TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Dunstan Times, Issue 2091, 20 August 1901, Page 3

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

TFrom the Dunedin Evening Stab.]

LONDON, June 28. WANTED, A LIBERAL-UNIONIST-

IMPERIALISTIC COALITION!

The breach between the patriotic and the pro-Boer members of the Liberal party was bound to come. Though smoothed oved for the moment, the division is likely to become more and more marked in proportion as the friends of every country but their "own become more violent in their vituperation of their fellowcountrymen, and more pronounced in their expressions of sympathy with the foes of their country. It was hard enough for those Liberals who are patriots,hrsfc and political partisans afterwards to be identified with the Little Englanders, to strive to find some camping ground for the party. Bub when the tail of that composite organism, which has the rump of a cur, the wings of an eagle, and a head like that of a toy animal which wobbles perpetually from one side to the other, insisted that all the other members of the animal kingdom should adopt its between - the - legs attitude, and when the head was wagged by the tail it was time for that part of the animal which was of bulldog breed to give a growl of dissent. But to drop the metaphor before it becomes as mixed as the party. Recent events left the Liberal Imperialists no option but to speak out. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, at the National Reform Union's banquet, came down on the pro-Boer side of the fence, and both then and in the subsequent debate on the concentration camps identified himself with those who accuse the Government and the British soldiers of barbarism. The Liberal Imperialists were told to come into the pro-Boer fold, or be branded as apostates. Mr Haldane lost no time in protesting against the use of expressions like barbarism, and intimated his determination of supporting the Government, because he believed that they desired to conduct the war humanely. Then followed the disgraceful Queen's Hall meeting, when Britons were found hissing the King, cheering our enemies, and expressing the hope that the latter might win, and making the foulest of charges against British statesmen and soldiers. The pro-Boers of England have shown as virulent an Anglophobia as any of the scribblers of the Continental gutter Press. Every pro-Boer speech was an incitement to further Boer resistance, in the hope that if the struggle were prolonged until the pendulum swung to the Liberal side the Lloyd George-Labby-Keir Hardie combination would give away South Africa and their own fel-low-subjects. The time had come for some patriotic Liberal to let Europe and the Boers know that the seditious sentiments of the rump of the Liberal party were not those of the whole party, much less of the country at large. At the dinner of the Home Counties' Liberal Association Mr Asquith made \ what was a national declaration severing himself and other patriots from the traitors to their country. He thus summarised his views:— 1. That the war was not desired by the people of Great Britain, and that it was forced on them without adequate reason. 2. That the views at the Queen's I Hall •meeting were not an authoritative expression of the Liberal party. 3. That while he had a voice to protest the policy of unconditional surrender to the Boers should not go forth to the world as the opinion of the Liberal party. 4. That there was no ground for a general charge of inhumanity, on either side. 5. That there was no man throughout the length and breadth of the British Empire more penetrated with the spirit of humanity than Lord Milner. . •.,

6. That the restoration of the original status of the two Boer States was now impossible; and 7. That anexation was necessary, and that the ultimate goal of their party was the constitution of a free federated dominion of South Africa on the lines of Canada or Australia.

For the moment there seemed a chance of another secession, such as was the result cf Mr Gladstone's Home Rule agitation, and a likelihood of the Liberal Unionists being joined by the Liberal Imperialists, but the patriot lion Mr Asquith has been seen lying down with the pro-Boer lamb Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman on the Opposition benches, and the status quo ante still preIt would, I believe, very much clear the air if the pro-Boers definitely forced the Liberal Imperialists to vote with the Government. There is little or nothing to choose nowadays between the Liberal Unionists and the Liberal Imperialists. The Conservative section of the Government is suffering from creeping paralysis and senile decay. It has bungled the war, and for the rest it daffs the world aside and bids it pass. Lord Salisbury dismisses questions of social reform with a cynical jest, and the song of the: Hotel Cecil is Wait till the clouds roll by, Jenny.' Break up the Hotel Cecil clique—the bedrock of whose policy is laissez-faire and protection of vested" interests—and give us a Liberal and Patriotic coalition of such men ,as Messrs Chamberlain, Asquith, Arnold-Forster, Sir Henry Grey. Haldane. and Sir Henry, Fow'er, with'a progressive programme of social reform and a firm but friendly and definite foreign policv. That, I believe, is what the country desires at heart. It will not stomach any party with whom the pro-Boers are in the slightest way connected, but at the same time it is sick of the futility, frivolity, and want of foresight which the leading Conservative statesmen have displayed during the last couple of years. If once Home Rule is finally shelved, I shall not be at all surprised to see a strong coalition of Liberal Unionists and Liberal Imperialists in office before long. REPORT OF THE LAND SETTLEMENT COMMISSION. - NEW ZEALAND'S COMPULSORY PURCHASE SYSTEM RECOMMENDED.

If tbs land in the Transvaal and Orange River Colonies doesn't exactly laugh into a harvest, on being tickled with a hoe, still the Land Settlement Commission, whose report has just been published, are of opinion that on payment of an adequate price land can be obtained suitable for settlement in almost every part of the new colonies; that a portion of it is well watered; and, while some of it is already within reach of a market, other parts not at present easily accessible will before long be reached by railway. The Commission consisted of Messrs ArnoldForster and Southey, to whom was to ;have been lidded Colonel Plumer. The gallant soldier, however, has been too busy with his- sword lately to convert it into a ploughshare. The Commission are of opinin that if even a smile is to be got out of the land a large proportion of the ticklers must be British, and urge that a strenuous effort should be made to establish a thoroughly British population large enough to make a recurrence of division and disorder impossible. In the Orange River Colony there, is only a. small amount of Government lands left, while those in the Transvaal are mostly of inferior quality. A large area in the Transvaal is in the hands of" syndicates or companies, who show no great disposition to assist m the work of settlement. However, at the end of the war many farms will be thrown upon the market, and the Commission recommend that, in the event of any mortgaged property being put up for sale, the State should have the right of pre-emption at a fixed valuation. The Commission come to the conclusion that for men with energy and experience the prospects of agriculture in South Africa are encouraging, and recommend that the best land alone should be offered to settlers, and that subject to proper protection for the State, the settlers should be capitalised to such an extent as will enable them to equip their farms properly to tide over the first year or two and to face the drawback of an occasional bad season. Approved settlere should be given farms on the following conditions : —(a) Repayment, with interest at 3 per cent., within twenty-one years; (b) the fulfilment of definite covenants as to stocking and cultivating the farm; (c) acceptance cf liability for military service either personally or by representative. The Commission naturally do not favor military settlements of soldiers with no previous agricultural experience, but suggest their employment in military horse-breeding establishments. Four thousand soldiers will

be found billets on the Government railways. Up to last November some 7,000 soldiers had applied to stay in the country. The Commission find that there are very.few portions of the two colonies in which irrigation works on some scale cannot be undertaken with advantage. The circumstances of the country are not, as a rule, favorable to large irrigation works on the sca;le of the great Indian reservoirs, but reservoirs of moderate size, supplemented by small dams capable of irrigating one or two farms, and by wells sunk by means of diamond .drills to the waterbearing strata, are likely to prove most useful. The Commission thus sum up their recommendations : Bona fide settlers should be encouraged to establish themselves on farms in both colonies. These farms should be grouped together, to avoid the danger of isolation; the number of holdings should be limited only by the number of approved applicants; and the size of the holdings should vary from a hundred to five thousand acres. Where a settler acquires land and is assisted to stock it by the aid of Government funds, a military' obligation of some sort should be :m----posed upon him. Special steps 6hould be taken by the Government to encourage sporadic settlement by officers or men. from the Yeomanry and other corps having some capital of their own, and the aid of the Government should also be extended to bona fide settlers other than soldiers, provided that the requirements for all soldiers who have served in the war have been adequately met. In the event of it proving impossible to obtain land for settlement by voluntary arrangement the precedent set by the Parliament of New Zealand could with advantage bj followed—viz., land to be obtained Cwinpulsorily by a statute or ordinance to be specially passed for this purpose. EMPTY BELLIES ON MEN-O'-WAR.— "FASTING, BUT FIRM." Quite recently certain members of the House of Commons came to the conclusion that our " handy men" when afloat were often asked to assist Britannia to rule the waves on stomachs the contents of which could be briefly and accurately scheduled as "two biscuits floating in a pint of thin cocoa." The result of their questions and agitation was the appointment of a Committee to inquire into the feeding of our fighting sailors, and two members of tha* Committee were Messrs Yerburgh and Arnold White. They, at any rate, took their mission seriously, for when the Mediterranean Fleet left Malta they accepted the invitation of Lord Charles. Beresford to take a trip on H.M.S. Ramilies, and instead of enjoying the luxury of the admiral's table they decided to live upon Navy rations for a few days. As the squadron was supposed to be in a state of war they were unable to augment the allowance with supplies from the canteen. They were presumed to be "piped out" to scrub decks at half-past five, but presumption in this respect was sufficient without the reality. At half-past six they . were duly handed a pint of cocoa and a piece of bread or biscuit. At twelve they had their allowance of salt horse, ,salt junk, soup and boulli, or whatever was the fare for the day, and at four o'clock: had their pint of tea, another chunk of bread and biscuit, and after that had to- fast until half-past six next morning. Admiral Fisher got wind of what they were doing, and signalled chaffing messages from the flagship. In response to his query as to how they liked it they replied: "Both Mr Arnold White and Mr Yerburgh are rather hungry, and .begin to hold strong opinions on the rations question, especially as the canteen is closed, this being war time." The admiral signalled back: "As the preservation of the lives of Mr Arnold White and Mr Yerburgh is of supreme importance to the British Navy, and consequently to the preservation of the British Empire,, the Com-mander-in-Chief is of opinion they should be taken off their present low diet and released at' once from holystoning decks and scrubbing canvas gear (which they had been presumably doing since 5 a.m. on a pint of cocoa and of biscuit), and sent on board the Renown to lunch with the Commander-in-chief at 1 a.m." "We are fasting, but firm," was Messrs White and Yerburgh's reply, though they admitted that the prospect of a good lunch on the flagship was alluring. Mr Yerburgh has since told us that as a man-in-the-street who has been and seen he doe's not consider that our bluejackets are fed sufficiently substantially, and the Committee are believed to have warmly advocated considerable additions to the current man-o-war dietary. It is, of course, wrong to suppose that our sailors get nothing to eat after their tea. True, nothing is issued to them 'officially," but they receive a good deal from what are known as " savings." and they have a canteen system to which they attach great value. But the fact remains that "officially Jack afloat gets nothing to eat 'twixt tea today and breakfast to-morrow, and. that a liberal "official" supper is considered by those who know to be a crying need. THE CHARLTON MURDER. The Old Bailey jury were not long in deciding that Thomas Cole Butler, the quarter-master-sergeant of the Army Service Corps who butchered five of his children at Charlton a month ago, was insane at the time of his crime, and is still so mentally deficient that he cannot be placed on trial for murder. When palced in the dock at the Old Bailey last Wednesday Butler assumed a bearing of great importance, shot his cuffs, twiddled hit moustache, and aped with laughable fidelity a Piccadilly dandy. Medical and this testimony as to his mental state before and since the murder having been produced, a letter written by the prisoner to the manager of Madame Tussaud's was put in. It read: "Dear sir,—For the benefit of my surviving daughter I have no objection to your exhibiting models of myself and my five murdered children, with copies of my sworn declaration, autographs and signature thrown in, provided you give us a separate room. A pedigree animal should be stalled alone, and an extra charge of 6d per adult be made. The sum of £2OO should be paid when the agreement is signed. ... This is my idea, but I would consider any suggestion from yourself. This scheme has only just occurred to me. I am greatly surprised to think you have not approached me ere this." . The witnesses to his insanity having been disposed of, the prisoner insisted on his right to call witnesses to prove that he was sane. Some were accordingly called, and. to them Butler read over some questions he had prepared. The net result was that the men called by himself put the prisoner's insanity still further beyond question. But in his madness he perpetrated a piece of refined cruelty by calling his unhappy wife. The poor woman was in a semi-fainting condition when she staggered into the box, but her condition did not appeal to Butler, who beoan to ply her with irrelevant questions. The Judge promptly stopped his flood of queries, and°released the poor woman from the torture a proceeding for which the Court was very' grateful. The Judge then addressed the jury, and after a brief deliberation they found that Butler was unfit to plead. When he had been removed to the cells Mr Muir, his legal adviser, rose and said the delusion under which the man was suffering was that his wife had been unfaithful to him. The sole ground for that wild idea was the fact that on the night before the murder Mrs Butler, returning from shopping, stopped to speak to a neighbor outside the house. It was known, and witnesses were present to prove, that no more devoted wife and mother could "be found than Mrs Butler. It is right that this statement should have been made," said the Judge.