Llais Llafur

A ROMANCE OF THE WAR. I Officer Leaves Fortune to Chorus Girl. One of the most romaaitic stories of the war has just been disclosed, which con- cerns Miss Pa.t Peel, a chorus girl in a revue, and Lieutenant Edward Ross Mul- ock, of the Gordon Highlanders, who was killed at Neuve Chapelle. By the will of the officer, made in an Army pay-book the lady inherits property worth. £ 15,000. Miss Peel, a dark, vivacious girl, is a member of the company playing "Keep to the Right," one of the many revues now popular. None of the other ladies of the company suspected that Miss Peel drawing as she does each Saturday the same unpretentious salary as themselves, W'},s heiress to a fortune. None of them connected her with a lady who was plain- tiff in a case heard in the Probate Court last November wherein the judge decided in favour of a will, although the pay- book in which it was inscribed could not be found. She herself remained silent as to the facts until certain considerations caused her to tender her resignation to the manager of the revue company, Mr. Ber- tram Seabrook, at the Clapham Theatre, where she was playing In her dressing-room at the theatre she said she met Lieutenant Mulock—who has made her heiress to the fortune con- tingent upon the death of his mother— about three years ago (says "Lloyd's News"). "He was a master at a school in Streat- ham," she added, "and we became very friendly. Shortly after the outbreak of war he went to France with his regi- ment, the Artistes' Rifles, off which he had been a member for six years. Even- tually he was granted a commission in the Gordon Highlanders, and came back to England at the end of January, and showed me the will at the back of, his pay-book. "It said, so far as I can remember, that in the event of his death he gave all his property and effects to me. ltAlthough, he made the will, he himself was very optimistic as to his future, de- spite the danger he was in. 'Nothing will ever happen to me.' he would say. 'Brownie' (the name by which I called him) will always turn up.' However, he fell at Neuve Chapelle. and the first in- timation I had of his dea.th was the casualty lists in the papers. "His chum who had witnessed the was also killed, and the captain who had promised to return to England to give evidence on my behalf in the courts was also killed before the case caipe on. The pay-book itself has never been found, but the case was not contested by Lieutenant Mulock's mother, and the judge unhesi- tatingly pronounced for the will." INCOME OF C600 A YEAR. I It is estimated that the estate, which includes railway stocks and shares and house property.. produces an income of about L600 a year. This, of course, Miss Peel cannot touch until the death of Mrs Mulock. In the bank, however, there was a deposit of C200 to the lieutenant's cre- dit, to which she was entitled. In the courts a friend of Miss Peel deposed that w hen on leave at the be- ginning of 1915 Lieutenant Mulock said I do not want her to go back to the stage. I will make provision so that she will not have to go. I will put her beyond all want. A fellow-schoolmaster of the dead offi- cer also declared that the latter said to him, in the course of conversation "I have left her all my property." Upon the witness chaffing him about making the will, Lieutenant Mulock replied "Oh, yes, we have all done it. I have mine at the end of my Army pay-book, where there is a form."

FATHER AND SON MEET IN THE I TRENCHES. Father and son met in the trenches "Some where in France" on Saturday last. Both are from Barry. and well-known footballers. Albert Green, of A Company 19th Pioneer Battalion, Welsh Regiment, who for several years played full-back for Barry District Association Football club, was ordered into the trenches and there met his son, who last year played for Barry Reserves. Young Green had been out several months, and thjB meeting between father and son under xsuch cir- cumstances was of a most affecting chax- acter.

NEW BRITISH HELMETS. I The new British helmet is beginning to make its appearance. I understand ($1 _V!; a correspondent at British Head- o carters in France) that experiments have demonstrated its effectiveness as a protection against shrapnel and bomb splinters. But there has been no sort of effort to forabine utility with symmetry. The pattern worn by the French sol- diers has at least got some semblance to the picturesqueness of the musketeer's Helmet, but such of the British airticle as T have seen are an excellent imitation of fl.J1 inverted zinc jelly-mould with a broad flange soldered on. I understand, how- -W>T. that they have the real .merit- of ueinp—as my informant very lucidly ex- pressed it — "blooming light for their weight. -———— —————

MR BONNAR LAW AND COMPULSION I STRIKING STATEMENT IN I THE COMMONS ■FURTHER MEASURES MAY BE NECESSARY. f A brief speech by Mr. Bonnar Law, I which created considerable comment, was made in the House of Commons late last night. Sir Ivor Herbert had moved to bring within the scope of the Military Service Bill single men who, after August 5, 1915, had attained, or during the course of the present year would attain, the age of 18 years. Mr. Bonnar Law pointed out that the Bill was limited in scope for the pur- pose of carrying out the pledge given by the Prime Minister. Therefore, the measure could not be extended in the way suggested. It was quite impossible to say whether, if the war went on, these men would be needed, but if so many more things would be iteeded than were now anticipated. He hoped the occasion would never arise, but if it did arise, it might be necessary to take other measures to secure the men necessary to see us safely through. But he denied that i the Bill was in any sense a step to- wards general compulsion. Sir A. Bosoawen said it was most deplorable that the Government had taken such a short view of the situation, j In a brief time another Bill would be necessary. Mr. Ellis Griffith profoundly regretted I the speech of Mr. Bonnar Law. The importance of national safety was greater than the pledge given by the Prime Minister. There were thousands of boys under 19 in the Army to-day. and if the amend ment were not accepted and the war lasted hundreds of thou- sands of young men between the age of 18 and 19 would be compelled to join while others would not come -within the provisions of the Bill.

CALLED-IIP GROUPS. NEW UNIFORMS FOR OLD CLOTHES THIS WEEK. The first drafts of Derby recruits, single men of Groups 2, 3, 4, 5, aged 19, 20, 21, and 22, are now completing their preparations for "rejoining their colours on Thursday. The scheme provides for the sending of a personal notice to each individual at his registered address stating when and where he should present himself. The first batch of these calls to the colours was posted on January 4, for the men who are to "join up" this week. "The general procedure is that the men will present themselves at their local recrui ting office," said a Scotland Yard recruiting official, "and, after a 'military examination' to weed out men with obvious defects, the recruits will be sent to a central recruiting office in order to be drafted to various depots in the usual way.. "Men who come in good clothes can have them sent home on receiving their uniform, but if they will present themselves in their oldest clothes, which can be discarded, it will save a good deal of trouble. "The men are beipg called up in batches instead of the whole four groups on the same day, in order to avoid congestion at the recruiting offices and depots." GROUP MEN'S UNHEARD CLAIMS. "It may be taken for granted," said an appeal tribunal official, "that a man will not have to join the colours this week if his claim, duly lodged, for postponement is still awaiting trial. The military representatives in each district will see to it that claims are decided before men are called up." "Quite a considerable number" was the answer of Mr Tennant in the House of Commons on being asked to atjate how many men had enlisted under the group system since it was reopened on January 10. I

MINERS' BUSIEST MONTH I THE MOST ACTIVE DECEMBER ON I RECORD. In December the high level of employ- ment of recent months was fully main- tained, and there was a igeneral shortage of labour, ,except in some branches of the clothing trades (says the "Board of Trade Labour Gazette"). In the coal mining industry the aver- age weekly number of days on which the collieries were working was the highest recorded by the department of any December, and the number of workpeople employed was slightly larger than in November Great scarcity of labour was reported in the engineering and shipbuilding trades which continued to work at high pres- sure. Employment with dock labourers was good generally. The supply of sea- men for mercantile ships was not quite equal to the demand.

———— 0 ——— CLAIMED BY WETSIT "COUSIN." I Mr. John Osborne Morgan, a Londoner who sailed for Australia 58 years ago, and ha6 just returned to find his brothers and see London, has received several lett-ersa n cl telegrams from "relati ves" since his story was told. He has been claimed by a "cousin" in Wales and another in Clapham.

ASKED TO WITHDRAW FROM GOVERNMENT. When the executive council of the South Wales Miners' Federation met at Cardiff on Tuesday, Mr James Win- stone presiding, the agenda for the forthcoming Labour Party conference at Bristol was considered. It was unanimously decided, on be- half of the Welsh miners, to support a motion calling upon the Labour mem- bers concerned to withdraw from the Coalition Government. It may be explained that at. the Bristol conference several resolutions are placed on the agenda dealing either directly or indirectly with the matter. The United Textile Factory Workers' Association will propose a resolution confirming the action of the Labour members in assisting the Coali- tion Government and the Parliament- a.ry Recruiting Committee. On the other hand. resolutions have been sent in by several organisations, including the Railway Clerks' Associa- tion, the Abe rtillery Trades and Lab- our Council, etc., expressing disap- proval of the course taken by the Lab- j our M.P's and the National Labour Executive in this connection, protests being made that co-operation with other political parties is a violation of the constitution of the Labour Party.

SNIPING THE SNIPER. I NEATH D.C.M.'S FEAT. I Amongst the list of D.C.M.'s re- cently awarded appears the name of a Neath soldier, Private R. J. Hughes, of the 8th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry. Private Hughes, more familiarly known as "Dick" Hughes, lived with his family at Penydre, Neath, and for years was a prominent supporter of the "All Blacks. He joined the Army at the outbreak of wa.r as a reservist and has seen active service in France for over 18 months. The incident which won him the pre- sent honour occurr.ed over the capture of a German sniper, who had wrought considerable havoc amongst the Somerset battalion. Private Dick Hughes and Private Godfrey, of the same regiment, undertook to "lay" the sniper, when Godfrey was unfor- tunately shot down. Hughes carried his comrade back into safety and then proceeded alone. He reached a farm- house safely, although ITullets were flying all around him, and caught. sight of the sniper in an upper storey. He was in the act of pulling the trigger at another victim when Private Hughes, with accurate aim, shot him dead.

ASCRIPTION OF WEALTH I Mr W. C. Anderson, M.P. for the Attercliffe Division of Sheffield, pro- poses to introduce in the House of Commons a Bill for the conscription of wealth. ————— 0 0 4 4 6

WHAT SOLDIERS READ. I According to Miss Beatrice Harnu den, who is the librarian of the Endell Street Military Hospital, soldiers like Nat Gould's books best. Among the books in demand are: "Regiments at the Front," "Freckles," Horner's Penny Stories, Charles Garvice, Browning's poems, "Treasure Island,' "The Last Days of Pompeii," "The Scarlet Pimpernel," Rex Beach, and the Encyclopaedia. The Anzacs like bushrange,r stories, and all overseas soldiers like books about England, Baroness Orczy and Charles Garvice are prime favouri tes. Mrs. Henry Wood is in great demand, particularly with "East Lynne," and Tolstoy's "Resurrection" is so popular that several copies have had to be bought. The popularity of "The Last Days of Pompeii'' puzzled the librarians un- til they found that the soldiers who asked for it had seen it on the film.

HALE AND HEARTY AT 103. I Miss Ruth Roberts, of London-street, Folkestone, who has reached the age of 103 is quite hale and hearty, and is still able to do most of' her own work. She suffers from slightly defective hearing, but maintains all her faculties, and walks about the town when the weather is suitable. Her father fought and was I wounded at Waterloo.

TRAINING OF MEN WHO HAVE BEEN IN SEDENTARY OCCUPATIONS Under Lord Derby's scheme a large percentage of the recruits will undoubted- ly be drawn from a class whose civil occupations are of a sedentary character. This must be borue in mind (isays General Sir Henry Mackiiinon in his Western Command orders), and the physical training of such Tecruits should be modified accordingly, in order to ac- custom them gradually to physical exer- cise.

MR ANDERSON AT HOlE. WHAT "AN OLD I.L.P-ER" SAID. STRAIGHT TALK AT A SHEFFIELD MEETING. There were somefcjvely scenes at an There were som{':Vely sœnes a.t an anti-conscription m ating addressed bv Mr W. C. An? '?ou, M.P.? at Shemeld, for one o the divisions of which he sits in Parliament. On rising to speak he was assailed by a chorus of ho ts and groans, and a section of the audience absolutely declined to listen 'o him. He had to sit down. Then a man wearing a khaki armlet mounted the platform and made an appeal for fair play. He described himself as an ex-soldier and a. former member of the I.L.P., which organ- isation he left because he disagreed with its war policy. He was entirely opposed to the ob- jects of the meeting. In fact, he thought the gathering verged upon treason, but as the local authorities had allowed it to be held he saw no reason why Mr Anderson should not be heard. His own opinion was that Mr Anderson would make such a bad case that the best thing his opponents could do would bo to let him speak. When Mr Anderson rose again, there was further upro. ATTESTED I.L.P-ERS. The Chairman. pointing to the corner of the building containing the opponents, taunted them with being unattested men who were slinking be- hind the attested men, many of whom were members of "the I.L.P. After a Counci llor Barton had spoken, the objectors were less restive, and Mr Anderson managed to make a speech. He said that the Compulsion Bill brought within its scope two million single men-the attested as well as those who were not: There never was a report less clear than that of Lord Derby's figures. It consisted largely of guesses and estimates. Nobody knew how many single men there were who, as was said, oup, t- be in the Army. The figures ougUi. to be analysed, as the margin of unattested probably contained any number of persons medically unfit, and others with heavy family responsibilities. A resolution condemning conscrip- tion was carried by a large majority. _u_

MARRIED MEN FIRST. I MR OUTHWAITE'S FOOLISH RE- MARK. Mr R. L. Outhwaite, M.P., who re- cently addressed an anti-oonscription meeting at Ystradgynlais, was one of the speakers at an open-air meeting in Manchester to protest against the compulsion of single men. He declared that in such a modified form of conscription as was proposed by the Bill there was no equality of sacrifice to justify it. In his view the married man who had a wife and children to defend should be the first to go, but riclw men said the single man would suit best because he was cheap.

UNNOTICED HEROES. PUBLIC'S SEEMING INDIFFER- ENCE TO OUR FIGHTING MEN. Speaking at a fellowship meeting in Browning Hall, Walworth-road S.E., Mr C. W. Bowerman, M.P. said: "I have seen a good deal of our soldiers who have returned from the front. I have seen them in the early morning after a long railway journey smothered in mud from foot to head, almost, as it were, except for the time they have been sleeping and travelling as if they had just come out of the trenches. And I have watched them as they passed along, and I have watched us non-combatants looking at them. "I have been surprised at the little notice taken of these men, the little enthusiasm on the part of ourselves who are so deeply interested in all their doings, their risks, and their dangers. Yet when they come through London streets and the streets of other cities as well it seems to me as if they pass through almost unnoticed. I know that is not the case, but there is the outward semblance of a kind of in- difference which must obviously only be on the surface. "The time will come—and the more I speedily the ootÜür-when we civilians will be able in a public manner to show our %ppre(!iatic-n .f their boroie deeds. The time may come quicker than we here anticipate when we may give a right royal welcome to those wh o* have risked their lives in the common cause."

Mr J. E. Sutton. M.P., for East Manchester, has decided to ignore the instruction of the Miners' Federation to oppose the Compulsory Service Bill. "I represent a great industrial oon- stituency in which practically every I home has sent some to fight the coun- try's battle," he said, "and I should bo failing in my duty if I did not agree to any Bill which would send out men to support those who have al- ready gone." j

I I TRIPLE ALLIANCE THE SAFE- GUARD. At a meeting of railwaymen in Rock Ferry, Cheshire, a resolution was passed calling on Mr J. H. Thomas, M.P., to withdraw his opposition to the Military Service No. 2 Bill. "In our opinion," says the resolu- I, tion, "we have, in the Triple Alliance, sufficient safeguard aganst the Act ever being 4Bxtended to the industrial world."

MINERS AT NATIONAL CONFERENCE. II DELEGATES FOR THE GREAT BRISTOL GATHERING One of the features of the Labour Party conference at. Bristol next week will be the attendance of the miners' delegates, who were absent from the recent National Labour Conference at Westminster. They will come forti- fied by the opinons lately expressed at their county meetings, which, in turn, were derived from the lodges and branches. The miners' votes will total something like 600,000. Present returns show that there will be 470 delegates from 72 trade unions. The Independent Labour Party and the Fabian Society will send 33 dele- gates, the Women's Labour League two delegates. Thirty-eight trade councils will be represented by 46 dele- gates. and 39 local Labour parties by 52 delegates. The voting power of the respective sections will be as follows: Trade Unions 1,659,000 Socialist Societies 33,000 Women's Labour League 2.000 Trade Councils 56,000 Local Labour Parties 62,000 1,812,000 These figures may be added to before the conference assembles next week. In the list given above all the miners are reckoned as one union. There are other groupings of a similar nature.

COMPULSION BILL. I CONCESSION TO MEN MARRIED I BEFORE NOV. 2. In the House of Commons on Mon- day, on the Committee stage of the Military Sevice Bill, Mr Leif Jones moved an amend- ment providing that- eligible men who were married on or before November 2, 1915, should be treated as married men and exempted from the compul- sory provisions of the Bill. Mr Long said the Government would accept the amendment.

THE VANISHING TRAMP. I REMARKABLE STATISTICS FOR I SOUTH WALES. Mr Godfrey L. Clark (Talygarn) pre- sided at the meeting of the Glamor- gan, Monmouthshire, and Breconshire Vagrancy Committee, held at Cardiff on Monday. The seventh quarterly report was presented, showing that the number of admissions to casual wards in the different unions covered by the district for the period ending Dec. 31, 1915, was 3,928, compared with 7,648 for the corresponding quarter of 1914, or a decrease of 3,720. At the chief centres the number of admissions were:— Cardiff 519 against 1,114 Merthyr 129 11 234 Newport 228 543 Pontypridd 240 11 503 Swansea. 348 558 In the combined unions of Cardigan- shire, the admissions totalled 507. com- pared with 2,960, or a decrease of 2,453 for the corresponding period. Reoognising the marked diminution in the number of casuals relieved, the committee again expresed the opinion that the system of relieving in ladging houses should now be abandoned They therefore recommended that in unions where this method was still practised the method should be discontinued, if possible, during or at the end of the ensuing quarter. The different unions were urged to detain tramps for two days in the event of their not being in possession of way tickets. It was felt that by this means there would be a still fur- ther diminution in the number of vagrants. The report was adopted.

A DETERMINED NEW ZEALANDER. A recruit offered himself at Napier (New Zealand), only to be refused on the score of his bad teeth. The young man promptly had his mouth overhauled, and cheerfully paid a £10 bill to his dentist for making a fine job of it! To his intense disgust, he was then turned down for being below the minimum chest measuiement. Straight to a physical cul- turist he hied, and quickly got his chest swelled to the regulation width- A third time should bring luck, but no ? the medical examiner discovered that he had an overlapping toe. So to hospital next: He ie there now, undergoing amputation of the offending member. j

I THEIR LAST MINUTE. I LORD DERBY APPEALS TO LAGGARDS TO SAVE VOLUNTARY SYSTEM. "Here is the last minute, go to speak, of the voluntary system, and I beg of you to do what I shall do that is, everything in my power to get men who have a-ot hitherto joined to join before the voluntary system finally and definite- ly comes to an end." Thus spoke Lord Derby at a meeting at the Liverpool Conservative Club. He said that up to the eleventh hour and fifty-ninth minute he had done all he could to make the voluntary system a success, and he should now do the best he could in the last minute. "I believe myself," proceeded Lord Derby, -most people give me credit for having done my best,. Not so, I think, Sir John Simon, and his Temark with refer- ence to the speech I made on the day when I was appointed to direct the re- cruiting of this kingdom, ccjuld only have been brought in to try to persuade those who did not know me that I did not do my best. "SiT J:.hn said I stated that I felt somjewhat in the position of the Receiver who had to step in to wind up a bank- rupt estate. "Here Sir John stopped, for it would hairdly have suited his purpose to have quoted the remainder of my sentence, which was that I hoped I should be able to do that with such satisfaction as would enable the creditors to get their 20s. in the pound." It was with a view of providing a re- servoir for keeping the units up to full strength that the group system was adopted, and it only just fell short of a complete measure of success. He would like to say to those who opposed the Bill that if the group system had not been adopted they would have been face to face some weeks back with a position of affairs far worse than the present one. With regard to the pledge to married men, he desired to say that Mr. Asquith had treated him absolutely loyally from beginning to end. Continuing, Lord Derby said the group system was now open. and he wanted them to do everything they possibly could to get those who had hitherto held back to join now whilst recruiting was still voluntary.

POINTED OTTESTIONS I MINERS' AGENT AND DUTY OF I ELIGIBLES. The annual meeting of the, East Glamor gan District of the Miners' Federation was held at Caerphilly onMonday, Mr. Thomas Shannon occupied the chair. There were also present Mr. Henry Richards (secretary) and Mr. W. Thomas (treasurer). Dealing with the Compul- sory Serv I c-o Bill, Mr. Herbert Jenkins (Agent) said that, undoubtedly, there was an idea prevailing in the minds of the workmen that the Bill might be used as a stepping-stone towards a further measure of conscription. The Bill, how- ever, had passed its second reading by a substantial majority, and he (the agent) understood that the Prime Minister had given certain assurances to the represen- tatives of labour. In the nourse of further remarks Mr. Jenkins atJced the question why were they defending the action of those who had failed to get themselves attested. There was only one practical, common- sense view to take of the position, and that was for all those who were liable to 7ome under the Bill to come forward at once and be attested. If they did that, they would practically make the Military Service Bill a dead letter, and the representatives of labour would then be able to go to the Prime Minister and ask him to withdraw the measure. "Let these men demonstrate that they are against conscription," added Mr. Jenkins, "by coming forward and attesting, so as to make the Bill unnecessary, and let the local tribunals decide whether any man is indispensable. By doing this these men would be render- ing an immense service, not only to the nation, but to the friends of the voluntary system. Nothing would please mo better than to see all men coming forward and hereby killing compulsion by rendering it unnecessary." The meeting unanimously agreed with the agent' ff remarks.

LABOUR PARTY CHAIRMAN'S I POSITION. MT. John Hodge, M.P., chairman of the Labour Party, was in his con- stituency over the week-end, and met the Gorton Trades and Labour Coun- cil. A resolution was proposed. oon4 demning the Military Service (No. 2) Bill, and demanding that the member should vote against it in all its stages. The motion was defeated by 23 votes to 19. Be/ore the vote was taken, Mr. Hodge was asked what would be his position if it were passed. He replied that self-respect would prevent him taking a.ny further part in the work of '.he, House of Commons, and it would essential he should consult the me11,1" of his we society (the British Steel Smelters) as to whether they ware prepared to finance him in testing the feelings of the constituency. Subsequent speakers acknowledged if he did that he would be returned by an overwhelming majority even his oppon- ents admitting it.

Mr. Lloyd George, who was fifty-three on Monday, has said that his first politi- cal recollections date from his sixth year. There was a. General Election, and he and his friends, the sons of neighbouring farmer?, marched about, boy like. dis- playing the Liberal colours. Soon after the election he missed his playmates; their fathers had been turned out 9i their farms for voting Liberal. He con- cluded that politics was a poor game.

AN I.L.P. MOTION DE- FEATED. Writing to tie "Labour Yoicef" last week, a Pontardawe man, now resident in Gorton~ referred to I.L.P. opposition to Mr John Hodge, and intimated that the local Labour men had lost confidence in him. Our correspondent's ludicrous mis- reading of the position is shown by the result of a meeting of the Gorton Trades Council held on Saturday. At a recent meeting of the Trades Council one of the our delegates of the two branches of the Independent Labour party moved a resolution re- questing all Labour members in Par- liament to vote against the bill. An amendment was adopted inviting the local member, Mr John Hodge, to meet the Trades Council before any decision was come to. Mr Hodge ac- cepted the invitation, and on Satur- day last a special meeting was held to hear an address from him. Afte, a long discussion the meeting, by 23 tos to 19. rejected the I.L.P. resolution. The delegates present re- presented 10,000 skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled workers.

NO RENT FOR SOLDIERS MORATORIUM AMENDMENT TO COMPULSION BILL. Mr. Walter Roch has placed on the paper the followin.g amendment to the Compulsion Bill, the object being to create a moratorium for civil liabilities and premiums on policies of assurances incurred by or due from men serving in the Army :— All proceedings already instituted, or hereafter instituted, in any civil court and any right of distress for rent against any person who has enlisted and is serving in any of the armed forces of the Crown since the 15th day of October, 1915, shall be suspended during the continuance of the war, un- less such person or anyone acting for him under a power of attorney shall have assented thereto. No policy of assiurance phall lapse by reason of non-payment of any pre- mium due, thereunder, or any part thereof, during the continuance of the war, by amy person to whom this section applies. Similar freedom from the payment of rent and of life insurance premiums is provided in France in the case of house- holders called up for military service. Sir Alfred Mond has introduced a Bill the object of which is to ensure the same end as MT. Roch's amendment. A de- claration of Government policy on tllIS important subject, which is causing anxiety in thousands of households, is long overdue.

PREMIER AND THE MINERS FEDERATION DID NOT ASK FOR AUDIENCE ON THE BILL. Mr. Thomas Ashton, general secretary of the Miners' Federation of Great Bri- tain, made a statement at Manchester in the course of which he said :— "The report "which has appeared in the press stating that the miners' leaders had left for their homes on Friday without receiving a communication from the Prime Minister in reply to their letter containing the miners' resolution against the Compulsory Military Service Bill is inaccurate and misleading. The miners' leaders left for their homes in the usual course, having, finished th-eir business in London. The miners' conference on Thursday de- cided that a letter oontaming the resolu- tion passed by the conference in con- nection with the Compulsory Military Service Bill should be sent to the Prime Minister, and that has since been done. No reply, however, was suggested. "There was another question on the conference agenda, namely, old-age pen- sions. The officials of the Federation were instructed to write to the Prime Minister asking him to receive a deputa- tion from the Federation on this matter."

GERMAN THREATS TO HOLLAND. The French wireless s.a.ys ;-Th Ger- man j* ournals are insulting and menacing Holland, who is aocused of not having displayed enough admiration for those who, after having guaranteed Belgian neutrality, invaded Belgian territory and still continue to torment that country. "After the war," writes the "Koclnische Zeitung, "v..e will settle our accounts with you. For each calumny, for each cartoon by Raemaekers. for each insult, for each kinesnatograph film, for each theatrical performance which is offen- sive to us. we shall demand payment with the interest that is due."

CHEAP EGGS FROM CHINA. 1 ne price of English new-laid eggs show a tendency to fall. Although there is a shortage of eggs from the Continent, several big retail firms have reduced the price of English new- laid from 3s. 6d. to 3s. per dozen. A fair quantity of eggs has reached England from Canada, and these are retailed at 28.6d. per dozen. China has sent a trial shipment of small brown eggs packed in sawdust. Thev are sold in t hJ rbops at 2s. per dozen and have 1 oved to be rerv good eat- ing.

Mr J. R. dynes, M.P. for North- East Manchester has been given a free hand with regard to his vote on the later stages of the Bill.