Evening Express

VOLUNTEER INTELLIGENCE. MONMOUTHSHIRE ARTILLERY VOLUNTEERS. The 1st Monmouthshiie Artillery Volunteer Corps has just been chauged to consist solely of position artillery batteries with 16-pounder R.M.L. guns, weighing 12owt, with limber wagons and Royal Artillery harness and appointments, so that all the officers, No. l's, driyers, and trum- peters will be mounted. The headquarters' drill stnt.on at Newport has been considerably altered and improved to suit the changes. A number of spacious gun sheds have been erected so that each piece is under iock and kay, and the whole of the gas arrangements ¡laVe been so altered as to pre- vent any chance of explosion by contact with ammunition. A new entrance for the batterv has been made to opsn on to the vacant space leading to the athletic ground, which, with sliding doot s, admits of the men passing in and out in proper formation, and the brackets and beams above have been arranged so as not to obstruct the entry of mounted officers or men. A spl^miidly-fitted harness-room, with saddles and accoutrements for 32 horses similar to those of the Regular Army, iiave been added, as well a- battery clothing stores, armoury, battery and brigade offices, officers' rooms, &c., and the care- t»leer's apartments have been r. i; ranged. On Friday last Lieutenant-colonel Parlby (Devonpor .) commanding the sub-district, vice Colonel T. P. Tyler, inspected the premists and offices, and expressed his very warm admiration at the excel- lent arrangements, and specially complimented Sergeant-major Leary upon the supervision he had bestowed upun every detail. 3RD V.B. WELSH REGIMENT (CARDIFF) SHOOTING CLUB. The second competition (handicap) took place; on Saturday on the Giangetown Ran^e for a prize kindly given by Bandmaster Johnson. The fol- lowing are a few of tiie principal scores made ;— Yds. Yds. Yds. P'ts 200 5 0 600 a I'd T'tal. Corporal G. Williams 24 28 18 8 78 Colour-sergeant J. Perkins 25 26 2ii .— 73 Sergeant-major Broad 31 15 It Sergeant T. Benjamin .26 29 Its .— 71 Private G. Hardage 27 28 17 — 70 CorporalMortimore .19 20 15 10. 64

ASSAULT AT PONTYPOOL, At Pontypool Police-court on Saturday Charles Sheppard was charged, in custody, with inde- cently assaulting Clara Hnlloway, a poor, half- withered girl, in the PontypoDl Workhouse on the previous Thursday.—In const'quence of the prose- cutrix'saiffiction, her evidence could not be taken, but a very clear statement of the occurrence was mutle by an elderly inmate named Gonrt.-The prisoner wa" adjudged to be guilty of an aggra- vated assault, and was sentenced to three months' imprisonment with bud labour.

LLANDAFF CATHEDRAL SERVICES. Chants and hymns by the holiday choir throughout the week. C. J. VAUGHAN, Dean.

WEATHER FORECAST. The weather in South Wales and Monmouthshire for to-day (Monday) has been forecasted as follows:- North-easterly and varying breezes, light or moderate; less cold than of late; rain in places. The weather in Cardiff yesterday was again beautifully fine and warm.

BAROMETRICAL READING AT CARDIFF. Appended is a chart of the barometrical readings tor the 48 hwurs ended Sunday midnight, as registered at the Western Mail Oftine, Cardiff. The instrument, is 33ft. abovw sen level.

YESTERDAY'S RAINFALL. The rainfall, as registered at Tredeleruli, Kompney- 11ill. near Cardiff, for the 12 hours ended 9.0 p.m. last night, and for each 12 hours of the past week, was as follows I 9 p.m. 9 a.m. Total. Sunday .12 'CO 00 '00 Monday 713 "00 00 '00 Tuesday 14 "20 -00 '20 Wednesday Is '12 00 12 Thurs.tay 16 '00 "00 '00 Friday 17 00 -G0 '00 Saturday 38 '00 "CO *00 Sunday 19 '00 — — Total for the weeic .32

SOUTH WALES TIDE TABLE. *• I g I ° Is £ § i ? j o 5 a £ 5 ? a "« s s S o 00 <*< Su o 00 1 <*< I Su Mondav ( Mor,,ing— 4 &5 3 42 4 36 f 3 55 3 6o Anril 0 » Evening. 5 18 4 7 5 1 | 4 13 4 18 pnl ( Height 28 8 26 10 29 2 | 29 6 .8 8 Tue«dav ( Morning 5 40 4 30 5 247~4 38 4 43 Anri' 1 Evening 5 59 4 51 5 45 4 57 5 I Apn' ( Height 50 J1 28 6 31 5 j 31 1 | 20 6 We.lnes l Morning. 6 17 5 '.0 6 4 5 16 5 24 day, Evening. 6 34 5 29 6 23 5 34 5 39 April ?2 I Height 31 il 29 9 | 32 5 32 6 21 11 Thurs- i Morning. 6 51 5 47 6 41 5 51 6 2 dav. { livening 7 7 6 4 6 58 6 8 6 13 April 231 Height 33 7 30 9 34 1 33 6 23 0 TJVi/Ur- t Morning. 7 22 6 20 V 14 6 24 6 35 JS;W Evening. 7 37 6 35 7 29 6 40 6 '44 aprii | Height 34 7 31 1 35 1 34 0 23_2 Satur- i Morning. 7 53 6 o) 7 45 6 56 j 7 6 day, 1 Evening 8 9 7 7 8 1 7 11 7 15 April 25 ( Height 35 2 31 6 35 8 34 3 24 7 Sunday I Mor,lin«- 8 25 7 23 8 17 7 27 7 31 Anril & Evening 8 41 7 39 8 33 7 43 7 49 Apr" -D j Height 3d 2 [31 5 35 8 34 0 23 11 *I?oatli Basin ifast, L)ock Sill. {Alexandra I)ook. 4Do k Sill.

HUNTING APPOINTMENTS. FOXHOtTNUS. PEMBROKESHIRE—Tuesday, April 21, Monachlogddu -11.30. Business Addresses. MOSLEM X CIGARETTES, CLUB KHEDIVIALS, ZAKAS, MOSLEM BEAUTIES. Also P.J.S. CIGARETTES IN ALL BRANDS. All at Manufucturer's Prices. THE 3URMAH, INDIA, and HAVANNAH CIGAR COMPANY, 31, HIGH-STREET. CARDIFF. [Epl2 Billiards I BHliardsJ I BilliardsfIl 6 TABLES, WASHINGTON HOTEL, CARDIFF. E. EASTABROOK, Proprietor ROGERS ALES & PORTERS IN 4J-QALLON CASKS AND UPWARDS BREWERY, BRISTOL. To be obtained of the following Agents in Cardiff, Pale and Mild Aies from lOd. per Gallon. Stout and Porter from Is. per gallon. WHO SELL NO OTHELt BEERS IN CASKS :— ABRAHAM, L., 123, Clifton-street, Roatli. COSDUCH, S., 114, Mi.skic-street, Cathays. CROUCH, J. F., 34, Eldon-street, Riverside. DAVIES, T., Grocer, Cyfarthfa-street Roath. FRANCIS, S.. Grocer, 1, Donald-street, Roatli. JAMKS, W. A., Grocer, 37, James-street. MORRIS, B., Grocer, Bridge-street. PARSONS, U. C., 20, Habershon-st., South Splotlands. PARSONS, T. Grocer, 205, Severn-roact, Canton. RICHARDS, WM., Grocer, Thomas-st., Grange-town. THORNE, G. F., Grocer, Clifton-street. WALTERS and DAWKINS, Grocers, Cowbridge-road. AND AT THE CARDIFF STORES, 9, WORKING-STREET FOR LIST OF PRICES AND SOUTH WALES AGENTS SEE "WESTERN MAIL."

"Spinnaker Boom." Poor Sir Edward Reed He is always in the fat or the fire, and it now looks as if there will scarcely be any of him left by the next election. Sir Edward is a clever man," says Mr. Golden Hule," but Sir Edward has no tact," and truth to say the gallant knight has not displayed any great amount of this useful commodity of late. 10very one now agrees- and no one more heartily than Sir i .dward himself—that the good man made a fearful hash of things during the railway strike. That performance, however, has been put into the shade by the truly extraordinary feats our member has brought off in connection with the recent strikes and their immediate conse- quences. During the railway strike Sir Edward hope- lessly alienated all the sympathy of the ship- owners and their class by endeavouring to frighten them with the grim head of demo- oracv so with very indifferent success he tried ot wheedle the railway men, a majority of whom lived out of his constituency. The lesson of that strike, however, was not wholly lost upon Sir Edward. This is made clear by his leg-on-each-side attitude during the latest strike. Having lost the confidence of the middle class,arid fearful of losing the con- fidence of the working class, he proceeded cautiously, and though he attended some of the labour conferences, he was guarded as Gladstone himself in all his utterances. That is to say. he was guarded in those meetings into which independent reporters were ad- mitted. Someone, however, seems to have informed Sir Edward that public opinion was not all in favour of the strikers, and that it would be safe to humour the middle class a bit. Hence the remarkable letter in which he says that he does not take up Wilsan's case because he sympathises with the prisoner, but because his constituents ask him to do so. Indeed, Sir Edward has some very strong remarks to make about strike processions and disturbances. This is what he thinks I readily acknowledge that to me the repeated street processions and disturbances out of which Mr. Wilson's prosecution arose are extremely dis- tasteful, not serving, so fa.r as 1 cm see, any good purpose, while cert iinly prejudicing tiie minds of Quiet aud orderly business neopls against the cause; which they are designed to aid. I am not surprised that they have brought suffering and disappointment upon Mr. Wilson, who took so active a part in them. This, of course, has given the greatest offence to Mr. Wilson's friends, and this morning Mr. John Gardner has a very stiff letter in the Radical paper. Mr. Gardner doesn't stop short of saying that Sir kdwrad is worse than the boarding-masters and the jury and the recorder rolled up together. "I do not propose," says Mr. Gardner, to under- take any defence to the grave accusation therein [in Sir Edward Reed's letter] brought against Mr. Wilson of taking active part in repeated disturbances—a more extensive charge, we may remark, than that brought against him at his trial. I leave it to Mr. Wilson wheu he is again at liberty to deal with Sir K. J. Heed's criticisms as he deems fit." But Mr. Gardner and Mr. Gardner's Radical friends regret that Sir Edward did not see the advisability of holding his tongue about anything that is likely to damage the prospects of the Liberal candidate for Dept- ford. It is a pretty kettle of fish. Of his own accord Sir Edward turned his back on the middle class. Now the working classes are roused and their leaders are hurling bricks at him, and well, the poor man is not enjoying himself. Well done, Newport! Go up one old town, and don't take any notice of such dullards as Cardiff and Swansea and Llanelly. I am not going to preach any more about the want of a gymnasium in Cardiff, for all the time lean spare will be given to belauding Newport for its triumphs in the world of physical recrea- tion. It looks just now as if Newport pos- sesses the best amateur athletes in the king- dom, and there is an excellent prospect of the Monmouthshire town winning the two- hundred guinea shield annually offered for competition by the National Physical Recrea- tion Society. Newport made a good fight for it last year, but this year the Newport lads are carrying everything before them. Wolver- hampton, Southampton, Birmingham, have all been compelled to bite the dust. and on Satur- day London bad to follow suit. Liverpool (the present holders of the shield) is the only team left, and the grand final competition will come off in the Exeter-hall, London, on the eighth of May. Everything points to a most exciting contest, and Saturday's form is slightly in favour of Newport, for while Liverpool beat Dundee by 327§ points to 291, Newport beat London by 333 points to 303^. I he number reached by Newport is the highest ever won in a shield competition. This looks healthy, and in three weeks I trust it will be my pleasure to congratulate the Newport men on their final victory. By the way, how is it that Swansea takes no part in these competitions? It is not because Swansea has no gymnasium and no gymnasts, for it is very well supplied in both respects. The gymnasium owned by the Young Men's.Christian Association is a capital institution, and two or three years ago, at any rate, it was capitally attended. Moreover, I have seen some of the assaults-at-arms brought off .in the Albert-hall by the asso- ciation young men, and their performances on both occasions were really creditable. Then why not enter for the challenge shield competitions. Then there is Llanelly, which is crowded with athletes, and Penarth, scarcely ever behindhand in matters of recreation— ail these might very well establish gymna- siums. It will be noticed I make no reference to Cardiff. 1 don't intend to, for Cardiff is on the down grade, and will reach bottom unless Mr. A. J. Davies and his Harlequins will do something to avert such a calamity. 41 One or two of the small army of solicitors who honour Cardiff with their professional services were in the Theatre Royal on Satur- day night, and evidently failed to see any- thing funny in the character of Mr. Ju.ffin; the solicitor. It is not difficult to explain the unmoved condition of our young legal friends. For, truth to say, the playwright could not have had an exalted opinion of the social status of solicitors. Although the character is one of the funniest in the play, the young gentlemen referred to were grave as grave- stones. Probably they thought it an insult to their polite profession to picture the character as one ignorant of the common usages of decent society. Undoubtedly the character is somewhat of a travesty, but it cannot be denied that there is a good deal of regrettable uppishness—I am anxious to speak mildly-about the rising sparks in the profession. For instance, I have frequently noticed that whenever young and unpractised solicitors have occasion to advertise they invariably affix" Esquire" to their names, whilst the old and will-established members are content with the plain Mister." Perhaps the author of Aunt J ack had also noticed the immodest trait, and took the opportunity of teaching a lesson. Whilst on this subject I may add it is altogether questionable whether a solicitor has any real right to be addressed Esquire." Of course it is customary now-a-days to bestow that honour indiscriminately, but when people themselves affix it to their names it may be supposed that they consider themselves quite entitled to it. But they are not. I believe that barristers are the lowest representatives of the legal profession who can lay claim to be considered esquires. Doctors in medicine and music, and justices of the peace are also entitled to the privilege, but 1 cannot find anything which justifies a solicitor, young or old, arrogating to himself the title. This is a wonderously distressing starvation case that comes from Newport. Since it is a matter that will have to go before a judge and jury, it is necessary to be careful not to say anything likely to prejudice the position of the people against whom a verdict of man- slaughter has been given by a coroner's jury. The case is eminently one for a full and thorough inquiry, for as the matter stands, it means that a father and mother are charged with neglecting their child to such an extent that it is starved to death. The evidence of the medical men was that the child, instead of weighing forty or fifty pounds, as a four-year- old child should, only weighed twelve-pounds and a half. The poor little thing was little more than bones covered over by skin which was more like parchment. It is horrible. A determined effort will be made to form a county football union for Glamorgan before another season is upon us, and it is just possible the matter will come up for conside- ration at the meeting of the Welsh Union on Saturday. Means have already been taken to collect opinions on the proposal, and so far they have been unanimous, and some of them have been even enthusiastic. A point in favour of having a county team would be that the best players would more often be thrown together. That this is desirable has been proved by every international match in which Wales has taken a part. The unvary- ing feature of such games is that the players don't know each other's play-a fact which often brings about some calamitous conse- quences. A county union would, to some extent, improve this state of things. It is likely that a meeting will be held to consider the proposal before the Welsh Uuion meets on Saturday. Dr. Paine, when the guardians had re- elected him as their chairman, made a speech which contained much matter of peculiar in- terest to all ratepayers. Having given figures to show the ratable value of Cardiff, the doctor said that fifty-four per cent of the houses are rated under fifteen pounds a year. This means that more than half the rates are paid by the work- ing classes, and it behoves them, therefore, to take an intelligent interest in all the affairs of the town. It will take a penny rate, for instance, to defray the cost of the recent strike. Such little facts as these have an educative effect, and should be occasionally mentioned. I will wind up this note by joining with the guardians in singing the praises of Dr. Paine, who is one of the most 1 devoted public men we have in town.

Notes of the Week iiiiy WESTMINSTER."] LONDON. SATURDAY. Lord Salisbury was quite right when, speak- ing in the character of a sporting prophet, he jocularly advised a Lancashire audience some time ago to put their money on Mr. Parnell. Out-manoeuvred, crumpled up, utterly de- stroyed, is the description which may be given of the state of Mr. Justin M'Carthy's hapless party after Mr. Parnell had done with them yesterday. The best judges in the House of Commons are unanimously of opinion that they can remember no finer or more triumphantly successful Parliamentary effort than the speech in which yesterday Mr. Parnell proved his right to the title of a real leader of men. The published reports give no idea of the intensely dramatic character of the scene in which, after that typical" corner boy of Irish politics, Mr. Tim Healy, had assailed the member for Cork with some of those brutal and acrimonious taunts of which he always keeps his quiver full, Mr. Parnell rose and fairly shook the life out of both Mr. Healy and Mr. Sexton, as a pure-blooded terrier would out of a couple of rats. In that admirably written address to Irish Nationalists in England which has just been published in the Freeman's Journal Mr. Par- nell speaks of the men who have deserted him as raw recruits led by terrified captains." Ignoring completely the raw recruits, Mr. Parnell turned upon the two "terrified" captains who sat together immediately on his right hand. W ith set, pale face, gleaming eyes, and gestures so animated that once or twice Mr. Sexton involuntarily shrank back in his seat as the clenched right hand of his former chief descended within an inch or two of his nose, Mr. Parnell looked the very im- personation of superb and savage scorn. Keeping a perfect command of voice and temper, and not usirtnj a word which violated the canons of good taste, be in a few well turned sentences exposed the meanness and inconsis- tency of men who once lived under his "pro- tection." Of course, the Conservatives loudly cheered him on—they have not had such a good quarter of an hour in the lifetime of the present Parliament—and, thus encouraged, Mr. Parnell completed his work, finally sitting down with the well-satisfied smile on his face of one who felt he had discomfited all his foes and restored his Parliamentary reputation. Poor Mr. Justin M'Carthy kept well out of the way on the same bench far to the left of Mr. Parnell, who did not seem to know he was present, and only referred to him contemptuously once or twice in the phrase, the two honourable gentlemen and their leader." After the division, and when Mr. Parnell had stalked out of the House, Mr. McCarthy took courage to creep up to the other end of the bench, where he sought refuge between Mr. Healy and Mr. Sexton, and the three unfortunates consoled and com- forted one another. Next to this trio, Mr. Gladstone and Mr. John Morley looked the unhappiest men in the House, as they felt that Mr. Parnell had paid off a good portion of his debt to them, and made their return to power at the next election almost an impossibility. Sir William Harcourt, who understands that the game is up," was not present on this interesting occasion. Mr. Gladstone must regret now that he made the mistake of undervaluing Mr. Parnell's fighting powers, both in and out of Parliament. His calculation was that the Irish leader would be crushed by the influence of the Romish priesthood in Ireland and by the eloquence of Mr. Sexton and the malig- nant activity of Mr. Tim Healy in the House of Commons. Mr. Parnell had taken things so easily since his supremacy was assailed that Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Morley thought he was played out. They are now completely taken aback by the wonderful re- cuperative energy he has displayed, and, to their amazement and chagrin, they find that so long as he lives there can be no other leader of the Irish nation. The division of yesterday marks the close of the last great party fight over the Land Purchase Bill. There are innumerable details still to be discussed, but the debates on ques- tions of principle are now over. The Glad- stonians had foolishly built great hopes on Mr. John Morley's amendment, providing that no stock should be issued for the purchase of land till Irish.county councils had been estab- lished. They thought that such an amend- ment must receive, not only the whole Irish vote, but also the support of Mr. Chamber- lain, whose fondness for local self-government has often been proclaimed. But the resources of Parliamentary strategists are endless. Mr. Chamberlain calmly announced that, although he sympathised with his friend Mr. Morley in some of the objects aimed at, still, as the intention of the amendment was to destroy a Bill which he (Mr. Chamberlain) thought was a good one, he must vote against it. Then Mr. Parnell, with characteristic ingenuity, declared that he, too, regarded the Bill as the. greatest boon England had ever offered to Irish tenants, and that, as county councils might not be established for some years to come, be must oppose an amendment which postponed the operative clauses of the Bill till that event happened. He, therefore, proposed an amendment to Mr. John Morley's providing that the Government may put the Bill in force meanwhile, and. after he had had his revenge on Mr. Healy, he offered to withdraw his amendment in favour of one similar in tenour proposed by Mr. Sexton, who would leave the working of the Act in th., hands of boards of guardians till county councils come into existence. If this arrangement had been made Mr. Sexton's amendment would have been sup- ported by the whole strength of the < opposi- tion. But here Mr. Labouchere played the marplot. He had been mortally offended by Mr. Parnell's sneers at English Radicals, and so he would not let Mr. Parnell's amendment be withdrawn, but insisted on negativing it. This gave the Conservatives a chance of paying Mr. Labouchere back in his own coin, which they were 'quick to use. Mr. John Morley asked leave to withdraw his amendment in favour of Mr. Sexton's, but the Ministerialists met this request with a joyous shout of "No." and a division was thus forced on Mr. Morley's amendment, with the result that Mr. Parnell and his friends went into the Ministerial lobby, and the Government had the satis- factory majority of 77—a warning to Mr. Labouchere that it is possible to be too clever by half. Mr. Balfour will now, I take it, give up his suggestion that a plebiscite might be taken before the pledging of the contin- gent fund as a guarantee for the payment of land-purchase money advanced in any district. The only speaker in yesterday's debate who really spoke to the substance of the amend- ment was Mr. T. W. Hussell, and there is no gainsaying his argument that it would be the height of folly to entrust the administration of an Irish Land Act to newly constituted and untried local councils, in addition to all their regular duties. 1 would not trust English county councils with the administration of such an Act, as it would almost certainly lead them into courses or extravagance and jobbery. What an eye Mr. Labouchere has, to be sure, for an obstructive. He protected and developed Mr. Conybeare's talents in this direction; he welcomed Mr. Morton on that worthy's first appearance in the House, and he has now one or two promising Welsh recruits. But his greatest find is Mr. Seymour Keay, a pertinacious Scotchman with a financial turn of mind, who has already made scores of speeches on the Land Purchase Bill, and has at least a hundred more in reserve. Mr. Keay is a new member, but his capacity as a bore has been so quickly recog- nised that as soon as he gets on his feet he is saluted by the Conservatives with a yell of dismay. The Irishmen, too, whom he out- talks and supersedes, regard him with ill- concealed aversion. Mr. Labouchere alone smiles upon him with favour and almost with affection, and so strong is the bond that unites them that when, in yesterday's debate, the member for Northampton proudly said he did not speak for himself alone a Conservative wag cried out: II No. there's Seymour Keay as well." Opposition such as Mr. Keay has undertaken never cornea to much. It may delay the passage of a Bill, and cause infinity annoyance to members or the House of Com- mons, but otherwise it is quite fruitless. ï he alacrity with which members on both sides of the House have welcomed Mr. W. H. Smith's proposal to apply the twelve o'clock rule to Tuesdays aud Fridays, on which days debates can now be prolonged till one o'clock, shows how weary this Parliament has grown of the generally unpractical and impracticable resolutions, the discussion of which usually takes up all the time on private members' evenings. The new Standing Order will be adopted with acclamation. But the fitting corollary to it would be a rule limiting the duration of speeches on these evenings, otherwise the House might just as well not meet at all. If the evening sitting begins at nine and ends at twelve, and the mover and seconder of the resolution are allowed to occupy a couple of hours' time, as Sir Joseph Pease and Mr. Mark Stewart did the other night in the opium debate, in laying the matter before the House, there will be no time left for anybody but the Minister in charge to speak on the question. The mover and seconder ought to be limited to an hour between them, the Minister to half an hour, and other speakers to ten minutes or a quarter of an hour each. It would be a good thing to try how an experi- ment of this kind would work. I should do an injustice to Mr. Haikes if I did not admit that he made a very effective reply last night to the assailants' who had moved a vote of censure on his administra- tion of the Post Office. But that was because the attack in itself was so feeble. Lord Compton and Mr. Lockwood spoke in quite an apologetic tone on introducing their reso- lution, and went out of their way to bestow profuse praises on Mr. Raikes personally, and to pay him compliments which he very naturally, in his reply, ±r«sated with con- tempt. They also failed, or rather they did not attempt, to make out any case of injury done to the public by the mismanage- ment of the Post Office. All that they troubled themselves about was the woes of the poor employes, who cannot get high enough pay or short enough hours of labour, and of complaints of this kind the House of Commons is heartily sick. Mr. Raikes had no difficulty in showing what great concessions in the matters of pav and reduction of hours of labour have been made by the department in the last two years, and there is obvious justi- fication for his claim that the head of such an immense business as that which is carried on by the Post <ffice must be allowed some discretion in dealing with his subordinates. I have always been a champion for the mainte- nance of discipline in the public service as absolutely essential to efficiency, and on this point my sympathy goes with Mr. Raikes. Whether he uses fairly the discretion he enjoys is quite a different matter. Mr. Raikes is intrinsically a poor creature, and the very tone of his speeches in the House of Commons exhibits a lack of the magnanimity of disposi- tion without which no man can be a good administrator. His speech of last night, though an effective debating performance, was marred throughout by sneers. Even poor Mr. Henniker ITeaton—-who, forgetting past slights, reproved Lord Comp- ton for bringing on such a motion and pro- mised to vote with the Postmaster-General- was only sneered at for his pains. Sir Edward Reed made a gentle appeal for a re-consideration of the sentences passed on the Cardiff telegraphists but Mr. Raikes could not let slip the chanoe of sneering at Sir Edward's interesting" con- stituents. I thought he would have gone on to make some remarks about the Western Mail, but he forbore. He indemnified him- self, however, for this enforced act of self- denial by shortly afterwards sneering at certain gutter journals of the Metropolis which had attacked him. As his chief assai- lants in the London press have been the Times, Tunch, and other famous papers, I suppose they are included by Mr. Raikes under this contemptuous designation. A spiteful speech of this kind betrays the possession by Mr. Raikes of a temper whihh justifies the suspicion that he cannot be quite so popular with the public servants employed in the Post Office as he believes himself to be. And he is certainly not popular with people out of doors. The Government made great efforts to save him last night, as bis fall would have brought some degree of discredit on all his colleagues. The Treasury sanctioned in the nick of time an arrangement with the District and Boys' Messenger Companies, which removed their burning grievance, and sanc- tion was also given to the employment of a large number of new hands in the Savings' Bank branch. Strong appeals were also made to Conservative members to come down and support the Government as a body, and not Al v. Raikes alone, by throwing out the motion of censure. The result was that the Post- master-General got a majority which by no means represents the real feeling of either the House of Commons or the country with regard to the merits of his administra- tion. The Friends of Humanity in the House are much troubled, as' Mr. Gladstone's letter shows, over the possible consequences of their hasty vote for the abolition of the Indian opium revenue. Sir Robert Fowler's amend- ment, pledging England to make good the deficiency, is a reductio ad absurdum of Sir Joseph Pease's motion. The Gladstonians dare not vote for the amendment, as that would mean that they bound themselves to add about 200 millions sterling to the National Debt of this country—a nice programme for them to go to the country with at the general election. But if Sir R. Fowler's amendment were rejected by the House, the Government of India would be set free from any obligation to pay the slightest respect to the sentimental resolution accepted by the House yesterday week. It is, therefore, much to be desired that the Government should give another day for the discussion of the whole question. In other directions the activity of this same party of busybodies, who will leave nothing and nobody alone, requires the most careful watching. The Standing Committee on Trade, which has now under consideration the new Factories and Workshops Bill,is likely to be occupied for a month to come in dis- cussing the voluminous amendments of Mr. Sidney Buxton and his friends, who wish, apparently, to put every conceivable hin- drance on the free employment of capital and labour in this country. If Mr. Buxton has his way, there will be State inspectors appointed in every street to keep watch over all persons who gain their living by labour, and prevent them from having any will of their own. To what in- tolerable oppression and corruption suoh legislation would lead! Inspectors are bound down to act fairly in large factories, where they are themselves under the close observa- tion of thousands of eyes. But who is to inspect the inspectors of domestic work- shops," and see that they do not levy black- mail upon the unfortunate poor folk placed at their mercy ? The House of Commons threw out on Thursday a particularly impudent proposal made by the toadies of the working man. A company has been formed to construct at enormous cost an underground electric rail- way in Central London, and the committee on the Bill would not pass it unless the pro- moters promised to run three workmen's trains every morning before seven o'clock at a fare of a penny for six miles. This fare, of course, will not pay, and other passengers will be taxed to make up the difference. But even so great, a concession as this did not satisfy the so-called friends of the working man. They clamoured for six trains instead of three, and wanted the time extended to eight a.m. Happily, the House considered the committee had done enough, and that a man who does not go to his work until eight o'clock in the morning ought to be able to pay a full fare. I shall not be sur- prised if, when next a London Railway Bill is brought in, an attempt is made to compel the railway company to carry the working man for nothing, and provide him with a substan- tial breakfast en route. -3.

Countess Annesley died on Friday night at Castlewelian, Coun'y Down, from congestion of the IUDiS.