SPECTATOR SUMMARY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 23, 27 January 1912, Page 14

SPECTATOR SUMMARY.

i , — •» — (For Week Ending Saturday, 9th Deo., 1911.) ' THE DYNAMITE OUTRAGES. "Tho investigation into the dynamite out--rages at. Los Angeles,- whioh had^oontinued for more than a year, 'culminated on Saturday in' a confession -'which has filled the United States with horror and astonishment. Two prisoners named M'Nainara admitted that they had committed the outrages in the interests of labour. One was sentenced to imprisonment for life and the other for fifteen years. It will be remembered that in- October last year the office of the Los Angeles Times was blown up and that twenty-one persons were killed. On tho same day an unsuccessful attempt /was made to blow up the house of General Otis, the proprietor of the newspaper, who 'had closed.' his office to the trade unions. At the same v time the house of ! the 1 seoretary of* the Merchants and -Manufacturers' Association, who had "helped General 'Otis', was attacked. It is Ofear that jpoor working men like the M'Namaras had not tho money necessary for the campaign of terrorism and assassination. The .question is, who. supplied all the money,' and were those who 'sUpplied it oonscious of the uses to which it was put? Suspicion naturally falls almost exclusively on the Federation of Labour (in whose pay Ijhe M'Namaras admittedly were) as- being guilty of what has been called oneof tho most terrible oonspiracies the world has ever seen. The president of the Federation, Mr. Gompers, who throughout th& investigation' desoribed, tbe M'Namaras as innocent, victims of wicked capitalistic machinations, now says that the Federation has been "fooled. ' The dilemma is, of course, a very grave one for the Federation, tor, if it can prove that it was "fooled" by its 'agents it will stand convicted, of being utterly incapable of controlling its 'organisation, and of being actually ignorant that it was paying for assassination. All over tho United States labour organisations, directly the M'Namaras had confessed, cried put with pathetio bolatedneas that the guilty men should bo visited with the severest punishment. Although there is no law in America so scandalous as our Trade Disputes Act, it seems that the Labour Federation, as such, is beyond the reach of tho l*w, as it is not 'incorporated. THE AGADIR INCIDENT. On Tuesday in the Reiohstag Herr ■"on • Bethmann Hollweg replied to Sir Edward GTey's recent speech in the House of Commons. The curious fact about the speech was that it did not onco mention the obligations of Britain to France The Chancellor asked -why Yre should have resented the presence of the German ship at Agadir when we did not resent the operations of France and Spain. The answer, of course, is that we had consented in " ad Ivance to entrust our interests in Morocco to France and Spain. When France decidod to send troops to Fez she communicated the "fact to us. We may add that she also communicated it to Germany, ' who, oxpressed her consent. This made ,the violation of the closed port of Agadir all the inoro unexpected and bewildering. Altogether, the Chancellor's speeoh refuted nothing that Sir Edward Grey had said. Sir Edward Grey'B repeated expressions of misgiving swere of course the requests for information whioh the Chancellor Bays were never uttered. THE INSURANCE BILL. ' The third reading of the Insurance Bill was discussed in the House of Commons on Wednesday. Mr. H. W. Forster moved on behalf of the Opposition an amendment the principal object of whioh was, as he explained, that the detailed.'dieoussion on the Bill should not be closed. It was not a wrecking amendment, but asked that fuller opportunities should be given both to tho House and to the country for further consideration of tbe measure'before it passed into law. ; Mr. Ramsay Maodonald, in expressing his intention of supporting the third reading, said that "much, less was to be gained by delaying the Bill'^than by putting it into operation with as little delay_ as possible, and then trusting to experience to show how it was going to Work in order < to produce '■ a revision not only of the benefits but.oi thelegisl^ive-provisionsat the -end of" three yearß." ' ' ■ Mr, Lloyd George protested against Mr., I ■Forster's amendment, which, he said, "is, simply a verbos?, shifting method -of moving exactly ' the amendment whioh used to be moved in straightforward fashion for wrecking and destroying a 'Bill.'.' Though he regretted the necessity for tho giiillotine', no -great measure could be ' passed without it; the guillotine resolutions for this Bill had been drawn up with the greatest fairness, and ''there is not a single vital matter in the whole Bill that wav not debated/ THE OPPOSITION OUTLOOK. The case for the Opposition was most effectively wound up by Mr. Bonar Law. Upon the question 'of the third reading they declined to say "yes' or "no." "If wo say no, it implies that we are opposed to the principles and objeots of the Bill. We shall not -Say no. Li we say yes, it v implies that we approve of the Bill as it is presented to this House now. We shall not say yes." • Mr. Bonar Law then proceeded to point out some of, the many respects in 'which the Bill was'unsatisfac-' tory and ill-thought-out. "If I had my choico,r and we have to pass a Bill of • some kind, I_ would rather pass a ont*clause Bill_ raising the money and leaving the _ Commissioners to adopt a, scheme of national insurance." DIVISION ON THE BILL. After a characteristic reply from the Prime Minister, calling upon the Houb» to "brush asido this halting, faltering, pottering amendment,'! a division was taken," and Mr. Fqrsfcer's amendment wa« defeated by a majority of 97 (320-223). A division was further challenged upon' tho motion for the third reading, whioh was carried^by 324, votes to 21, almost the> whole Opposition, having left. the House. £40,000,000 A YEAH. The Bill passed under c6nditions so strange is probably the least considered, the most cumbrous, the most unintelligible, tho_ most reckless, -the most incalculable iv its results, and finally the most expen-' blvq. that has ever been passed through Parliament. No one can Bay what it will really accomplish or how it can be worked. _ All we know with certainty is that it will _ in the end impose a burden, though in many respects a concealed burden, of about £40,000,000' a year on the nation. Even if, in many cases, the benefits will bo considerable, the .waste on administration and collection must be appalling. The House of Lords will inour a heavy responsibility if they do not secure the period of delay whioh they are specifically empowered to secure under the Parliament Act. The Lords have no final power to throw tho Bill put. If the Government really moan business they can forco their Bill through the House exactly as it stands. All the Lords can do is to prevent tho Bill from coming into operation for two years. If the Lords fail to seoure tho delay whioh would permit the country .to realise the nature of the measure, the electors will naturally ask what is the use of the Peers. That the Lords will refuse to lend £heir aid to • making the Bill law without delay is our prayer. YOUNG IRELAND AT WORK. •• l ,The concluding articles of the serie3 .entitled , "A, Pilgrimage of British Farming" which hfeve lately appeared in The T^mes ,daal,-with Ireland, and their signi- ' ncarbce 'is' -we'll sumihod 'up in a leading article > in Monday's issue. Two influences in the 'last twbnty -ycais "haye 'made for Ireland's prosperity : land 'purchase' and "the new spirit in'Youhg Ireland ' which," ob regards agriculture, has been expressed and organised by Sir Horace Plunkett." The "cttioaoy of the Balfour policy and the remedial measures with which his name is associated is attested by Lord Macdonnell, who cannot be regarded as a. Unionist partisan. The greatest tributo to the valuer of tho co-operative movement of Sir Horace Plunkett is, perhaps, to be found in tho malevolent hostility of Mr. T. W.. Russell, • who, to quote > his own words,, "is tirod of eternally hearing about' all that Sir Horace Plunkett has done for •It aland." We cordially re-ocho the hope expressed by The Times that, ovon if the Development Commissioners may find - itdifficult to dißreg'afd 'the recommendation of -the Irish CoUndil of Agriculture vetoing a subsidy • to' the Irish Agricultural Organisation -Sbpiety, thi'y may at least be icsolute in -ref usinjr- a\ grant tp.Mr. -Ruv* •oil's 'sohemo for the protection of the gombeen rqafl.