TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 10267, 9 February 1899, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

For the time being the : The Liberal question which has been so , Leadership, much debated in English : . political circles for nearly ' two months has been settled, and Sir Henry Ciimpbell-Bannerman has been elected leader of the Liberal party in succession to Sir W. I V. Harcourt. The choice is not unexpected, ■ and probably in, .the j>resent disorganised slate of the party _ it is as good a one as could have been made, but it is rather surprising, 5 when one remembers that lately Lord Rose« i bery his been rapidly regaining the ground ho lost in and bafore 1895. In the plebiscite 1 for a Liberal leader so daringly instituted I recently by the "Daily Mail," Lord Roset bery received by far the largest mimber of . votes. Evidently, however, the v Liberal t and Radical members' of the House were j not swayed by the same sentiments as guided , the "man in the street" in making his ' choice—they thought, perhaps, that' Lord Rosebery was too Imperialistic, too much ' inclined to support that "spirited fqreign, policy" which the Radicals, especially, so 1 much deplore. The "Spectator" apparently regarded Sir Edward Grey as likely to be cliosen as leader in the Commons, while f Lord Rosebery would, be, as ex-Premier, > acknowledged as the head of the party r but '■ tlie party, while possibly agreeing with all 1 the writer's eulogiums on Sir Edward Grey, • may also have remembered that he was m • complete sympathy with Lord Rosebery's ; views. It is possible, of course, .that Sir i Edward Grey was offered the position and > -would not take it, and that Mr Asquith and i Sir Henry Fowler, who were also in the run- . ning, also put the honour by. In any case, [ Sir H. Campbell-Banneman will be as papu- ; lar as either of the last-named gentlemen would have been. The "Spectator" declared bluntly that he had missed- his chance, and it was difficult to think of him as the , man who would rejuvenate the party. But an experienced Conservative member, when aiked whom he woujd suggest as the best man for the position of Leader of the Opposition, , "plumped" for Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman. who, he said, was tactful, courteous, and , kindly, with a subtle humour which ijdicaied his oppone-Jts. "He has had great experience, and is a 'pSrsona grata,' at Court. Furthermore, he has .worked in. the bes* school of Paruamentairy Oppositicn, and ht, knows how to play the game. Yet with Sir William Horcburt a silent observer- of tl c tactics of his successor, I should pity sjr Henry Campboll-Bannernian." Oxe thing seems very eyir. Tiie dent Ysom the electioa of Home Rule Sir H. Campbdl-BanneTman i Movement, to the j>ot% at leader.. The, Liberal party, have dropped the' Home Rule movement, jat any rate for a time; In the--laisiSi"'" unpoßtiat speeoh de-|

livercd by the new leader o|..wjiicli we have a report—that at Dunfermline on Decemblr 7th—Sir Henry spoke very plainly on this question. "The Liberal party," he said "were neither blind, deaf, nor idiotic. They must take facts as thoy found them. Two heroic attempts had been made within the last few years to carry out this great chance • (Home Rule). They had failed. Could they shut their eyes to the fact that the 'preponderating opinion in England was opposed to Homo Rule, and that a third at- .Attempt in the present circumstances to pass «9r!i it would really mean :i third failure. What "'*/ would be gained for the cause by going on kicking against a stone wall? Events might '■) loosen the stone wall. A loyal and sensible uso of the new local powers might do much to conciliate opposition. The wise man who h;ul waited for his opportunity might find when he touched the wall of prejudice tliatt it would crumble before hhn." Heme Rule is, of course, not dead among English politicians, so long as Mr John Morley is hi the House. He has not abandoned the cause, very far from it, and it does not need great powers of prophecy to predict that with the following, Irish and otherwise that ho will be able to command, the councils of the Liberal party may not be unanimous. The Imperialistic Liberals, of whom just now there aio not a few, will tind Sir W. V. Harcourt, a very sturdy "Little Eng. lander." against them, and though the "Anti-Romanism" string to his bow did not do him much good with his party before he resigned, ho may be able to make more use of it now he is saddled with none but a personal responsibility. Si> there are plenty of the elements of discoid in the Liberal ranks. Additional interest is lent The New ta the election of Sir H. CampLeader. bell-Bannermaa from, the fact that it was an adverse vote against his estimates, when he was Secretary > for War in Lord Rosebery's Government, which finally wrecked that Administration. When the House was in Committee on the Army Estimates in June, 1895, Mr St. John Brodrick (the present Uuder-Secretary for Foreign Affairs) declared that the supply and reserve of smuJl arms ammunition was insufficient, and he moved a reduction in the salary of the Secretary for War to test the feeling of the House. Mr Campbell-Banner-man, as he was then, asserted, on the contrary, that he hnd shown his figures to the Adjutant-General, w!k> had assured him that in the matter of reserve small arms ammunition the pceition of the army was perfectly sound. The Minister went on to say that the reserve had been steadily increasing for several years post, and there was the regulation amount of ammunition for 390,000 men. Mr Balfour asserted that lie had seen figures wliich showed that ib was absolutely impossible that the reserve should - contain the regulation amount of 480 cartridges per man. Mr Compbell-Bannerman said there was small arms ammunition for 400 rounds per man—that was for the regulars in the three army corps. For the others the amount was less. The Conserve-' tive party considered the. position unsatisfactory, so did same of the Liberals, and the Government majority, which liad been dangerously small on a number of occasions, became, on the adverse motion going to division, a minority of seven. The Govern* rileni toisk this as a direct vote of censure 'upon 1 of War, with whom they ~., absolutely associated themselves, and.td \i they resigned. A few days later Lord'••'*' -'* Rosebery complained that Mr Campbell*. - ~,: Bannerman had been stopped in the street '"' , by Lord Salisbury's secretory, who demanded from him his seals of office. The ex-Minister declined to give them up to anyone but the Sovereign from whom he had received them. • ■ Lord Salisbury explained that ho had wanted to fill up the vacancy at the War Office at once, and he had only sent to Mr CarapbellBannerman to save that gentleman the a 1 trouble of travelling down to Windsor. A J good deal of fun was made over the incident, > '<-'« which! cectainly did not display the Prime • I t uk Ministjer'in his most tactful mood. ''' Mii'i.. ! ' !,i ' ■ "~ ' — ' ~{.,,.. , To judge by all accounts, Chinese our University candidates Examinations, may thank the fortune : which-, cast their lot in the British Empire rather than in China. ' The Chinese must be the most thoroughly examined race in the world; but this fact does not seem to have fitited them any better for the work of examination. This is hardly , to be wondered at when we find what topics they have to expatiate on—pedantic themes" , of no conceivable use to any mortal, such as whether Tzu-Gung or Confucius was right in defining a man as humane or as holy be- . ( cause he could and would help all those who needed help. There are only two careers possible for a Chinese youth, trade or an entrance into the.large privileged class of the Literati, the scholars, who are already such-a numerous body that few have-any occupation. To begin with, a preliminary examination is held something like our' matriculation. The successful candidate* ' then have to write an essay and a poem on >' each of five days. After this test they are invited by the Magistrate to a congratulatory feast. Another examination finishes then , first course, and they. then become suits' ai, or "Elegant Scholars," a degree cox-' " - responding to our 8.A., but with much more gorgeous • apparel, a robe of blue silk, a girdle with Bilver pendants, a silver buttoned cap and braid. Every third year a Special Commissioner appointed by the Emperor holds a still higher examination in the pro* vincial capital. This examiner fares sumptuously, the' Government paying all his expenses on a magnificent scale He also receives a present from the municipal authorities of the towns, and another one of £5 from each successful candidate. The last condition might, we should think, unduly mitigate his judicial rigour. The candidates are ~ , all 'locked up in separate cells, end are furnished only with a board on trestles; they provide themselves with a supply of food for two days. At the end of this time they are marched out amid the beating of drums and firing of guns. But even prison walls are ineffectual against the tricks of the heathen Chinee. A special set of. necessitous etudent* act as proxies for wealthy boobies; others, smuggle in essays; and even the copying out i" of. these (to prevent thu examiners showing •'. favour) is turned into a means of cheating, copyists improving on the original versions. The element of rowdyism is carried to an extreme, for we hear of impatient graduates scrambling for blank essay forme with such violence as to tear the secretary's hands with their finger nails; while on one occasion expectant relatives scaled the walls of the examination hall, and, dropping into the • officials' rooms, "shouted and yelled till tile very earth trembled with the noise they made." This is several degrees worse than' the conditions under which diplomas were presented at Canterbury College on the Diploma D.ays of the old style.