BRITISH AND FOREIGN NEWS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 122, 23 May 1908, Page 13

BRITISH AND FOREIGN NEWS.

SPECTATOR SUMMARY (For week ending Saturday, 28th March, 1908). THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE. It is with deep regret that we record the death of the Duke of Devonshire, which took place at Cannes early on Tuesday. The Duke, it will be remembered, suffered from an attack of heart failure last summer. Though he seemed to have regained strength, and though he was able to travel to Egypt, he never completely recovered, and while at Cairo his lungs were affected by pneumonia. Tho end was, we are glad to say, painless, and, in a sense, sudden. We have dealt elsewhere with the commanding position attained by tho Duke in our public life, a position due in the first place to his high character and devotion to public duty. It must never be forgotten, however, that this position could not have been maintained had not the Duke been among the wisest of men and possessed of intellectual capacity of the highest order. Though it sounds a contradiction ia. terms, the Duke's intellect was as penetrating as it was slow. The speeches in both Houses of Parliament which expressed the nation's loss in the Duke's death were marked by more than ordinary gravity and depth of conviction. Lord Rosebery's speech was a masterly effort, and both Mr. As j quith and Mr. Balfour showed real and deep feeling in their eulogies. THE CONGO "CONCESSIONAIRES." The committee of the Congo Reform Association have addressed a memoi-ial to Sir Edward Grey on the Congo Transfer Treaty. The essential contention of the committee 'is that the obligations of the Congo State, fcur which it is proposed that Belgium shall assume responsibility, involves the perpetuation of that interpretation of the rights of property which is the root of the prevailing evils. The eights which have been conferred upon the concessionnaires depend on the maintenance of this system. Therefore, if Belgium undertakes to maintain the rights of the concessionaires,^ she will never be able to put an end to a state of things "morally wrong and internationally illegal." We are most anxious nothing should be said or done which may seem unfair or unfrieridly totho Belgian people, or which can be represented as putting undue pressure upon an independent and friendly State. At the same time, we cannot help thinking that Belgian statesmen will be well advised to pay special attention to the point thus raised by the Congo Reform Association. Meantime we feel that Sir Edward Grey is thoroughly alivo to all the perplexities and dangers of the situation, and that he may be trusted implicitly to do what is demanded by right and justice in a very difficult situation. BULOW ON MACEDONIA. In the Reichstag on Tuesday Prince Bulow made a statement on foreign affaire. Aftef dealing with Morocco, he turned to Macedonia. The- thief cause of trouble was not the opposition between the Christians and the Mohammedans, but that between the different Christian nationalities which desired to be supreme in Macedonia, and, in the event of the abolition of Turkish |rule, to secure as large a share of territory as poopossible. In these- circumstances the maintenance of the status quo was the point of union from which the Powers must necessarily start. The startingpoint was, in fact, the Treaty of Berlin, and, recognising that, Qex-niany had welcomed the , Austro-Hungarian railway scheme, . which drew its sanction from that Act. Gefmany had not supported or even advised, Austria-Hugary in the matter, but now that tho project was in oxistence she regarded it as a means of civilisation. Prince Bulow continued: — "Wo could , not be expected to exhibit any enthusiasm for proposals which we do not regard as efficacious or which we even consider to be dangerous. Among the latter we include innovations which would imperil tho sovereignty of the Sultan and thus provoke Turkey and her Mohammedan population to extreme resistance. 1 ' 'These .words, we fear, are: directed against Sir Edward Grey's scheme for appointing an independent Governor-General of Macedonia. We can only say that if Germany thinks that Britain dvsires material advantages for herself in Macedonia, we are sure that Sir Edward Grey would be ready to give any proof in reason that this is not so. (SCOTTISH LAND LAWS. The second reading of the Land Val- ' ues (Scotland) Bill was moved by Lord Ilersehell in the Lords on Wednesday. The Bill, which was rejected by the Lords last session, and now reappeared Unaltered, provides for the ascertainment, of the ground value of the land, land_ value being defined as the amount which the land might bo expected^ to realise in th,e open market if divested of the buildings erected upon it. Lord Herschell, who maintained that the evidence on rating reform already produced fully justified the introduction of this Bill, declared that all that its passage would imply was the willingness of the House to cunsider the question of rating reform. The Lord Chancellor, like Lord Herschell, insisted at length on tho preliminary character of the Bill. .It was not a remedy, but it was preparatory to other schemes, which might not get rid of tho evils of overcrowding, but which might mitigate them. Tho debate 11 was concluded on Thursday, when on the advice of Lord Lansdowne the Bill was read a second time without a division. The coui'Fo pursued by tho Lords was wise. The Bill was not read a second time last summer because it was sent to the Upper House at a date which left no time, for discussion. It can now be properly debated and amended in committee. ■ PECKHAM. The Peckham election, which took place on Tuesday, resulted in the return of Mr. Gooch, the Tariff Reform candidate, by a majority of 2494 (6970—4476). At the general election the Liberal candidate carried the constituency by a majority of 2339. It will be seen from these figures that' there was a turnover of nearly five thousand votes. In our opinion, it, like the other by-elections, shows that the country is in no mcod to be trifled with on the subject of Socialism, and is determined to mark its vehement disapproval of proposals such as those- for old-age pensions, for introducing Protectionist legislation into the coal-mining trade, and for endowing unemployment. No doubt the unpopularity of the Licensing Bill had a good deal to do with increasing the majority ; but it would not be wise to lay too much stress upon this factor. That the result shows that the Tariff 1 Reformers have converted the country is one which will, we believe, prove to be entirely unfounded. It would, however, not be untrue to suy that the country is beginning to feel that the present Government tiro not very sure defenders of the cause of Freetrade. LORD CROMER ON ECONOMICS. On Tuesday Lord Cromer addressed a large meeting at the Freetrade Hall, Manchester, presided over by Mr. Tom Garnett. on tho fallacies of Tariff Re- I form, After a (striking refeience to the "* ike o£ Devonshire* Lord fiiomer pjifit-J

Ed Mr. Cobden's saying, "I am not a Whig, or a Tory, I am a Freetrader," and went on to say that if ho might placo the adjective "Unionist" before the words ('Freetrader," that exactly described his own position. "We Freetraders," snid Lord Oromer, "have one great advantage. We all know exactly what we want, and we all want the same thing. We admit that indirect taxes may, in case of need, be imposed for revenue purposes ; but we want them to be as low as possible, and to have as few of them as possible. We do not I want any artificial restrictions to be placed on trade." That is an excellent summary oi the Freetrade position. In the last resort, Freetraders rest their case upon the knowledge that it is impossible to tax a country into riches. Lord Cromer went on to point out the fallacies of retaliation, and gave some examples of the uselessness and folly of tariff wars. In almost every case they had been without result, and the combatants had been obliged to leave off exactly where they began. DANGERS OF IMPORT DUTIES. . After dealing very ably with the question of unemployment/ Lord Cromer touched upon a point which has hitherto been very little noticed. What, he asked, would be the effect produced on the 'Lancashire cotton industry if a duty were imposed ip this country upon cotton manufactures entering the United Kingdom? "A strong, and, I think, perfectly justifiable appeal would at once be made from India and Egypt to take off the excise duty now levied in those countries upon the home-made manufactures. Would a measure of this sort be calculated to increase employment in Lancashire?" "I do not know," added Lord Cromer, "whether the Tariff Reformers have ever considered this point." We agree with Lord Cromer that the matter is one of very real importance, and might cause friction between India and Britain of a kind which it is essential to avoid. A "CHILDREN'S WEEK." The Paris correspondent of, The Times announces in Thursday's paper that in the coming Franco-British Exhibition in London thera will be & "<hildren.'s week" for Fiench and British^ children. The British Ambassador in Paris has been authorised by Lofd Fitzmaurice to signify j to M. Pichon the sympathy of the British Government with, the project, which had been laid before M. Doumergue, ilie Minister of Education, by Sir William Mather, chairman of the British education seption of the FrancoBritish Exhibition. Half of the visitors will represent the elementary schools and the other half the secondary schools. In the British section of education during i the children's week, which will be in July, French and English children will take part in A daily course of education. This will include an exposition of oral instruction, in French and English schools by questions and answers. There will be physical exercises, and tableaux vivants illustrating the history of the two countries. A grand finale to the- week will be tableaux vivants symbolical of the glories of peace and the good intentions of nations, particularly of the entente cordiale. The French children will bo lodged in private houses' under the care of a committee of ladies. X i A WORTHY CHARITY. The financial needs of the Queen Vie- , toria's Jubilee Institute for Nurses are eloquently enforced in an appeal which appeared in Tuesday's papers. The movement, which had its origin in Miss Florence Nightingale's appeal on behalf of district nursing some thirty • years pgo, was established on a sound basis in 1887, when Queen Victoria placed the women's Jubilee offering at the disposal of tho nation to form a nucleus for the training of nurses to attend the sick poor in their homes. But the funds available, though increased by the Women's Memorial to Queen Victoria of 1901-2, are inadequate to fhe ever-grow-ing needs of the instil ute. "At this moment there are fifty-three places where associations are organised ; the money is provided to pay tho nurses ; the suffering poor are waiting to be nursed, but the institute, for want of funds for training them, is unable to supply the nurses." The appeal is powerfully reinforced by -a message from Miss Nightingale testifying to her unabated sympathy with the work of the district nurse. THE MATERNAL OBLIGATION. On Monday Mr. Burns delivered the presidential address to the National Conference on Infantile Mortality. He had, thought that "in controversies relating to liquids the field was held by disagreement ap to the merits of pot-still and patent-still whisky, but these rival fluids had been eclipsed by the controversies raging round the various milk diets for children. The sterilised Montagues were fighting the Pasteurised Capulets, and the refrigerated champions, with cold 'and scientific disdain, were looking on to see who was likely to be the winner." His own choice was in favour of natural milk. A mother ought not to contract out of the due course of maternity. The best substitute was cow's milk, which was not used in Britain nearly as much as it ought to be, or even as it might be. Mr. Burns went on to show that our figures of infant mortality are not so bad as in other countries ; yet they are bad enough, and ought to be much better considering the lead we havemaintained in sanitation. "We are concentrating on the child," said Mr. Burns, "as we have never done before. We are beginning to think of the mother and the home." LOCAL GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITIES. Lord St. Aldwyn delivered a well-rea-soned address on Saturday last to l a meeting convened by the Gloucestershire Chamber of Agriculture to consider the question of rates and Imperial taxation. He did not think it of the least use to ask any Chancellor of the Exchequer to take over the whole cost of elementary education or of the highways. Things which were managed locally must generally be paid for locally. But he thought that much might be done without asking- that ratepayers should be relieved of tho cost of services for which they were responsible and for which-"— except through their own fault — tney got a fair return for their money. The best principle had been propounded ' by Sir Massey Lopes in 1868, and in accordance with this principle — that the Exchequer should relieve ratepayers of expenditure not dependent upon local control — the prisons had been made an Imperial charge and had profited in every way. The State ought now to take over the management of lunatic asylums, workhouses, and the police. Lord St. Aldwyn ended by saying that tho labours of local government were becoming too heavy. The danger was that the tradition of public 1 service by the right people would po injured, and responsibility would fall into the hands of undesirable administrators. We agree, but wo should like a much more thorough reform of our rating question than that proposed by Lord St. Aldwyn. Mr. T. Hurt, M.P., is in receipt of £400 a year. As general secretary of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain he is paid £300 per annum, and by a leeent vote of tho Northumberland Miners' Association, an additional £100 per year lias been granted to him for secretarial services in connection, with the associatioife j