"ALIEN'S" LETTER FROM ENGLAND.

Otago Witness, Volume 14, Issue 2648, 14 December 1904, Page 67

"ALIEN'S" LETTER FROM ENGLAND.

(Specially Written for t*>* Witness Ladies' Page.)

AT THE HEART OF THE WORLD.

It is at a crisis in the world's history that one realises what living in London really means — to be in instant touch with the vital moment of the hour ! And, not that only, but to participate in the passing event which moves the world: to get at dawn your newspaper hot with the news of what happened while you slept, to know t by afternoon all that has transpired since sunrise to affect the British Empire, and ; by evening to learn the opinion cf the ' •whole world on the matter of interest, j Not since the illness of the King, with Hs j sudden shock, when the nation was prepared to rejoice at his crowning, has there been -such a public t4de of emotion as that ; which has swept over England by the i announcement of the outrage of the Baltic Fleet to the-British fishermen. No sooner had London read the news than it was stirred to a man, and tire great city, with its myriad interests and numberless excite- j ments, merged all other interests into the j question, "Would Britain submit to an in- j fringement of her rights?"' i When the news came that Russian war ' ships had fired upon British fishing boats in the North Sea, and killed innocent men j quietly pursuing their peaceful calling, the ! Ministers of State were scattered, some on the Continent, others at their country residences ; the great heads of the War Office and of the Admiralty were, as in times of peace, browsing contentedly ; but i fast as electricity and steam could accom- j plish it every distinguished and respon- I sible man had -received 'Ms call, and was ; at his post, from the King downward. The humblest of his Majesty's subjects has realised within twenty^four dramatic . hours, if he had never realised it before, I what it means to be a member of the J British Empire. He may be ever so j humble,— his lot may be hard and cruel, his < share of Britain may mean no_more than j the homeless road he tramps with broken j shoes, but let a foreign Power forbid his i right to walk there — and the mighty fabric j of law, right, and might, which means the | British Constitution, rises to defend his j 1 freedom of the road. A few humble i fishermen are killed unlawfully, either in , ignorance or in defiance, andi our Navy is ready to defend the rights of the workman under the British" flag. The British work- j man. as a rule, is_ aggressive and hard to ■ please, inclined to think that his "bet- | ters"~are no better than they ought to be, ! that he is a martyr to- taxes, that he plays , a subordinate part in affairs, but this quick I rising to _ defend his right of following his honest calling in British territory has dig- • nified him in his own sight. and reconciled him to the tax of the Army and Navy. ", Hot since the- South African war has such ! a tide of patriotc ardour risen ; all the J horrors of war are forgotten in the hot j indiignation felt against interference with j British liberty. " j To be-in London the last three days has i been to feel the throbbing of the heart ofj the whole world, and again the devoted" loyalty of the colonies to the Moth.-er Country has been touchingly manifested. To be Russian and in London during this crisis means to be uppopular, and Count ' Benckendorff, the Russian Ambassador, has j held no "enviable position. - When he ar- j rived post haste in London on news- of ths ' outrage, a crowd awaiting the arrival of bis train loudly hooted him as he alighted and drove away in his carriage. Precautions have been taken to approach the Foreign Office for conference with the Ministers by private ways. "The man in the street" is in great evidence^ it would j be easy for a stranger to tell that something unusual had occurred or was occurring, as large knots of people stand outside the King's Palace, and the buildings of national significance, hoping for a glimpse of his Majesty, who, wherever he appears, is loudly cheered. Downing street is. another centre of interest ; while the conferences are held there between . the great diplomatic heads ' the crowd waits patiently. Newsboys' are besieged. Th& streets j present the curious ' spectacle of ' everyone reading the newspapers, and nob only the papers, but the headlines of the hoardings. In trams, busses, trains, ' in the clubs ancT restaurants, everybody is either reading or discussing the news. It is a live city. A very ferment of excitement is visible everywhere. The principal clubs were crowded, and army and navy men the centre of great interest, and as the afternoon of Thursday, October 28, wore on, the pavements of the fashionable streets .of clubland became almost impassable, and so intense was the eagerness to know the ultimatum that when the time limit given to Russia had expired the j newspapers were literally snatched from ' their vendors. The crisis monopolises ' public attention throughout the country, and little else is talked! of or thought of. Even at the opera and theatres there was a disposition to rush -out for news between the acts ; any notable person connected with the crisis appearing in public receives a good deal of attention. The despatch of the fleet has revolutionised society for the time being : some festivities have been -postponed, and others given up. The women connected with the Navy by their men, from the wives of the admirals downwards, are keenly anxious. There is an indescribable scene of activity at Portsmouth, the centre of which is the great naval arsenal. Thousands ot men and many great ships are ready. At the j victualling yards work has been carried) on at high pressure, and all is in readiness to load as for war surgical instruments, clothing, boots, tea, ship's biscuits, pork, toeef, and all the other necessities for victualling 60 warships for sis months. Meanwhile Hull WM » cit£ of mourning

the funeral day of the victims of the Baltic Sea fishing outrage. Not only were the mourners among that class of the community whose business it is to go down to the aea in ships, but every class was represented. In the "Skipper's" cottage parlour two coffins stood — his coffin and that of William Leggot, who until almost the last moment before the burial was unclaimed. This was due to the fact of an error in the printing of his name. But at the last moment one of those pitiful human tragedies occurred which appeal to all. A broken old widow, grief-shaken and worn, had hurried from Yarmouth to claim her diaad son. The white-haired old vicar — one of those men of simple, kindly nature who work among the poor — knelt in the darkened room beside a pile of flowers, and prayed for those bereaved, then the simple procession started to the grave, followed by the fisher folk- of Hull, the fishermen in their blue jerseys. As the coffins, loaded with flowers, were borne into the street, the .vicar gave out a verse of the hymn, "Lead, Kindly Light," and to the -softly-played accompaniment of the band the children following broke out into spontaneous singing. Among the hundreds of wreaths sent was a tribute from the chilcben, "The Children's Wreath," which found a place on the "Skipper's" coffin, though many others •\7er-e carried in a separate carriage. Among others, 200 fishermen were followers, and as the procession passed along through the crowded streets, the sound of weeping could be heard. It would be impossible for Russia to sympathise with a scene of this nature — the value of a workman's life is not held in very high estimation among the nobles : that the whole British Empire has been shaken by the outrage to fishing craft will doubtless to the Russian seem an exaggeration of sentiment ; but it is this defence of the people's rights that keeps the loyal love of the Empire for the Crown, and at a test such as this makes every man ready to defend it from insult. Lord Charles BeresforcS, the Commander of the Channel Squadron, is called Man Who is Ready." Upon him at present all ey-es are turned from all parts of the world. His photograph, taken on board his flagship, "Ready for War,'" is in most of the .papers. He is described as being a fine type of the British sailor ; his "breezy personality, cheery courage, and indomitablenss in a campaign have made him a favourite ashore as at sea. If he had no other magnetic virtues, his downright earnestness would have made him a national figure in an age when the gospel of efficiency, however little it is practised, is preached <lxy and night and everywhere. Nobody who saw Lord Charles Beresford go down one day to the House of Commons and ask for 70 ships that would cost £20,000,000 is likely to forget it. The House of Commons laughed. . . ] But within 13 weeks the Secretary of tl>e Admiralty had his Naval Defence Bill before the public, and within 13 weeks more the JSTaval Defence Bill was passed involving an expenditure of £21,500,000. .. . . He has the proud satisfaction to-day of command in a navy which owes much of its formidable power to him " And long before this reaches its destination the world will know whether the Russians forced him to use it-