TOPICS OP THE DAY.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11528, 10 March 1903, Page 4

TOPICS OP THE DAY.

When the promising son Father and Son of a distinguished poli_l Politics. ticiau enters Porliamentary life, he is „pt to find his own career overshadowed by the commanding personality of hi* father. Such [ a combination of eireuii—tances, however, does not often occur. Mr Henry W. Lucy. discoursing on the subject in his Loudon letter to the. "Sydney Morning Heraiid." observes that, in re-sent times there have been only three prominent instances. The famiiic- referred to are those of Gladstone, Stafford Northcote. and Chamberlain. "There are some members of the present House,'" says Mr Lucy. " who recall a thai happened; twenty years ago. A full-dress debate was in progress, and the- whips arranged a graceful interlude. Sir -S'-rifford Noithcote/s sou and Mr He-ixi't. Gladstone were »hv* euniei-s to the- House. Muking their maiden speeches, they followed in deba'.e. Mr Gladstone, then Premier, sat a pleased listener to the youthful effort, his former private secietaiy. then leader of the Opposition, and father of one- of t'hv boys, f-eated immediately opposite to him. It was a pretty sit-r.e, in ,its far-reaching association, without parallel." A mora recent episode of tlie kind was the Parliamentary debut of Mr Austin Chamberlain, in connection with which Mf Lucy pays a warm tribute to the chivalrous instincts of iMr ■G-lad.tti>ne. "It. was a, critical s'lage of his new (£L>nie Rule) crusade. The fat? of his Ministry and, what he valued more, tho life* of him Bill, hung in the balance. Yet, with his lofty courtesy, ■his inborn chivalry, he turned aside to pay a mar-kid compliment to the son of his mewi dangerous, because his nwt able. Iceman. Justly estol-ng the modesty and exec Hence of the. maiden effort, he turned to ,Mr Ghambi'i—in, then seated behind the> Treasury Beridi, and, with friendly salutation, said: 'It was a frpeeah dear and rcfresliing to a father's heart.'" Neither young Stafford Noi'tliecte nor Herbert Gladstone came into prominence during their respective fathers' active service. The former is now Governor of Bombay. Hi* Herbert Gladstone'- first important oiiioe, tli.it of Firi-t Conun—sioiier of Work**., was nrjt attained until after his illustrious father's l-etiremewt. Mr Austen Cliambe-riain must be considered a shining exception in winning l , nmklst general approval, tho rare distinction of a seat in the Cabinet of which his father is a di_tinguislwd member.

Tlie latest report on the GerGerman man colonies in South-West Colonies. Africa are hardly encouraging to believers in the colonising power of Germany. It is true tbe white population lias lately received a gratifying increase. It stood a year or two ago at 3383, but last year some 1350 additional white colonists threw in their fortunes with the others, most of them being Boers. Even now, however, out of a total population of more than 200,000, German colonists number only 2595. The Boers are, no doubt, those who trekked to Damaraland during tlie last stages and at the conclusion of the war. Tlie financial and commercial position of German South-West Africa "s nevertheless extremely discouraging. Tlie total revenue and expenditure for tlie present financial year were put down at rather less than £500,000, of which, however, about £380,000 was represented by the imperial contribution. The colony's exports are chiefly confined to guano, most of which goes to Great Britain, and its trade decreased by something like £80,000 Jast year. German South Africa Ls said to have a great future as a sheep-breeding country, and by the aid of the new Boer settlers this anticipation may be realised. But it" Germans retain their present attitude towards their colonies tlie future prosperity of Damaraland and Nam-land will not be due to them. Mr Poultney Bigelow tells a story of a German whom he met in Hong Kolig. He asked the man why he did not avail himself of the opportunities afforded by the annexation of Kiao-Chow to the German Empire. The German's reply was emphatic:—"Why should I go to Kiao-Chow? I have more political and pusonal liberty at Hong Kong under tlie British flag than under my own. In Hong Kong lam somebody. In KiaoChow I am only a common civilian." Even the liberal spoon-feeding which the German colonies receive from tlie Imperial exchequer doe.-) not apparently compensate fur the disadvantages of life as a German colonist. j

The action of a London Processions Magistrate in sentencing of the to one day's imprisonment Unemployed, nine collectors in a procession of unemployed, on charges of street begging, should give a salutary check to what Ls at best a very questionable means of relieving the distress now prevalent in the East End. Tlie processions were organised ostensibly to draw attention to tlie extent of the. distress, and to induce the Local Government Board, an well as- local authorities throughov— the Metropolitan area, to provide work for all who are at present unable to secure it. But tlie demonstrations seem to -liave degenerated into begging tout's on a large scale. Sometimes a procession would number as many as 3000 men, of whom a hundred or more would carry eoHecting-boxes, and solicit contributions from the public in the street.-*. At first people subscribed freely to the funds, but even tlie largest collection, when divided equally amongst two or three thousand men, did not yield more than two or three shillings to each man. Consequently there lias been a growing disposition to encourage district processions on a much smaller scale, the collection being so much more remunerative when only a limited number of men participated. A successful day, however, meant a rush of applicants for "walking-tickets" for the next procession. Thus, at Lambeth recently, twenty ant— paraded in procession, and their individual share of tlie collection was such that two hundred persons wished to join the procession held a. couple of days later. Those taking part in the processions were instructed by fheir leaders to bo careful to preserve order, and they appear to have kept within bounds, although there have been complaints about tho behaviour of some of the collectors. Nevertheless the parades have imposed heavy duties upon the police, who have on every occasion turned out in strong force to accompany the unemployed on their march. Some interference with the traffic has been inevitable, but the police have not had to' deal with anything more serious than a temporary obstruction. Latterly, however, the "loafer" element has been increasing in the ranks of the unemployed,

and the practice of solichjng alms Jias apparently .been cairied so far as to become a public nuisance.