CABLE NEWS. BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

Feilding Star, Volume I, Issue 273, 23 May 1907, Page 4

CABLE NEWS. BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

iBY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH— COPYRIGHT.] [PER PRESS A&JOCIAfiON.] ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. London, May 22. Captain E. H. Shackleton, who ( commands the forthcoming British ; Antarctic expedition, sails at the end . of July. The general Antarctic staff j joins him in New Zealand at the end of the year. A MINERS' STRIKE. Pretoria, May 22. In accordance with a previous decision the men employed in the eight Rand mines struck. CONTRABAND. Pekin, May 22. A European firm at Tientsin in I conjunction with some Chinese, imported for revolutionary purposes 8000 rifles, 300,000 cartridges, 5000 bayonets. The Customs officials seized the whole shipment. IRISH NATIONAL CONVENTION. [Bx Electric Telegraph— Copyright] [per press association.] London, May 22. Presiding at the Irish National Convention, over an attendance numbering 3000, Mr John Redmond moved a resolution, which was unanimously and enthusiastically adopted, in favour of rejecting Mr Birrell's Administrative Council Bill, and urging the Nationalist Commoners to press for the establishment of a National Parliament with responsible executive power over all purely Irish siffairs. Mr Redmond declared that he would not say his was an unworkable bill entirely until it had been printed. Bad as it was, it was not so utterly bad as Lord Dunraven's scheme; but the Liberals must once iujd for all abandon the Roseberyite idea of settling the question. The resolution described the Bill as utterly inadequate in scope and unsatisfactory in detail. It also repudiated any attempts to settle the Irish problem by half measure. Mr Redmond justified his recent attitude on the ground that he was aware that in this Parliament they could not get a pure Home Rule Bill ; hence he promised, that whatever scheme short of that was advanced it would be considered calmly on its mprits. He added : "You are masters with reference to this Bill if you feel as I feel. If it proves unworkable, its failure will be used as an argument against Iri&h capacity for The Liberals must revert to Mr Gladstone's standard. People sometimes talk of what is called an alliance between the Irish and the Liberal parties. Our party is independent. It is in alliance ivith no English party which fails to put full Home Rule in front of its programme. Ireland is strong enough, if she chose, to compel an early settlement." He appealed for unity in order to show that they were resolved to achieve their rights, and said they had better wait for a generation than accept a measure which would lead to disaster and disgrace. Mr O'Callaghan, secretary of the Irish National League in America, declared that the decision of the Convention would be the decision of the Irish in America. They in America would cheer and encourage them if Irish sentiment was once again driven into open hostile activity against English Government. The task of Mr Bryce, British Ambassador to America, would not be facilitated as a result of this miserable Bill. Messrs T. P. O'Connor, Devlin, and others, urged stronger and more united movement in future. The Convention instructed the Parliamentary party to press for immediate legislation on the lines of Mr Bryco's university scheme, for an amended Land Bill, and the compulsory reinstatement of evicted tenants. „»_^___