Papurau Newydd Cymru
Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru
20 erthygl ar y dudalen hon
r————-———————-— THE ESTIMATES.…
r ————-———————-— THE ESTIMATES. j TUB ARMY ESTIMATES, The estimates of the number of men find the eeq&nses of the army for the ensuing year 181)4-5 have been published. The number of men on the home and colonial establishments of the army, exclusive of those serving in India, is estimated to be 155,347, against 154,442 during the current year—an increase of 905. The following is an abstract of the money esti- mates, the figures given in each caws being the net esti- mates, without reference to the appropriations in aid. The total for the effective and non-effective services ia for the coming year £ 18,080,900, showing an iticrease of £278,100 on those of the current year- £ 17,802,800. This increase is the result of increases on 10 votes and of decreases on five. These increases j and decreases may now be noticed in detail. j There are 13 votes among the effective services, i The first, which is the largest, item of all, is for pay of army. This amounts to £ 5,981,000, against £ 5,876,063—an increase of £ 104,937. Medical i establishments come to 6290,000. an increase of < £ 1800 on the current year— £ 238,200. Militia pay and allowances show an increase of £ 40,000—namely, £600,000 against £560,(}){). Yeomanry cavalry pay and allowances are unaltered— £ 74,400. i The estimates for the Volunteer corps' pay and allowances have increased £18,000, from £786,000 to £ 804,000. Transport and remounts also show a slight increase of £8100, from £ 623,000 to £ 631,100. Provisions, forage, and other supplies are estimated at £ 2,732,200, an increase of £ 109,800 over the current year — £ 2,622,400. Clothing establishments and services are esti- mated at £ 789,600, against £ 790,600—a decrease of £ 1000. Warlike and other stores, supply and repair, are estimated at £1,807,000, a decrease ? of £ 20,400 on the current year— £ 1,827,400. The next vote, which is works, buildings, and repairs- cost including superintending establishment—is set down at 6832,600, against £ 789,600—an increase of j £ 43,000. Military educational establishments show j an increase of klOO-narnelv, from £114,400 to [ £11 ,.1,,[>00. Miscellaneous effective services are estimated at £ 130,600, against £126.,300, an increase of £ 4300; and salaries and miscellaneous charges for the War Office are set down at 6257,600, against £2.5:3,137, a decrease of 6537. Thus the effective services show a total increase of £ 308,100. In the non-effective services there are three votes. 1 The vote for officers shows a decrease of £ 7800—■ namely, from £ 1,524,200, to 61,516,400; that for men a decrease of £ 30.200, from £ 1,358,400 to £1,355,200; and superannuation, compensation, and compassionate allowances are set down at £ 164,700, against £ 156,700, an increase of £ 8000. Thus the noneffective services show a total decrease of £ 30,000. SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATES. A Parliamentary Paper has been published con- taining an estimate of the sums to be voted for the Citil Services and Revenue Departments for the year ending March 31, 1894, in addition to the sums provided in the estimates presented in the current year. The total sum required is £ 382,122. This is made up of six totals: Civil Services, Class II., £ 4981 Class III., £ 26,310 Class IV., £ 223,864; Class V., £ 116,067 Class VI., £ 6400; and Class VII., £ 4500. In Class II. £ 1200 will be accounted for by the Home Office for the costs of inquiries in the inspec- tion of factories and workshops. Under this sub-head I the original estimate was £ 96,697, so that the total amounts to £ 97,897. In the same class E1500 will be accounted for by the Colonial Office, the sum being required for telegrams to South Africa. The original estimate for the Colonial Office under this item was JS3750. In Class III. the chief item of additional cost is £ 25,000 for criminal prosecutions, legal proceedings, and interventions of the Queen's Proctor, the original estimate being £ 41,000. In Class IV., which concerns public education in JSngland and Wales, the original estimate to be accounted for by the Education Department was £ 6,015,098 the supplementary sum of £66,151 is required for annual grants for day and evening Scholars and £133,000 for fee grants for day scholars. A sum of Cl6,000 is also required for the Depart- ment of Science and Art, in addition to the estimate of £181,150. The supplementary estimate for Class V. is ac- Counted for in two sums. £ 27,500 is required for Diplomatic and Consular Services, in addition to the Original £ 42,000. The sum includes expenses con- nected with the occupation of Uganda (in addition to £ 12,000 provided in the original estimate), £ 18,000; value of stores taken over from the British East Africa Company on their withdrawal from Uganda, £ 9500. For the Colonial Services including South Africa, £88,567 is required, in addition to £90,600 already estimated. This large sum is mainly accounted for by £ 80,000, a grant in aid to Bechuanaland, and £5000 for telegrams to or from the High Commis- sioner. The amount asked for the grant in aid of Bechanaland is somewhat less than the additional expenditure which has been entailed on Bechuanaland for the defence of the protectorate in consequenee of the hostilities in Matabelel&nd. The £ 6400 in Class VI. is accounted for mainly by superannuation allowances; the original estimate was £ 370,624. In Class VII. £ 4500 additional is re- quired for vaccination and other commissions beyond the £ 9464 originally estimated. Another paper was published containing a supple- mentary army estimate amounting to £ 195,000. This falls under three heads Vote 3, militia pay and allowances, £ 26,000 Vote 7, provisions, forage, and other supplies, £ 109,000; works, buildings, and repairs, £ 60,000. The last item is accounted for by the acquisition of the Maplin Sands.
WORKING MEN AND LOCAL YETO.…
WORKING MEN AND LOCAL YETO. In view of the intention of the Government to pro- ceed with the Liquor Traffic (Local Control) Bill, a working man's protest" has been drawn up, and sent to all the Cabinet Ministers, and to every member of t Parliament. The signatures to the protest number 131, and include amongst them Mr. John Anderson, feneral secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Ingineers (one of the most powerful and numerous trades unions in the United Kingdom) Mr. John Batchelor, general secretary of the Bricklayers' Society; Mr. Kenneth M'Crae, general secretary of the boot and shoe makers Mr. Alderman Taylor, L.C.C., operative bricklayers' delegate to the London Trades Council; Mr. Ben Ellis, general secretary of the brushmakers, and Mr. G. B. Courtenay, chairman of the London Trades Council, and others connected with various trade bodies and friendly societies in London. The principal objections urged against the bill are that "it seeks to bring about an un- justifiable invasion of liberty and curtailment of natural right. We all admit," they say, that majorities must rule in their legitimate spheres, where the general interest is directly and intimately involved. But where this interest is only slightly or remotely affected, or not touched at all—as in ques- tions concerning what a man shall eat or drink—con- trol by majority becomes Arbitrary and tyrannical, All attempts to impose such a prohibition are subversive of individual liberty. Apart from this fundamental objection, the electorate provided by the bill excludes lodgers and many thousands of other adult males whose comfort and convenience would be placed in jeopardy; and it includes women, who do not use public-houses as a rule, and the whole body of teetotalers, who do not use them at all. The bill is directed against the convenience of the poor man only. It leaves untouched the cellar of the rich man and specially provides him with refreshment rooms when he travels by rail and with hotels when he gets to his journey's end; but it allows no accommodation foraworking man, who, ina veto district, desires to refresh himself with a simple glass of beer. All experience proves that prohibition of the open sale of intoxicants is invariably followed by the creation of illicit and secret sources of supply. All the improvement which has marked the last quarter of a century has been brought about without any infringement of liberty as is now proposed." The protest goes on to say that if the principle of veto be established there is no logical reason why it should not be extended to the prohibi- tion of forms of religious faith or political opinion which happen to be unpopular at any moment.
[No title]
WITH moderate care and good usage a horse's life may be prolonged to 25, 35, or 40 years. An English gentleman had three horses which died in his possession at the ages of 35, 37, and 39 years respectively. The oldest was in a carriage the very day he died, strong and vigorous, but was carried off by a spasmodic colic, to which he was subject. A horse in use at a riding-school in Woolwich lived to be 40 years oid, and a barge horse of the Mersey and Irwell Navigation Company is declared to have been in his 62nd year when he died-
GLOBE TROTTING UP TO DATE.
GLOBE TROTTING UP TO DATE. By an extraordinary combination of circumstances it was possible for one leaving London Dn the 12th inst. to get round the world, "weather and other circumstances permitting," in 66 days—or in eight days less time than this present record, which now stands at 74, to the credit of a lady journalist, Miss Nelly Ely, of the Kew York World. Miss Bly travelled by the Eastern route—that is to say, from New York via Liverpool, London, Calais, Brindisi, and the Suez Canal. She was no sooner on the war- path, however, than the editor of the Cosm- poll tan Magazine commissioned another lady journalist, Miss Bisland, who started round the world at only four hours' notice, taking the Western route—-New York to San Francisco, Yokohama, and Brindisi, and suc- ceeded in doing the trip in 76 days. At eleven o'clock on the morning of the 12th inst. Mr. George Griffith, who has already been round the world three times, and with whom the writer had a chat a few moments prior to his departure, left Charmg-cross for the purpose of reducing the existing record to 66 days. Do you seriously imagine it possible to circum- vent the globe in 66 days when three years ago it was found impossible to accomplish the task in less than 74 days, travelling at the greatest speed?" was the first question put to the enterprising globe-trotter. Most, decidedly, provided trains and steamers do their duty according to schedule," replied Mr. Griffith. Schedules allow, as far as steamer are concerned, a slight margin for weather and accident; that is to say, sometimes they arrive a little ahead of schedule time. It is to that I am trusting, plus the few hours between the several connections. The combination of connections of which I am availing myself, has only been found after months of examina- tion of time-tables and sailing lists, and it is the only time that will occur in its present series probably for several years to come. The chief reason for this is that the Canadian Pacific steamers and trains are faster and hava a better reputation for punctuality than the Occidental and Oriental and the Central Pacific." But why, Mr. Griffith, should this be such an un- usual combination of connectionsr" "Because it is the only one that gets me to Yoko- hama the day before the departure of the Canadian and Pacific steamer for Vancouver. The steamers only leave fortnightly. Of course, if I miss the Empress of China,' I shall have to cross the Pacific by the Occidental and Oriental line to San Francisco—a shorter route, but a longer passage, and I should certainly fail in my appointed task." You must be cutting it somewhat fine at Yoko- hama and other places, I should say ?" That is so, but for all that my longest wait by schedule time is at Yokohama, where I shall have under 12 hours. In other words, the steamer has, after travelling 9185 miles, to arrive within half a day of its appointed time or my whole object will be frustrated." That being your longest wait, what is your shortest ?" "Ten minutes. This is at Montreal, where the sleeping-car portion of the Inter-Ocean express is timed to get in at 8.30 a.m. The Delaware and Hudson train leaves for New York at 8.40. If I suc- ceed in catching this the thing is done if not, I shall have to wait till 6.20 p.m., and then I shall have an exciting time to New York and the berth of the s.s. New York—in fact, a nominal 12 hours' journey will have to be done in 12 hours and a-half, including a cab drive from the New York Central Station down to the quay. Once on the deck of the New York, and, bar accident, the world's record will be lowered to 66 days, and possibly even 65. Altogether, I shall have travelled 21,296 miles, and I estimate that the trip will cost about £250. I may tell you that I shall not avail myself of any special means of transit, as my object is to prove that it can be done by using the ordinary means of travel. According to time-tables and schedules, the task is certainly possible, but only by starting to-day." !nw
DISCOVERY OF TREASURE AND…
DISCOVERY OF TREASURE AND ITS SEQUEL. A few weeks ago a peasant living in the neighbour- hood of Saint Brieuc, France, was trimming a hedge in one of his fields when he perceived a piece of cord, one end of which was attached to a bush, while the other disappeared in the ground. He gave a pull, and presently a bag revealed itself, which on exami- nation proved to be crammed with 5fr. pieces. Con- tinning his work with fresh alacrity, the man speedily came upon another bit of string, and this time the buried bag proved to be full of gold pieces. Soon after a third bag was unearthed under similar circumstances. The peasant took the treasure home, and kept his dis- covery secret; but not long afterwards he invested a goodly sum in the savings bank, and bought himself a suit of clothes,"a hat, and a watch. As the man was known to be in rather straitened circumstances this sudden display of what to a person in his position was comparative wealth excited a great deal of notice, and a day or two ago the riddle was solved. In the village dwelt a worthy dame who had adopted this very primitive method of depositing her available capital. She had buried the bags in the peasant's hedge, and after a visit to some relatives she had re- turned only to find that her treasure had disappeared. Her cries and lamentations attracted attention, and commiseration as well, and the police were soon holding an investigation into the affair. The peasant who had fondly imagined that his fortune was made for life has not only been compelled to restore the money, but will probably have to answer for his conduct in a court of justice.
HUGE ANONYMOUS GIFTS.
HUGE ANONYMOUS GIFTS. Charity shows no diminution in Paris. At a meet- ing of the society called the Hospitalite de Nuit, the other day, Baron de Livois announced that lie had receivod a cheque for £ 10,000 from an anonymous donor. Another person unknown sent £ 320; M. Charles Meissonier and his sister forwarded £ 1000 and the Press Syndicate handed over to the society a sum of £200. M.; Thureau-Dangin, the Acade- gin, mician, occupied the chair at the meeting and made an eloquent speech, which caused both tears and money to flow freely. It was proved that the institution gave refuge during the year to 195 sculptors, 115 schoolmasters, 20 architects, and 42 literary men and journalists, not to speak of nume- rous nondescripts cast adrift on the world. I
HISTORIC PROPERTIES IN THE…
HISTORIC PROPERTIES IN THE MARKET. Among historic properties in the market just now are The Friary, Lichfield, a monastery transformed into a residential mansion in 1545; Balthaycock, Perthshire, the carriage road from which crosses the celebrated ravine known as the Deil's Den by a bridge 90ft. above the stream; Welburn Hall, North York- shire, dating from the time of Elizabeth Silverlands, Surrey, last occupied by the late Mr. F. Hankey, M.P.; Starborough Castle, another noted property in Surrey; Wick House, Richmond-hill, the home for many years of Sir Joshua Reynolds; and The Hook, Northaw, Herts, containing a massive oak staircase taken from the house of Sir Thomas More. i
THE MINISTERIAL POLICY.
THE MINISTERIAL POLICY. LORD ROSBBKKT AT EDINBURGH. Lord Rosebery addressed an audience of soma 4000 people in the Corn Exchange, Edinburgh, on the evening of the 17th inst. He was weU recfived, and, at the outset of his address, he paid another tribute to Mr. Gladstone, and thon went on to say— The other day, on the first night of the session, I had occasion to deal with the Irish question, and no man in my position could avoid dealing wiih the Irish question. I thought that I had dealt with it with absolute frankness aud absolute perspicuity, and my critics admit that I dealt with it with almost too much frank- ness and too much perspicuity. But, unfortunately, the interpretation they put upon my words was not that which I put upon them in my intention. What I snid was that if we wanted to carry Home Rule wo must carry conviction to the heart of England, and by those words I stand. They are a truism, they are a platitude in the sense in whick I uttered them but in the sense in which they have been interpreted they bear a meaning which I, as a Scotsman, should be the first to repudiate. Are we really to believe that in all the great measures which affect the partner- ship which is called the United Kingdom we are to wait for the predominant vote of England ? Gentlemen, we should never carry anything. The first Reform Bill was a much greater upheaval of the Constitution than any Irish Home Rule Bill can possibly be but it was carried by Irish votes. The present Government exists in the same way, and has carried the Parish Councils Bill by Irish votes. Wo do not propose to sit on the banks of the stream of time and watch that stream pass by until it shall run dry in an English majority for the cause which we espouse. What we mean to do is what we have been doing ever since the Home Rule Bill was introduced in 1886. We are trying to bring conviction to the mind of the partner in our partnership that has the greatest population and the most votes. That does not seem to me to be an entirely unnatural proceeding. THE PROCESS OF CONVERSION. His lordship proceeded to explain that he consi- dered the process of conversion had begun. He took some figures from the Daily News, which, he thought, demonstrated this: What was the majority that was returned at the general election of 1886 against Home Rule in Eng- land? English constituencies, boroughs, counties, and universities in 1886 returned 126 Home Rulers against 339 Unionists, a majority for the latter of 213. That was an English majority they had to knock down in 1886. In 1892 England returned 189 Home Rulers and 266 Unionists, showing a conversion to have proceeded the length of reducing the anti-Home Rule majority from 213 to 69. Well, gentlemen, we propose to go on reducing that majority. We believe that we shall reduce it. I go a good deal further than some of my timid critics on my own side. I believe that even if I had said, which I did not say, that I demanded an English majority for Home Rule, that English majority we shall get. Sir, I must pewiat out that if I had, however, meant that an English majority was necessary to the pass- ing of Home Rule I should have been uttering what is in the face of it an absurdity. I suppose that all our opponents will concede that if to the next House of Commons we had brought a majority of 100 in favour of Home Rule that would be a majority which will bring conviction to the minds of the House of Lords itself. But, as a matter of fact, if you look at the figures you will find that you might have a majority against you in England of 35 against Home Rule and yet have that very majority of 100 which I have indicated in its favour. I will give you the figures as they come to me. 11 Then came the explanation of the figures. There are 465 English members. He gave 210 of these to the Liberals and 255 to the Conservatives. In Wales he gave two out of 30 to the Conservatives; and in Scotland, out of 72 members, he awarded 10 to the Conservatives— ( You will see by adding these up they give 385 Liberal votes to the House of Commons, and only 285 Conservative votes; and yet in that very calculation, which goes largely on the figures as they were in 1885, there would be a majority of 45 in England against Home Rule. Well, gentlemen, I think you will admit if wo can have a majority of 100 Outside England, and a combined majority against us in England, it is not necessary to demand an English majority for Home Rule. But I will tell you one reason, or rather two, why it is that I regard it of infinite importance not so much to put down the votes of England in this matter as to down the votes of England in this matter as to convince the heart and mind and conscience of England. What is it on which that which is called, but erroneously, Ulster" bases its opposition to Home Rule ? It is on English opinion. If it were not for the English majority of 70 now in the House of Commons Ulster would represent its natural and due proportion of the population of Ireland, and would submit under whatever guarantee is thought right to the proper domination of the majority in Ireland. But because it has England always at its back, with a majority of 69 at this moment, and with a majority of 213 in the past, Ulster plays an utterly disproportionate part in the discussion of this great problem. THE IRISH QUESTION. Lord Rosebery did not .believe that the misinter- pretation of his speech came from the Irish party, or from the Liberal party; the source was the Times, which, the morning after his speech, said he bad at one blow shattered the fabric of English policy. I have often said-I have never made a secret of it --that I did not approach the Irish question entirely on historical, and what I will call sentimental, grounds. I approach it as a great question of policy, which must be dealt with if you wish to deal with other questions of policy. I approach it as an Imperial question, which concerns other populations as much as Ireland, and I, for one, believe—I speak now not as a Minister, but as a man—that when we receive from Scotland that national demand which appears to be ripening so fast, a national demand for that local power of self-government which may cause the business of Scotland, so long neglected in England, to be settled in Scotland, I, as a Minister, shall not be standing to oppose you in the breach, and, if am not a Minister, as a man I shall hope to be in the storm- ing party. SCOTLAND AND WALES. Having, said Lord Rosebery, devoted the first session of this Parliament to Irish Home Rule, it was but natural that, in the second session, they should give some attention to Scotland and Wales. For Wales they had the Disestablishment Bill. For Scotland they had a more ample budget. There was, for the miners, a bill for a public inquiry into fatal accidents in industrial pursuits. But there was also the question of Scottish disestablishment. Lord Rosebery felt the profoundest attachment to the Church of Scotland but it had become divided into three and the State branch had bocome an agency for the Tory party. & You would not think it right of me to disguise the conviction I have often expressed which lies counter to many of those who wish for disestablishment, but not to all-that a State, if it thinks it well to do so, has just as much right to maintain an Established Church for its own purposes, and in its own interests, as it has to establish a standing army or any other insti- tution that it thinks right. As long as I arrive at the goal at which my friends behind me wish to arrive,. I do not think it matters particularly the path by which I arrive at it. It is a reasonable path; it is an honest, it is an honourable path and when through the only means by which we can know the voice of Scotland in this matter, by the voice of its elected members, you see a majority of at least two to one in favour of disestablishment, the question to which I have alluded is one of mere candour on my part, and without any practical importance what- ever." His lordship dismissed Scotland with the remark that the Government thought all hostile bills should, without delay, be sent to a Scottish grand committee. The Ministers would favour in every possible way the Miners Eight Hours Bill. THE HOUSE OF LORDS. Having dwelt on what the Government intended doing for the navy, Lord Rosebery came to the House of Lords, and announced that the position of that body had occupied his attention for many years. He had been a member of it; and from within better than without could be seen the danger which pro- ceeds from that body. His friends bad told him he was wasting his time, but what had been the result ?- Every evil that I saw in the House of Lords, every danger that I saw in the House of Lords 10 years ago, has been gradually growing to a culminating point. I can very easily make this clear to you by a single -example. I am a second chamber man. I believe in a second chamber, if it, be a good second chamber. What I complain of in the House of Lords is that during the tenure of one Govern- ment it is a second chamber of an inexor- ablo kind, but that when another Government is in it is not a second chamber at all. Every workman in Scotland knows why the Employers' Liability Bill is not law to-day every workman in Scotland knows it, and puts it down to its true cause. But I suspect that every workman in Scotland also knows that if the Employers' Liability Bill had been pre- sented to the House of Lords by a Conservative Government, it would have been passed on oiled castors, without the slightest hitch, and without the slightest difficulty. Therefore the effect of the House of Lords as it at present stands is that in one case it acts as a Court of Appeal, and a packed Court of Appeal, against the Liberal party, while in the other case, the case of a Conserva- tive Government, it acts not as a second chamber at all. In the one case wo have two chambers under Liberal Governments in the Con- servative case we have a single chamber. Therefore I say that we are face to face with a great difficulty, a great danger, a great peril to the State. We were, I think, face to face last week in th? House of Com- mons with a resolution not, I think, conceived in a very serious or practical spirit on this very question but it was carried by a majority of two, and what I deduce from that circumstance, as to which one hardly knows whether to laugh or to cry, is that there was no foelingcontained in tbe majority against the pre- sent Government. Quite the reverse. How strong, then, must be the feeling against the House of Lords that could make so many Liberals put the Government into a minority. Gentlemen, I say that that is a grave danger to the State. I have been thinking of remedies for many years past.—constitutional remedies, remedies within the four walls of the constitution. I have not been able to find them, for the simple reason that a bill to be legal, whether as modifying or as going further than the House of Lords, must pass through both Houses of Parliament before it becomes the law. I leave that subject to your serious consideration. Lord Rosebery went on to suggest that a remedy would have to be found for the prevalence of obstruc- tion in the House of Commons, and sat down amid cheers after having spoken for over an hour.
PEERS AND PEOPLE.
PEERS AND PEOPLE. A HYDE-PARK TRADES UNION DEMONSTRATION. The joint Organising Committee of the Trades Congress Parliamentary Committee and the London Trades Council called a conference on the 17th inst. to discuss arrangements for agitating against the action of the peers in relation to the Employers' Liabi- lity Bill. The meeting was held in the Memorial Hall, and was attended by over 800 delegates from the chief trade organisations in the kingdom. Mr. J. Burns, who was in the chair, said that for 13 years now the trades unions throughout the country had been struggling to amend the law of employers' liability so as to ensure the better protection of workmen from injury. What they wanted was a bill which would not admit contracting out. He had great pleasure in reading the following resolution, which, subject to the approval of the meeting, would be submitted to the demonstration: "That this meeting, representing the organised in- dustries of the United Kingdom, condemns the action of the House of Lords in stultifying the decision of a majority of the directly-elected representatives of the people in the House of Commons on the Employers' Liability Bill. This meeting also calls upon the Government to reintroduce the measure at once to test the ultimate decision of the Lords, and to take such steps as will make it impossible for the Peers to oppose the national will." A disorderly scene, which lasted for sometime, took place just after a number of amendments had been handed to Mr. Burns. One of the delegates, Mr. Sprow, was finally ordered to leave the room, and the resolution was adopted, with the addition, after and to take such steps," of the words for the entire abolition of the House of Lords as will make it impossible for the peers to oppose the national will." Sunday afternoon was devoted by the labour organisations of the metropolis to demonstrating against the House of Lords. The procession was one of the largest which has ever marched to Hyde- park its proceedings were, however, conducted with due orderliness. Its component parts came from all parts of the metropolis. The various lodges assembled at convenient points in their own districts and marched, headed by bands and duly interspersed with banners and led by a marshal on horseback, to the Embankment. The marshals were most fascinat- ing objects. Their horses had evidently for the day left the subduing bonds of the greengrocer's cart, and did not know what to make of saddle and the load on their backs. None of them, as far as could be noted, felt called upon to resent the change of occu- pation. The most reproachful animals in the pro- cession were the horses harnessed to the heavy brakes. They would have preferred pulling a loaded 'bus as a lighter Sunday task. On the Embankment the processionists united their forces and made a spectacle striking enough, and which might have been imposing but for the fog. The number included in the long line must have been very great. The head of the procession started from Charing-cross Railway Bridge at two o'clock and went up North- umberland-avenue, across Trafalgar-square, along Cockspur-street, Pall-mall, St. James's-street, and Piccadilly, entering Hyde-park by the eastern gate. Heading it were 100 mounted farriers. The attendance in the park was very large. The largest crowd was that which surrounded—there were 12 in all-platform six, where Mr. John Burns was expected to hold forth. Expectation was not dis- appointed. He warned some 60 members, whom he did not name, that unless they voted in favour of the next Employers' Liability Bill they would be con- tracted out of Parliament. He will have no Second Chamber. The present House of Lords, he says, is only a chapel of ease for chambers of commerce and other council organisations. He is for ending the House of Lords, not for mending but for rending it, whereat there was great cheering. There must be no Second Chamber to take its place. (More cheer- ing.) The Prime Minister," added Mr. Burns signi- ficantly, at Edinburgh has said he is in favour of a Second Chamber. Well, if he is, we are not, and what is more we would rather have the House of Lords as it now is, with no statutory rights and no Constitution, easily affected by popular indignation, than a Second Chamber created by law and com- posed of Lord Liveseys, Lord Mashams, and Lord Rookwoods, and with our foreign politics managed by men of the Stanley and Cecil Rhodes type. If a revision of the one Chamber's proceedings is necessary, we can have a referendum to the whole people." There was more of this, with figures to prove that where there was no contracting-out accidents were fewer than where there was. Another attractive speaker was Mr. Fenwick—we are getting on when a man seconds the Address to the Throne and attends a Hyde-park demonstration in one week-and his view also was that the House of Lords should be ended. Various Labour members of Parliament spoke at other platforms, including Mr. S. Woods, Mr. J. H. Wilson, and Mr. Cremer. The resolution given above was passed, as usual, to the sound of a trumpet.
[No title]
THERE IS no truth in the rumour that the German Emperor is il ) and as for the Empress, it is well known in Berlin that it is less on account of her own health than of that of her children, that she has gone for a few weeks' stay at Abbazia. The Emperor was never better than at present, in spite of the fact that his right ear continues to be his weakest point, and that he has not yet been able to leave off the use of wadding. On account of this ear ailment, of which the exact nature was never a matter of complete agreement between his doctors, the Emperor has always to be very careful not to catch cold, but it is years since he consulted a specialist on the subject. Dr. Leutliold is to the present Emperor what Dr. von Latter was to the old Kaiser, and accompanies his Majesty on all his journeyings, both at home and abroad. It must be very trying for the very best constitutions to get through all the eating and drink- ing which mark the carnival season at Berlin, but the Emperor, even during the festive time, manages to keep himself in good and wholesome form by daily rides and walks in the Thiergarten. A RUSSIAN painter who exhibited some extra- ordinarily brilliant pictures of battle scenes a few years ago in London has lately turned author, and is on the point of issuing a novel which he has named The War Correspondent." The locale of the story is the last Russo-Turkish War, in which the artist, M. Verestchngin, played a prominent part. He is not the only man who has managed to combine the professions of art and literature. Witness Mr. William Morris, the poet and decorative artist; while Mr. Du Maurier, the Punch cartoonist, has written a novel for Harper's, and Mr. Harry Furniss is just on the point of founding and editing a new journals
COAL AND PETROLEUM IN J ENGLAND.…
COAL AND PETROLEUM IN J ENGLAND. j The fact that this country is not yet "played Jut" as a mineral producer is being continually illustrated, i the Mining Jowrnal remarks, though-too often the greater cheapness of working in other countries j prevents our resources in this respect from being developed. The unfortunate thing is that legislative interference tends rather to increase than diminish this disastrous discrepancy. Kent has provided the j latest sensation of any moment in connection with England's mineral wealth, and the possibilities associated with the new coal field at Dover for a time loomed large in the public mind. If of late we have i heard little or nothing about Kentish coal, it must not j be assumed that steps are not proceeding for its j development. Professor Boyd Dawkins, who speaks with special authority, declares that there can be no J doubt of the commercial value of the Dover coal field, j If we can accept this conclusion, we may look j forward not only to immediate consequences of vast j commercial importance from the mining of coal in Kent, but also to the discovery of other coal fields in South and Eastern England. I For the assumptions which are held to be justified j in the Dover discovery embrace a much wider range j than just that part of Kent. The measures which have been struck are in direct relation with the coal fields of Somerset and South Wales on the j west, and of Northern France and Belgium on the east, and it is probable that workable deposits are to be found elsewhere between these points. This view is supported by the recent discovery of coal at I another spot m Kent, near Ashford, and by the encouraging results of experimental boring in Suffolk. The geological character of the district, analogous as it is to that of the Pas-de-Calais, supports such a theory, and the presence of the secondary rocks, so common a feature of our coal-bearing areas, gives I indication of the probable existence of carboniferous strata over a very large portion of South-Eastern England. As to what has actually been done at Dover, Professor Dawkins says simply that "the experi- mental stage is over," though we are afraid that this ex- pression of triumph refers rather to the scientific than to the commercial side of the enterprise. However, the present position is that the boring has been carried to 2225ft. below the surface, and that at this point a 4ft. seam of good blazing coal has been struck. Altogether, 12 seams of coal, of varying thickness, have been found, and it now becomes time to develop these, without further speculation for the ¡ moment upon the riches which remain concealed in I the lower depths. A shaft is being sunk, and when it is completed the first step in the practical working of the South-Eastern coal field will begin. The ex- perience afforded in the coal mines on the opposite side of the Channel proves that coal measures can bo I successfully worked at the depths, and beyond them, at which they have been found at Dover, while their nearness to London, and to the important seaports i along the southern coast, gives them every chance of an advantageous market. Without being too sanguine, it seems that we may now begin to look forward to the growth of a new coal mining industry. If our mineral laws were less exacting than they are, no doubt we should have a wide application of English enterprise to the task of further testing these resources, instead of confining itself to more or less desperate prospecting abroad. As it is, it seems a pity that ground landlords and capitalists cannot come I to some agreement which would not make it seem that I the latter's work would be all for the benefit of the I former. In most other countries we should have a Government Department to undertake the prelimi- I nary geological investigations warranted by the results and the data already available. It is not only f in coal that evidence is forthcoming of the unde- veloped mineral wealth of Great Britain. The dis- covery of an oil well at Shepton Mallett is one of a series of incidents which, if they had occurred abroad, would certainly have produced a considerable inrush J of British capital. The presence of petroleum in j Somersetshire, of course, does not imply that it can be profitably worked, but then, neither does it any- where else. We believe that the oil deposits referred to will be subjected to exhaustive examination, and that money will be forthcoming for their work- ing if the consequent reports are favourable. It is j hopeful for this result, that petroleum has been found, under more or less promising conditions, in I Derbyshire, Staffordshire, and Shropshire, as well aa elsewhere in Somersetshire than the present site, I while all the indications point to the deposits now I found extending over a wide area. In Scotland, the mineral oil industry, though by no mean munificently favoured by Nature, continues to maintain its j position, and we think it very likely the same thing may be done in England. Labour struggles, absurd ¡ legal restrictions, greedy vested interests, and the contempt which arises from familiarity, have con- spired to draw public attention away from our native mineral resources. Let us hope that the success of either or both of the new enterprises we have been dealing with may inaugurate a reform in this respect 'I
.THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE. I
THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE. I In a pamphlet just issued on the Department of Scientific and Practical Research of the Imperial In. stitute, Sir F. A. Abel states that it has been con • sidered indispensable to enlist the active interest and to secure the advice and co-operation of some eminent men of science who have identified themselves with the work of research in natural products, or in par- ticular branches of applied science bearing upon the varieties of work which it is desired to accomplish. A committee of advice has been appointed, and the | members have adopted a scheme of action which ap- pears likely to lead to the achievement of the scientific and practical results arrived at. These results are to makethepublic acquainted with the resources of various countries, to enable men connected with commerce and industry to compare the products of particular classes furnished by the several countries, and also to direct the attention of those practically interested in them to new or little-known natural products, and to furnish trustworthy information as to their nature, properties, and value. The following are the members of the committee of advice and the sub- iects with which they will deal: Professor Armstrong, F.R.S., Dr. W. H. Perkin, F.R.S., and Professor Meldola, F.R.S. (dyas, tanning materials, and organic products); Dr. Hugo j Muller, F.R.S. (mineralogy, botany, and fibres); Mr. C. F, Cross (flnres); Professor Dunstan, F.R.S. (pharmaceutical products and drugs); Mr. David Howard (alkaloids and drugs) Professor A. t H. Church, F.R.S. (agriculture) Mr. Boverton Redwood (petroleum and oils); Professor Roberts- Austen, F.R.S. (metallurgy, fuel, and ores) Mr. Bennett Brough (metallurgy, mining, and minerals); J Professor W. C. Unwin, F.R.S. (structural materials); i Professor Hummell (dyes and tans); Professor W. A. Tilden (gums and resins); Mr. W. H. Dering (oils, waxes, and fats); Mr. H. A. Miers (mine- ralogy) and Mr. Horace T. Brown, F.R.S. (food grains). Sir F. Abel, F.R.S., is director and Mr. Theodore Cooke, LL.D., is secretary of the com- niit.tee.
MR. G. A. SALA ON MR. GLADSTON…
MR. G. A. SALA ON MR. GLADSTON E. Mr. Sala writes in Sala's Journal: I rejoice from the bottom of my heart that Mr. Gladstone has resigned, because, wishing him still some years of happy and dignified repose, I feel confident that he will live odium and detraction down, and that English women of all shades of politics, whom he may, peradventure, honour by shaking hands with them, will not go home and burn their gloves, but will treasure those accessories to the toilette as precious relics. The nation at large will consign to scornful oblivion the screeds of malevolent abuse which are just now being scribbled in the newspapers opposed to his political views. They will dismiss' with contempt the sorry scrawls in which would-be comic artists think that they can make the public chuckle by exaggerating the shirt-collars, the partial baldness and the many wrinkles of a patriarch who should be revered instead of being insulted. They will re- member only with loving pride and appreciation the ripe scholar, the cultured judge and critic of every form of artistic excellence, the impassioned orator, the ready writer, the irreproachable husband and father, and the long-tried servant of the people and finally, if I have coupled the name of Catherine Gladstone with that of her illustrious husband with- out venturing to violate the sanctity of private life by dilating on her abounding domestic virtues, I have done so designedly, because my readers, I feel con- vinced, will perceive that by implication I have wished to show how much the great statesman has owed during his protracted and splendid career to the unflagging love and devotion of his partner in life."
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THE robes of the Speaker of the House of Com- mons aro identical with the robes of the Master of the Rolls, a fact that is due to the circumstance that in former times the office oi Speaker-notably in the case of Lenthall, the Speaker of the Long Parliament -was frequently held by the Master of the Rolls. Till the Judicature Act, 1873, the Master of the Rolls was eligible for a seat in the House of Commons, and always appeared in the House of Commons, whether as occupant of the Chair or otherwise, in his official robes. A NOVEL accident, fraught with a lesson to those who advocate the system in Britain, happened re- cently to the cable tramway in New York. There is a line of these cars running the whole length of Broadway, and the other day a section of the cable went wrong, with the result that the"gripman" failed to got the grip to work, and lost entire control of the vehicle, which consequently ran wild, taking with it several more cars which it soon overtook. A panic ensued among the passengers, many of whom tried to jump off despite the rate of speed. Eventu- ally the trouble was overcome by the works being stopped at headquarters, but not before many serious accidents had occurred. MR. JUSTICE Lmm, of the Jamaica Bench, has arrived in England on short leave of absence, his chief object being to enter an appearance in the case brought against the three Trinidad Judges-of whom he was one—who sent a medical man of Tobago to prison for contempt in Port of Spain some time ago. Of the Judicial Triumvirate in question, one-Sir John Gorrie—is now dead, while another, Mr. Cook, has left the Colonial service, so that Dr. Lumb is left to fight the battle alone against the aggrieved Tobago medico, who claims heavy damages.
Ut,\'1 CLERGYMEN AND KISSING.
Ut,\ '1 CLERGYMEN AND KISSING. The clergy of the little town of Eschenbtch, in Franconia, have issued a solemn protest against kiss- ing on the stage as being an immoral practice, which would give a bad example and be regarded by the spectators as sanctioning all manner of disorders." The cause of this fulminating document was the pro- posed performance of a play by Paul Heyse by the Wolfram Society of the town. One of the scenes of the play represents the ceremony of the betrothal of Wolfram, the poet of Parsifal," to the daughter of the burgher of Eschenbach, in whose house the poem was written, and the betrothal, as usual, is sealed with a kiss. This is the scene which has aroused the indig- nation of the Eschenbach clergy.
FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS.
FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. According to the Lantcrne, as quoted by tho Standards Paris correspondent, a congress of a novel description is shortly to be held in Paris. All over the Continent it seems that the wholesale destruction of the small insect-eating birds, by nets, traps, and birds'-nesting, has done great, damage to agriculture, and especially in orchards and vineyards. Therefore the Minister for Foreign Affairs, at the solicitation of leading agriculturists, has entered into negotiations for the meeting of an International Congress to devise measures for the protection of insectivorous birds. Switzerland, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Russia, Roumania, and Greece have expressed their willingness to attend. Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Italy have intimated that they are bound by international treaties for the protection of birds, but that if the new scheme did not materially clash with their own they would readily accept it.
LORD ROSEBERY AND THE BOOKMAKER.
LORD ROSEBERY AND THE BOOKMAKER. The" anecdotard" of the World, to use its own elegant word, prints a Rosebery sporting legend, for which Mr. Harry Ulph, a leading bookmaker, is given as the authority. It is related that one day at Newmarket, en route to the course, Lord Rosebery asked Mr. Ulph what price he would lay against a certain horse for one of the big races. The ready bookmaker named the figure, which, as may be con- ceived, was not one above the market odds. Lord Rosebery rode on a few paces, and then, pulling up, said, confidentially, Ulph." Yes, my lord,' re- plied the bookmaker, ready for a deal. I ought to tell you that such prices as satisfied Lord Dalmeny will not do for Lord Rosebery." Mr. Harry Ulph, who is a Gladstonian of the deepest dye, on one occa- sion, during a general election, left a race meeting that was in progress, in order that lie might vote for the Gladstonian candidate in a remote constituency. The journey involved tHa loss of a day's racing and, as it happened, business, from the bookmaker's point of view, was particularly good. As it turned out, also'that expedition saved the election, for the Gladstonian won by one vote. The circumstance was a good deal talked about, and a favourable opportunity occurring, Lord Rosebery introduced Mr. Harry Ulph to the Grand Old Man'.
SPORTING PARSONS.
SPORTING PARSONS. A genuine sporting clergyman died at Bath a few days ago. This was the Rev. Edward Davies, who was once curate at Swinbridge to the Rev. Jack Russell, most renowned of hunting parsons, and, ho relieved the monotony of looking after the parishioners' souls by keeping a pack of otter hounds. Jack Russell and his curate were the boldest riders in the parish. Mr. Davies was also a crack shot, which was quite to the taste of the parish. It was Mr. Davies, too, who steered the first Oxford boat against Cambridge on the Thames. In this historic race, which was rowed from Westminster to Putney, Oxford won by 13sec., the time occupied being 30min. 45sec. Of course, this was long before the days of sliding seats, or even of outriggers, the former being first used in 1873, and the latter being introduced in 1846. The deceased cox. was 81 at the time of his death, but retained his interest in sports of t1w)(1 and field until the last. His chief literary works ware the Life of the 'Rev. John Russell," and several contributions to the Badminton Library. It is only a year or two since the Rev. Robert Hurt, the vicar of Carlby in Lincolnshire, finished a somewhat similar career. It has many a time been declared that Vicar Hurt had upon more than one occasion read the funeral service in his pink hunting coat with a surplice on the top of it. Mr. Hurt had, at all events, enough self-control to get through the service to the end on all these occasions, which is more than could be said for one well-known Oxfordshire parson, who, while officiating at a wedding in con- cealed pink coat and top boots, heard the cry of the hounds in the distance and bolted off unceremoni- ously, telling the speechless couple that he would finish the job next day. It was Mr. Hurt who once read a letter of remon- strance from his bishop at a hunt breakfast, and put it to the squires before him if it was reasonable to expect any man to give up a day's hunting to attend a confirmation service. It seems but yesterday, too, that Vicar Carwardine, of Cavenham, used to drive his huge coach every Wednesday through the streets of Bury St. Edmunds, that the Rev. Dundas Everett kept the Besslesleigh Harriers, and that the Re?- Philip Honeywood's view-halloo sounded above all others in the Essex Hunt.
FLOGGING THE KAFFIRS.
FLOGGING THE KAFFIRS. The magistrates of Johannesburg evidently believe in the efficacy of corporal punishment. It seems that one morning recently in Johannesburg Gaol no fewer than 100 Kaffirs received 10 lashes each for walking on the footpaths and jostling women and children. The native Labour Commissioner — in an interview — deplored ex- ceedingly the way in which the matter had been dealt with. Even if it were necessary to inflict lashes for the offence of walking on the footpath, he maintained that the natives ought to have been fairly warned of the action about to be taken. He said that the effect upon the labour market would be most deplorable. Numbers of Kaffirs were leaving' saying, We are being murdered here for walking O11 pavements, so why should we stay ?
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AN officer of tho Indian Staff Corps, in a letter to a service contemporary, says the rupee has now fallen to Is I'-d. If, as is expected, its value declines to Is" 2 the incomes of Staff Corps lieutenants and captains, taking infantry as a standard, will be as follows: Lieutenant and wing officer up to 11 years' IndiaP service, Cl95 per annum captain and wing officer with upwards of 11 and less than 20 years' Indian service, £ 283 per annum. On these incomes officers have to provide themselves with all the necessaries of their position, including a charger. It would be as well," says the writer of the letter, if young officers thinking of spending their lives in India compared the above salaries and rates of promotion with those obtaining in the Army Service Corps and the Depart' 13t ments of the Home army, whose officers are exetflp from service in India altogether." THE trustees of Lord Crewe's Charity taking steps to obtain the sanction of the High Couf1 to the sale of Bamborough Castle, on the North- umberland Coast, to Lord Armstrong. Bamboroug0' Castle formerly possessed great strength, in many instances becoming the place of refuge for the KingS, earls, and governors of Northumberland in troublot19 times. To sailors Bamborough Castle is what the Convent of St. Bernard is to the traveller on the Alps. THE Co-operative Village Sottlement which Was established at Kardella, in Victoria, about six month9 ago has already made great progress. According to the report of the Committee of Management of the Co-operative Village Settlements Association, 35 acres of land have already been cleared for the township site, on which are now erected 38 slab houses, eac° within half an acre of land, a general store, abutchcr shop, blacksmith's shop, shoemaker's shop, and house; four acres of the site are laid out in a stocked garden and orchard, and there are 10 acres land under cultivation, 15 acres under grass, and acres on which the timber has been rung and the scr cut. Three largo main tanks have been sunk for conservation, having a capacity of 20,000 gallons, each house is provided with one or more un ground tanks. The live stock on the settlement c sist of four bullocks, a cow and a calf, 20 pigs, a^ar quantity of poultry, and the plant of a plough, row, and a full supply of spades, pickaxes, f° rakes, soythes, hoes, axes, and two incubators> The account of receipts and expenditure ceipts amounting to £ 1153 8s. 8d., of which was contributed by the Government t.nd £ 554 9s. by-the public, and a cash balance of £ 295 "s. after paying all .expenses#