TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13097, 23 April 1908, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

One result of tho RnssoDrifttfng Japanese whi has been to Into causo us to rovuee our War. idees about Russia's con-

duot of foreign affaire. It was a common remark that the despotic form of Government had en advante©o> over the repreeeniartave form in the domain of foreign affairs, because tho former, -haying no one to consult or consider 'but rite own. dieeiree, could sot promptly and consistently. The steddy onward march, of Russia led us to believe that those who directed her foreign poHoy displayed a cfearneeß of vision and a tenacity c& puipose in which our own Foreign Office was all too deficient. But tfoe evonfts that 'led up to the war seem to show that Russia woe very badly served by her Foreign Offioe. M.. AndTO Nevil, writing in the "National Review" on tho negotiations wihicih led up to tho war, tells us that neither t<h.e Czar nor hae Ministers were averse to su&etantaal concessions, and that the terrible conflict could, and would, have been averted, had the Russian Government been a strong and united executive "body like the British Cabinet. It -was the Machiavellian Sto-teornft of Germany the* lured Russia into a forward policy in Manchuria, but there need hare been no war at all- if Count Lamsdorff, the Foreign-Minister, General Ktnropatkrn, Minister for Wax, and Count Wnltte, Minister of Faience, could liaro enforced their policy of peace. Nearer Wifcte nar Kirropatkln wa« under any delusion <as to the position in the Par I East. Wifcte emphasised the gravity I of the situation in a memorial to the

C-aar, advising a ooanpromis© winch would satisfy Japanese aspirations in Korea. Kuropatkin declared, in a Ministerial Council in 1903, his apposition to a war with Japan-, and, after ribiting Japan, urged that, as Russian piHi-parations in Manchuria were absolutely inefficient, a compromise should bo arranged at all costs. Those views wore unpalatable to Admiral Alexeieff, Governor of Port Arthur, and to a financial group with designs on. concce&ions in Korea. Am envoy was sent to St. Petersburg iby epeoial train to forestall Ivuropatkin'e report, and the Czar was prevailed on to create Alexeioff Viceroy of the Far East. The Japanese knew of the intrigue, and regarded the appointment as a victory for the expansionists. A few days before war 'broke out there was every proapeot of a settlement. Count Laansdorff. promised to give way on certain conditions, Ibut the Czar was persuaded to (submit t9ie final text of the note to Japan to Alexoieff. Knowing tibe Vicctroy'e attitude, Japan regexded this as tantamount to a rupture, and declared war. Alexeieff, it seems, was ready ito make concessions, but he delayed too long. The war was directly due to the cumbersome character of Russia's governing nuaohinery.

April 23rd, tho date Shakespeare tradition assigns to Abroad. the birth of Shakespeare, is an appropriate occasion to note tributes from other countries to the greatness of our greatest poet, called forth by the proposal to erect a -world tribute to Mm in JLondon. Germany's devotion to him is, of course, well known. So great has it become that, just as George IV., from haying go often spoken on the subject of Waterloo, came to believe that he had been there, some Germane eeem to have an, idea that SfaakespoaTewas a German. Venice strikes a happy note of appreciation in a spontaneous official message through the Foreign Office, accompanying a generous subscription. "Our city has a particular debt of gratitude, besides admiration, for the great tragedian, as no poet better then Shakespeare has collected so much fascination of poetry upon Venice; no one was able to present her greater, more beautiful, and more powerful to universal admiration." The city aJeo regards this as an opportunity "to tender a modest **token of her gratitude to the British nation, from whom she has received so many proofs of sympathy and benevolence." Franco is only too glad to subscribe to the memorial. She was late in appreciating Shakespeare it -was Germany, by the -way, who taught her—but now she is worshipping "furiously if not always discriminatingly," to quote the Paris correspondent of the '"Daily Tolegraph." There is something in Shakespeare which will never appeal to a French mind, but his works have filtered almoet completely into French literature, and his turns of thought and phrases occur naturaliy to the mind of the cultured Frenchman more often than do pihrases of Moliore and Racine to the Englishman. Sarah. Bernhardt is "all fervent veneration and enthusiasm." ■ She writes that "he is the greatest of all poets. She is on her knees before him. Her admiration is passionate awe. Anything she can do for tho bard "will be on honour to her." M. Antoime, whohee achieved the very difficult task of presenting "King Lear" in the right spirit, gladly pays "the tribute of his deepest admiration" to "Votre Grand Will."

Some interesting tenTendencies dencies in hotel dein velopment were referred Hotels. to the other day by a

London lecturer, who took as his subject, "Hostelries, Ancient and Modern." Tho coffeeroom, once tho principal apartment, so familiar to us through Diekens'a novels, is fast disappearing, or at least has become merely an adjunct to a room something like a restaurant. The old pose yard, with balconies running round it, whero the coaches used to draw up, has given way to the magnificent lounge or palm court. No fashionable hotel would he tolerated today unless it had a palm court, which is merely a revival of jibe Roman atrium." The old ouetom of ladies retiring to tho drawingroom after dinner," said th© lecturer, " and leaving the gentlemen to smoke and finish their coffee 1 and liqueur, is, so far as hotel life is concerned, becoming obsolete, and tho reasoff is not far to eeek, and is somewhat complimentary to th© men folk. Honestly, I think the lounge is a lady's invention. She does not desire to bo pitchforked out after a good meal away from the man oS her choice, and henoe the compromise effected in the shape of a large and roomy apartment." On the subject of bathrooms, h© struck a welcome note. Was their chilling aspect necessary, he asked. Was it absolutely incongruous to have warm tiles, cay, of rose colour, on the walls, and cork carpet on the floor instead of chilly paving? Such criticism applies even more to the bathrooms of private houses. Is it necessary, as is so often done, to put bathrooms on the cold side of a house, to make them gloomy and cheerless, and to keep them in a continual state of dampness? It is tho exception to sco a bright, dry and oheerful looking bathroom. To return to hotels, we learn that to be quite up-to-date, an hotel should keep a doctor on the premises, a dispensary, and Turkish, electrical, and medical baths. The lecturer estimated that at least from £8,000,000 to £10,000,000 had been expended on hotels in London during the laet decade, figures which give one some idea of the growth of hotel life in tho old world.