BRITISH AND FOREIGN NEWS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXII, Issue 30, 4 August 1906, Page 13

BRITISH AND FOREIGN NEWS.

SPECTATOR SUMMARY (For Week Ending Satarday, 2nd Jutte). THE RUSSIAN DEPUTIES. The Times correspondent in St. Petersburg in a despatch which appeared in Thursday's issue notes the "cordial wish" of several peasant Deputies to visit London in July, when the Duma will probably be prorogued, "in the hope of seeing the Mother of Parliaments at work." They are trying, he adds, to save up enough for the journey, and, after insisting on the immense benefit likely to accrue from such a visit to both countries, he suggests that it would be well if the projected trip evoked proper encouragement in the House of Commons. We sincerely hope that this suggestion may bear fruit. The Government may not see their way to take action in the matter, but we feel sure that there must be many Members on both sides of the House who will gladly respond to the appeal The welcome would be all the more appreciated, and all the better calculated to promote good understanding between the two nations, if it were organised? on a non-party basis. . The ease with which London is reached, from St. Petersburg suggests that the representatives of the great shippers in Parliament might arrange to charter a steamer that would bring, say, one hundred Members of the Duma almost from door : to door. AUSTRIAN AFFAIRS. On Tuesday it was announced that the Premier of Austria, Prince Hohenlohe, had resigned. Dr. Wekerle, tho Hungarian Premier, asked that the new Austro-Hungarian tariff should be voted in Hungary as a Hungarian tariff alone, and that the future relations with Austria should be regulated by a commercial treaty. This meant a reversal Of the existing Customs connection between the two countries, and as such was strongly opposed by Austrian statesmen. To the surprise of every one, however, the Emperor accepted Dr. Wekerle's proposal, and Prince Hohenlohe had no alternative but to resign. The incident has caused great irritation in Austria, where the retiring Premier's action is fully supported. It is generally believed that the Emperor's sanction was one of the terms in his treaty with the Party of Independence. In any case, it has increased in Hungary the popularity of the Crown, and may make tho way easier for the Coalition Government, whose policy is temporary moderation on the Constitutional question. The result in Austria has been to create an Austrian Independence Party and to make Prince Hohenlohe the most popular man in the country. It is unfortunate that 'this unforeseen difficulty should have appeared to complicate the already sufiiciently complex affairs of the Dual Monarchy. Both nations, at any rate, have now** got a grievance to bargain with. THE REGICIDES. The King of Servia has signed a decree placing upon the retired list the officers, six in number, who were principally concerned in the murder of the late Kjng and Queen. King Peter and his Prime Minister, M. Pasitch, are to be congratulated on at last taking a step which will restore their country to the community of European nations. While the assassins remained in office it was impossible for us to countenance the Government which tolerated and protected them. That difficulty is now removed, and in all likelihood we shall soon see an English representative again at Belgrade. We sincerely trust that the bloody and useless quarrels between the rival houses of Servia h.ave come to an end, and that that distracted country may have before it a career of peace and prosperity 'such as Roumania has long enjoyed. THE CHINESE CUSTOMS. There ' seems every chance of the Chinese Government ultimately yielding on the Customs question, but their conduct is still far from satisfactory. The original Edict has been communicated to all the chief officials, and the result is said to be a noticeable change of manner. Last Sunday an evasive reply was sent to tlie British Note, but at the conference on Monday between the British Charge d' Affaires and the Chinese Minister the latter promised to send a satisfactory reply embodying the chief passages in the Agreements of 1896 and 1898 respecting the administration of the Maritime Customs, under which the present regime is guaranteed till 1943. Britain has also requested that the personnel of the Service shall remain as at present, and that the Wai-wupu shall communicate the reply officially to all members of the Service- in order to allay the unrest which has been aroused. We may note that French opinion strongly supports the British view of the situation, and an ex-Governor-Gen-eral of Indo- China, M. de Lanessan, in on article in the Siecle, has stated as forcibly as could any British publicist the importance of keeping the Maritime Customs under the present administration. •' GERMANY IN AFRICA. The Morning Post last Saturday published a ourious tale which seems to call for further investigation. Two young Transvaal Boers, Muller and Lelyveld, it ib alleged, enlisted, like others of their countrymen, in the Transport Corps of the German South African, Field Forcej Last August they were arrested at Windhoek on a charge of conspiring against the German Government, and after a trial where they were not legally assisted and were forbidden to communicate with a British Consul, were sentenced to five years and ten months' imprisonment each. They were, according to the Morning Post, taken to Germany to serve their sentence, and are now in prison at Harburg. One of the men is an ex-em-ployee of the Netherlands Railway, while the other is partly British and served with our forces during the war. Both are said to be men of good character. We have no knowledge as to what truth there may be in the story, and South Africa is a laftd of wild romances ; but there is nothing inherently improbable in the arrest of British subjects for foolish talk, which may have been construed into a conspiracy against the German Government. We trust that the Foreign Office will investigate the affair, and pur anxiety is all the greater because of tho nationality of the persons concerned. Sinco the Boers are our fellow-subjects, it is our business to show them that British citizenship is not a meaningless phrase. REDUCTION OF ARMAMENTS. On Friday week* the House of Lords, on a question asked by Lord Avery, discussed the possibility of the reduction of armaments. Lord Fitzmaurice declared that tho Government hoped to be able to reduce expenditure next year, but to diminish cost was not the same thing as to disarm. The difficulty in disarmament Was to find the unit, and a tribunal to enforce its application. The Hague Tribunal might afford a solution, and, if the Government thought it desirable, the question would be raised at the coming Conference. Lord Lflnsdowne in a. very wise and moderate speech welcomed the Government's proposed economy, bub deprecated any .attempts at. .general measures, of. xlia--

armament. Arbitration was most valuable, and, if properly used, might greatly limit the area of war; but he agreed with the Bishop of Ripon that there were cases where arbitration could never avail. For such contingencies, which were inseparable from national existence, it was necessary to be fully prepared. On this point the House of Lords showed complete unanimity. Safety must be the first object, economy the second. We agree with Lord Ripon that no harm will be done by England 'endeavouring to give other nations a lead in the direction of the reduction of armaments, providing she does not compromise herself. No such agreement will ever come about except by several of the Great Powers making a simultaneous movement towards it; but there is no harm in any one power preaching the doctrine.