NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13683, 26 February 1908, Page 6

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

THE ARMY .OF THE REVOLUTION.

Jack London contributes to the Contemporary' Review a characteristic article entitled "Revolution." He says:"ln Germany there are 3,000,000 men who begin, their letters 'Dear Comrade,'and end them, 'Yours for the' Revolution;' in France, 1,000,000 men: in Austria, 800,000 men; in Russia, 400,000 men; in Belgium, 300,000 men; in Italy, 250,000 men; in England, 100,000 men: in Switzerland, 100,000 men;' in Denmark, 35,000 men; in ' Sweden, 50,000 men; in Holland, 40,000 men; in Spain, 30,000 men, comrades all, and revolutionists. These are numbers which dwarf the grand armies of Napoleon and Xerxes. They compose, when the roll is called,an army of 7,000,000 men, who,, in accordance with the conditions of to-div, re fighting with all their might for t-lio conquest of the wealth of the word and for the complete overthrow of existing society. He glories in the fact that he and his comrades are Revolutionists, who, in Russia, do not stick at assassination. As fast as a country becomes civilised the. revolution fastens upon it. , In the United States in 1888 there were only 2068 Socialist votes; in 1904 they had risen to 435,000, and that in spite of a time of unprecedented prosperity,. The revolutionist is no starved and diseased slave in the shambles; he is, in the main, a hearty, well-fed working-man. He sees the shambles waiting for him and his children, and declines to descend.. All the world over it is a working-class revolt; the great middle c'ass is perishing, having become a great anomaly in the social struggle. The cause of the revolution, Jack London says, is to be found in the fact • that the capitalist class has hitherto managed society, and has failed deplorably, ignobly, horribly. The result is, the state of society is distinctly worse than that enjoyed by the cave-men in prehistoric times. In; the United States there ate 10,000,000 people who, because they cannot get' enough to eat, are perishing, dying, body and soul, living miserably, and dying slowly. No cave-man ever starved as chronically as they starve, ever slept as vilely as they sleep, ever festered with rottenness and disease as they fester, nor ever toiled as .hard, and for as long hours as they toil. In the City of New York 50,000 children go hungry to school every morning. .What is true of the United States is. true of all the civilised world. , Man's efficiency for food-getting and shelter-getting has increased a thousand-fold since the days of the cave-men. Machinery has multiplied its capacity for production at least a thou-sand-fold. How is it, then, that the social system produced such evil results? Jack London maintains it is because under the capitalist system the management is prodigiously wasteful.

, THE KHEDIVE, In his fascinating "Egypt," which has just been published in three languages, Mr. Weintbal gives an interesting character sketch of.the Khedive, whom he has frequently met, and of whom he speaks in the highest terms. " Anyone," he says, " who has had the honour to have met the Khedive in intimate personal intercourse is almost in the fust moments struck by the unique lingual capacity ho displays. His Highness converses and writes equally well in excellent English, faultless French and German— latter he talks with a mostagreeable Austrian accent. It is also known that he has a great knowledge of various Oriental languages —is, in fact, a learned scholar both in Arabic and Turkish. It does not take long to find out that this gifted young ruler is absolutely devoid of anything which may be termed as approaching religious bigotry, narrowness of thought, or ignorance of the, ways of the outside world. In private and friendly conversation it is quickly noticed that the Khedive has 3, remarkable memory, and that he can converse effectively on. almost any topic of the day. With an almost abnormal energy for an Oriental, Khedive Abbas Pasha lias done wonderful work on his fine estate. At six o'clock in the morning he may often be seen in the saddle, riding about in company with his trusted superintendent and estate manager, Mr. Thomas Wright, a most able agricultural expert of Caledonian birth, visiting the various stud farms, plantations, and giving his orders, exactly as an English gentleman farmer would in superintending his own domains. Breakfast in served at eight o'clock, after which correspondence is passed, and then His Highness departs for town to attend to official work at Abdin Palace. For the wants of his workpeople the Khedive is indefatigable. At Koubbeh there is a model village with mosques, schools, and meeting places, and a most moderuly equipped fire brigade—all supported by His Highness to demonstrate to his own people the benefits of European order, cleanliness, and- community of interest. His Highness' great charm is undoubtedly the genial manner in which he greets his visitors the moment they enter. The Khedive has a very pleasant fare, with a healthy, weather-bronzed complexion, and in certain lights his full en face conveys an impression not unlike that cf the German Emperor. His eyes, when he is talking in a lively manner, reflect each thought and emotion, and' photographs, no matter howgood, cannot possibly ■'convey., the exceptional kindly glance which flashes from them. His personality- throughout is remarkably magnetic, and most agreeable. I was informed by an old and intimate Jady friend of His Highness that the. homo life

at Koubbek Palace is quite an e**pUojtaily happy one, and that his charming consort, the Khediva. is a tall and a handsome lady, with a delicate, pale complexion, and to* ■■sparkling eyes, illuminating her long, oval face. Before her maniac the Kliwliv» knew no European language, .bat she now speaks "both English and French with perfect fluency. '