ENGLISH LETTER.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 26, 31 January 1912, Page 3

ENGLISH LETTER.

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES. THE SPLIT IN TEE MINISTRY* [FBOM OTtB. OWN CO&BESPONDENT.] . LONDON, 22nd December. The unusual position of the Ministry on the suffrage question is the topic of | the day. Buffeted and abused by deputations, and pressed by his own colleagues to do something to meet the demand, Mr. Asquith has made, his position quite clear as a determined opponent of the extension of the suffrage to women, but at the same time has agreed to give facilities, which are rather more than neutral to the passage of a measure which will give the suffragists more than , they seem inclined at present to accept. ! The division of the Ministry on the question is believed to be as follows : — For female suffrage: Mr. Lloyd George, Sir Edward Grey, Lord H&ldane, Lord Morley, Mr. Burns, Mr. Birrell, Mr. Runciman, Mr.- Buxton, Sir Rufus Isaacs, Dr. Macnamara, Sir John Simon, Mr. J. M. Robertson, Mr. Wedgwood Benn, a-nd sundry smaller lights. Against: Mr. Asquith, Mr. M'Kenna . Mr. Harcourt, Mi". Hobhouse, Mr. SamI uel, Colonel Seely, and the Master of Elibank. The doubtful list is an interesting one. The Lord Chancellor and Lord Cirewe j are believed to be against. Mr. Churchill is quite an unknown quantity — he voted against the 1910 Bill and did not ! vote this year. Half a dozen others did the same.. Mr. Asquith explained jocularly* last week that when he spoke of his colleagues (Sir Edward Grey and Mr. George) "stepping down into the arena" to fight the question publicly, he did not mean anything derogatory, but merely used the metaphor which applies to all contestants. They step down from the spectators' benches to the ring, or whatever it is. Well, both ,of them have entered on the fray, and both are taking the line that' it is wrong to say that Australia and New Zealand are so different from England that what -works there may not work here. Sir Edward Grey, during the last gay summer, found time to converse with one lady who had -lived in Australia for thirty years or more and with a gentleman who, had lived there all his life. They were quite unknown to each other, and "yet curiously enough," said the Foreign Secretary, "they both' told me the same thing. They each said about woman suffrage in Australia that it had not been agitated for before it was given, but that once given, and after it had been in existence for a while, it was inconceivable that women should live in that State without it — that the indirect effect on the position of women was such that the women would never for a moment think of foregoing the vote, and that the. men would never think of taking it away from them." He refuted the suggestion that' in Australia and New Zealand the men 'were decadent and the race degenerate. Sir Edward explained the split in ttte Cabinet by saying that if those in favour of the BuHcage had insisted on its inclusion'in the Bill and had resigned in. consequence . the Government would break up, and then there w«uld! be no Bill at all. It ought to be added that, 'according to the Daily Express, the unionists have closed their ranks in opposition to' the suffrage for' women. THE CHRISTMAS ABSCONDER. This is the season when waits make night hideous and completely spoil the pitch for the really good carollers who are still to be found^ plying a perfectly unobjectionable trade. Year oy year the caroller gets less consideration on account of the humbug to which the public is subjected for weeks befere Christmas. One Magistrate has been" found with notions original enough to inflict punishment upon a band of these beggars, but the tradition of carolling as yet protects the beggar as K well as the genuine musician. Another very sad incident of the Christmas -season in the Old Country is the clockwork disappearance of secretaries of slate clubs and sharing-out societies, -witli most of the contributions of th«ir poor supporters for the year. Each year there is a shoal of ahsconders of this sort, and 1911 is already marked by the suicides of two defaulters. It 'is remarkable that there is no legislation to protect the gullible poor against this victim isation. NEW ZEALAND MEDALS. At Messrs. Glendining_'s auction rooms the price of 26s was paid for three bars — Sevastopol, Inkerman, Alma, Turkish Crimea, and New Zealand, 1863 to 1866, all of which had been awarded to John Garven, 50th Regiment. For the 1863-66 New Zealand medal awarded to Richard Bayns, 2nd battalion 18th Royal Irish Regiment, 24s was given; and for 12s one purchaser secured the New Zealand 1861-66 (edge engraved) and China, one bar— Taku Forts, 1860 '(3rd Regiment).-