TWO POLITICAL ANNUALS.* OWING to the rapidly increasing number and
variety of the matters that come under their attention, politicians and publi- cists are forced to depend almost entirely now-a-days on works of reference for the data of their reasonings and calculations. They are kept perpetually on the run ; and so their literature
must suit the exigencies of their position. De Quincey's paradise, the leisurely reading of a Blue-book on a sofa in front of a fire, is hopelessly beyond the reach of a modern journalist, who at 2 a.m. has to declare whether Russia ought to be allowed to occupy Sarakhs, while he has the vaguest knowledge of its whereabouts ; or of a modern Under-Secretary, who at few hours' notice has to boil down into a short answer to a question in Parliament the history of a political constitu- tion, or the complexities of a protracted diplomatic negotiation. The information given by such reference-books as are required by the times and by the men who have to meet. the times, must be full, accurate, clear, and condensed. But such information ought also to be of the character known as 4` comparative." We are perpetually worrying ourselves as to whether " they do these things better "—whether they are better educated, or have dealt with the land problem in a wiser way—in France, or the United States, or Germany ; and makers of reference-books are, of course, bound to help us. It is well occasionally to ask whether they are abreast of the times, and the reappearance of such well-known and established annuals as the Almanach, de Gotha and The Statesman's Year-Book gives pertinence to the question.
These two books can hardly be said, now-a-days at all events, to come into competition. They have, indeed, the common ground of financial and other statistics. But by a sort of un- conscious "mutual arrangement," they have become rather the complements than the rivals of each other. Thus, if you wish for minute details of a Budget, go to the Almanach, de Gotha ; if you desire comparative tables of populations, or races, or creeds, go to The Statesman's Year-Book. If it is the name of some out-of-the-way ambassador or consul that you need, con- sult the Almanach ; if the character of a particular system of government, consult the Year-Book. Genealogy, the strongest point in the one, is the weakest in the other. The meaning of this, however, is obvious. Men of affairs on the Continent have still to think mainly of individuals and families; here, they have to think mainly of measures and interests. Mr. Keltie, in the new edition of the Year-Book, might do well to introduce more personal matter into his work. Thus, why should he not give the names of the members of an Administration, instead of simply giving those of the Cabinet Ministers ? Mr. Trevelyan or Mr. Fawcett is quite as interesting a figure as Mr. Dodson. On the other hand, the editor of the Almanach's passion for names and dignities is apt to mis- lead those who refer to it. Whoever should be content merely with what is said under the title " Cultes," in the Almanach, would run away with the impression that the Episcopal and Roman Catholic Churches in Scotland are the leading bodies there, simply because they alone have dignitaries. Mr. Keltie supplies the latest official statistics of the various Presbyterian denominations.
Both these valuable annuals are so carefully edited, that it would be unprofitable to indulge in minute criticism, such as pointing out to the editor of the Almanach that the name of our Under-Secretary for India is Mr. Cross, not Mr. " Gross ;" and to the editor of the Year-Book that the final name of the Spanish Premier is not " Casullo," but " Castillo." How comes it, however, that in the Year-Book Afghanistan does not figure, like Persia, as one of the independent States of Asia ? How comes it, also, that while the Almanach gives quite correctly the name of the new Lord Mayor, it should allow " Dr. Lyon Playfair, M.P.," to figure as " Chairman des Comites " ? Two
• Almanach de Gotha, 1884. Cent-vingt-et•nnieme Ann6e. Gotha: Justus Perthes.
• The Statesman's Year-Book for 1884. Edited by J. Scott Keltie. Twenty- first Annual Publication. London: Macmillan and Co,
suggestions may be made to the editor of the Almanach. The one is, that he should very considerably reduce his genealogical matter. The other is, that he should not ask his readers to consult previous editions of his work for information on certain matters. In these days there is no time to tarn to back numbers of reference-books, each new edition of which ought to be perfect in itself. Mr. Keltie is content in the meantime to adhere to the plan of Mr. Frederick Martin, his predecessor in the editorship of The Statesman's Year- Book. But the new volume presents on almost every page proofs of his industry, and the results of conscientious and original re- search. It contains about a hundred pages of new matter,informa- tion as to six additional countries—Madagascar, the Orange Free States, the Transvaal, Zanzibar, Burma, and Hawaii; and fresh classes of statistics—political, educational, social, agricul- tural, mining, and manufacturing. In order to see what Mr. Keltie has been able'to accomplish, the reader has but to com- pare what the new Year-Book contains about Great Britain, the United States, France, and, above all, India, with what ap- peared under the same heads in 1883, when Mr. Keltie was called upon suddenly to complete the work of Mr. Martin. Although Mr. Keltie has, as we have already noticed, not departed from the original plan of the work, he has very properly " stiffened " it with numerous additional tables of figures. Instead of four, he has given nine comparative tables showing the density of population in the principal States of Europe, the races of Europe, the creeds of Europe, the standing armies of Europe, the electorates of Europe, and the like. But why should tables of this kind be confined to Europe ? What an enormous advantage it would be to the public writer or speaker to be able to ascertain at a glance and to state in a moment what are the electoral qualifications, the educational levels, the proportions of landowners to popu-
lation, in every country in the world ! Great difficulties, obviously, stand in the way of the realisation of the statistical ideal of a democratic time. The new editor of the Year- Book evidently has something of the kind before him, how- ever, for this year's volume is such an improvement on its mere immediate predecessors as to be in certain very important respects, a new book.
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