TOPICS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 76, 31 March 1914, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY

Primo Minister and Secretary for War ! It is probably the first Mr. Asquith time in English history Goes to His that the two portfolios Electors. were conjoined, as they are to-day, in the possession of the Eight Hon. H. H. ABqiiith ; and certainly they have never before been united in one man under such remarkable circumstances. The effort to save Colonel Seely (late Secretary for War) has failed, largely because Field-Mar-shal Sir John French, who, on the authority of Colonel Seely, gave to Brigadier-General Gough a written "assurance'\, that the Cabinet repudiates, insists upon resigning, rather than recalling his pledged word. If Sir John Frdvich cannot rest under the repudiation, it ia no more easy — in fact, less easy— for the responsible Minister to do so. Consequently Colonel Seely, whose casual treatment of an explosive document seems to class him first and foremoot; among all the absent-minded beggars t who over dabbled in Imperial j politics, steps down, and the Prime Minister himself fills the breach. That means a by-election for East Fi(e, which Mr. Asquith won in 1910 by nearly 1800 votes, and which will be untrue to Scottish tradition if it now deserts a Liberal Leader in a quagmire. In the ordinary course of events, the Primo Minister should return to Parliament with a by-election victory to raise the mana of Liberalism ; but perhaps tlie main immediate result will be a gaining of time, for it is unlikely that the Home Rule programme will be proceeded with while the head of the Government awaits the judgment of his masters. Amid the Babel of voices in the Old Country arises that of Mr. F. E. Smith, the militant Unionist, who is reported as saying that ' ' a supreme crisis had arisen which justified the appeal from the despotism, of a corrupt Parliament to the arbitrament of, the sword. That alone justified the steps taken in Ulster." Considering that the legitimacy of the issue raised by Liberals— Parliament v. the Army— has been questioned, it is satisfactory to find a leading light of Unionism putting the ense bo nakedly ■ The Prime Minister told ah audience at Mosgiel last night that A Naval he believed that a Conference. conference to discuss naval policy in the Pacific "would be arranged for in the near future." Apparently the words imply that Air. Massey thinks an Imperial Conference on Pacific defence will be held this ( year. How the obstacles we lately pointed out— including Ministerial difficulties and bi-cameral deadlocks in the United Kingdom and Australia and Canada;— are to be surmounted is not clear. In fact, the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth says that " there is no possibility of convening a defence conference for some time to come." But if Mr. Massey can see a practical means by which a representative conference can be held, then there is no further objection, as work for such a body is abundant. . Not only would it consider the non-fulfilment by the Admiralty of the agreement of 1909, but it would necessarily review the whole question of the co-operation of Canada, the Conimomvealth, and ( New Zealand m Pacific defence. According to the telegraphed jreport, Ml 1 . Massey suggests that we should be prepared to spend 15s a head for naval defence ulone. That would be an annual cost of about £825,000, as compared with £240,000 to £250,000 at present. Before dealing with tin's point, however, it will be well to await the full text of his speech. Following on 'the announcement that the Botha Government ■ is Ctesarism a seeking to regain the supBoomerang, port of the Hertzog party, whose stronghold is the Orange Free State, comes' a further sign of the Government's weakness — the withdrawal of the Peace Preservation Bill. Either this, action is part of General Hertzog's terms,' or else General Botha has interpreted the Labour victory in tho Transvaal Provincial Council elections as a popular pro. test against martial law, illegal deportations, and other acts of Csesarism. What shifts the Ministers may make to save their political skins is not so important as the fact that, public opinion in the Transvaal is sufficiently stable and articulate to show its marked resentment of any infringement of popular liberty ; and it is in this phase of recent events that other parts of the Empire— which could only express their disapproval of the Government's policy through moral channels—will find most satisfaction. Cffisarisin has been indicted not by Downingstreet, but by the voters in the Province which was the main theatre of the disurbances. From the weakening of the Government may spring a re-arrange-ment of the Parliamentary groups— the Botha following, the Hertzogites, the Unionists, and Labour. Any decision of the Hertzogites to be reconciled to General Botha, and to restore tho solidarity of the South -African party, will probably be at a price, especially as the Government is stated to be unable to retain power except by a coaljtion. If that price is a surrender to/the aggressive nationalism of General Hertsog, Imperialists will have no cause for rejoicing, except in the certainty that, in the long run, all extremes run their own undoing. Habitual guests at official dinners say that tho better part Simple Dinners, is the after-dinner, By Command, when, with the ladies' backs turned, the wine can be a more generous lubricant of discourse. Also, man can smoke and compose himself comfortably for gossip. There is a temporary collapse of the conventions, and man is merely man, a queer mixture of over-civilisation and barbarism, A cable message from Berlin indicates that the Kaiser is posing as an autocrat at the dinner-table. Official feasts are not_ to go beyond forty-five minutes, and it is to' be an eminently respectable three-quarters of an hour, for by Wilhelm's wish "it is bad form for the women to leave the room _ and allow the men to smoke and tell stories. " Perhaps some Suffragettes may say that the Kaiser's reform is a little unsatisfactory because it is more concerned with reducing the wrong rights of men than increasing the proper rights _of women. Though Messrs. Asquith, Lloyd George, Churchill, and others may doubt it, the great belief of the militant Suffragette is that what is good for man is necessarily good for woman. The virago is a man-baiter, but not a man-hater. Modern woman tends to be imitative of man in collars, tics, games, and so on — forgetful of the difference in physique. So, too, with the smoke, if noft the stories, among some of the "bachelor girls" of older countries. HoWever, probably a great majority of the men whose status in society obliges them to attend official 'dinners will rejoice at the time-limit, and the gladness would be still more widespread if a similar order, could apply to more or less ceremonial banquets, where conversation has to be subdued while tiresome or borcsome speakers harangue a listless assembly. This conventional compulsion to lend an ear to interminable talkers is one of the strangest anomalies of a free country. It is politeness, elevated, or depressed, to a vice.

Mr. J. H. Estill, Commercial Superintendent for Port of London, returned from the South this morning.