BRITISH AND FOREIGN NEWS SPECTATOR SUMMARY. LONDON, 24th June. THE BUTLER COMMITTEE.

Evening Post, Volume LXX, Issue 37, 12 August 1905, Page 9

BRITISH AND FOREIGN NEWS SPECTATOR SUMMARY. LONDON, 24th June. THE BUTLER COMMITTEE.

The chief feature of the week has been the extraordinary manner in which the Government have been reluctantly forced to take the inevitable step of appointing a Royal Commission,- armed by special statute with the fullest possible powers, to investigate the grave scandals disclosed in the Report of the Butler Committee, and to give facilities for a debate in the House of Commons on the attitude of the Government -in regard to the whole question. It might have been supposed that tho Government would have anticipated any demand from the Opposition for full investigation by declaring the moment Parliament met that the fullest machinery for enquiry would at once be set in motion, and by insisting that they were ready and eager to meet in Parliament any criticism impugning their action. Yet, astounding as it sounds, Mr. Balfour had positively to be goaded by the Opposition — no other expression will serve — into granting an adequate inquiry, and admitting tho right of the Opposition to a Parliamentary discussion on the conduct of the Administration.

MINISTERIAL VACILLATION.' On Tuesday when the House met', though the Keporfc of the Committee had been in his hards for a month, the Prime Minister had apparently not in the least made up his mind what to do. He talked in an airy way about a Commons Committee; but when it was obvious that the House regarded such a proposal as trifling with a matter on which the public mind is deeply stirred, he asked for twenty-four hours in which to arrive at a conclusion. On Wednesday he came down to the House and, with an ingenuous detachment of mind which on a minor matter would have beeD amusing, but which, as it was, exasperated his hearers, declared that he had decided that a Royal Commission would meet tho case. He did not appear to know what the powers of a Royal Commission were, but there appeared to be some precedents, and 'in any case it was all that he would give. As to a debate on the matter, the demand was preposterous. Did the Opposition really mean to ask for judgment before 'enquiry? In view, however, of the grim reception given by the House, and also, we are glad to say, by the brulk of the Unionist Press, Mr. Balfour had again to trim his sails. On Thursday he yielded to the Opposition, in circumstances of no little humiliation, what on Tuesday he might have freely granted with honour and the commendation of all parties. "It was to bring you by degrees ,to mortification," says the Bellman to the Duchess of Malfi, when he explains the various steps by which her doom was announced to her. It almost looks as if it had been the design of Mr. Balfour to bring himself by degrees to mortification. We will only say here that the enquiry must be searching to the last degree, and that a great deal more than the exposure of, and punishment for,l certain malpractices in South Africa is involved in the investigation. ' THE MOROCCO QUESTION. The news of the week frpm France is more satisfactory. The panic fear of Germany lias passed a-sv*iy, and the trwo | countries are negotiating a compromise about Morocco quietly, arid agreeing, it is asserted, to terms which a Conference, in which Great Britain will take ( part, will afterwards ratify. The Kultan begins to fear that such Conference will in practice be irresistible, and that in resisting France he is callißg a stronger muter on to the scene. Moreover, the entente between Great Britain and France has been strengthened,- the French having given up their absurd idea that tho British wished to cajole them into fighting Germany for the advantage of' Great Britain, which would then destroy the German fleet. There has been "a perfect explosion of fseling in Paris in favour of Great Britain, which is now declared bjr practically the entire prsss to be behaving with the greatest loyalty and moderation. The doubts t upun that subject which had been diffused in the German interest have been dispelled, and the t great attempt to separate the two States which has always been behind tho Moroccan negotiatons has for the present failed. Nevertheless, the old idea of the "balance of power" has once more- been proved to have a great dea 1 in it. The Sovereign who during the eclipse of Russia is predominant on the Continent cnanot resist the temptation to have, that predominance made manifest. The latest idea, it 'is snid, is to form a Zollverein of the Continent in order to protect Europe from the aggressiveness of AngloSaxon commerce. That is not an agreeable prospect; but there is iio need for mucn fetir. Anglo-Saxondom, as a power acting on the defensive Is not weak. GERMAN JINGOISM. The Times of -Tuesday published an account from its. correspondent of the PanGerman Congress held last Saturday at Worms. The President, Di\>Hasse, welcomed 4he new forward policy in foreign affairs of the Imperial Government, and congratulated the Chancellor on his brilliant victory in Morocco. "The whole 'world ought to know that Germany was at all times ready to draw the sword." He regretted, however, the inclination to apply to Morocco "the formula of the 'open door' suggested to us by England." Ho recommended less uneasiness about what Great Britain might think or saj. Resolutions were ' carried advocating a largo increase in ithe construction of bnttleships. One of the speakers, General yon Liebert, considered that the time was about due for a new trial of -strength on the part of Germany. "We cannot help the 'fact that all the great changes in history have been accomplished through tenrs and through blood." It is wild till is, for j.-an-Gcrmanism is 01 all forms of. Jingoism the most innuinnialory, but it is useless io blink the fitct 'that there is a largo German public which, approves of it.

AUSTRIAN DIFFICULTIES. Affairs in Ausl rin* are not going well. Tho Emperor, finding it impossible to form a strictly Parliamentary Ministry which will protect the unity of the Imperial Army, has appointed Buron Fejerv.iry Premier in Hungary, in ithe hopo thai ordinary business at least may bo corned on. On the Chambers reassembling, however, on 21st June, a vote of No Confidence moved by M. Kossutb wns carried in the Lower Houso by a two-thirds majority. A Royal Rescript proroguing Parliament was then read ; but tlie President permitted debate upon tlie Rescript ,, and Baron Bnnffy submitted a motion declaring the prorogation illegal because no business hnd been done, forbidding the payment of the quota for Imperial expenses, and . summoning tho counties nnd communes to pay no tuxes and collect 'no recruits. This motion also wns carried by a two-thirds majority amid shouts of "Lung live Norway !" The paralysis of Ru&si.a hns, in fact, relieved tho Mngynrs of a secret fear, and they bcem determined to try the dangerout experiment of separating their Stale

from the Dual Monarchy. Taught by his long experience, the. Austrian Emperor will, of course, try to avoid a final rupture with his Hungarian people; but Parliamentary life is suspended, and it will be difficult or impossible to collect the taxes. The next step will therefore be watched with alarm as well as curiosity by all statesmen on the Continent, who are well aware that the dissolution of the Austrian Enfjiire would be followed by a most dangerous explosion in Europe, Germaas comending with Magyars, and Slavs with both. It must be remembered, however, that whenever discussion gives placo to action, there is one check on the Magyars — namely, their imperfect hold on tlie majority of their own population, which is Slav, SWEDEN AND NORWAY. The Swedish Riksdag was opened on 21st June, and the King, amidst a scene of great feeling, announced that his Ministry did not intend to use force against Norway, he having declared in Council that, although it was a matter of painful emotion to him to sever the tie, he believed "that a Union to which both parties do not give their free- and willing consent would' be of no real advantage to either." The Ministry, therefore, propose that Parliament shall give them power to enter into negotiations with the Norwegian Storthing, in order that the Act of Union may be annulled, and regulations made so as to secure future harmony between the two separated States. The action of the Riksdag cannot be predicted, for the pride 'of Sweden has been sorely ' wounded, and there is a' violent party there as elsewhere ; but the King's assent to separation practically settles the question, more especially as the fact of negotiations with Norway is an acknowledgment, though informal, of her independence. Meanwhile the Norwegians are endeavouring' in every way to express friendship and honour for ths people of Sweden and 'their King. It is still uncertain whether the King of Norway will not be Prince Karl Bernadotte, third son of King Oscar, and husband of a Danish Princess. We trust he may; but in any case the wise part for Sweden to play is to make' the best of the existing situation, and to determine that the dissolution of \the Union shall not be a cause of future enmity, but rather of future friendship and goodwill. ' ' THE LOOMIS AFFAIR. President Roosevelt has directed the dismissal of Mr. Bowen, the United States Minister at Caracas. Mr, Bowen, it will be remembered, had associated himself with the charge brought against his predecessor, Mr. Loomis, now As-sistant-Secretary of State, of having ac..cepted money from an American company in return for prompting its interests while, .he was Minister at Caracas. Mr. Bowen's action, Mr. Roosevelt points out," violated an explicit rule of the State Department against the preferring of charges against public men; but as Mr. Bowen had let it be known that he would consider his resignation as tantamount to an admission of misconduct, he (Mr. Roosevelt) had no alternative but to dismiss him. The President exonerates Mr. Loomis, but expresses the hope that this bitter experience will teach .him not to make jjrivate investments in the future in any country to which he is accredited. Mr. Loomis, in a word, is severely reprimanded for indiscretion, while Mr. Bowen is' punished for a clear breach of the rules of the Service. Assuming, as we are bound <to do, Mr. Loomis's innocence of the graver charge, it is difficult to see how the President could have anted otherwise ; but it would be more satisfactory if the self-denying ordinance on which Mr: Roosevelt so properly insists should be not merely a recommendation, but a (strict rule. Meantime Mr. Bowen has published a long statement, contend-ing-'that a Departmental enquiry should not prevent opon and impartial investigatioc of what he calls a national disgrace. THE INDIAN BUDGET. Mr. Brodrick introduced the Indian Budget on Wednesday. In spite of a number of drawbacks — plague, scarcity, ,and earthquakes — he was able to report exceptional prosperity, the revenue being the largest ever gathered, while the surplus., amounted to £3,485,500. After, specifying tiie various sources of this continued prospeiity — the railways, the im.port of precious metals, and the increase of the Savings Banks deposits — Mr. Brodrick turned to tha application of the surplus. They were enibled to make further concessions in taxation — the Bait-tax having been reduced 40 per oent. in two years —which, with grants to primary education, grants in aid of agricultural development, and increased expenditure on the police, amounted in all to £3,120,000. On the other hand, they had to ask for an extra £2,440,000 for military services in order to carry out Lord Kitchener's reoganisation scheme, which would increase tht> fit-Id army from eighty thousand to ono hundred and forty thousand, provide ior the re-equipment of the Indian Army with field artillery, the re-grouping of troops oil the North-West Frontier, and the maintenance of lactories which would make India self-supporting ill all tho necessaries of war. INDIAN MILITARY CONTROL. Mr.' Brodrick next described the new rearrangement of Indian military administration by which the Government proposed to put ar . end to the friction caused by the present system, viz., the establishment of two departments,— an Army Department under tho Commander-jn-Ohief, and a Military Supply Department presided over by the Military Member of Council. The*Commander-in-Chiet would bo directly responsible to the Gover-nor-General in Council for tho command, staff, discipline, training, distribution of tho Army, the Intelligence Department, mobilisation, schemes of offence and defence, peace manoeuvres, preparations (excluding the supply of material) for war, and'th© conduct of war. Tho functions of the Military Supply Department would be limited to the responsibility for the control of contracts, purchase ot stores, ordnance, remounts, military works and factories, the Indian Medical Service, and the Indian Marine. ' We may also mention that we think the earnest attention of our statesmen should be given u> Iho very important suggestions made by Lord George Hamilton in the course of tin, dobate. ' He <vould abolish the Indian Commander-in-Chief, and convert him into a Secretary of Shite for War, and have thus only one Military Member of Council. Certainly by this means there would bo a\ greater concentration of authority, and at the same time the essential pnn ciple of ultimate civilian control would be maintained. The dual authority against which Lord George Hamilton protests is certainly open to many objections. Mr. Brodrick's statement waa on tho whole very favourably received on both sides of the House. Regarding tho redistribution of authority in Indian military matters, The Times writes : "It is certainly to be regretted that, in this as in some other mutters, Mr. Brodrick has shown a tendency to treat the Indian Government and the distinguished statesman who presides over it with less consideration than has usually peen practised by those who have held tho office of Secretary of State for India. Even those who in India disagree with the views which Lord Cunson lins so powerfully defended agrco with his supporters in regarding tho tone adopted by Mr. Brodrick as unnecessarily harsh."