OPEN HOUSE.

Evening Star, Issue 15729, 17 February 1915, Page 6

OPEN HOUSE.

JOHN BULL & EVERY ALLY. BRITAIN'S MILLIONS. MRLLOYD GEORGE AT HIS BEST[By A. Spf.nce.] Liko tho parly Christians in Aprs tolic times, the Allies have, in a maguili cent way unexampled in the his f "J'y of nations, resolved to film re ail things in connnon. John Hull is awkward often. hut put him in a time of pinch ami you see. Jt is as if a white light- came in the night, a,nd you blink. Poor hear) indeed would it- be that remained unstirred In- Mr .Lloyd George's speech reported to-day. Ho is John Bull's representative as a dealer in million.'?, and he savs in effect : ''You--whoever you are, so long as you are one of the .Allies —just bowl along and live on us fts long as you like. Von are very welcome. The ramifications ot credit and currency do not niaUer. T and Britain vr ill attend to that. Vou ju.st come straight in by the front, door, and remain j as long as you like on our hospitality, i It will be all right." | Serious attempt, to discuss the bcuevo- j lenee wbieh Mr .Lloyd George is giving the ! world seems like shouting at the st-ars. ] Jtussja, full ol natural resources, hut gasp- ! iiij; on currency, cannot effect that, in- j terchange. Britain \j.ii help. France. I hit badlv by the seizure of ten of her best i industrial departments, wi/lb. .11,000,000 j "useless months" flung down on her. is i embarrassed. Then, too. France has her j adult population of men mider arms. I Britain will help. There is, says .Mr Lloyd George, no more chance of crushing France—financially, he means.—than of overrunning the planet .Mars. .Small States are in irouble, notably Belgium and Serbia. Britain will help. As for Britain herself—well, she has her special difficulties. Two-thirds of her food is purchased abroad, and <-he has to or cue enormous credit.-. What docs it matter'/ Britain will m-Mi ape. 'lhe collapse, of the rebellion in Africa has ensured a steady supply of gold. ihe silver bullet has been pooled, and we sec why now. Up till ihe end of this year the Allies estimate that they will be losers nf £2. COQ, 000.000. Britain is to spend a- good deal mote than any other ally. Again it does not matter 1 / For the note of reassurance one looks back on Mc Lloyd George's splendid speech. If it is only a matter o: money. Britain will run out better than today's winner of the Cup. TO-MORROW. That Britain views the blockade as real is evident from Mr Winston Churchill's threat that the- last pinch will be put on Germany in regard to food. The poor old Declaration of London is tumbling to pieces, as any reasonable one might have expected that it. would. Still there are moments when one, may rise in legitimate patriotism. There is, for instance, a. humble word by (..'mint Bernstorff. tentatively put to the United States, that if this or that does not happen the other is certain. Food is pouring in now through Antwerp and through the canals of Holland to the Rhine. Bernstorff is pushing up the bluff on the United States at present, and America is pushing- the bluff back. In view of Mr Lloyd George's speech it is all interesting.

Out of blockade one or two considerations jump out. Supposing- that to-mor-row 18,771 merchantmen were, abolished we should receive no more than a message as follows : London, February 13.---The s.s. .Hamshackle, was sunk in the Downs this morning. It is not anticipated that more, of tin's will happen. The crew were saved.

The German Admiralty communique, warns, therefore-, everyone, not to expect a dii<>uement, at- once. They .seem to be, giving certain neutrals ion which they depend) f-ome warning. Even if tlcv delivered a, great stroke we should not, be permitted to see. for it will, perhaps, ho 20 years before we know the inside- of this war. It was exactly 10 years before- the nation was permitted to learn precisely what happened on the Tugeia in 1899. and most have not read it- yet. THK GIDDV OSTRICH. Regarding- the. new discovery which has been made on submarines, there seems no dnuhl ilia! Oermany can make the blockade iv;i|. Thy alarm of the Scandinavian countries indicates that owners believe in it. Ih'Cts of merchantmen, numbering 152 Scandinavians and 62 Danes, are approaching the danger spots. It, is a-nticipated ; that, the Jiritish breakfast table will suffer. | R will. It, does not meet, the. situation ■ by pushing itp sin li fatuous headlines as | The i'apcr Rlockad,. ■ ,„• -The Russian I Ma miner.' The-.,- arc common in the. Aus- ! traliau papers. The , ] )r a.p and giddv | oslrich is looking for the sand. '• UNSEF.V ISLAM. ! What ,'s euoss in th.>. underworld of i Islam'.' !:-.,■ t■„ , ~,- th-cc months the Lon--1 don •'li-ucf.' be- glial.ledly hinted a | wholes.b-e ••'■:,- bieii |>y (|\ c Arabs in Tripoli. ,it;d peilnpti by the powerful Sc-missi luot h.-rhoi-d Ore << r two mes-sagis on ; (his trouble have <v.n>- through this week, i If i lies- have ia;.vd the On.-or it is Hire j that, -oin."hii:j. must be doing on a linger ! scab 1 than i<- judge-) good for it* to know. \ A:, tb<-. m-a-C of th,. Sh.at-!-e!-Arah we j Genera I Kauri's advance on [iagdad ll,i----j tain si.iia.:,-,! neutrality in respe.t to the ] «ta!u-uiiig "t flops in tin? mouth of tliis ,on .'in--,;.-,. ■■: < ■ e- io l'..,sian and Tuika-I) :-:-.:.e-,. |o„ .-, 5;;;,,,-,- „.. ]!;..,!,,' j „.,,.,„ v, ith :-e--,--cs The region is pos-ilbv "i.i in.: r. ::.- be -! . .-■■. the rale of the- noli lary a.lvam-e no-l cot, be eoinitci ter : iii s: ■ hj ■!'■ )!•■■■ u, What ,ii'fi.-.-'s the ,-n eo . rioii. bev.-wr. : s •;„• nev.-.s ih.it !..-i ! Haldol,:-. ':,-' \'io<r<y -.! Heiia, has i,s-:; >:»?.-. a- it enabled' l.ord 1 Eliding-" to gang - It can b, -•outhleiitly .-id.hd thai when eve.' Wbv old |ie have U, go'sc. fax aih-M to bisjorb '-oe|j.|. no-: Whv have w.- ::,-' Lo, itii ,ooi- ,; 111-- Tn:];:.-i:" , fh, : l by Cm tiid Pasha's -M;-ps. wlii< hj took Tabriz in Peivhi'.' Th-- rpio.t.io:: has horn atd.-.-d in no ai-sw< !- y-t. " ';VF WITXK-- " 1 11. I > ■ 1 I I 1 I 111 ) 1 \V I H. 1 ! l W i i II I I I I 1 11 t r I, I » ! «- - 1 1 ] the. | * ie •»; 1 J e ] t 1 t )e t til I lot t n t I I r 10~ ,1 1 o 1 I 1 1 i re 1 e f lit at I I t it) (t ctt (- 1 t If tl t 1 s = on bth wis unit lu e x I I i I 1, tie v I

COULD POLAND LIVE? fin- of the» first «ot« by the Russians ,":!i»i- i!;;; outbreak of t!n» war which ih-'y {•routed w::P a declaration by the fliTnid D"lv" Nicholas that the Poles would rewive J'oUukl .'igfiin. Pi<?siun;ib]y he meant ihe Prussian Poles ar.d Aw-triau Poles as

well as tho Russian Poles. All would com© home. If the- Pole* get anything out of tho war it will bo as (surprising » piece of altruism as the intent revealed by Mr Lloyd George's speech. Napoleon thought of establishing a Polish autonomy, Vrut iomirl -tViai, Tn« c»y;!-A T«s\, <!■» it* Scv \t is safe, to eay that none of the. puny men of to-day run do this legerdemain, e.yerc though tho Grand Duke Nicholas happens <> stand at 6ft 4in. .Among ihe cables this has come :

state.* that ir-uucritial Poles have learned with quiet derision than the Fmpe-roi- Franz Josef has convoked a. Diet- at Cracow with a, view to fh-$ re establishment of the kingdom o( Poland. The of Cracow must be far off if some Diet is to sit there to discuss Poland. The "quiet derision "' of tho in{'iiential Poles may be discounted. No 'letter treatment bar, been accorded tho Poles than by Austria, and the hint of Polish antipathy to that hegemony leaves one coll in unbelief. GFRMAX ORATX STATISTICS.

The inside peep nD Germany must, largely be focussed on their grain statistics. lh« newspaper 'Politiken' now comes with the storv that these are all wong. Tin 'Politiken' says that the. ,-r, ots that have been found liave surprised the German Government, and it may bo necessary for the whole German public to get it-, food it pubiic eatnig-houra":. There is only one thin:: to add on rim. The 'Politiken 1 \\i:? the journal which learned "on indisputable; testimony" t.v.i or three months ago that large Japanese forces were passing through Russia to lha front ! BLUK W.ATFR. Mr Win-fori Churchill reviews the work of the Navy, and in a defensive way. All his figures are defensive, indicating that there nm<t be a criticism at Home. He strikes a note of interest where he deprecates court martial of officers, because, ;h he says, the war is so full of new and extraordinary hazards that all the older tests do not- now apply. Behind this must lie some reference to the ca-e of the Formidable, which, as Lord Charles Beresford put it, was caught in circumstances not greatly differing from those under which the three Cressys were lost. CAN' SOCIALISTS DO AUGHT?

The German Socialists have decided not to support peace until victory lias been secured by their country on one front, at least. They say, or are said to say. that the worker.-, in Oermany have been the chief losers by the war, and would rather start a revolution than not receive compensation for their sacrifice. It will bo noticed that the message, is from Amsterdam.- It may he added that a German Socialist is only the counterpart of a New Zealand Tory, and whether the Amsterdam message bears any truth or not—l think it hears none —those who await red revolution in Germany will probably wait long. In England Mr Keir Hardie has presided over a polyglot crowd of Socialist*. They seem to see. red in respect to Germany, and there arc. the usual resolutions common to this class of conclave. They mean nothing. THE AVAR AXn THE POOR. Up till the end of October retail pri-'e.-i in Germany luul mounted by an average of 16.4 pe'r cent. On February 11 TMr Asquith gave, the average rise in retail prices in London as 24 per cent. As might be expected, it is boom time in .many trades now, but not in all. Woman pays for the sport of emperors as usual. " it is .significant." says the Inst file of 'The Tillies' to hand, "that while unemployment with dressmaker? in retail firms is slack, with court and private, dressmakers patronised by the wealthy it has been very had. There has also been a reduction in the number of servants, and women clerks and typists formerly employed in commercial houses find it difficult to obtain work."' The cases of paupers—those receiving aid under the. Poor Laws of England--.show no svniptom. however, of alteration yet, one way or the other. Poop relief figures for 14 years for the City of London read : H-itio is>

i cnr. Paupers. pnpnl; .Uinft 1900 . ... 103.091 2.2 per een*. 190! . ... 107.768 2.3 per •rent. 1902 . ... 113.352 2.4 per r.'iH. 1903 . ... 114.273 2.4 per Pent. 1904 . ... 127.623 2.7 per PPIlt,. 1905 . ... 127.072 2.7 ppr cpnt. 1906 . ... 123.155 2.6 per ( PI it-. 1907 . ... 126.065 2.6 per rent. 1908 1909 1910 1911 . ... 130.543 125.696 . ... 123.883 . ... 109.871 2.7 ppr 2.6 pp.2.5 per 2.4 p-r epnt. rPilf. c-pi.-r. '■out. 1912 . ... 110.292 2.4 per .Pllt. J 917, . ... 102.887 2.2 per 1 ■>' 111. 1914 . ... 101.238 2.2 per < r-iit. end of ■haiU'P A 1915 «• vt. But the fi ill read vorv d curi'-s a ifferentl t tl.T