BRITISH AND FOREIGN NEWS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 33, 8 February 1908, Page 13

BRITISH AND FOREIGN NEWS.

(For the week ending Saturday, 14th December.) DISCONTENT IN HUNGARY. The contest of the nationalities in Hungary shows no symptoms of abating. At the moment there is an antiMagyar majority in the Croatian Diet which, the Hungarian Premier is resolved to overthrow. His latest move was to cause the Croatian Diet to be dissolved on Thursday, thereby hoping to compel the Croatian delegates in the Hungarian Chamber to cea6e'obstructing Iho Hungarian Authorisation Bill and leave Budapest for Agram. The dissolution took place amid scones of tumult and indignation and cries of "Down with the Magyar lackey!" followed by shouts of "Long live the King !" According to The Times correspondent in Vienna, the only lasting success that Dr. Wekerle seems likely to attain "is that of weakening a now hostile but professedly Magyarophil Croatian party that hates Vienna, and of strengthening a not loss hostile Croatian party that leans towards Vienna and hates Budapest." The most damaging criticism on' Dr. Wekerle's tactics comes from Count Khuen-Hedervary, for twenty years tho Magyarising Ban of Croatia, who recently declared Dr. Wekerle's policy of repression to be hopeless, and to be vitiated by the fundamental Magyar mistake of regarding and treating tho Croats as inferior | beings. Simultaneously the political and economic discontent in Bosnia-Her- | programme formulated by a private) Congress of Serbs at Scrajevo, demanding complete autonomy for the occupied provinces, the ejection of a popular Assembly on the basis of universal suffrago with secret ballot, and government by Parliamentary majority. Hero, however, it is hoped that the moderating influence of the head of the BosnianHerzegovinian Government, Baron de Burian, will be exerted to grant reasonable domands without impairing the central authority. , THE GUIDING HAND. An interesting sidelight on German foreign policy is furnished by the Beri lin Post. Tho author of a patriotic historical work, recently published under Imperial patronage, stated that the occupation of Kiao-chau was carried out a3 the result of a proposal by the wellknown missionapy, Bishop Anzer. Tho Emperor thereupon wrote in the margin opposite this statement the following remark : — "Wrong. I selected Kiao-ehau after I had Sam-sa Bay and, Wci-hai-Woi reconnoitred. Both" were reported to me as wholly unsuitable. 1 thereupon took Baron yon Ilichthofen's book and a map of China, and after rending his chapter on Shati-tung I decided for the port 'of Kiao-chau, as Baron yon Biohthofen's opinion of the Hinterland war. .so remarkably favourable. Bishop Anzer had nothing to do with tho decision." The incident affords an intctpslintf confirmation of the remark of Dr. Dornbnrg, in the cut-rent Contemporary, that the lUmpercr \Villinm reserves ti> himself tho chief direction of foreign policy. A FREE BALTIC. Tho Times of Mondny 2)ubliflhr>3 (<io ssfjoud of two papoir. by Mr. Luoi=n WolC on "The* Nc-rtheni Question." They contain an historical argument; on the imporlauos fo tins peaces of Euvopo of preserving the free rights of access to (lie Baltic, and cf excluding any . stroiifc and aggressive Power from the I low countries. Tho freedom of thp Baltic postulates ahsolntoly the maintenance of tho Scandinavian Powers and Denmark in (heir present , territories. And the low ruiit'tries contain no many ports of nayiil impiHlaiicD quite near j to Engloj'd lint n stior.R inval Power uv possession cf them v.ouJd be a contiiunl tour/.p of nnxioly fo ith. As it, is, Belgium ami Ifoll.nul have no conspicioiiJ) ambit iriia beyond p^osnculin^ their t»rtAvic»^c t ummerce, and tli«ir pran°iw three lein no oi.e. Of courre there is no visible danger at prcrout of j .uiy rower 'trying to vpw-l this e<nveni- i hiiL j.Ntiis riito in Northern Em op.. 1 , but Mi 1 . Wolf thinks that a period of peace, might bo well employed in putting tho mat'-ir lT>vond' danspsr. As cognrds tho H-iliic question, Norway is tho only Power whoso territories arc j;uarautcPtt. I1)I 1 ) tin air.fi of tho low coiuitiies, Bt-1-Kinni if, neutralised by tl\3 Act of 183 D. but Holla ml ha 3 no security. What is required is r. Treaty 'ayinj; down the integrity and neutrality of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Holland, and Belgium. The Treaty would have to be between Britain, Franco, 'Russia, and Germany, and would do i'or.NovtlipiM Europe what tho Treaty between Britain, Franco, aiid | Spain has done for tho Mediterranean and the East Atlantic. We can only say that such a Treaty would be of the greatest value- if iv could be accomplished without exciting distrust. THE CONGO BLOT. The latest information about the elm ractsr of tho Treaty of Cession for annoying tho Congo to Belgium doe 3 not inspire much, hopefulness. A correspondent of The Times in Brussels sayn that tho proposal earns only the mildest approval even from the pYofessod supporters of the Uovci nnient. Tho Socialists will vots against annexation in any form, aa they object to a colonial policy. ' The Lib3rals will very rightly vote against it unless Parliament is supreme in the management of the whole colony. Some of tho Roman Catholics, but it is uncertain Jiow innuy, will do tin same. The financial fjv.vslion and tho maintenance of thi Crown Domain are, of course, intimately connected. It' forced labour and the other abuses and cruelties, which are pcunitted chiefly in the Crown Domain, are abolished, will tho colony pay its way: As Air. Morel has pointed out in a temperate lntttu', profits at the present rate arc asnumed. Yet if reforms are to be genuine, no '| such assumption can be fairly mada. The Times correspondent calculates that if Ilia Btato bought out tho King's interests in the Crown Domain, it would have to pay between a hundred, and a hundred and sixty-seven millions sterling. That this will be done is inconceivable. Wo can only repeat that we shall not be satisfied unless there is a complete revolution in the methods by which ' the natives aro deprived of the right to sell their labour freely. And wo fail to sea how that revolution can ba accomplished so long as tho Crown Domain is governed solely, or even mainly, in the porsonal interests of King Leopold. < A NAVAL INCUBUS. Tho agitation of the Gpiman Navy League for an increase of the present considerable shipbuilding programme is a now anxiety for Prince Btuow. Tha agitation is boing carried on in the press and in tho lteichstag, and hot personal attacks on the Secretary for the Imperial Marine, Admiral yon Tirpitz, are apparently tho usual weapon. While tho members of the leaguo demanded more ships in the fieichstag on Monday, Admiral yon Tirpitz had to defend himself against tho charge of unwarrantable expenditure brought by the Socinl- ; ists. Admiral yon Tnpics, according to The Times correspondent, declared lh.it personally he was inclined to a still n'oro rnpid rate of construction; but, as it was, Germany was building faster j than France, America, or even Britain | was building the corresponding ships. 17 err Bebel prophesied that it would bo impossible to check tho ship-buildir.g programmes, and that a heavier burden

than ever would bo put on the country after 1912. This prediction is already in a fair way to bo verified, as the Navy Leaguo is demanding the amplification of the skeleton scheme for 191217. We notice that General Keirn, who was a bitter opponent of the Centre and Social Democrats at the last elections, has been elected president of tho Navy League. It can hardly be said now that the league is a non-parly organisation, and Prince Huprechb of Bavaria has resigned his membership as a protest. TPIE ANGEL OF PEACE. In a speech at Montreal on Thursday Lord Grey, tho Govornor-General of Canada, announced a subscription of a hundred guineas from the King, and set forth a scheme for the celebration of the three-hundredth birthday of Canada by the erection of a colossal statue of the Angel of Peace on the Point of Quebec. The monument, typifying the reconciliation between the French and British races in Canada, would greet immigrants as they sailed up tho St. Lawrence to their new homo. Lord Grey, in one of those speeches in which ho so happily combines the dignity required by his great position with the enthusiasm and vigour appropriate to the young nation over whose destinies he presides, added a further suggestion that the battlefields just outside Quebec, famous for so many gallant actions, should ba laid out as a kind of national park. This would embrace not only the Heignts of Abraham, whero Montcalm and Wolfe fought and fell, but also the battlefield of Ste. Foy, where the French in 1760 defeated General Murray after a clesperuto and bloody battle, an action which would in all probability havo led to the recap-, ture of Quebec if the British fleet ha# not arrived in tho nick of time. Subscriptions from the public will be required to supplement the money voted by_ the Federal and provincial appropriations, said Lord Grey. May we bo allowed to add tho confident hope that the King's example will bo largely followed in this country, and indeed throughout the Empire? The project is » truly Imperial one, and Canada must be asked to allow the whole of the Empire to share with 7 hcr the honour of commemorating Wolfe, Montcalm, and their gallant followers. A SIGNIFICANT INCIDENT. The following newspaper cutting has been sonfc to us "with Mi: Ginnell's compliments" : — "No mention of drives, but—. At the U.I.L. meeting at Kilbannon, near Tuam, on Sunday, tho Gpeakors included Mr. M. Iteddy, M.i J . ,• T. O'Donnell, Co.C. ; Thos. M'Donagh, D.C. ; P. J. and ,Thos. Costelio, and M. C. Shino, D.C. Ii was agreed beforehand ' that non? of tho speakers should counsel, cr even mention, cattledriving, but during the proceedings there hang high above the platform ft flag bearing tho inscription — 'Blessed ure the Cattle-drivers, for" they shall possess tho Land.' No one objected to the prose-ace of the flag but, tho chairman, Mr. Mnun'ion." No comment is needed. Such, a banner is more eloquent than a hundred speeches. ME. KIPLING'S PRIZE. Nobel prizes, of tho value oi' £7700 each, wc-re awarded at Stockholm on Tuesday. Tho usual ceremonies were oriiittcd owing to th-3 death of King Osfar, Tho recipients wero : — Physics ( Profeooor Michelson, University of Chicago ; chemistry : Pcofescor Buchuor, Uliivomty of lierlin ; medicine : Profestor Laveran, Pasteur In&titute, Paris :l: l 1 liters t lire : !Mr. Hndvard Kipling. The j Peace priae, which is' .'.warded' by the Storthing of Norway, is divided between Signer Monsta, president of the ltaliaii Peace 'f-iccK'ty, and M. Uenar.lt, French d.ile"ate ;>l the last Hague Conference. Wo h-vjtilv fou'jrafculato Mr. JUidyaid Kiplim*. \shosL- honour will ho o>;lromc.ly yratiful to his countrymen. Thore |io no r.ma in uiu-' liteiature clive tciLiy ivho n mow worLlty v.l honour. He has neva. 1 failed either in his duty as an artist or ns >i j,ood citizen— prako net e,v;il}- v-o)}. iiy Ihe fiiot wo moan that, lliough tcu'ptcj by an caily ami grout , r.ucc« c s, ho has never been willing to j exploit his gsuiur. for money. liy ihe second wo niL'un'th.ii, whether t we agree or disagr°n with hie, particular views, all must admit lhat hu hns never fail?d to koop r.toadily before him the desire to make his words, in proee or verse, conduce to tho well-being of the nation a:id the Empiic. A DT3FEKREIS MILLENNIUM. Lord Lansdowno vaa the chief speaker at it Libaral Unionist demonstration held in Edinburgh on Wednesday. In regard to foreign relations, whil-i noting how tha Prime Minister's visioi s of a golden ago had been rudely shattered by tho tllogud Conference, Lord Lansdowne frankly admitted that the i«t:sent Government professed t§ follow, and did follow, the line?, laid down l>y their predecessors. He congratulated tb,em in particular on the Anglo-Russian agreement, which had substituted written engagements for vague verbal assurances, and was a di&tinct step ii) advance, though ho was inclined to think that we had tho worst of Iho bargain in Tibet and Persia. Turning to the House o( Lords, ho rallied Mr, LloydGcorgo for warning the Peers not to mcddlo with trade because they knew too littlo about it, or with tho land because they knew too much. As a matter of fact, at, least half-a-dozen of tho Peers created by the present Government had won their laurels in business of one kind or another. lie could only account for the absence of any new peerages from the last Birthday Gazettd on the supposition that his Majesty's advisers ware afraid to face the ridicule which had already attached to them for Ftrengthening thecrew of the ship which they wtro attempting to scuttle. Finally, Lord La'.isdowns, "after a brief reference lo tho fiscal controversy and social reform," the nature of which is not reported in The Times, attributed tho grave and scandalous condition of li'eland to the levity with which the Government had treated a serious outbreak of crime and conspiracy. A USEFUL ASSOCIATION. The Archbishop _ of Canterbury presided over a meeting convoned by the Association for Promoting the Training and Supply of Midwives on Thursday week. The Archbishop laid stress on 4,he two serious aspects of the situation created by the passing of the Midwives Act of 1902— -first, that the existing supply of properly trained women was inadequate ; aud second, that the practico likely to be obtained by such trained women would not yield a living wage for thoso who had no other means of subsistence. The magnitude' of thoso evils was indicated by Sir Dyce Duckworth, who declared that there were some three thousand preventible deaths annually due to ignonvnee, generally of midwives; but Dr. P. Macdonaleh and Dr. Nimmo Walker, who stated that fully a fourth of the cases of blindness in tho community were due to the name cause ; and by "Mr. Wynne Baxter, tho coroner of East London, who mentioned that during tho last sixyears he had held inquests on three hundred and si?;ty-three children who had died within twenty-four hour* of birth, and on two thousand one hundred and sixty-eight who had not lived twelvb months. A resolution was moved by Lord Balfour of Bmleigh, and unanimously adopted, declaring that thh ex. tension of the association was an urgent public duty, and that its objects d?mai .Ifd national and generous support from all thos" to whom the health uud welfare of tho nation appealed. — Spectator.