number of the passers-by, urban, squat, and packed with guile," to produce their seals when a tribesman seemed likely to get into trouble. ing, and Rashid had no diffi- So ran Ziarah's simple reasonculty in inducing a sufficient ing; but the unexpected appearance of his father, also claiming the whole guilt of the theft, had upset his plans, and thrown him once more into a state of bewilderment. Have you the two camels with you now? asked the Political Officer of old Hattab. Ziarah was hurried out of the bazaar-down more of these sunny stifling streets,-then a long wait outside a house. He hardly saw the sauntering townspeople, nor the naked children playing in the dust near by, for once more the daydream held him. He had seen the swaying palm in the oasis of the desert; but he had never known the fragrance of the melon-flower. Would the scent be as good, he wondered, as that of burning "arta " wood of the desert ? Once more Ziarah had a rude awakening. Two policemen suddenly appeared from the building behind him. He was hustled into the town jail. Too late he realised that he had been trapped by the hated townsman. In the solitude of his cell wiser reflections came to Ziarah. His dream shattered, he realised the treachery of which he had been guilty, and in his remorse generously resolved to take the whole blame for the theft on his own shoulders. He would say he had sold the camels, and spent the money. Then no one would attempt to take the prize away from his father, and there was much solace in this thought-the hateful Rashid would not be able to get his camels back. He touched his bell, and told the farrash, who entered in response to the summons, to send in the head clerk. 66 Ahmed Shah," he said to his babu, "I want you to go through last year's petitions - somewhere about May, -a case of two camels reported stolen. I forget the owner's name, but I think he was of the Matafah tribe." There was a long silence, unbroken until the babu entered with the required paper. The petitioner, one Hassan bin Nasir, living in a neighbouring Division, stated that two camels had been stolen from him: one, a she-camel with the clear mark of a star on her forehead; the other with similar but fainter marking. The animals had been traced as far as this Division, and the petitioner craved the mercy and kindness of the Hakim to recover them for him. the son of Nasir. Your son Ziarah will remain in prison until you produce them, and in addition you must pay to Government the price of a third camel, for stealing is forbidden. This is a light fine; but under the circumstances, and because this is the first time you have been before me, I make it no heavier. Next time, however, the punishment will not be a fine, but imprisonment. "As for you, Rashid, if I had time to spare on you I should investigate how it came about that you only gave eighteen liras for two camels worth at least forty." Hattab, kissing the Political Officer's hand, and promising to produce the camels within seven Cays, left the office. His son went out with his police escort, and only Rashid remained. MUSINGS WITHOUT METHOD. THE PLEA OF THE INCOMPETENT MINISTER-IRISHMEN KILLING IRISHMEN THE POLICY OF CLASS HATRED MR GRANVILLE - BARKER'S EXEMPLARY THEATRE "PERPETUAL PUBLIC MR WINSTON CHURCHILL, regarding politics as a stage-play, with himself cast for the beau rôle, has never lost the boyish habit of dressing-up. We can see him attitudinising as Napoleon, and showing us how well the imperial diadem would sit upon his lofty brow. And when he is tired of the Corsican, he loves best to pose as the Younger Pitt, the bitterest foe whom Napoleon encountered in his triumphal march through a conquered Europe to an emperor's throne. At present Mr Churchill seems to prefer to model himself and his rhetoric upon Pitt. "I used the word "I used the word stability when I spoke in London some time ago," said he not long since at Dundee," and I think it is the keynote which should be sounded now. bility is needed at home as it is needed abroad." Assuredly stability is needed at this hour, but Mr Churchill is not the politician to give it us. When he used the word stability both at Dundee and in London -listen to the impressive repetition!-he was thinking, no doubt, of the watchword which Pitt threw across the House at Tierney. He defies me to state in one sentence what is the object of the war," said Pitt of Tierney. "I do not Sta VOL. COXI.-NO. MCCLXXIX. The MEET know whether I can do it in one sentence; but in one word I can tell him that it is security." The "security of Pitt has now become the stability of Mr Churchill. And the two "keynotes or "watchwords" have nothing in common, save their length. Mr Pitt proposed to achieve security by defending the Empire, by resisting the danger, as he did resist it, by fighting England's enemies wherever he found them. Mr Churchill seems to believe that he will arrive at stability by a settled policy of surrender. A foolish hope, which always must be baffled in the end. There is no stability in a truce made with murderers. with murderers. In the East as in the West, the closest allies of our Coalition are bloodstained assassins. And Mr Churchill, the warm admirer of Michael Collins, the colleague of those who love Lenin, dares to speak of "stability"! How would he arrive at the "stability" which he pretends is the goal of his desire? By claiming a universal support for himself and his friends-a claim which makes it clear that he is praying for the stability not of Great Britain, but of the Coalition. "I confess to a feeling of deep-seated 2 B indignation," says he, "against men whose only share in these five difficult years has been carping criticism." He need have no fear. It is no carping criticism which assails him, and has assailed him and his friends for many months. He is listening to the honest utterance of those who refuse to aid in the destruction of an Empire which the courage and self-sacrifice of their fathers have built up, of those who would be false to their duty if they did not protest against the levity of Messrs Lloyd George and Churchill. Mr Churchill's plea, in truth, is the invariable plea of the incompetent Minister. The Government, which cannot and dare not govern, still demands a universal support. So might the burglar, caught red-handed, swear that all will be well if only the policeman will buckle him to his heart in the bonds of friendship. The politician who sees his country being ruined by a gang of placemen is false to his trust if he do not do his best to bring the gang of placemen to discredit. How different would the history of England have been if the elder Pitt had refrained from what Mr Churchill would call "carping criticism," and had left Great Britain to the fate which the ambition and egoism of Newcastle had prepared for her. Fortunately, he knew better than to listen to Newcastle's false appeal. If I see a child," said he, "driving a go-cart close to the edge of a precipice, with the precious freight of a king and his family' I am bound to take the reins out of such hands." He took the reins out of Newcastle's hands, and saved England. The situation to-day resembles very closely the situation of 1757. The maxims of our Government have degenerated," said Pitt, "not our natives. I wish to see that breed restored which under our old principles carried our glory so high." Restored it was, but only by the inspiration and example of William Pitt. It was the strength of that great Minister to distinguish between what mattered and what was merely irrelevant. To times of relaxation," said he, and we may still echo this simple truth, should be left that fondness for disposal of places; wisdom should meet such rough times as these." Our present governors are supremely interested in the frivolities of politics. They are as fond as ever Newcastle was of the disposal of places. Whatever happens they can find work for idle hands to do. They lack, one and all, the wisdom which should meet the rough times ahead of us. In other words, we are beset by Newcastles on every side, who still assert that they are beyond and above criticism. And though we have no Pitt among us, we have in the Diehards a body of men who are quite competent to put our Newcastles to rout. They are not clever men, and that is so much the better. We are tired of clever men. Mr Lloyd George, we are told, told, is 8 clever man, and so, we hear, the Union sincerely believed is Mr Churchill. They know all the tricks of the trade, we are assured, and if that be true, the less we hear about the trade of politics the better we shall be pleased. What we want to-day is the plain policy of honest men, who are not afraid to say what they think, and who are not capable of going back on their word. We have been deceived too often by demagogues, who, pledged to one opinion, have readily renounced it at the bidding of a leader or at the promise of votes; by demagogues who, having broken the union, still impudently declare that they belong to the Unionist Party. We ask their collaboration no longer. We ask a few honourable men to come to our aid, and we shall not fail in the fight against the Newcastles of the hour. If Mr Churchill's sense of humour were acuter he would not appeal to the pity of his opponents. He has done nothing that he should be saved from the attacks of his critics. Had he devoted his days and his nights to the simple-hearted service of the country he might have a right to complain of rough usage. He and his friends have kept their eyes sternly fixed on the ballot-box; they have gambled away our security for votes. Let us cast our eyes back over the last few months, and remember the progress of the so-called Irish "treaty." We do not know whether Mr Lloyd George and his fellow-conspirators against that their Irish gamble would come off. We cannot forget how they held themselves when they pretended that they had reached a settlement. They did not wait for the praise of others. They beslavered themselves with adulation. There was neither dignity nor reasonableness in their bearing. They behaved as men who, to use their own hideous jargon, were out for a stunt." They did not look upon their work with the humility of wise men contemplating the end of a great enterprise. They made the agreement the excuse of violent, noisy, vulgar propaganda. Thus they showed themselves in their true colours as men who wanted nothing more than an election cry with which to split the ears of a credulous people. Peace with Ireland, where no peace was possible, seemed to their sanguine minds almost as useful as the Chinese pigtail. And Mr Churchill asks us for our aid and confidence! Yet Mr Churchill, after all the bouquets and telegrams and photographs, is not happy. He admits that possibly things will get worse before they get better. A pretty outlook, indeed! "It is possible," he says, "that Irishmen will kill and murder each other and destroy Irish property and cripple Irish prosperity for some time before they realise that they, and they alone-and it is their country-will have to pay the bill in life and treasure. It is Irish blood that will be |