Topics of the Day.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 215, 7 September 1912, Page 13

Topics of the Day.

MAINTAINING THE STRENGTH OF THE NAVY. THE CHANCELLOR'S ATTITUDE SERIOUS STRIKE RIOTS. SUFFRAGETTE INSANITY. (From Our Special Correspondent.) July 27, 1912. 1-i.OYD GEORGE'S INTENTIONS. Dame Rumour has been particularly busy with Mr Lloyd George's name anil intentions during tho past few days. The Chancellor's Press spokesmen of course deny that there is any truth in them, but "of a surety so much smoke betokens fire somewhere. According to the supposedly inspired writings of Mr H. W. Massingham, editor of the "Nation," Mr Lloyd George should have made some move this week in the direction of challenging Mr Winston Churchill's programme of expenditure in connection with the Navy. Mr Massingham practically said that if the First Lord's proposals were to involve any considerable increase in the financial burden of the Navy to the State, the Chancellor would fight against them tooth and nail, even to the point of splitting the Liberal party. Well, Mr Churchill baa spoken, and his proposals point to a very considerable increase in naval expenditure in the near future. His proposals may not go as far as enthusiastic Big Navyites would like them to, but they appear to satisfy the generality of those who, whilst bewailing the growing demands of the Navy, are determined that Britannia shall * continue to rule the waves, even if the cost is to be as some say it soon must be, £60,000,000 per annum.

Mr Lloyd George has had his opportunity to make' known his views upon the Churchill programme this week, but thus far he has said nothing that can be construed into serioue opposition to the First Lord's policy, and nothing has been said by him, or by any other member of the Cabinet, or by any of the Liberal front-rankers to indicate anything but acquiescence in the new demands for bringing the Navy up to concert pitch.

We are now told that Mr Lloyd George fell in with Mr Churchill's views "reluctantly, but nevertheless with conviction," and that he considers the increased expenditure absolutely necessary and inevitable. But it is admitted that he is a bitterly disappointed man, When lie framed his Budget of 1909 he made no secret of the fact that he anticipated that the revenue then provided for would in its yield meet all national requirements during the remainder of the Liberal reign. He did not anticipate the change that was to come over the scene as the result of the "insane competition" in naval construction, and when he sought to commend the linnnce of the Insurance Act to Parliament he stated deliberately that _he looked., to. a reduction ot naval expenditure for a large portion of fcbe money required for that purpose. The savings have eluded his grasp, the money required for the Insurance Act and other social reforms has been earmarked for battleships, and he is faced with the necessity for further taxation. This is said to be the mainspring of the now land policy. To put Dome Rumour's latest tale in a sentence, Mr Lloyd George is credited with the intention of resigning the Chancellorship of the Exchequer, following the Tariff Reform example of Mr Chamberlain, and devoting himself entirely to the new campaign as the leader of the advance guard of the Land Taxation party. Questioned on the subject, several Ministers have professed a complete ignorance, but that would not necessarily belie the story. Mr Chamberlain's resignation waa unknown to many of his Cabinet colleagues until it was actually announced in the Press.

VOTES FOB MADNESS. Put mc on an island Where the t'irls are few; Pat mc among the most ferocious Lions in the Zoo: Put mc in the desert And I'll never fret; But. for pity's sake, Don't put mc near a Suffragette. That, or something like it, was a verse of a song that had no small measure of popularity in the early days of rampant militancy among the suffragists. To-day the words of this almost' moribund music-hall ditty have quite a •sinister sound, for criminal madness seems to have completely taken possession of the aggressive element among the women who want votes. Not content with window-smashing and stone-throw-ing, they have, it seems, no objection to adding murder and arson to the weapone by the aid of which they seek to "emancipate" themselves and to prove their fitnese for political responsibility. It is positively dangerous to be near a militant suffragist these days, for at any moment she may "go off." Apparently it only needs ithe eight of a Cabinet Minister to make her long for blood and to turn her into a reckless

hatchet-slinger, bomb-thrower, or "firebug." There is, of course, no absolute proof that suffragists were responsible for the appearance of highly inflammable materials behind the curtains in the Home Secretary's study—Mr McKenna, declares that the packages found were not explosives, as at first suggested —or that the fires that have occurred at other Mi meters' residences were caused by them. Few people, however, entertain serious doubts as to where the responsibility lies, and the' happenings in Dublin during the Prime Ministers visit last week are now accepted 'as sufficient evidence of the existence of a widespread conspiracy among the "mad-brains" of the militant section to institute a reign of terror embracing any sort and all sorts of excesses In crime. Of course, the creature who threw the hatchet at Mr Asquith, and clipped a piece out of Mr Redmond's ear, was mad, and so was the woman who tried to set fire to the theatre whilst it was still full of people. Mad, also, without doubt, are the women implicated by the discovery in their rooms of the materials for bomb outrages ana arson, but would their madness save them from the gallows if any of their wicked attacks produced fatal results? It might, f° r ' n these days the law Is very merciful to the "gentle sex," but it would not save them from being lynched if the people got hold of them. i There were signs in Dublin that the

militant suffragists have got to the enn of the tether of public toleration, ami that in future women who are insane enough to indulge in excesses which constitute a rea 1 menace to life and property will run a very serious danger of drastic and most unpleasant reprisals; indeed, they may eaeily provoke manifestations of public anger of which the people will be bitterly ashamed when 'their wrath has cooled.

As a constable said when the suffragettes were carrying out their West End window-smashing campaign: "They'll go a bit too far one of these clays, and hit a kiddy's head instead of a window, and then God help 'em; we shan't be able to save 'em." That hatchet thrown at Mr Asquith might easily h°ave found a child's head instead of the tip of Mr Redmond's ear. Who can say what would have happened in that event? Kipling's story of Bimbi, the orang-outa.ng, and big master's wife, contains a very suggestive passage. MB TIUUETT*S " FSATEB." Ben Tillett has been guilty of many "blazing indiscretions" in oratory during recent labour troubles in London, but all his oratorical excesses pale before the blasphemous utterances he gave vent to at a Tower Hill meeting last Wednesday. It was a motley gathering that Tillett addressed. Probably there were between ten and fifteen thousand people present, but a goodly proportion of them were men who had not the remotest connection with the docks, the river, or its wharves, and included in his audience were hundreds of the vilest class of "shirk-works" and the veriest dregs of humanity. The genuine dockers were in a big minority, and one could not help feeling sorry for them having to take the blame for the things that might happen if the mixed mob became inflamed to deeds of'violence by the outpourings of Tillett and his colleagues. To this motley crowd Tillett made this amazing appeal:— "Lord Devonport has contributed to the murder, by starvation, of our children, our women, and our men. I am not going to ask you to do it, but call upon God to strike LoruDevonport dpad. (Cheers.) Those in favour hold up your right hand. (Nearly all responded.) That's right; now say after mc: 'Oh, God, strike Lord Devonport dead. , "

And from the huge crowd a mighty shout arose of "Oh, Cod, strike 1..0 rd Devonport dead," followed by a chanting of "lie shall die; he shall die."' Tillett added: "I quite mean that, and I hope you mean it. Vermin like that ought not to live."

Other speakers followed Tillett, de-' livering speeches of a highly inflammatory nature, inciting the mob to violence, and chiding them with not being " Boys of the bulldog breed,' , and for their " disgusting submission." * Ont , orator sneered at the men for a pack of poor-spirited fools. "It ain't no good us advocating methods of violence," he yelled, " for you ain't got the spirit in you to be violent." Another, after preliminary jeers at the men for their meekness, advocated the suffragette method. " Appeal to force, and use it on every occasion you get a' chance," was his advice. And the mol> acted upon it, though not immediately. A procession was formed, and some 1.500 men proceeded tos march out of the city towards (St. Catherine's Docks, their avowed intention being to storm the docks. It was, however, only a disorganised rabble that reached the objective, for the "more sober-minded dropped out by scores at every turning. The nitib that reached the docks found every pate closed against them, and guarded by the dock police. For a time the disappointed strikers, who had hoped for a clear entrance to the docks to " fetch out the blacklegs," contented themselves with and booings, but presently they made desperate efforts to force au entrance at No. S gate. At first they looked like succeeding, but presently a strong posse of mounted and foot constables appeared on the scene, and the rioters were driven back. Encouraged by their numbers, however, they made a second attempt to force the entrance, and a sort of free fight ensued. Some of the strikers set fire to a vanload of jute, and firemen had to be summoned to extinguish the flames.

The attack only lasted a few minutes. Reinforcements of police, mounted and afoot, were hurried up from stations in the district, and the mob was driven back. The rioters were warned to disperse, and as they did not comply they were charged by the police with batons,

and in Hip stmupede which followed many wore injured. The police also suffered, but eventually gained the upper hand and cleared the streets.

Another serious disturbance broke out during the afternoon in front of the entrance to the Free Trade wharf. Opposite U> the wharf gates are the premises of Messrs Poultev, catering contractors. A ciowd of dockers, marching in disorderly fashion along the street, set lire to a load of fish basses or wrappers standing opposite Messrs Poulter's yard. The load consisted of about IUU bales, iind the wrappers blazed into a roaring furnace. The driver attempted to take the horse out of the shafts and when the police attempted to assist him a scuffle ensued, ami in a few moments the street was the scene of wild tumult. Twenty of thirty constables appeared on the sec-np, and the mob was driven off, the police batons being freely employed. Reinforcements were summoned when rt was seen that the rioters made no attempt to disperse, but in spite of this display 01 foice they made a second rush and were driven back. For the best part of an hour it was a fierce fight between rioters and police, but in the end the organised charges of the constabulary prevailed, and the 'rabble disappeared like chaff before the wind, leaving a trace of bleeding and groaning men, battered hats, ' boots, shoes, tins, broken glass, wood blocks, broken drainpipes,. lumps of coal, and the Ojia podrida of rioters' munitions of war. Before commencing their march to the docks the rabble had agreed to let the city police alone, because thpy had - 'behaved like gentlemen during the strike," and to "take it out of the Mets."— otherwise the Metropolitan Police, who arc quite a separate organisation from that which operates within tlip "square mile"' which forms the City of London proper. Unfortunately for the rioters the despised Mets. .knew all about their tlireats. and came on the ecoiie fully prepared for the "taking it out" process. That is, as even the despised metropolitan constables are fully aware, a most painful procedure when put in practice by men of the stamp they were called upon to deal with, and if they put a little more power into their truncheon arm than usual, who can blame them? Men who are subjected to volleys of

creosoted wood blocks, chunks of broken drain pipes, lumps of coal, and things of that kind, cannot be expected to act like "plaster sainrte," any more than the "single men in barricks" of Kipling's oftquoted ballad. People from your end of the world have always a good word for London's men in blue—City or' "Met."—and as a whole, of both forces it can truly be said "the men are eplendid," courteous, obliging, and patient beyond measure. But the men whom the Cockney youth irreverently refers to as "coppers" are only human, and when they are called upon to quell such disturbances as that last Wednesday, with the full knowledge that the rioters mean to "put them through it," if they can, it is certainly not to be wondered at that the police sometimes act on the old Kerry principle of "When you see a head hit it"— especially if the head belongs to n gentleman who is flourishing a steel ''dog-hook" or a seven-pound chunk of broken drain-pipe or coal.

THE CHAMBERLAIN BIRTHDAY njND. The organisers of the Chamberlain Birthday Fund have received so much support from Colonial admirers of the Father of Tariff Reform, and 60 many suggestions that they should give Mr Chamberlain's friends across ,t.he sea a chance to contribute, 'that they have docided to keep the fund open sufficiently long to enable people in the remote corners of the King's dominions to swell the total of the fund.

At Home the fund seems to be doing extremely well, and it is certainly being supported 'by all classes, a very large number of the contributors being people who cannot even afford the usual shilling, and send their mite in the shape of -two or three stamps. Some of ithe letters covering those contributions are, in their way, gems of literary effort: "Dear, Mr Secretary, or anybody,—l 'have much pleasure, as a poor working man, in sending you my bumble shilling to your fund for that noble statesman, .T. Chamberlain. I only wish ho could 'be in the House of Commons to-day to give a lesson to that D. L. (Jeorge." The "13" in the Chancellor , name comes in very handy for his critics! Another small contributor wrote: — "Please accept shilling on behalf of dear old friend t/he Right Hon. .1. Chamberlain 70 birthday he is the Father of Tariff Reform O i hop .the Lord will spare him to see it come we wants this country put on a bettor footing than it is now thir, crack pot of a Government we have' have shaken it to pieces we wan.tr; tariff Reform .to -weld it together and Mr Bonar Law to use tihe i'orge Bellows mc to remain." The whole of the amount raised is to be handed over to Mr Chamberlain for the furtherance of any cause he chooses. Wha/t that cause will be we know, indeed, Mr Chamberlain seems to have taken it for granted that the fund was being raided specially for the purpose of promating Tariff Reform. In his letter to the head of the Fund Committee, he wrote:— "My dear Wyndham,—l hear with pleasure that the proposal of your corn- ] niittoe to raise, a fivd in recognition of my birthday, to complete the efforts which we are making to secure, the general adoption of Tariff Reform, is having a great reception. I recognise the kindness of my friends, and I shall be ...very glad if it supports wHat I still believe is the most important movement of our I time." ". .

Mr Chamberlain is said to be in much improved health, but the wi-h of hia humble admirer that lie could be in the House of Commons to give a lesson to Mr Lloyd George is not in the least likely to be gratified. So certain is this, that. sonic of Mr Chamberlain's mast devoted admirers are inquiring whpthcr it is quite fair to his constituents and to tho i Unionist party to delay his application for the Stewardship of the Ghiltern Hundreds anj longer.

I MURDEROUS CELXAT^OID. We have Had many lessons in the Old Country diiring the past ten or fifteen I years of the dangers attacking to the use of celluloid in many branches of industry, and scores of illustrations of the dangers attaching to the use of celluloid by way of personal adornment. On Tuesday evening last London was shocked by another fatal fire which, so far as can be ascertained, was directly traceable to the accidental ignition of celluloid through a piece of red-hot seal-ing-wax. The result was that eight young women and girls lost their lives, and it was only a happy combination of circumstances that prevented the fire developing into a devastating holocaust and claiming victims by the score. The scene of The outbreak was £ne premises of Messrs Angus Thomas and Co., Christmas-card publishers, who occupy the sixth floor of a large block of buildings in Moor Lane, in the very heart of what the London Fire Brigade and the insurance companies know as the "danger zone" of fhe City. Messrs Thomas's premises—two rooms occupying about 2,200 square feet —were used for a process known as "aerography," which may be described as tinting and powdering cards by means of an air-brush. Celluloid and methylated spirits (a combination that would rejoice the heart of a Yankee "fire-bug") are used in some of the processes. It was in the front room that the fire originated. The actual cause must remain more or less a mystery, but, so far as can be gathered, the outbreak seems to have been the result of dropping some hot sealing-wax on celluloid, which at once burst into flames. Those at work in the front room ran to the staircase and escaped. Those in the back room, however, could not get to the staircase in time, the flames having spread with great rapidity. Indeed, the fire seems to have been" at first more like an explosion. Finding their escape cut off, the girls in the back room became panicstricken, returning to their own room and going to the window, which seemed to offer the only hope. Here they waited and screamed. The clothes of most of them were on fire. Some efforts were made by those in rooms in an opposite building to them. A plank was put across, and two of the girls safely escaped by this means, while a third" lost her nerve and fell into the yard below. Others jumped a distance of 70ft, some being killed, and those who were not killed outright being terribly injured. One girl went through a glass skylight covered with wire-netting, and dropped on to a desk in the room belbw. She was in flames when she jumped, but going through the skylight not only broke her fall but extinguished the flames, and when the firemen broke into the room where she was they found her walking about, badly burned and half-demonted with pain and horror, and crying "Horrible! Horrible!" Others climbed on to the roof, and fire irer-e

found burnt to death there when the firemen arrived, which was within, seven minutes of the alarm being given. They were in time to prevent the fire spreading, and in less than half-an-hour from the alarm all danger of an extension was over, but the engines continued to play on the gutted sixth floor for some time after, to make assurance doubly sure, for in the building itself and in the surrounding warehouses were tons upon tons of stuff of a highly-inflammable nature.

The block in which €he outbreak occurred is encompassed by narrow thoroughfares, in all of which are equally high buildings where trades requiring the storage and handling of more or loss inflammable goods are carried on. Fire in any part of this busy centre, of course, imperils the houses in the immediate vicinity, and on Tuesday evening the danger was all the greater because the (lames broke out at a time when the narrow streets are usually full from end to end with vans loading with all kinds of merchandise for despatch :by rail. Happily, the vans were fewer ' t hail usual, and tta brigade got through the press of traß; in well-nigh record time. Their speedy appearance edly averted a tremendous destruction of property, and probably a greatly-en-hanced death-roll; but swift as they were, they might have failed but for the fact that there was no wind to carry the first fierce blasts of flame across die , narrow streets. The dangers of celluloid in the industrirs of the City have been so amply demonstrated in other serious fires that the man-in-the-street cannot understand why its use is not prohibited, if not altogether, at least in congested areas— the more, so because adequate uninflammable substitutes arc available. Celluloid ignites under such small provocation, and burns so fiercely and rapidly, that its presence in even small quantities on premises is a standing menace to life and property. And for the authorities to allow the conjunction of celluloid, methylated spirits, and molten seai-ing-wax in the sixth floor of a City warehouse, where people are at work, seems to the plain man a near approach to conniving at industrial murder.