in consequence, be enormous. In the long run the British Dominions must grow at a rate now unthought of. But the development of the United States will precede that of the Dominions, and, therefore, will make the United States the first of existing nations in a surprisingly short time. It has been remarked above that probably next year's census will show that the population of the United States now exceeds 110,000,000. If the great inventions referred to are rapidly developed, the influence upon the United States must be exceptionally great, and, therefore, before the current century comes to an end, the United States, in all reasonable probability, will yield in numbers only to India and China. The British Empire is certain to grow at an extraordinary rate likewise. But it will be a long time before, let us say, Australia will be any match for the United States. And it is not, perhaps, too much to assert that South Africa, with all its great advantages, will likewise lag behind greatly. The first great development, then, will be in the United States. And, unless something now entirely unforeseen indeed, even entirely unthought of occurs, the United States will be, before the present century comes to an end, the most powerful single State in the world. The growth of the British Empire, unless extraordinary ignorance and extraordinary fatuity are practised, ought likewise to be surprisingly great. Look at British North America, Australia, South Africa, and so on, and one cannot hesitate to say that the growth of population of the British Empire must be wonderfully rapid. On the other hand, we have, unless our political genius is greatly improved, the disadvantage that the British Islands are very small; that in, let us say, a century the British Islands will be the original home of the British people, but they will no longer be the real government of the British Empire. There are, then, great dangers threatening the British Empire unless the people develop a foresight and a statesmanship never hitherto shown. We must, for one thing, settle with Ireland, and make the British Islands heartily united. And we must, for another thing, recognize that every year that passes will make us count for less with in the British Empire; and, consequently, we must begin to practise greater moderation and modesty than we usually show. Still, the countries that at present seem likely to benefit most rapidly and decisively from the great inventions referred to will be the English-speaking peoples. Are we sure that we have the statesmanship, the foresight, the knowledge, the selfcontrol, that will enable us to benefit entirely from all that is coming to help us, and to avoid, as far as mere human weakness renders possible, the disadvantages that will accompany them? One thing, at all events, is clear; that the United States is about to adopt a financial policy which is well worthy of consideration, always assuming, of course, that Congress follows the lead of the existing President. Apparently, President Wilson decides to carry if he can, a system of taxation which will, as far as can be, relieve the poor man and throw the real burden of taxation upon the rich. It is a most wise and farseeing policy. It ought to be watched with the greatest care by our people. And if the President, as he seems inclined to do, brings forward any of his plans in the session which has just begun, we ought to study every proposal of his with the greatest care, and to follow the development both of support and of resistance that will be made manifest. We are about to see a policy attempted which is often spoken of but rarely tried. And we would especially recommend all the laboring classes of every kind — the men who really make the wealth and the prosperity of the Empire - to watch what is about to be attempted in the United States, and to watch with a carefulness and a desire to understand it that admit of no doubt. The Statist THE NEW FRENCH TAXES THE financial event of the greatest recent interest has been the proposals introduced by the Finance Minister to Parliament for increased taxation, and already a measure has been rushed through the Chamber increasing the dues on matches and tobacco. The proposed new taxation will, it is expected, provide a sum of 1,280,000,000 francs, which is chiefly destined to cover the interest of the forthcoming loan. The increased duties on wines, coffee, sugar, mineral waters, and the taxes on gas and electricity are estimated to produce a sum of 503,500000. The tax on tobacco, which is increased by 40 per cent on the 1914 rate, is estimated to produce 150,000000, the increased charge on matches to bring in 15,000,000, the increased dues on registration, which as regards securities is raised from 21⁄2 to 5 per cent, gives a total of 170,000,000, dues on Customs should produce a sum of 200,000,000, and penal measures against fraud 242,000,000. Further, M. Klotz proposes to bring in shortly several bills. The first of them would increase succession duties on collateral descent and between non-relatives, and would limit to the fourth degree of consanguinity intestate successions. Secondly, he has in contemplation a super-tax for incomes over 10,000 francs that have increased since 1915, and, thirdly, a bill establishing a state monopoly on petrol and petroleum. As regards these new taxes, the facts at present are that the match tax has been imposed by decree, and that the tobacco tax was rushed through the Chamber and Senate on the day of its being proposed. M. Klotz's proposals have met with violent hostility from the general public, especially from junior members of the professional classes downward, who regard them with |