South Wales Daily News

BIRTHS, MARRIAGES. DEATIIS I MARRIAGE. JAMES—MAXNARD.—On March 13th, at Silver-street Baptist Church, Taunton, by the Rev .J. P. Tetley, Alfred M. James, of Newport, son of J. G. James, to Lilian, second daughter of the late Walter May- nard, of Taunton. No cards. 600 DEATHS. DAVID.—March 12th, at Rose Hill-terrace, Llantrisant, Mary, sister of Mr Joseph David, Preswylfa, Ponty- pridd, aged 39. Interment Wednesday, at 2.30. at Parish Church. 7196 GIBBON.-Sainuel Gibbon, Glan-Rhymney, nearMaesy- cwmmer, died March 12th, 1893, aged 66. The funeral will take place on Saturday next, at 2 p.m., forHengoed. Friends kindly aceept this intimation. REES.—On March 14th, at Anchor-terrace, Taffs Well, Anne, the beloved wife of William Rees. and only daughter of Councillor William Williams, Tonypandy, in her 28th year. Public funeral Thurs- day, March 16tii, leaving Walnut Tree Bridge Station per 1.28 p.m. train. Interment to take place at the Treorky Cemetery. 7198 LEWIS.—March 11th, at Chainworks, Pontypridd, Evan Lewis, aged 73. Funeral on Thursday next, 2.30, for Glyntaft. 7153

"PROTESTANT AND LOYAL ULSTER." A VERY instructive and interesting book was published some little time ago, entitled, "Credulities, Past and Present." A com- panion volume is much needed, and would, no doubt, command an extensive sale, on "Delusions, Past and Present." One of the most misleading and pernicious delusions of a large section of uninformed Englishmen of to-day, and of some Welshmen, too (happily only a scanty number), is the belief, based upon utter ignorance, that Ulster is a Pro- testant, or a preponderatingly Protestant l Irish province and that the Protestants of Ulster are loyal to the British Crown. The historic truth, however, is, as we purpose to show, with chapter and verse to sustain our statements, that the Protestants of Ulster, the Orange faction in Ulster, are the most disloyal of all the inhabitants of the island and are ever ready to rebel when any Act of the Legislature is passed of which they, as the party of Protestant supre- macy, disapprove. As to the comparative populations of Catholics and Protestants in Ulster, the Protestants at the last census only exceeded the Catholics by 129,171. Indeed, if the single town of Belfast-more than four-fifths of whose population are Pro- testant, was excluded from the estimate, the Catholics would outnumber the Protestants in Ulster by nearly 200,000. Loyal and Protestant Ulster" is, therefore, an egregious delusion fa spurious appellation coined for a political purpose, and destitute of truth and fact. Those who use the phrase on the Tory platform, and in the Tory Press, manipulate it for purposes of deception to delude and mislead the unin- structed and the unwary. It cannot be too often emphasised and impressed upon the mind of the public on this side of St. George's Channel that Ulster is only half Protestant, and that that Protestant half is not loyal. Yesterday the National Union of Conservative and Constitutional Associa- tions issued a manifesto to its agents and affiliated Societies throughout the Kingdom. That manifesto bristles with the half truths which, as TENNYSON sang, are worse than whole falsehoods, because the half truth is cunningly fabricated to hide the falsehood and to lead the public mind astray. The manifesto states :It is not one hundred years since Irish rebels, under the separate Irish Parliament, called in a French Re- publican army to help them against England." This sentence states the truth as far as it goes and if we understand the words under the separate Irish Parliament to mean during the existence of a separate Irish Parliament" it is strictly true. But half, and the larger half, of the truth is withheld, and concealed, and consequently the statement deceives and misleads, and it was evidently intended to deceive and mis- lead. That Irish Parliament—" GEATTAN'S Parliament" as it is called -was summoned into existence in 1782 but during the eighteen years of its life it was exclusively composed of Protestants. At that time Irish Catholics were excluded from voting for members of Parliament, and were disqualified from sitting in Parliament. And although in 1793 the right to vote was conceded to the Irish Catholics, the disqualification against sitting in the Irish House of Commons was not removed so that whatever action was taken by the Irish Parliament was taken by the Protestants of Ireland, and not by the Catholics. During the existence of that Parliament, we are told in the Tory manifesto, Irish rebels called in a French Republican army to help them against England." But who were the Irish rebels ? Not Irish Catholics, but Irish Protestants, as Irish history attests. The order of Irish Orangemen was founded in Ulster in 1795, and the Order of United Irishmen was founded in Belfast, the capital of Ulster, four years previously, in 1791. They were both Protestant organisations, and were composed exclusively of Protestants. The Union of United Irishmen, which promoted the rebellion and brought it to an issue in 1798, was founded by THEOBALD WOLFE TOSE, a clever barrister of English descent, and a staunch Protestant. With him were associated SIMOS BUTLER, a Protestant gentleman of high character," and the well known JAMES NAPPER TANDY was the secretary. The Union grew rapidly in numbers and strength, and after the recall, by the half-insane GEORGE III., of that excellent and able administrator, Earl FITZWILLIAM, from the Lord-Lieutenancy, many Protestants of mark and standing joined its ranks, atnoncr them Lord EDWARD FITZ- GERALD, brother of the Duke of LEINSTER, and ARTHUR O'CONNOR, nephew to Lord LONGUEVILLE, both of whom had been members of the House of Com- mons." They opened negotiations with the French Government, and an emissary of France was seized in Ireland and hung, and WOLFE TONE found it necessary to flee to America. Thence he went to France as the representative of the United Irishmen, and succeeded in persuading the French Government to send a fleet with ten thousand men and forty thousand stand of arms, to assist Ireland in a struggle for separation." The fleet left Brest for Bantry Bay on the 1-6th of December, 1796, but, like the Armada, that fleet was dispersed by strong gales, and, after fruitless efforts to land the French soldiers on the Irish shore, the fleet returned to Brest. But the indomitable WOLFE TONE and the United Irishmen were not disheartened, although many of their adherents were discovered and hung for high treason; and Lord EDWARD FITZGERALD and other leaders of the party were imprisoned. TONE continued his negotiations with the French Government, and in August, 1798, a small French fleet landed French soldiers at Killala Bay, who marched across the island towards Dublin, as far as Longford, where they were defeated by the British and Irish troops, under General CORNWALLIS. In October, 1798, another small French fleet, with WOLFE TONE on board, arrived outside Loch Swilly, with the intention of landing troops, but were defeated by four British warships, and WOLFE TONE was taken prisoner. This was the beginning and end of the war, in which Irish rebels not one hundred yeara ago, under the separate Irish Parliament, called in a French Republican army to help them against England." Let it not be forgotten that these Irish rebels were exclusively Protes- tants that it was Irish Protestants who intrigued against Great Britaiu who nego- tiated with the French Government to send troops to Ireland to help to free them from the rule of the British Crown and that it was Irish Protestants who fought against the British forces in that rebellion. These are the facts, and most important facts they are, which the National Union of Conser- vative and Constitutional Associations forgot to mention but which it is scarcely possible to conceive that honest and truth-seeking men could have overlooked when appealing for help for I* Loyal Ulster Protestants" against their Catholic fellow-subjects, who are not seeking their injury. A most accurate, painstaking, and impartial modern historian, GREEN, in his History of the English People," page 761, writes of this period, "England, in fact, seemed on the brink of ruin. Even Ireland turned on her. A force of Pro- testant Volunteers which had been raised for the defence of the island, and had rapidly grown to a hundred thousand men, demanded the repeal of Poynings Act, and the recognition of the Irish House of Lords as a final Court of Appeal. The demand was in effect a claim of Irish independence but there wae no means of resisting it, for England was destitute of any force which she could oppose to the Volunteers." And again, GREEN says, page 771, So threaten- ing had the attitude of the Protestant party which ruled Ireland become during the American War that they had forced the English Parliament to relinquish its control over their Parliament in Dublin." The reader will perceive from these few brief references that the troublers of Ireland-the men who demanded Irish independence the men who have plotted treason against the role of the British Crown: the men who have negotiated with the enemies of Great Britain to land foreign soldiers on Irish soil, and to help to sever Ireland from her union with Great Britain; have been all along Irish Protestants and not Irish Catholics. "Loyal" is a false term when applied to Irish Protestants and this we purpose to show in a series of articles anticipatory to the invasion of Cardiff on the 28th inst., by a force of misnamed Loyal Ulster Protest- ants," headed by that bitter enemy to political and religious liberty, the Tory and Protestant Irishman, Lord ASHBOURNE.

THE LABOUR MOVEMENT IN FRANCE. THERE has just been issued, in the form of a White Book," one of the series of Foreign Office Reports which deals with the relations between capital and labour in France. As a rule Government papers and blue and white books are caviare to but a very limited circle of readers, but the present report is of general and public interest, and serves to throw a good deal of light on the labour movement in France. The report has been prepared, so the Earl of DUFFEIUN states in a note to the FOREIGN SECRETARY, by Mr A. CONDIE STEPHEN,, the Second Secretary of the French Embassy, and reading between the lines we gather- that the work has been to him more a labour of love than an official task. Every page is impressed with the spirit of sympathy with the cause of the workers, and the facts and opinions, we believe, are beyond doubt or cavil. There is a striking similarity between the labour movement in this country, and that of France—they proceed pretty nearly on identical lines, and their tendency and development seem to be ruled by almost the same set of conditions. In France, we gather, the labour question is allied with the Socialist movement, and that there as here there are two distinct divisions of the Socialist or Collectivist party. The Collectivist group, which believes in bringing about a social revolution and a sudden change of the present order of things, is the smaller of the two as it is in England. In its aims and statements it would corres- pond with the Socialist Democratic Federa- tion of this country—a Socialist body which never numbered a large following, and was noted for the violence of the language of its supporters and its revolutionary teaching. But the believers in Social Evolutionism" are a much larger body of workers in France, and their teaching is in line with that of the Fabian Socialists here, who believe in co-operation and the placing of all industries and instruments of labour under collective control for the equal benefit of all. Briefly and tersely put, the one body believes in social revolution, and the other in a gradual transition from individualism to collectivism. It is interesting to find that these two schools of thought in France corres- pond with those at home, both in teach- ing and in the relative strength of followers. Although we generally attribute to France a predominance of the revolutionary and extreme movement, it appears from this report that the exact reverse is the fact. We are reminded that although the Extremist section in France are the noisier, the moderate theories of the Social Evolutionists have found a wider acceptance, and that it is very necessary to bear this in mind when considering the sub- ject. The Revolution introduced and fostered the spirit of individualism to such an extent in France that it is only in very recent years 'that Social- ism or labour combinations have made any footing. It was not till after 1870 that the Socialists, by taking up the cause of the working classes, made any headway or gained any influence. The question of the right of industrial association and combina- tion only became a public question itt 1880 and only so recently as 1884 was the law authorising combination voted in France, In this as in so many other things, the land of Liberty and RevolutionR" is a long way behind us in this country. It was in 1824 that the Combination Laws were repealed in England. This freed labour to combine, and full advantage was tken of it, but it was still illegal to combine in re- straint of trade." But in 1871, when the Trades Union Act was passed, Trades Unions in England ceased to be under the ban of the law, while in France they were not legal until 13 years later. The law of 1884 is the Magna Charta of labour in France, and under the liberty which it extended associations of both employers and employed have been formed. Unionism in France has progressed very slowly, and makes very little headway against the individualist spirit which is still strong in the country, but the compiler of the report states that there is a good deal of sympathy in tIle Labour Syndicates in France, and that a spell of bad trade would drive many into membership. Of the workmen's Trade Unions in France,last July there were as many as 1,250, with a total number of members only reaching to 205,152. These figures are very striking and instruc- tive. When compared with English Trade Unions, they sink into insignificance. In 1861, when the first English Trade Directory was compiled, there were 2,000 trade societies, with a total membership of a million or a million and a quarter. To- day thirteen English Unions of skilled operatives give a total membership greater than that of the whole of the combinations in France. However, Trades Unionists in France are increasing, and the workers are gradually gaining faith in combination. We are told that one cause of the smallness of the organisations is the fact that in the French mind strikes and trade syndicates are inseparably connected, and as they dread the former they hold aloof from the latter. We hope to return to the subject of labour organisation in France, and to deal with other phases of this interesting question.

THE Bishop of LLANDAFF has issued a request to the beneficed clergy in his diocese that they will use certain forms of prayer and will exhort their congregations to com- bine in opposition to the Suspensory Bill, which is a very proper request to come from the right rev. prelate. He indulges in a ¡ little rhetoric, naturally and harmlessly- Bishop LEWIS could not be otherwise than harmless—and describes the Bill as "in- tended to prepare the way for robbing the Church of her endowments;" but that is only his episcopal way of putting the matter. Our way would be to describe the Bill as one intended to prepare the way for restitution to the people of national property which has been wrong- fully diverted to sectarian uses," and to the uses of alien sectarianism at that but it would be too much to expect Bishop LEWIS, as a chief beneficiary under the wrongful diversion, to agree with our form of description. Meanwhile the faithful will pray, and doubtless prayer will not be lacking on the other side as well. It is quite a matter of course that both armies in a battle set out with common appeal to the god of battles, and although that particular divinity has been said to favour in general the siwhich has the bigger battalions, we have iu.i';oric evidence that not unfre- quently right has been might, and so are warranted quite independently of the fact that the bigger battalions are at present on our side-in anticipating that the justice of our cause will gain tor us the victory. God defend the right is a good rallying cry and it issues from the side of the attack with far more vigour and reason than from those who are on the defensive. The Bishop, in his letter to the clergy, declares that loss of their endowments will seriously cripple the Church's work. As if endowments themselves were other than crippling The Bishop lives within a mile of Cardiff and if he would spend a couple of hours any Sunday in the county town, he would learn, what he is evidently still iKnorant of, that religious work ia neuar more successful than when carried on with- out endowments, but he will not learn.

THE Newport Chamber of Commerce yesterday discussed the question of a dredger. In that was implied the greater question of whether the Usk needs im- S proving or not. The proposer of the motion referring to the dredger confessed that he was a convert to its necessity, and was sup- ported by Mr T. E. WATSON*, one of the Newport Harbour Commissioners. Mr WILKINSON, one of the newest recruits to the civic fathers, was not against improving the river, but only as to the method, favour- ing contract work and Mr W. E. HEARD objected to the outlay on a costly dredger. These four speeches occupied nearly an hour. In them, it is noteworthy, there was a general opinion expressed that some amount of work was neces- sary to be done to the Usk that it could not and ought not to be allowed to remain in its natural unimproved condition that at least the worst obstruc- tions should be removed. The only difference of opinion was how the work should be done. The President of the Chamber approached the subject with an open mind, willing to hear ano. weigh any- thing offered on either side. The debate was adjourned, but the Chamber has too good a reputation for sound commercial shrewdness to allow the question to become an academic one, and it will no doubt give an authoritative pronouncement at an early date. Meantime, the Harbour Commis- sioners need not be causelessly alarmed. It is true that their project, about which any amount of heat has been engendered these last three years, looks as though it is likely to pass from their control but in such an event, they will have the satisfaction of knowing that they initiated and kept pegging away at what after all was the right policy.

THE return, moved for by Mr D. A. THOMAS, NI.P., in reference to Private Bill expenses in Wales and Monmonthshire, and which was presented to the House of Commons a few days ago, has been printed and was issued yesterday. It shows the amount of cost incurred by local authorities and by railway and other companies in promoting and opposing Private Bill legis- lation during the six years, 1886 to 1891, and will prove a valuable aid in the pro- motion of a reform which is imperative. The hon. member for Merthyr has done good service in thus bringing into prominence the local burden which is imposed by the antiquated system permitted to continue year after year. Local inquiries, held by a n special tribunal, which should report upon the merits of applications for Private Bills, would minimize cost as well as expedite business and one of the best methods of securing change from the bad, costly practice now in vogue is to demonstrate the very heavy expenditure which it entails.

j—— ILLNESS OF MR D, A. THOMAS, M.P. We regret to state that Mr D. A. Thomas, M.P., the popular senior member for Merthyr, is still confined to his room at Llunwern House, near Newport. The attack of influenza proved more severe than was at first thought, and prostrated him to a considerable degree. It is feared that the hon. member will not be able to attend again to his Parliamentary duties fur a considerable time, especially if he follows the advice of his medical man, who has ordered him abroad to recruit his health as soon as he is strong enough to travel.

PROPOSED TESTIMONIAL TO MR W. ABRAHAM, M.P. MEETING AT CARDIFF. Oti Tuesday a large number of the friends and admirers of Mr W. Abraham, M.P. (Mabon) a?sembled in the grand jury room of the Cardiff Town-hall to consider the advisability of present- ing a testimonial to the hon. member in recogni- tion of his varied and valuable services to the Principality. Mr Alfred Thomas, M.P,, was voted to the chair, and it was unanimously decided that a. movement in the direction indicated should at once be initiated. A eib-cominittee was appointed to draft an appeal for subscriptions, the members of the committee being the Chairman, the ftsv J. Morgan Jones, Cardiff Councillor Thomas (Cochfarr), Cardiff; Mr Smith, Bailey's Estate, Ton Mr S. Shepton, Clerk L:anwonno School Board, Pontypridd Councillor W. Jones, Moun. tain Ash. MrT. Davies, Chronicle Oiffce,Ponty- pridd, was elected secretary,and Mr R. A. Lewis, Lloyd's Bank, Pontypridd, treasurer.—Upon the motion of Councillor W. Jones, Mountain Ash, it was arranged that sub-committees be appointed in various localities, and that a request be made that the local secretaries, when elected, sbould immediately communicate to the general secretary, so that the movement may be carried on upon certain definite lines.

FATAL FIGHT AT ABER- SYCHAN. A shocking affair, having its origin in a fight, and resulting in the death in one of the com- batants, took place at Abtrsychan on Tuesday morning. On Saturday night last it appears that two men, named Alfred Stockden, aged about 30, an underground haulier, and Wm. Lewis, a collier, of about the same age, met in a public- house, where they had a quarrel over an old grievance. The upshot was that the men resolved upon a fight, during the course of which Stock- den (who is an athletic fellow, although only possessed of one arm), succeeded in throwing or striking his antagonist to the ground, Lewis, it ia said, falling over a couple of steps. Lewis appeared badly hurt. and was removed to his home at the back of the Queen Adelaide Inn. Dr Mulligan, who attended him, found hun suffering from a rupture of the bladder, his condition being so extremely critical that on Monday afternoon it was decided to take his depositions, Mr W. L. Pratt, J.P., attending for that purpose. Mean- while Stockden had been arrested on a charge of causing deceased grievous bodily harm. The injured man succumbed at an early hour on Tuesday morning, so that a more serious charge will now be preferred against the accused.

THE HALIFAX MURDER. SAD CONDITION OF MRS SHAW. The Halifax murder case continues to be the all-absorbing topic of conversation in the Caddy Field district, where old Mrs Tovvnscnd received the blows which ended in her death. Matters which ordinarily supply food for gossip are not mentioned, public interest being centred on the trial of the prisoner, which has been fixed for next Thursday. Meanwhile the condition of Mrs Shaw, the youth's mother, is giving much cause for anxiety. The confession by her son has had a terri blv depressing effect upon her, and the strain upon her mind is so great that grave fears are entertained as to the result. Besides being greatly distressed, she is in straitened circumstance?, and without assistance unable to provide herself with food. The neighbours state that she went to the assizes on Friday, thinking that she would be able to have an interview with her son. She did not see him, and was in consequence much disappointed. Several of the neighbours who travelled with her from Leeds to Halifax on Friday evening stated that she acted in a very strange and violent manner, and but for the presence of two constables would have jumped through the carriage window. She made an attempt just before Low Moor was reached, but was held back. The passengers by the train changed at Low Moor, and while they were on the platform Mrs Shaw's manner attracted general attention. She became less agitated when she arrived at Halifax. On Tuesday she was still in a pitiable condition, though much calmer than was the case on Friday. In consequence of the threats which she has frequently made, the neigh- bours are keeping sight of her as much as possible in order that no harm may befall her.

LOCAL COMMISSIONS. The London Ociztlte of Tuesday night contains the following :— War Office, March 14, 1893 LRNE BATTALIONS.—The South Wales Bor- derers—The appointment to a second lieutenancy of gentleman cadet E. G. S. Creek from the Royal Military College, which was notified in the Gazette of the 24th February, is cancelled. MILITIA ARTILLKRY.-The Carmarthen Artil- lery (Western Division)-Lintenant E. E. Richardson to be captain, dated .5th March inst. Second lieutenant A. C. Duckworth to be lieutenant, dated 15th March instant. MILITIA INFANTRY. 3rd Battalion South Wales Borderers-George Lewis Lloyd, gentle- man, to be second lieutenant, dated 7th March instant. 3rd Battalion the Welsh Itegilllent- Lieutenant J.W. Aldridge from the 3rd Battalion Prince Albert (Somersetshire) Light InfUntry, to be lieutenant, dated 15th March instant. Arthur Herbert Wilkin, gentleman, to be second lieutenant, dated 4th March instant.

THK GREAT Cum: FOR CORNS.- Munday;,s Viridine-Still further testimony. A Chemist writes Will you send me a bottle oi your Viridine ? It is for my own use. I get plenty of corn cures of the aarno colour, but none of them appear to equai yours. No one ouht to say his corns ;ire incurable until He has used" Viridine." Thousands have been cured, most of whom had suffered for over 5Cjcars. Bewai e of imitations. Sold in bottles Is, by pest Is 2d, by the Proprietor, J. Munday, Chemist 1 High-street, Cardift »nrf all Chemist*. 1079

LONDON LETTER. [FROM OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT. J [SPECIALLY WIRED.J LONDON, Tuesday Night. JOSEPH STOOPS LOW. ? Before Mr Chamberlain stooped to lend f himself to the attacks of men like Mr, James Lowther and Mr Howard Vincent on the appointments of Labour Correspondents by the Board of Trade, lie might have appro- priately remembered the virulence of the fashion in which he himself was assailed when. in 1883, as president of the same department, it was his duty to select official receivers under his new Bankruptcy Act. Mr Chamberlain has the modesty to hold up the conduct which was then the subject of vehement and unbridled denunciation of his present admirers and allies as a pattern which Mr Mundella ought to have followed now. In point of fact, Mr Mundella has taken the very best (and, indeed, very similar) means for finding out the most qualified men, the only test being fitness, and not party views. Yet Mr Chamberlain condescends to mete to his successor in office precisely the same pitiable and ungenerous factiousness of which he himself so bitterly complained ten years ago. To such base uses does political malignancy degrade the great talents of its blinded victims. IN THE DOLDRUMS. What is called in Tory circles "The Capitulation" of the Government has had the effect of reducing the House of Commons from the state of high tension in which it has of late dwelt to a very flat and prosaic condition. No change from grave to gay, from lively to severe, was ever more sudden than this drop from the heroic to the common-place. This afternoon, instead of a debate soaring into great questions of State propounded in voices vibrating with emotion lest the integrity of the empire should be destroyed and the gaiety of the nation eclipsed, the atmosphere has been that of the counting-house and the paper merchant's warehouse. With an adaptability that might excite the jealousy of the Nasmyth hammer, scenting peril to its fame as a model of versatility in being equally at home in cracking nuts and in welding tons of steel, the House in Committee has shown itself as competent or or incompetent to discuss the price of waste paper and the quality of stationery as to revolutionise the drink traffic, or to direct the issues of pcaco and war. THE QUALITY OF STATIONERY. The intelligent foreigner looking in on the proceedings would have found ample confirmation of the Continental idea that We are a nation of shopkeepers. So commercial has been the conversation that it was hard not to feel positively grateful to Mr I*. G. Webster for causing the mild diversion of being lour times called to order for inartistically" endeavouring to enlarge talk about the coinage with a disquisition on bi-metallism and paper currency. Sir Ash- mead Bartlett has implied that there is one fly in the ointment of a Civil Lord of the Irl Admiralty. The stationery supplied to him whereon to conduct his correspondence is unequal to his deserts. He has also waved a black-edged envelope under the eyes of an awed House to show how deficient it is in the matter of gum. Mr Hanbury, Mr Jesse Collings, Mr Labouchere, and others have been challenging some with know- ledge, others with a conspicuous want of knowledge, on the extraordinary memo- randum printed on the Votes that there has been an increase in the price of paper amounting to 30 per cent. Various newspaper printers have confessed that this is contrary to their ex- perience, and Sir John Hibbert has laboured through the intricacies of "hand-mades" and" wood pulps" without throwing any light on a subject on whose bearings he is conspicuously at sea. Mr Howard Vincent having at length been gratified by the pro- duction of statistics as to the number of German lead pencils used in the Govern- ment offices, has turned his eagle eye on the importation of foreign paper, and the extensive use made of it in the Post Office and other departments. The hon. member was several times oalled to order for straying far from the subject of the vote into the wide deserts of prohibition in his zeal against the iniquity of stipulating in contracts that only English- made paper shall be used. Foreign paper, Mr Vincent declared, if cheap, to be also nasty, but instead of leaving it, if this be so, to its natural fate and condemnation, he moved the reduction of the vote as a protest against his inability to extort any promise that foreign paper should be abso- lutely tabooed. A REPROOF FROM SIR WILLIAM. It would have implied an amount of self- control on the part of Mr James Lowther unattributed to him by his dearest friends to have missed this fine opportunity of airing his Protectionist doctrines and of chargiug the Government with a distinct breach 0 of the current wage resolution adopted by the last Parliament. Sir Wil- liam Harcourt denied that thr resolution had any bearing whatever on the paper con- tracts. Were Mr Vincent and Mr Lowther prepared to lay down the principle that no goods should be purchased from abroad, with the natural consequence that foreign countries would not purchase from this country 1 He objected strongly to hours being wasted by hanging a Protectionist discussion on a vote of this kind. Mr Chamberlain apparently recognising that from the mutual exchanga of unconcealed derision on the Front Opposition Bench while Mr Lowther was speaking, that in the absence of Mr Balfour the Opposition was leaderless, complacently assumed the vacant post, and recommended Mr Vfticent to withdraw his motion. This was done, but not before Lord Randolph Churchill had hotly protested against Mr Lowther's contention that an abstract resolution passed by one Parliament was to have all the obligation of law on future Parliaments and future Ministries. LAW AND PAY. This question disposed of, Mr Hanbury launched out into a loud disquisition on the payments made to the Law Officers of the Crown and their clerks, including a special attack upon the Solicitor-General and on the new arrangements respecting the methods of payment and the obligation not to take private practice, which he maintained put far more into the lawyers' pockets than formerly. In his reply to this, Sir Charles Russell took the House very fully into his confidence as to the pecuniary sacrifice he and men in his position have to submit in accepting office, together with a detailed account of the duties they have to discharge. AN UNSEEMLY SCENE. I have not seen it anywhere recorded that during the last ten minutes of Mr Carson's speech last night there was a running obligate of "divide" from Mr D. Crilly, who sat in the back row of the Irish mem- bers. He was oiten called to order, but he paid no heed, and, in annoyance, shouted Divide louder than before. Mr T. M. Healy, who was sitting on the bench imme- diately in front, put out his hand to restrain him. Mr Crilly, however, resented his interference, and struck the member for North Longford a violent blow on the arm. There were soizie harsh words, which were drowned in the prevailing hubbub. The incident passed unnoticed, save by the Irish members sitting below the gangway. A DIVORCE RUMOUR. There isa strange rumour current about an unreported divorce case, which was heard a little time ago. It is not not an unusual thing for counsel in divorce actions to purposely abstain from mentioning Christian names or the places where the parties reside. Everything is made as indefinite as possible so that the reporters may be misled as to the importance of the case. The rumour is now in circulation that a well-known mem- ber of Parliament, with a by no means uncommon name, was a co-respondent in the action. If so, the secret was well kept, but having leaked out, it has beon a matter of general comment in the Law Courts to- day. THE LAW ABROAD. All the Queen's Bench judges are at present away on assize business, the Lord Chief Justice is laid up with a severe cold, and it is quite possible he will be unable to resume his duties at the Law Courts this side the Easter recess. Consequently no tribunal is sitting this week for the trial of common law actions. The judges, however, before going on circuit did their best to remove cl j cause for the repeated cry of the law's delay. If two judges can be found probably a divi- | sional court will sit on Thursday.

THE SEAMEN'S WAGES QUES- TION AT CARDIFF. EXTRAORDINARY SCENE AT THE DOCKS. ALLEGED SAVAGE ASSAULT. On Tuesday, at Cardiff police-court, a seaman named Charles Howard Hunt (25) was charged- before Dr Paine and Councillor Ebenezer Beavan with having violently assaulted Mr William White, boarding-house master, by striking and looking him violently about the head aud face whilst in James-street on Monday afternoon.—MrT. H. Belcher, solicitor, appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr J. H. Jones, solicitor, for the defendant.—In opening the case Mr Belcher said the affair was one of those unfor- tunate occurrences which bad arisen out of the seamen's agitation as to wages in Cardiff. Defendant seemed to have imagined that Mr White was a man who had assisted in procuring a lower rate of waqes for the seamen, and, in conse- quence of that, he appeared to have entertained some feeling towards that gentleman. On Monday l afternoon Mr White was standing in James-street when the defendant and two other men went up to him and, after saying, Here is the black- leg who is robbing us," a dispute took place, when defendant knocked Mr White down with a stick. Whilst on the ground prisoner and his companions proceeded not only to beat Mr White, but also to kick him in a very violent manner. The result of the assault was best illustrated by the appearance of the plaintiff's face, which showed the serious and grievous injuries complainant had sustained. Complainant had not only been cut about the head, but his body was one mass of bruises. This was a serious case, and called for very severe punishment.— Complainant, whose face was terribly cut and bruised, gave evidence which bore out Mr Belcher's statement, an he also said defendant and others had accused him of supplying men for the steamer White Jacket, which was false.—Cross-examined, complainant said he had been in Cardiff about seven years. He had been lined for assaulting a. dock labourer, summoned by the Board of Trade the other week for illegally supplying, and he had been arrested on a charge of stealing a watch, but was discharged. It was not true that he had supplied men to the White Jacket. He did not cross over the street to where defendant was standing. They were all on the same side, and defendant went up to him. Wit- ness had no stick in his hand. He did not strike a man named Castle with one, nor had he a stand- up tight with that man. Castle kicked hun whilst he was on the ground.—James Mason, boarding-house master, 21, James-street, said he was standing at the door of his house, when he heard a noise, and, on turning round saw plain- tiff on the ground. Prisoner was standing over him kicking him, and a man wearing a red shirt kicked him and beat him with a stick. Defen- dant also struck plaintiff with the same stick. Witness sent his servant for a policeman. The man Castle now pointed out was oue of these who assaulted plaintiff. A youth named David Thomas, residing in Havelock-street, gave evi- dence of a similar character and, in cross- examination, he said that White and prisoner had had a stand-up fight with their fists, during which the'former was frequently knocked down. Wit- ness thought that was how complain- ant got the injuries to his face. He did not see prisoner kick complainant. Daniel Meredith said he saw complainant kicked by prisoner whilst on the ground, and theie was a general fight all round.—Cross-examined, he said White and prisoner fought with their fists until the former was knocked down.—Dr Thomas F. Roche said he examined White, and found he had sustained wounds on the scalp and ncse, one half-an-inch long and half-an-inch deep on his upper lip, and also various bruises on the face. The injuries were the result of considerable violence. It was possible the wound on the lip could have been caused by a sharp or a hard instrument, or by a blow from a fist. Cross examined, he said it was also possible for the wound to be caused by White falling on the edge of the pavement. —For the defence, Mr Jones called several inde- pendent witnesses with the view of proving the defence. which was that White first struck prisoner, that there was then a tight between the parties, and that White got the worst of it.- Thomas Williams, Coke-street, Canton, who said prisoner was a stranger to him, stated that White went up to prisoner, and dared him to repeat that he had sent men to the White Jacket. Prisoner repeated the statement, and White struck him on the head with a 6Vck. Then a fight got up, Castle also getting a blow on the head with a stick by White, which knocked him down.- I I Thomas Bradford, 192, Bute-street, and John Castle, seaman, gave similar evidence, the latter stating that White hit him on the back of the head with a stick and knocked him down when he tried to seize the stick with which he was assaulting prisoner. He denied having assaulted or kicked White. A store-keeper named John Vincent, who resides at Saltmead, also gave evidene.—The magistrates dismissed the case.

THE LIBERATOR FAILURE. AFFAIRS OF MR JABEZ SPENCER DAIX, OUI-T. OFFICIAL RECEIVER'S REPORT. At the London Bankruptcy Court, on Tuesday, the Official Receiver presided over the first meeting of creditors under the failure of Jabez Spencer Balfour. He reported that the debtor was adju- dicated a bankrupt, the act of bankruptcy alleged being the absconding of Mr Ballour. Despite the assistance received from Mr James Balfour, the debtor's son, and Mias Bishop, it was difficult to get full infori-nation ts to the bankrupt's various transactions. Possession had been taken of the debtor's residence at Burcot, near Abingdon, and at Whitehall Court, London, and the effects had been sold. It ap- peared that Mr Balfour expended £48,000 in purchasing Burcot, and £7,080 upon improve- ments, including £2,000 for electric light. There was a mortgage oi £ 25,000 upon the property, but notice had been given to call in the mortgage money, and a careful sale was estimated to realise a surplus of £ 13,000 to 215,000. The debtor had other properties at Croydon, Sudbury, Peter- borough, Brighton, Derby, Tain worth, Doncaster, and elsewhere, all of which were settled upon trustees for the benefit of Mr J. Balfour. The bankrupt's interest in cottige property at Reigate had not been valued. The debtor and another had advanced £ 10,000, secured upon the electric lighting instalments in Italy, but the former's quota was represented by certain shares only, the partner finding actual cash. The Doncastcr Gazette Printing and Publishing Company was promoted by Mr Balfour, and he held 597 fully paid shares therein. The Official Receiver further stated that debtor had borrowed £ 17,000 from Martin's bank, the bulk of which was repaid by his partner, in a certain venture. It had been ascertained that £ 975 drawn from the Croydon Bank in October, 1892, was to satisfy a judgment obtained against the debtor's son upon a dishonoured cheque. Mr Balfour's shares in the Northampton Tramways Co. had been sold to Miss Bishop, and this and other transactions were being carefully investigated. other transactions were being carefully investigated. It was further stated that the prools put in amounted to ten thousand pounds, and some fourteen or fifteen thousand pounds more would be proved for against the estate. There appeared to be few creditors, and such assets as there were would go principally to depositors and others in companies with which the debtor was con- nected. It was decided to leave the affairs in the Official Receiver's hands, and also those of the bankrupt's son, whose accounts show a deficit of over thirty thousand. A receiving order was made on Tuesday against Richard Henry Benhain, one of the customers financed by the London and General Bank to the extent of £ 50,000, upon little or no security.

TIMBER IMPORTERS' ASSO- CIATION. THE LABOUR OFFICE AT CARDIFF. On Tuesday afternoon a full and enthusiastic meeting of the members of the Bristol Channel Timber Importers' Association was held at the offices of the Chamber of Commerce, Small-street, Bristol. There were present representatives from Cardiff, Newport, Swansea, Bristol, and Glouces- ter. The meeting lasted for three hours, and the subject of establishing a series of independent labour bureaufl^was discussed. Mr Laws, the general manager of the Shipping Federation, was present, and explained the principle and method of working the new movement, it being proposed to have a bureaux of Free Labour established at each port in the Bristol Channel. There are Free Labour Offices in connection with the Shipping Federation in London, Liverpool, Plymouth, and Dublin, and it was considered by the meeting that similar institutions might be opened in the Bristol Channel ports. It was ultimately agreed to unanimously :—" That this association co-operate with thv Shipping Federa- tion, through Free Labour office, on the basis of the existing Federation agreement, such chief office to be opened at Cardiff."

THE BUILDING TRADE IN THE RHONDDA. Mr Thomas Owen Brown, builder, Ferndale, writes :—Kindly allow me a small space in your widely-circulated paper to contradict the state- ment made by "Rhunddalte" re iiia,-oiis' wages. He says that after making extensive inquiries on Saturday last, he found that the men had not accepted the reduction of %ù per hour as stated. 1 ,2 I can say on my behalf, and on behalf of another firm in Ferndale, that the men had accepted the reduction six weeks ago, and were working for 8,d per hour.

A REPRIEVE REFUSED. The Home Secretary has declined to interfere with the sentence of death passed upon Albert Manning for murdering Elizabeth Flew, his paramour, near Bristol. The execution is fixed for Thursday next.

SMOKE Lambert & Butler's British Oak Shag in packets. To be obtained of all tobacconists ifccrocei s Artistic. Substantial Furniture (Carriage. Free -To meet the convenience of their friends at a dis tance, and enable them to purchase on equal terms with local residents, Messrs Trapnell and Gane the well-known upholsterers and house furnishers, of 13 and 41 Queen-street announce that from October 1st inst. they will deliver carriage paid, to any station in the kingdom, all goods purchased either at their establishment in Cardiff, or at their branches in Bristol and Newport. This concession will, doubtless be much appreciated. Their huge illustrated catalogue ia forwarded post tree upon application, 1207

NEWS IN BRIEF. j Lord Rosebery is to pass the Easter recess at I -Florence, where he will act as Ministerin tit- tendance on the Queen. The Lord Mayor has contributed ten guineas to the Queensland Floods Relief Fund, which now amounts to over 28,000. The proposal of the Government in regard to the Easter holidays is understood to be that the House shall adjourn on Tuesday, March 28, and reassemble on Thursday, April 6. Mr J. E. Addison, Q.C., M.P. for Ashton- under-Lyne, has been appointed chairman of the Salford Hundred Court of Quarter Sossions, at a salary of £ 600 a year, in succession to the late Mr W. H. Higgin, Q.C. j The Belfast Harbour Commissioners have de- cided to ask Lord Salisbury, during his visit to Ulster, to make a tour of the docks. One of them, I which cost over half a million, has just been | finished, and it is proposed to name it after him. Until a few days ago the cold was so intense in Allentown, Pennsylvania, that coveys of quail have sought shelter in barnyards and straw stacks, where, in several instances, the birds became so tame that they would fly down and eat with the chickens. A good many Princes have passed examina- tions with mere or less distinction, but Alex- ander 1. of Servia is probably the only reigning Sovereign who has ever tigured in his own Government Gazette as having won the highest honours in the test for military service. f Referring to Lord Randolph's charge that j Radical agents would outdo in malice and in | falsehood the Prince of Darkness himself," "A j Radical Agent" writes that there is not a Radical agent in the country who would not have to take points from Lord Randy on the lion story record." According to the World there is a good deal of dissatisfaction among the poorer brethren of the disestablished Church of Ireland at the Episcopal propaganda of the Archbishop of Dublin, Lord Piunket, in Spain and Portugal, tor which some £ 6,000 have already been spent, and nearly as. much more is called for. If Home Rule become law in Ireland the disestablished Church, which invested some millions on mortgage on Irish land, will probably find itself in a financial crisis. It will please, we are sure, the many friends of the genial Autocrat of the Breakfast Table to learn that only a fortnight ago he was able to attend a public function in Boston, and that he is reported as "looking well and strong, bearing lightly the burden of his more than four-score years." It was rumoured in London a few months ago that Dr Holmes had of late been failing rapidly, but this latter, and apparently more trustworthy, information would seem to prove the earlier rumour false, or at least grossly exaggerated. It has been announced that Lord Brassey is to uucceed Lord Stanley of Preston as Governor, General of Cauada in August next, and that Lord Aberdeen will at the same time replftCe Lord Lansdowne in India. Ihese statements are utterly untrue. Lord Aberdeen is to be the next Governor-General of Canada if th? appoint. ment falls to Mr Gladstone, but the question of Lord Lausdowne's successor has not yet been coll- sidered, as he will not leave India for another year. Lord Spencer will probably be Mr Glad. stone's nominee, if the Liberals are then in office. Th c World. We have received a copy of the menu-catd prepared in connection with the annual banquet of the Cambro American Society held at Wilkesbarre on St. David's Day. The card, which is an excellent specimen of typo- graphical art, consists of four leaves chastely held together by a crimson ribbon. According to the Wilkesbarre journals the banquet was a great success. Among the gentlemen present were the Hon. W. T. Davies, Rev D. C. Hughes, V.D., Hon. Stanley Woodward. Dr J. Harris Jones, Major Nichols, Mr Harry Harris, and Mr Geo. A. Edwards. Professor John Lloyd Evans Was the musical director. The pecuniary result of the Papal Jubilee is a gain to the coffers of the Vatican of upwards of a quarter of a million, as well as jewels, plate, and other valuable articles which are estimated at nearly £ 200,000. The Duke of Norfolk heads the list of donors with an offering of £50,000, and next comes the Emperor Francis Joseph With E3,000 the Archbishop of Prague and the Primate of Hungary give £4,000 each, as they can afford very well to do, considering that each pre. late has a revenue of over £ 40,000 a year. The Bohemian territorial magnates sent £ 12,000, while the nobility of Rome and the convents a.nd monasteries made up £20,000, and £ 16,000 came from South America. For the first time the honour falls to an Ainori- I can, in the person cf Mr Richard Morris Hunt, of New York, of receiving the gold ttiedal annually given by her Majesty the Queen to him when the Council of the Royal Institute of British Architects shall select ns the most worthy exponent of their prDfession. Mr Hunt's ability is exemplified by many and varied works in the United States, and the compliment to transatlantic architects in the year ef the Chicago Exhibition is the more appropriate because to his talent is due the design of the great-domed Administration Building now in course ef construction on the scene of the World's Fair. A society journal, in seme comments on last week's Drawing Room, says :-There were very few smart carriages, and, indeed, the great majority of them were contemptibly shabby, j having apparently jobbed horses and hired ser- vants. The only equipages having any preten- sion to the state befitting such an occasion were those of Lord Carrington, Lord Caledon, Lord Breadalbane, Lord Fitzwilliam, and Lord Spencer. A noble lord who holds an office in the Household waited upon his Sovereign in a cab, I and was stopped at the gate, with the result that he wa9 obliged to walk ignominiouslv to the J Palace, arrayed in his gorgeous uniform! amidstt the jeering of the delighted crowd. It appears that the real cause of the Emperoj of Austria's unexpected visit to Territet was a change for the worse in the health of the Empress, of which entire sleeplessness was one oi the symptoms. An eminent specialist Was also summoned there to meet him. The Empress is now engaged in the study of Greek, and desires, if possible, to make a tour in India. Her medical advisers favour these ideas, as tending to distract her attention from the melancholy reflec. tions in which she is too disposed to indulge, t The Emperor has been greatly annoyed by the manner in which he has been mobbed at Territet. On one occasion he turned upon his persecutors. and boldly begged them to cease pursuing him. I M. Bourgeois, the French Minister of Justice, whose sensational resignation after Mme. Cotta had given her evidence, was one of the niost dramatic events in the dramatic trial notf Pro- ceeding in Paris, is still a young man for a states. man of high rank, being barely 42 years of age. He was only a few months old when the coup d'etat of 1851 took place. In 1880 he became Sub-Prefect of Rheims, and in 1882 Prefct of the Department of the Tarn. In the latter post he showed so much tact in bringing to an end the great strike at Carmaux that he obtained the Cross of the Legion of Honour, and was marked out for high office. Since then he has several times held a portfolio, and is, or we should rather say was, the most powerful man in the M'H1?try, His most notable achievements perhap3 we defeating General Boulanger in the M,.trne by 40,050 votes to 16,107, and replacing the redoubt- able M. Constans as Minister of the Interior, when the latter was disgraced in 1890. In the current number of the Revue (les De'1J3 Mondes, M. de Varigny writes an elaborate and chatty review of the Hawaiian question. One of the anecdotes he relates is well worth quoting. During King Kalakaua's first visit to Europa he had a long interview with the Polynesian monarch, who gave him a vivid account of hia travels. When the recital was over, the. Frenchman said, "But your Majesty haa omitted all mention of the United States- What is your impression of that country ?" Kalakau* reflected for a moment. I was afraid to wound your European amour propre," he then added gently. A country which takes seven days to traverse by express train, which faces two oceans, where every citizen has his value, and the wealth is unbounded—it is a giant by the side of the great as well as the small powers of the world. You and I," continued the King with a sad and without the remotest sense of the humour of the comparison-" You and I belong to the Past; she controls the Future." The Morning Leader says :-If the gossips be accurately informed, Sir Hussey Vivian, M.P. for Swansea, will get a peerage when the next batch are distributed. Quite an old Parlia- mentary hand is Sir Hussey. He was first elected for the old borough of Truro forty years ago. Among his chief distinctions are big election niajuritie4 and a statue. Few men enjoy the dis- tinction of being "statued" during their life. time; yet this has been the pleasing dignity thrust upon Sir Hussey Vivian by a grateful con. stituency. Swansea c-wes a great deal to its member. The mighty works cf 1!. H.Vivian and Company, metallurgists, provide employ- ment for no small proportion of the townspeople, and have attracted con siderable trade Swansea* wards. Sir JIussey'a mighty majority at the recent General Eiection-wht-n he polled 5.026 more than his opponent—is only beaten by that of Mr C. M. Wannington, the member for West? | Monmouthshire, who won his seat and had 5.3101 votes to spare. The present Lady Vivian is JSi* Hussey's third wife. Hussey's third wife.