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but from the Black and Caspian seas as well. Sweden gets Finland. Serbia of course will go to Austria. Egypt will be returned to Turkey. If Roumania intervenes in time on the right side, she will get Bessarabia and some minor territories. "The "embarras de richesses" of colonies will, when the spoils come to be divided, actually become a problem. So far as India and Egypt are concerned, our only wish to-day is to help these nations to liberate themselves from the British yoke. To Algiers, Tunis and Morocco we would also restore their autonomy. With Belgium, we of course take possession of the Congo State. The interests of France in Morocco will cease at once, since she has used its natives to fight against us. Turkey will occupy the Suez Canal. The shares of that company owned at present by England will be declared null and void.

'The economical conditions under which the annexed territories will be incorporated in the German Empire may be of various kinds, but one fundamental principle should never be lost sight of, viz. that electoral rights, i.e. the right to elect Members for the Reichstag, remains a prerogative of the Germans living within the old boundaries of the Empire. The natives of Poland will have their own parliament in Warsaw; those of the Baltic Provinces, in Petersburg. The Belgians of course may retain their parliament in Brussels, while for the annexed provinces of France-Calais, Reims, Belfort, etc.-a separate diet could be established. Poland and Belgium might even remain kingdoms with Prussian Princes on the throne.

'But, though the conquered territories will have no voice in the Imperial legislation, they will of course have to submit to conscription. The young Pole from Warsaw will serve his three years in Hanover, Düsseldorf, or Cologne. The Frenchman from Calais or Reims will be sent to Breslau or Posen. The Russians of the Baltic Provinces, like the young conscripts from Belgium, will enjoy their military training in Bavaria or Saxony. But the great fortresses, such as Calais, Belfort, Warsaw, or Riga, will be garrisoned by none save the old Prussian regiments.'

About their fleet; why did it not come out and fight the British? Why didn't the British fleet come and dig them out,' as Churchill threatened to do? Yes, they would come out and fight, but they would choose their own time-not when the British wanted them to. 'So far, our fleet has paid us very well, and will pay us in

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future. This war is not going to be over for some time.' Exorbitant naval taxes? Why, my friend, take a current copy of our "Statistisches Jahrbuch" and find out how much the German nation is paying for what our enemies describe as our "luxury." About 7 marks a year per capita is the average for the last four years. amounts to of what England demands of her subjects.'

That

These are a few examples of their conversations and by no means the most extravagant. But they talked well, and I think they quite believed what they said. I knew how utterly useless it would be to try to argue with them. Besides, I wanted to have a look at the harbour and dockyards next morning, so I deemed discretion the better part of valour. One is not in Wilhelmshaven every day, in these times!

Captain-Lieutenant Hersing, whom I mentioned above, had not reached his most dazzling height of fame, when I met him. It was in the pre-Lusitania days. Still he had already earned the Iron Cross, second and first class. With the U 21, one of the smaller submarines, he had sunk what he described as the British cruiser' Pathfinder. Besides he had been active for a short spell in the Irish Sea, where he sank the 'Bencruachan' and one or two other ships. The names of all his victims-I refer to the ships-were neatly engraved on a silver cigarette case which he showed me, with the dates behind and a facsimile small Iron Cross in the corner. After sinking the 'Lusitania' he was the most popular naval officer in Germany. His friends declared that he received more love-letters, more proposals, love-parcels, flowers and photographs, than the most popular actor or actress ever dreamt of. Hersing told me there was but one serious risk in his job; that was the British Destroyers:

"Those "beasts of prey" are on you before you can say "knife"! They patrol usually in sixes or twelves and it has become essential for us to show ourselves as little as possible on the surface. Up till now we have carried out this campaign in as much of a sporting spirit as possible, but since several of our U boats have been lost, as a result of their too lenient treatment of the enemy, that is going to be stopped. It's all very well to try to be humane, even in war-time, but not at the price of suicide. The recent destruction of the U 8 and U 12 are cases in point. Our

instructions now are, that on no account must we risk the safety of our boat, to say nothing of our own necks, for the sake of saving the crews of captured ships. Was it not their own Naval Chief, Lord Fisher, who said: "Moderation in war is nonsense." Take the case of Captain Hansen (Commander of the U 16). He refrained from torpedoing a French steamer off the harbour of Cherbourg, because he noticed several women and children on board, and afterwards escaped, by the breadth of a hair, being rammed by that very vessel. Oh, we Germans are too easy, too sentimental, too tenderhearted, and our enemies take advantage of that weakness, every time.'

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After dinner a naval officer came in, limping on a stick. He was formally presented to me as one of the survivors of the Mainz,' which was sunk in the North Sea early in the war. His experiences had been quite interesting, so I was told. When he regained consciousness, he thought of course that he was a prisoner in England. So he racked his brain for every possible vile English curseword he could think of to throw at his attendants. His English vocabulary was said to be extensive, and he rattled the unflattering epithets off one after another. Strange to say, instead of becoming furious, his attendants all began to laugh, and they 'laughed in German' (Englishmen cannot really laugh properly, they only grin, on account of their eternal pipe!) Oh what joy, when he discovered that he was not in the enemies' hands, but at home, in the dear old Vaterland! He was so overcome that he swooned again. But his cup of happiness was mixed with many bitter tears at the thought of his ship, the poor old 'Mainz,' his 'Iron Home,' now at the bottom of the North Sea! The tears almost welled into his eyes, when he retold the story of this glorious escape.

Then there was the Commander of the old torpedoboat, U 5. He too was famous. Had not his nutshell of 600 tons earned, in the Dogger bank affair, the great distinction of having drawn the fire of the largest calibre British guns, while trying to save some of the crew of the sinking Blücher'? Oh, it was not really as difficult as one would think, to avoid those big fellows. You see, when you saw the water spout up on your left, why you simply turned off to the right, and when you heard or Vol. 226.-No. 448.

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water on your right, well you He, too, was one of the official

saw the shell strike the
merely steered to port.
eyewitnesses of the sinking of the Lion'!

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Captain Hansen, who was also present on this occasion, had been living in England till a few days before the outbreak of the war. He related a brilliant bit of German humour. While basking in the sun, on the deck of his large new submarine, somewhere off the English coast, one of his men appeared from the conning tower, carrying a large box. He was about to chuck the thing overboard when he (the Commander) stopped him and asked what was in the box. Just a "Liebesgabe " (Love-gift), Herr Capitän.' 'Now what do you think was in that box, and to whom do you imagine it was addressed?' Hansen asked his audience. After everybody had 'given it up,' he continued slowly: The box contained the old bones of the previous day's meals, and it was addressed to "Herr Edward Grey, London." If universal hilarity and applause is any criterion, the joke was hugely appreciated by the Captain's colleagues.

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A few days previous to my visit the 'Lützow,' one of the new 28,000 ton super-dreadnoughts [sunk on May 31], had been completed and commissioned. I was told that the eight original 12-inch guns had been supplanted by ordnance of 15-inch calibre. Each projectile of these guns is five feet high and weighs over 1600 pounds. The range of these guns is supposed to be 22 miles. At point-blank range they can pierce a steel armourplate four feet thick. It is claimed that no gun in the British Navy is capable of such a feat.

No wonder that my brain was in a whirl when I left the Casino! It certainly had been a strenuous evening. Nevertheless, I spoke the truth when, on taking leave of my hosts, I assured them that I had spent a most interesting, entertaining and instructive soirée.

J. M. DE BEAUFORT.

(To be continued.)

Art. 6.-INDIA UNDER LORD HARDINGE.

In general it is the last two years of a Viceregal term of office in India that give it its character and bring the measures by which it will be remembered. For the first half of his time a Viceroy will usually be occupied in making some acquaintance with the huge country, its varied populations, and their widely differing circumstances, with the mechanism of administration, and with the personality of his subordinates and colleagues. Even, therefore, if the change of Viceroys is to mean any marked change in the policy and spirit of the administration, as it did, for example, when Lord Ripon succeeded Lord Lytton, the country is not likely to feel the shock of the dislocation until much later. It is in his third year of office that the personal proclivities of a Viceroy may be expected to come into the foreground in their practical effect. By that time he will have corroborated or revised the stock of ideas that he brought with him; if he has plans, they will have been put into the hands of the Secretariat and subjected to a preliminary testing by circulation to the Local Governments; the ground will probably have been cleared by the enquiries of Committees or Commissions; and, above all, he will have established touch with the India Office and have learned how far he can count on being supported in his measures by the Imperial Government.

Had things pursued their normal course there is every reason to suppose that the last two years of Lord Hardinge's reign would have seen a rapid and perhaps turbid spate of political change. Two large Royal Commissions had rioted through the country, conducting their proceedings on the most popular' lines, and creating, as a result, a ferment of eager expectation throughout the educated classes. Even Conservative officials would seem to have become convinced that something must be done in the way of 'concessions' to meet the anticipations produced; and the bent of the late Viceroy towards such questions has been too plainly disclosed to allow it to be doubtful that he would have thrown his own influence into furthering the movement to the utmost. But in August 1914 came the war; and the activities of the

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