ADDITIONAL CABLES

Evening Star, Issue 14554, 1 May 1911, Page 2

ADDITIONAL CABLES

The following items appeared on tho 19th and 20th April in Australian papers employing the independent Press cable service:— A firo in Schaerbeck, a north-eastern suburb of Brussels, has resulted in the destruction of the City Hall, with all its priceless paintings and gobelins. Two firemen were killed in a desperate effort to save some of tho art treasures. The firo is believed to have been the work of an incendiary. The populace, in Amoy, the Chinese seaport town on tho island of that name, in tho province of Fo-kien, has been worked up to a great pitch of excitement by the frequently-recurring rumors that tho Japanose nave planned to seize Manchuria and Fo-kien. Such is the alarm that these reports hayo created that the self-government societies in Fo-kion have held mass meetings to devise means of defence. An attempt is being made in London to raise capital for tho purpose of prospecting for oilfields in Australia. The 'Pall Mall Gazette' (0.) says that tho greatest trial of sterngth between the parties of disintegration and consolidation is at hand. Not only is the Imperial bond threatened by an attack on the Constitution, but great mischief is indicated by the desire, of the Government to limit the discussions of tho delegates to the Imperial Conference from the Overseas Dominions to the narrowest dimensions. If the Radical Ministers had their way they would exclude from the purview of the Conference not only the vital topic of Imporiol defence, but also all question's of international relations and Imperial policy not directly associated with the local circumstances of the Overseas Dominions. " But on these questions," the 'Pall Mall Gazette' adds, "the Unionist party still stands where Disraeli placed it forty years ago." The Ways and Means Committee of the American House of Representatives have issued a report in which they attack tho harvester, beef, lumber, and sowing machine trusts. The Committee charge the Republican policy, which created these trusts, with being responsible for the increased cost of living. Alarmed by the reports that Socialism is spreading in the Navy, several Conservative members of the House of Commons declared that the matter would soon be formally brought before Parliament unless Mr M'Kenna, First Lord of the Admiralty, was able to say that the. statements were grossly exaggerated. It is rumored in New York that exJud.go Day will be elected president of the' Equitable Life Assurance Sooioty. A Berlin telegram reports the sudden death of Heir Borftmann, leader of the Socialists in the Prussian Diet._ Confirmation has been received in Calcutta of tho reported murder of Mr Williamson, British Political Officer in Upper Burma, and Dr Gregonson. With fifty coolies they were ascending the Dihong, tho great western stream of the Brahmaputra, unarmed, and on a friendly mission, when the party was attacked by savages and ruthlessly slain, two coolies alone escaping. The seriousness of the smallpox outbreak at Ottawa is becoming more and more marked. One of the parliamentary stenographers has been stricken down by the disease, the case being traced to his boarding-house, whore, it is alleged, doctors treated two mild cases without reporting them or enforcing the quarantine regulations. Scullers' Row, on the Hudson River, was swept by fire, the conflagration involving the destruction of four boathouses and their contents, which included 200 raring shells. The damage will exceed £20,000. In jhe House of Representatives Congressman Hill, of Connecticut, declared that the Canadian-American reciprocity agreement in no way threatened the policy of Protection. The attitude | against the. Bill that some of tho farming communities had taken up was, he said, based on wrong information. He submitted figures showing that tho average protection given to the farmer was greater than that accorded to the manufacturer. Reports have reached Washington that arrangements are being made for a big delegation from the Minnesota, Montana, and Dakota farmers, to appear before the Senate Committee on Finance to voice their opposition to the reciprocity agreement with Canada.

Arrangements are being made in London for a unique historic procession, which is to take place shortly. A party of ISO Britishers are planning a pilgrimage walk from London to Canterbury, following as nearly as possible ir the footsteps of the pilgrims immortalised in Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales.' They will form part of tho annual Roman Catholic pilgrimage to Bruges, Belgium. The English party will assemble at the famous Tabard Inn in London. There will be no flaunting of banners nor waving of flags, and they will proceed by easy daily stages to their destination, celebrating High Mass every morning. ' The Times' says it is evident that unless Mexico is able to restore and to maintain order the United States must seriously consider whether it is not imperative to do the work for her. The contingency, adds ' The Times,' is a disagreeable one, hut it is useless to ignore it. Both the ' Morning Post' and the ' Standard' consider that United States intervention is not yet justified. The ' Post' compares the situation to that which preceded tho Spanish-American war. "Americans," says this paper, " may disclaim a desire for territorial expansion, but whether in Liberia, in the Far East, or in Central America, they -are prepared cheerfully to embark on a policy leading directly to the consequences for which they profess a distaste." Regarding America's proposed intervention in the Mexican revolt, the opinion held in official circles in Washington is that the adoption of such a course would mean war. Owing to the mountainous nature of Mexico and tho insufficient means of quick communication, the conflict would bo of a protracted character, and one that might rage for years. The Federal troops and the insurrectors would, it is thought, inovitably join hands, and would soon bo found fighting side by side. Furthermore, intervention, according to the official view, would be likely to dissipate the good .feeling which years of careful diplomacy had created between the United States and Mexico. These considerations are fully realised by President Taft in a Message that he had despatched to the Governor of Arizona State counselling the utmost caution and moderation. The President points out that rather than ran tho risk of having their motives misconstrued, and of thus inflaming Mexican indignation and jeopardising tho lives and property of thousands of United States citizens now in Mexico, it would be better for Americans living on their own side near tho border to submit to some temporary inconvenience, and to refrain from fronuenting those places where they could be within range of the Mexican fire. '