defend the cause which they believe to be just. They are too busy in defending their seats. They dupe themselves without difficulty that it is important that they should sit in the House of Commons, and that in order to confer upon the State the benefit of their wisdom they must promise the people whatever it wants. A distinguished statesman said not long since that if a man would succeed in politics he must first attain power by hook or by crook, concealing unacceptable opinions from the voters, and even professing others which would never hold. he had obtained power, the rest would be easy. But would it ? The politician, in the mere process of obtaining power, would have so vastly deteriorated that he would be incapable of using the power which at last was his, and would still keep his eye fairly fixed upon the next election. he When once Opportunism, then, is swiftly undermining the Conservative faith. The meanest legend ever invented-Safety First-is embroidered already upon our banners. This is no new curse to the Party. For the best part of a century the Conservatives have caught the Whigs bathing and stolen their clothes. Mr Ludovici quotes a dialogue between Froude and a Tory, which explains very clearly why England could then, and can now, put very little faith in Conservatism. "When Lord Derby came into office in 1858," writes Mr Ludovici, "with the idea of cutting the ground from under Mr Gladstone's feet by introducing a Reform Bill, Froude asked a friend why the Tories did not keep to their own province. Authority was everywhere falling to pieces, why did they not say frankly that they would try to check, for instance, the dishonesty of trade, and that if the people wanted Reform Bills they must go to those who believed that reform would do them good?' Froude's friend replied that if the Tories attempted any such thing they would immediately be thrown out. Froude agreed, but protested that they would return in a year or two with every right minded Englishman at their backs. His friend re plied that it would never do. The Tories had long been out of power, and they wanted patronage." This story proves conclusively how it is that, though the Conservatives may hold office, they can rarely hope to achieve what they wish to achieve. They will take no risk. They will not, if they can help it, ever sacrifice a seat to a principle. And to-day the young Conservatives are far more timid and less scrupulous than the old. The vigour and recklessness which should distinguish youth is not theirs. They tremble at the mere thought of a reduced majority, and while they still cling to the name, which they have little right to bear, they shrink in horror membered only the temper of their constituencies, and made up their minds that they would do nothing to exacerbate that temper, and lose a mass of promised votes. How will the votes avail them if their anxious search after them leaves England still unprotected against the bitter assaults of her enemies? Opportunism, then, is the constant and successful foe which the true Conservatives from any policy, Conservative the House of Lords; they rethough it be, which might not be well received in the country. Ever since Mr Asquith forced upon us his unhappy Parliament Act, he and his opponents too have recognised that the reform of the House of Lords is "a debt of honour which brooks no delay." At last the Cabinet, which does contain at least two Conservatives, the Prime Minister and Mr Bridgeman, agreed upon a policy of reform. To us it seemed a wise policy. It retained the hereditary principle and it restored the veto. To say that it was a policy of change was untrue. The policy of change had been acted upon in 1910. To imply that a single-chambered constitution was sufficient for our needs, because we could trust to "the sound sense of the British people, &c.," was sheer nonsense. But the young" Tories "took fright. Instantly they saw their seats in danger. The Peers are not popular in the country; they had not been since the noisy campaign conducted up and down the land by Messrs Churchill and Lloyd George. What would the constituencies say of a House of Lords restored to its former strength and lessened only in numbers? They did not stop to consider, these young Tories, that in the near future the country might need all the safeguards they could find, and that the House of Commons, not only in intelligence but in political morality, was far inferior to there are not many of them who remain have to face. Without principles the Party cannot exist, is not worth existence, and opportunism makes short work of principles. To follow whither the hope of votes leads you is a denial of leadership, and leadership should be the very essence of Conservatism. Moreover, universal suffrage has made a chasm between Conservatism and the people which can hardly be crossed. There was a time when we might have regarded society as a pyramid and made our cleavage of Tories and Liberals perpendicularly. Now the cleavage must be made horizontally, as, since it is always the thin end that is at the top, it is almost impossible, in an age when quantity alone counts, to foresee an ultimate supremacy of quality. And yet it is here that, as Mr Ludovici points out, the real differences between the parties reside. The Conservatives are all for quality in leadership and in ideals; the Radicals are all what is foolishly called a "free State quantity must always be, how shall Conservatism ever come into its own kingdom again? and since in like the blessings conferred by the ballot-box. The great mass of the voters never consults the daily papers at all, except such convenient organs" as present in a handy shape the latest betting news. What we are wont to call the Press, in fact, is read only by the middle and upper classes. And if the Conservative thinks that by its aid he will reach the great mass of the voters, he is once more doomed to disappointment. Moreover, the great democracy has made up its mind to take as little counsel with those who might be competent to advise it as is possible. It will "go to the dogs," it says, "its own way." And the most that we can do, until better times and a change of system make room once more for Conservatives who are something better than opportunists, is to refuse to go to the dogs with them, to keep a close watch upon the rebels who infest the country, lest they should put into practice "the Russian technique," which we have been told is henceforth the classical formula of Communism. Thus only may we keep alive in our minds the ancient principles of Toryism, now set forth in many textbooks, until the happy day comes when once again those principles may be translated into action. Indeed, between what used to be called the governing classes and the people no contact is possible. Class hatred and an extended franchise have placed all power and privilege in the hands of what it is fashionable now to call the proletariat; and the proletariat has every intention to exert its power, and to take advantage of its privilege. What used to be the governing class is to-day not only unheeded, it is practically disfranchised. How shall it get its voice heard? How shall it use its intelligence and its knowledge in the service of the State? Mr Ludovici, with a hope which will never be justified, believes that the few who are excluded from the Councils of the State may yet make themselves heard through the Press. A vain hope! The Press, which depends on its circulation as the politicians depend upon their votes, will never, if it can help it, express an unpopular opinion. It would not willingly lose a single subscriber. Nor has it any power to reach or to sway the mind of the people. The influence of the Press is an ancient myth Printed in Great Britain by THE Sunning is a steamer of about three thousand tons burthen, with a crew of about a hundred and ten Chinese and six white officers, registered in the port of London. Her regular run is from Shanghai to Canton, calling at Amoy and Hong-Kong on the way. Often ships of this type carry very valuable cargo, such as silk, specie, and bullion, and are a rich prize for the pirates who for decades have infested the China seas. Until Britain took over HongKong, and Swatow became a treaty port, both places were the headquarters of some of the most ruthless and bloodthirsty pirates who ever ravaged the seas. With the better jurisdiction introduced by this Western power these nests became untenable, and the lucrative trade VOL. CCXXII.-NO. MCCCXLIV. of piracy shifted its headquarters to Bias Bay and West River, where it flourishes till this day. In the old days the pirates used to depend upon stratagems to board the ship they had marked down for their prey. Their usual method with the outer barbarians was to trade on their inexplicable chivalry. The pirates would pretend to be in distress, and when the unsuspecting crew of clipper or barque picked them up, the rescuers would find that they had helped aboard not a crew of distressed brothers of the sea but a gang of insatiable and cruel sea parasites, who would reward their gallantry with death. Different times, other manners. Nowadays the pirate problem has been simplified to Q a great extent. There is no trouble about getting on board a ship. The pirates book as passengers at some convenient port, and seize the ship during the voyage. They have discovered that steam, wireless, and increased traffic have made it necessary to conciliate the crews. They are not used to handling steamships, and require the knowledge and experience of the engineers; but the old sailing ship idea prevails that all authority and initiative rests with the master and him alone, that whilst the master is helpless, so is the ship. Though submission renders the pirates lenient, resistance turns them into the most vinIdictive devils under the vault of heaven. Probably the worst example of this occurred in 1914, when the officers of the Tai On resisted an attack of pirates in the West River. The pirates in revenge set fire to the ship, thereby burning over a hundred men, women, and children alive, and causing a hundred and fifty deaths from drowning and through engulfment in the quicksands which formed the shore. This method of shipping as passengers was the one the pirates followed in the case of the Sunning. For months their spies had been studying the ship, travelling backwards and forwards, pumping the crew, making arrangements. In this manner over three thousand dollars had been laid out, and the pirates were waiting the news of a rich cargo to lay hands on their prize. Just at the last minute, before the vessel left Shanghai, a large consignment of treasure that should have been shipped in her strong-rooms was diverted to another steamer. This was not done through any particular suspicion of pirates, but is a step often taken to throw would-be thieves off the track, and render the movements of specie more difficult to follow. The pirates, however, learnt from their spies only about the first arrangement, and at Amoy they joined the ship as peaceful Chinese passengers, convinced that they were about to make a great haul. The Sunning left Amoy at ten o'clock in the morning on the 15th November 1926, and at twenty minutes to four the same afternoon the third engineer, Mr Duncan, was taking his last look round prior to handing the watch over to the second at four o'clock. The second engineer was looking regretfully at the clock. The chief officer was just finishing his afternoon tea, and the master of the ship was stepping through the communicating door from his cabin to the chartroom to look for the Lammocks. On the bridge Mr Hurst, the second officer, was also looking intently in the direction where the Point should soon be visible, when suddenly his feet were whipped from under him and the deck hit him a hard smack on the nose. Half stunned and |