WAR MISCELLANY

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 15964, 27 July 1917, Page 5

WAR MISCELLANY

4 FOOD RATIONING. (FROM OCR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) LONDON, June 15. Mrs W. Pember Reeves, of tho Food Ministry, spoaking at Whitcfields, said that for some months she had been working on a compulsory rationing scheme. They had taken the German system to pieces, word for •word, had taken other schemes also, and considered everything carefully, so that. if they were obliged to resort to compulsion they would hav© the best possible scheme. A certain amount of injustice was inherent in every compulsory soheme, and thoso»peoplc who woro now writing to tho Ministry saying that it was tho only fair way out of tho difficulty would be tho first to complain of that injustice. England was too proud, independent, and great to be rationed. ... FALL OF THE .MARK. ' Tho German mark and tho -Austrian kroner are rapidly falling on tho neutral exchanges in a way that spells tho rain of the enemy credit. ;At Berne the mark, which reached the rccord low level of 73fr 10c per 100 on Thursday, fell again next day to 71fr 50c. At Zurich it was quoted at 72fr. The normal rate is 123fr 45c. At Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Stockholm, tho mark and kroner also touched hew low, records. SOLDIERS'MEDALS. . ; A Royal Warrant deals with tho disposal of medals and decorations belonging to persons dying while subject to military law. If there is a will then the person named will rcceivo them. Otherwise, the medals will be 6ont -o the next of kin in 'the following order of relationship:—Widow, eldest surviving son, eldest surviving daughter, father, mother, oldest surviving brother, eldest surviving sister, eldest surviving half-brother, feldest surviving half-sister. In "the case of a universal or residuary bequest to moro than one person, cither in common or jointly, they may bo sent to any relative or other interested party, who, in tho opinion of the Army Council, will preserve them with due care as a memorial of the deceased; and in the caso of orders and decorations, other than medals, issued after death, the insignia or decoration will be handed to the next of kin. A SHIPOWNER'S ALLEGATIONS. Mr Houston, the Liverpool shipowner M.P., alleged in'tho House of Commons that a British stoamer which loaded in a certain British port was ordered to anothor British port, .then to a French port, where she arrived at 2.30 ajn. -on May 3rd, but was prevented from entering that port by tho examination boat, which came out and ordered the master to hang off till daylight, when a pilot would be sent to him, that 'two hours afterwards tho steamer was torpedoed by an enemy submarine. Ho askod tho Parliamentary Secretary to tho Shipping Controller to take steps to prevent further disaster of a like nature. Sir Leo Money said the vessel was unavoidably kept waiting outside a French port for about two hours becauso there was reason to believe that mines had beon laid. At the end of that time slio struck a mine in what was supposed to bo a safo channel, and moro mines were afterwards discovered. Ho thought the arrangements made wero quite proper in the circumstances. WAR AND LIFE INSURANCE. A Liverpool gentleman and a big assurance society are responsible for an important decision affecting tho lifo insurance interests of men in the Army. Plaintiff insured his lifo for £50,000, and asked for a declaration that the policy was binding. According to tho policy, plaintiff should not engage! in niilitaiy service without th© license of tho directors, but if he had not previously joined of his own accord and was compelled bv law to join, then he would be covered without the payment of extra premium. Plaintiff attested under tho Derby scheme, and -defendants alleged that as he had joined the Army of hi s own accord, they were entitled to an increased premium to cover tho additional risk.

In giving judgmen'c. Mr Justice Coleridge said business was business, and to ask that insurance companies should ba debarred from making any distinction between the risks rnn on tho ground of public policy was, in his opinion, trying to force public policy too far. Judgment for defendants. UNEXPECTED PRAISE. ' Remarkable testimony is paid to British organisation by the "Munchener Ncuste Nachrichten," which Bays'' The English, in creating armies of millions out of nothing, have shown a capacity for organisation of which, to our great disadvantage, wo never believed them capable. Even more Kondcrful is what England has accom-

plished in the economic field. With resistless energy hitherto unfruitful soil lias been converted by tlie aid of innumerable agricultural machines into fruitful fields. "Whilst we are still discussing whether we should resort to forcible measures to increase production, England, with stoam ploughs, has bficn transforming barren soil into fertile arable land." The paper criticises tho lack of organisation in certain brandies of German industrial lifo. NO NEW MAGAZINES. In order to economise still further in paper, it is provided that a person Khali not, without a license from the Board of Trade, publish any new magazine or other jmblication issued periodically or in serial parts. For tno purposes of this Order, the expression "new magazine or other publication," means a magazine or other publication •which, if not being published at the date of this Order, and includes a magazine, or other publication which after the dato of this Order is published at more frequent intervals than ihoso at which it is published at that date * ARMY POST OFFICE. No fewer than 75,000 Post Office employees have joined the services, and the j oil of honour numbers 3529. Distinctions gained number 755. including three V.C.'s, 13 D.S.O.'s, and 205 Military Medals. Army Post Office consists of 8o officers and 2000 men. Every week 900,000 parcels and 10,000,000 letters are despatched overseas. There are many naval and military British prisoners in Germany, and they receive 85,000 parcels (two each) every week. We hold 58,113 such German prisoners, but they only rcceive 9260 parcels per week—half the number sent last year. Money orders are sent here in preference, probably because of the shortage of goods in Germany. Every week 4,000,000 payments or pensions and allowances arc made through the Post Office, which has collected £191,000,000 tor the war loan. Between £35.000,000 and £40,000,000 has been withdrawn from the Savings Bank, but the doposits still stand at £185,000,000, whicn is otdy £3,000.000 less than when war broke out. ELECTORAL REFORM.

It is doubtful if anything but the war and the passing of the Conscription Act would have led Parliament tQ tackle t.he present comprehensive scheme of electoral reform on anything like agreed "lines. Before 1832 there were fewer than 500,000 electors on the register, and the great Reform Bill only doubled the number. The population then was about 24,000,000. In 1867 the population had grown to 30,000.000, and the Bill added about 1,500,000 electors, raising the total to 2,500,000. When the Reform Bill of 1884 was passed the country contained 34,000.000 peopie, and another 3,000,000 were put on the register, bringing np the aggregate to 5.500,000. Thirty-three years have passed since then, and the_ population has grown to 45,000.000, with an electorate of 8,000,000. By the present measure it is proposed to put a further 2,000,000 men on the register, making 10,000.000 in all. _ As to the women's franchise, everything depends upon the age agreed to by Parliament. Putting the age at 40 would men adding 3,000,000 women to tho register; 35 would raise the number to 4,500,000 But the Government have reduced the age to 30, and that means mitting 6,000,000 upon the roll. Total. 10,000,000 men and 6,000,000 women.

RIVER TRIPS FOR SOLDIERS. Dining the past two summers che Port of London Authority have placed their steamer Conservator at the disposal of tho British Red Cross Society l'or the purpose of giving trips on the Thames to wounded soldiers. The Authority have made arrangements for tho Conservator again to bo employed in this service. Invitations will be extended to wounded men in various hospitals in London and the vicinity, and the guests will be provided with plain tea and cigarettes, and will ho given souvenir maps illustrating the places of interest along the river's course. Last summer the vessel made 83 trips and carried 4673 convalescents from 54 hospitals, together with 44 nurses in attendance. Another steamer, His Majesty, will bo used for up-river trips, and tho two should orovide a restful excursion for between 13,000 and 14,000 men.