CABLE NEWS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXI, Issue 48, 26 February 1906, Page 7

CABLE NEWS.

[Bt fitfiCTßlC TEIEGRAI>H. — ■ COr-TRIQHT.] BRITISH POLITICS. THE UNEMPLOYED ACT. DIFFICULTY IN MAKING A GRANT. fr-nEsq association. 1 ! (Received Febrnrtry 26, 0.42 R.m.) LONDON, 25fh February. Tho I'rimo Minister (Sir Henry Camp-bcll-Bannerman) atiles that ho is nfrnid ponding tbo adoption of promised legislation on the subject that no Treasury grant call bo made to tho committees under the Unemployed Workmen Act. Tho Unemployed Act received' Royal assent on tho llth August, 1905. Provision is inado for the establishment of a, distress committee of the Council of every metropo.itan borough in London, and ft central body. The duties of the committees aro to make themselves acquainted with tho conditions of labour, and to discriminate between any applications made to them from persons unemployed. Elaborate pYovision is nmdo for the regulation of tho treatment of applicants and tho provision of expenses s it being enacted, amongst other things, that any expenses of tho central body, and such of the expenses of tho distress committees as are incurred with tho consent of tho central body, shall bo defrayed out of a central fund under the management of the central body THE FISCAL CONTROVERSY. MR. BALFOUR'S LETTER. LONDON, 24th February. In tho course of the fiscal debate in tho House of Lords, the Duke of Devonshiro did not quote the qualifications set forth in Mr. Bnlfour's letter to Mr. Chamberlain on 14th February. Lord Lanadowno resented what he described ns tho Duko of Devonshire's unfairness. Mr, Balfour, in his canvass of the city electorate, complained of the Duko of Devonshire's version 6f his letter. Tho Duko's version, ho declared, showed neither common-sense, logic, nor grammar. Tho Duko had most unjustly eliminated all tho "ifs." In tho course, of the letter addressed to Mr. Chamberlain, Mr. Balfour wrote s —"My opinions— which I beliove nro shared by tho great majority of Unionist* —may be summarised a« follows :— Fiscal reform is, and must remain, tho first constructivo work of the Unionist Parly, Its aims aro, first, to'seonro British trade more equal terms of competition } and, secondly, closer commercial union with the colonies, While it is nt present unnecessary to prescribe exact methods for attaining these objects, and inexpedient to perijait differences regarding these methods to divide the party, I consider that»— although other means may be possible — tho establishment of ft moderate general tariff on manufactures (not imposed for tho purposo of raising prices artificially or protecting against legitimate competition) and a small duty on foreign corn are not in principle objectionable, and should bo adopted if shown to bo necessary for the attainment of tho ends In view or for purposes of revenue." The cabled report of the Duko of Devonshire's comments on the letter was necofsarily brief. Tho Duke said that Mr. Balfour'a speech delivered at n banquet to the city members implied that methods wcro open to discussion till the time for practical action arrived, but recent correspondence disclosed that compromise would not be satisfactory to Tarrifltes, Retaliators, or Freetraders. FOREIGn"~AFFAIRB. (Received February 26, 8,45 a.m.) LONDON, 85th February. Mr, Runciman, speaking on behnlf of Sir Ed. Grey, said he trustead the fact of Port Arthur belonging to Japan hnd not nffccled Britain's lease of Weihaiwci. No action was contemplated nt present regarding tho lease. Ho added that negotiations were proceeding regarding the terms of ft convention for China's adhesion to the Anglo-Tibetan Convention. It was not intended to niter tho terms of the latter agreement.