financial, industrial, literary, artistic, &c. It is by no means easy to answer such inquiries. A comprehensive and detailed survey of the singularly varied life of the great Dominion can only be obtained, in point of fact, by reading the great Canadian dailies, the French-Canadian organs as well as those written in English, which are published in the chief cities-Halifax, St. John, Quebec, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Victoria-of the various sections of the country. In order to eliminate the political equation it is necessary to read both the leading Liberal and Conservative organs. But only those who wish to "specialise on Canadian affairs would be likely to carry on the work of investigation in so systematic and thoroughgoing a manner. However, it is possible to get a good insight into the aspirations and inspirations of the Canadian nation by reading (1) one or other of the London dailies which make a special feature of Canadian news, and (2) the Canadian Courier, the Toronto Saturday Night, and the Canadian edition of Collier's Weekly. Now that that brilliant young journalist Mr. E. W. M. Grigg, who has made himself very popular in Canada, is looking after the Colonial side of the Times, the cabled news and special articles dealing with Canadian topics in that type and exemplar of the "national daily " (as yet Canada possesses nothing of the kind) provide an admirable survey of Canadian politics. The Standard of Empire, under the sympathetic editorship of Mr. A. J. Dawson, also gives a large amount of Canadian news every week, in addition to frequent articles by representative Canadians. As regards the three journals published in Canada, the third-named is naturally pro-American. But the notes on Canadian events are so exasperatingly witty and so packed with exhilarating epigrams that even those who are most opposed to their teaching cannot help enjoying them. The others take a non-partisan view of the country's political and spiritual development, and often contain poems and stories which are a revelation to Englishmen of the fact that Canada is profoundly interested in literature and art, and by no means given over to the money-making materialism that does not really matter at the long last. E. B. O. CORRESPONDENCE MR. BELLAIRS v. THE RIGHT HON. SIR EDGAR SPEYER. OUR readers will be peculiarly interested in the following correspondence between the Right Hon. Sir Edgar Speyer, Bart.-who is understood to be Mr. Asquith's principal financial adviser although he only came to England in 1887-and Mr. Carlyon Bellairs, M.P. Sir Edgar Speyer was made a Baronet by a grateful Government in 1906 and a Privy Councillor in 1909. Why? 46 GROSVENOR STREET, W., October 23, 1909. DEAR MR. BELLAIRS,-My attention has just been called to the following statement made by you and reported in the public Press : "When the Liberals were elected in 1906 we had with us many great bankers, economists, and financiers. With the single exception of Sir Edgar Speyer, whose wealth is largely in America, where British capital is seeking refuge, I cannot recall one of that numerous band who has come forward to support the Budget." The statement that my wealth is largely in America is absolutely false, and I call upon you publicly to withdraw it. Yours faithfully, EDGAR SPEYER. CARLYON BELLAIRS, Esq., M.P., House of Commons, S.W. October 27, 1909. DEAR SIR EDGAR SPEYER,-With reference to your letter of October 23, it is impossible to dissociate your wealth from the interests of your family firm, so may I ask whether I am to understand that it is "absolutely false" that the firm has large interests across the Atlantic, and that, whereas the parent firm was in Germany, the head office is now in New York. I know of no British interest which the firm undertook up to the time of the Underground Electric Railways, in which the Frankfort, New York, and London branches all participated, and up to that time the business of the London house was apparently confined to arbitrage mainly with America and also with the Continent, and to American and Mexican railway issues, and Mexican and American Finance. You are described in Who's Who as a "partner in father's three firms, Speyer Bros., London; Speyer and Co., New York; and L. Speyer-Ellison, Frankforton-Main"; and it mentions that you came to London in 1887 to take the direction of the London house." 66 With regard to the American interests of the firm, I, of course, must rely on what is made public. In Who's Who in America, Mr. James Speyer is described as now senior of the Speyer houses," and I find that he is mentioned as trustee for six American trust companies, one American steamship company, five American banks, one American railway, the Baltimore and Ohio, the General Chemical Company of America, one American steel company, and the Rock Island Company. The only English business mentioned is the Underground Electric Railway Company, of which you are chairman, and which I have already dealt with. If you will kindly show me that I am mistaken in the inference I draw from these publications that the interests of the firm, and therefore its wealth, are largely American, I will readily reconsider my original statement. Yours faithfully, CARLYON BELLAIRS. 46 GROSVENOR STREET, W., November 1, 1909. DEAR MR. BELLAIRS,-Owing to absence abroad I have only now received your letter of October 27. I told you in my previous letter that your statement with reference to my support of the Budget that my wealth was largely in America was absolutely false. You reply with extracts from books of reference, by which you seek to qualify your statements. I am astonished that you should avoid a plain issue in this manner. I repeat that your statement is absolutely false. The great bulk of what I possess is in England and affected by the Budget accordingly. You have sought to comment on my support of the Budget in a manner I consider unfair and which I greatly resent, as the obvious inference from your statement is that I support the Budget because I am not affected by it. I therefore again call upon you to withdraw the statement in question. Yours faithfully, EDGAR SPEYER. CARLYON BELLAIRS, Esq., M.P., House of Commons, S.W. 1 MORPETH TERRACE, S.W., November 9, 1909. DEAR SIR EDGAR SPEYER,-You are mistaken in thinking that I am attempting to avoid the issue. Believing that your interests are largely abroad, I supported the statement in my letter of October 27 by evidence which I gather you do not deny. As bearing on that evidence I find in a survey of the issues advertised in the Times in the three months of March, April, and May 1908, that the London branch of your firm alone issued no less than £2,000,000 4 per cent. mortgage bonds for a railway in North America, and £2,829,177 44 per cent. sinking fund redeemable gold bonds for a railway in South America. After that it seemed to me unnecessary to continue my search in the Times to the present day. Surely these operations suggest that your interests are "largely in America where British capital is seeking refuge." It would be quite possible for any man to say that the bulk of his wealth is in England if he holds foreign securities "to bearer" which can be sent abroad at any moment, and yet the capital value and interest is in no way dependent on legislation by the House of Commons. I have merely stated a fact of legitimate public interest without making any sort of personal attack. Let us dwell on the reverse side of the picture in reference to this Budget. We have had to stand by and see our countrymen subjected to scurrilous attacks by Cabinet Ministers and supporters of the Budget for no other reason than that every penny of their money is invested in the land and industry of their country. By contrast it is grimly humorous that when one merely points out that the principal financial supporter of the Budget, who came to this country in 1887 to take charge of a branch of the German firm, has a large part of his interests abroad, one is met by a cry of pained indignation, shocked surprise and an imperative request for withdrawal. I regret that I do not see my way to withdraw the statement of which you complain, and I propose that the correspondence should be published which will give your denial the publicity you desire. To the Right Hon. SIR EDGAR SPEYER. Yours faithfully, CARLYON BELLAIRS. 46 GROSVENOR STREET, W., November 12, 1909. DEAR Mr. BELLAIRS,—I am in receipt of your letter of the 10th inst. Your methods of controversy are peculiar to yourself. I adhere to every word of my letter of November 1 and must leave others to judge of your conduct in this matter. Yours truly, Edgar Speyer. CARLYON BELLAIRS, Esq., M.P., House of Commons, S.W. We feel sure that our readers will have no difficulty in forming their own conclusions upon the merits of this controversy. THE NATIONAL REVIEW No. 323. JANUARY 1910 Ministerial EPISODES OF THE MONTH It would be impossible to exaggerate the gravity of the issues to be decided at the impending General Election, which is of graver import, not only to the people of the United Deterioration Kingdom but also to the inhabitants of the British Empire, than any previous election in our time or in the lifetime of the oldest among us. The protagonists on both sides are fully conscious of the seriousness of the problems arising out of the Budget and the alternative policy of Tariff Reform, single-Chamber government, the unity of the United Kingdom, and the grim tragedy of unemployment. But few of them yet realise not only that the British Constitution is at stake, but that we are gambling with the very existence of England and the Empire. The sands are low in the hour-glass. It is terribly late to retrieve the position, but it is not too late provided the nation clearly understands its needs and is resolutely prepared to do its duty. For the moment, but only for the moment, we are in the clutches of a needy, greedy gang of political adventurers, mostly lawyers, whose domination has invariably spelt disaster to any country at their mercy, as we see from the misfortunes of Greece and Portugal. They have scarcely a spark of patriotism among them, and are cynically indifferent to the future of these islands, while the word "Empire never pollutes their lips. They seem resolutely resolved to resort VOL. LIV 46 |