LONDON CHAT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13485, 11 May 1907, Page 5 (Supplement)

LONDON CHAT.

ipfpv ■ [FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.] '.;■ ■ - London, March 28. v • considering that the Campbell-Baiuierman \V ' government can still command by far the , * , largest majority ever possessed by any Ministry since the British Constitution was - ' " - established, it is not only amazing, but posilively bewildering, to realise how curiously ,potent it actually is as regards the fur- ' '' therance of any measures which it either ' ■ '. fathers or (supports. But the truth is that Ministers, in their eagerness to please • everybody, have incurred a, serious danger ,' ' in the direction of satisfying none. . THE CANDID END. Matters standing thus, it is not at all surprising) it is indeed exactly what might have been expected, to find Lord Rosebery once more stepping out of his retirement advancing to the front to smite the . ' recreants who betrayod him when he was ■jn power. Yesterday afternoon it was his function to preside at the Council of the Liberal League, at the Westminster Palace ' Hotel, when he came out iin the new self®g c j loS en role of "the retired raven croaking on the withered branch," and certainly it . - must be confessed that he croaked to some /r ' - - ! purpose, making by far the most trenchant attack that Ministers have yet ; sustained, - and hitting them far harder knocks than anv Conservative assailant has yet succeeded" in. delivering. The general gist of his ' ' utterances was to warn the Government that unless they keep to the path of true K-K Liberalism and abstain from wanton attacks on property, they will return to power no more. "I owe the Government - J - no allegiance," said Lord Rosebery; "I : ' owe it no confidence; I have no connec- • tion, secret or open, with it. I am not sure that I even owe it the common courtesies of life. This Government has made no great progress in legislation, though we ¥$? are hard on Easter, but it has pledged it--7> self to do something terrible with the House of Lords, something drastic with the - question of temperance, to reform the land ■' system, tear it up by the roots, and remodel it throughout the length and breadth of this island. It has promised and produced a vast army scheme; it has promised a i great' scheme of Irish reform, which its enemies call Homo Rulo and its friends devolution; it has promised some measure / ' , with regard to Irish education. I venture . to ask whether those of us who have any i t experience of Parliament believe that any such programme is possible or is likely to end in anything but reaction and disap- • ' pointment. My. second apprehension about the Government is this: That the Liberal party may find itself, through some of its >■ members, permanently connected with hos?f_j' tility to property in all its forms. If so, I} 1 ; f\ I venture to prophesy that at : no-distant . time it will Unci Jtselt squeezed out be tween socialism ana conservatism. If the - ' Government associates itself with a general „ \ • * attack on property in all its forms there will be no room for it in the political arena. *'?„ \l have seen the defeat of many Liberal Governments, and the one rock on which i % they split was the apprehension of their attacks on property. . 1 do not utter these H warnings in any but the most friendly spirit to the Government. Some may regard them , as the croaking of -i retired raven on a • withered branch." ' 5 • ' • AFFAIRS IN* MOROCCO AND EGYPT. 4 . ■ ■ ' 1 " . For a day or two, the atmosphere of • international politics wore a somewhat threatening aspect, owing to a fresh bother > ~. over that veritable enfant terrible, Morocco, whose latest playful freak has been _to '.-murder a Frenchman. France, not beingi England, resents the murder of her own; people by foreigners, and does not agree with the theory held by staunch Radicals that in any dispute between England and 'a foreign country, the foreign country must necessarily be >in the right So the French 'apology and ; ■ compensation, as well as condign . punish- . ment of the murderer, aha has sent a couple of warship's to enforce the demand, pro- ' mising, 'in default, an immediate occupation of the important Moorish ' position, " Udja. Some of' the German journalistic jingoes of course ;promptly raised the cry that if France should do this Germany must protect her, own 1 interests in Morocco. Ap- 1 ■parentiy this cry was raised! without waiting for the word of command, for Germany lias lost no time in giving to France and ; England—who, under the' entente, are vir- | - | tually allied as regards Morocco questions 5 —very handsome and full assurances that , she will support the just demands of France , in this matter.. So that's all right! But the incident affords another illustration of , \ the extremely precarious basis upon which • rests the peace of Europe, and how easily ; . • that peace might be disturbed any day by , . the most casual and unexpected occurrence. , Too manifestly, the day of disarmament is ] .' ' - not yet. ' : * Simultaneously there comes daily word of , disaffection in Egypt. The —how foment- ( . ed, Ido not pretend to say—is being stead- . ,ily raised that Egypt ought to have'-Home Rule. It ;is admitted that Egypt now is , 5 virtually a British colony, and the cases ' % of the other British colonies are put forSvjl- y/v' ward as strictly in point. Of course, they are not, any more than is that of Ireland, . and 'every reasonable being is well, aware that were Egypt to be accorded Home Rule j p[ this would simply mean a reversion to the gross corruption and oppression which pre- , 4 vailed in that country until England—de- • ;•«' ' serted by France at 'the crisisundertook • the;matter single-handed, and, using Lord 1 ' Kitchener and Lord Cromer as the instru- ' • fl '. ments, brought the "distressful country"— I i v the Egyptian one I mean—into a condition < of order, honesty, and prosperity, notwith- 1 > ' standing the occasional friendly efforts of 1 the Porte Egypt's nominal suzerain, and i K of various Egyptian traitor.?including her 1 Khediveto foment disaffection. Unfortu- 1 nately, this same Khedive Abbas, is an en- ) tire ly useless and unworthy cumberer of : ' the ground, possessing just cunning enough 1 . to be mischievous and courage enough to l play a dirty trick when he thinks he can 1 do so without • imminent risk to his own ] • , contemptible skin. However, fortunately, i there is a strong hand .on the spot—it is 1 attached to the body of Lord Cromerand ) ''l -this strong hand may safely be relied upon 1 ;/ , to pinch out any budding treason before ( w * ■- it can even have reached the budding stage. 1 "-V ' Luckily, 100, we havtHn Sir Edward Grey, | . at the Foreign Office, as good a man as could be desired. ; , 1 RELATION'S WITH RUSSIA. J If current rumour may be accredited, steady progress is being made toward a . satisfactory entente with Russia. The fu- , 4 ture of Persia is the chief difficulty to be • surmounted, and that is said to 'be in a ; , fair way - toward settlement. A Russian , j squadron has just paid a visit to this coun- j try, and its officers and men have received , ■ a most cordial welcome from the people , pf England, from the Sovereign downward. ' ' • They have been festively entertained and ' specially ; shown round London. As it un- , luckily happened, one of the two worst fogs ' i _ we have experienced during this generally 1 fogless winter prevailed during the whole I time of their stay in Londononly a few 1 ■' •." hours—but the spectacle was so utterly new ' : a "d amazing to these strangers that—like the; King of Portugal—they appeared'' to $ have enjoyed it more than -anything else : that could have been provided for them, '' ~ the deep, brownish-crimson sky, the rich s / amber atmosphere, the sight of all the 1 greets and shops brilliantly lighted at midda y» and the general apparent upside-down-j^ sß of things, the Russian guests found deeply impressive, and I am not sure that > :j.:'. Bonw > of the A.B. and O.S.'s have not gone ' awa 7 firmly impressed that the fog was a A great spectacle specially arranged ,by the - authorities for the entertainment of their foreign guests. Fortunately for Londoners, V. At any rate,- this fog. like its pedecessor 1' ' u! a Wee or two back, only lasted a few I f U 3 an ' then was followed by a return 'Wi ' i- love] spring weather, and brilliant . sunshine that have prevailed during a great I part of the current month. ■