Inasmuch as the mandates system introduced by the peace treaties
is still widely misunderstood, not only in Europe but also in America, Dr. J. Stoyanovsky's able essay on The Mandate for Palestine (Longmans, 25s.) deserves notice. It is in the main concerned with the-special case of Palestine and the Jewish National Home, but it illustraties the self- denying spirit in which Great Britain, if not other Powers, interprets the mandate or trusteeship which it has under- taken in the Middle East. As Mr. McNair says in his preface, " the mandates system represents the irruption of the idealist into one of the periodical world settlements which have in the past lain too much in the hands of so-called ' practical men. " Great Britain desires no special advantages from the Palestine Mandate but has assumed responsibilities in the interests of civilization. The cynic may smile and the short- sighted may complain of the trouble and expense, but nations, like individuals, ought sometimes to do things because it is their duty to do them, remembering the old motto, " Noblesse oblige." * * * *
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