THE OLD COUNTRY.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLI, Issue 5, 29 July 1908, Page 7

THE OLD COUNTRY.

The Duke of Argyll inspected and was much impressed by Mr. Louis Brennan’s mono-rail system.

Yielding to a strong public agitation, the London County Council is reducing the speed limit of motor omnibuses in the thoroughfares.

The personalty of the late William Lithgow, shipbuilder, of the firm of Russell and Company, has been sworn at a million sterling. The Lacour party intend to introduce during the autumn session a bill providing for the compulsory feeding of necessitous school children.

The Women’s National anli-Suffrago League has issued a stirring manifesto, appealing to the patriotism and common

sense of the women of England to defeat the suffragist movement. Replying to a deputation of Welsh Nonconformists Mr. Asquith promised to bring in a bill in 1909 to disestablish and disendow the Church of England in Wales. Mr. Justice Kenny, in opening thc assizes Court at Connemara, said that the condition of Galway, except Connemara, was deplorable. Boycotting and the necessity for police protection had greatly increased. Mr Balfour, in a fiery speech in the House of Commons, impugned the Government’s sincerity as temperance reformers, and said that they dare not attack “off” licenses for fear of quarrelling with their political friends. The Tariff Commission has issued a report tracing tne development of colonial preference and contending that it was the historic policy of England until the old preference was withdrawn in deference to the free trade ideal and in opposition to the wishes of the colonies. The Admiralty Division Court of Inquiry held the owners of the s.s. Rangatira, the Shaw, Sav'd! Company, responsible for the collision between that vessel and the Sphere in the Thames during October, on the ground that the officers did not render the pilot the assistance whereto he was entitled. Ladies as Life-Savers. Mrs. Post, wife of a millionaire, and a party of other ladies, were motoring past Monbuek Point when they saw a vessel driven ashore on the Point. There was a life-saving rocket apparatus on the point, and this the ladies successfully used, firing a line, which fell across the shipwrecked vessel. By means of this line the whole of the tweaty-four members of the crew were got ashore in safety. British Unemployed. The trades union returns, presented by Mr. John Burns, President of the Local Government Board, show that 8.2 per cent, of thc members are unemployed, against 3.G in 1907. It is impossible, he adds, to estimate the number of unskilled unemployed. The British Army. In the House of Lords. Earl Crewe, Secretary of State for the Colonies, stated that no further reductions in the army were contemplated. The Government were making an inquiry into general expenditure on the army, but this was not confined to any one department. Trades Unions and Socialism. In a test case brought by the secretary of the Walthamstow branch of the Amalgamated Society of Railwaymen against that society, Mr. Justice Neville held that trade union funds could be employed to influence legislation by securing representation in the House of Commons, and that the union had as much right to support Socialists as Unionists or Liberals. Tire “Daily Mail” says that Mr. Justice Neville’s decision is of the first importance, since a trade unionist can now be compelled to assist Socialism by his involuntary contributions. The “Daily Nows” considers that the decision is sound sense, and also a vindication of liberty. Tlie “Daily Chronicle” remarks that trades unions hove now a free hand to be as political as they choose, and to subsidise Socialism if they like. Rescue of Coal Miners. Fire in the framework of the two shafts at the Highhouse colliery, Auchinleek, in the County of Ayr, Scotland, imprisoned sixty miners. After tremendous exertions, a rescue party extinguished the flames, and rescued all the men. Britain's Meat Supply. Mr. Winston Churchill (President of the Board of Trade) is appointing a Departmental committee to inquire how fa? and in what manner the general supply, distribution, and price of meat in the United Kingdom is controlled or affected by a combination of foreign companies. Lord Robert Cecil is to be chairman of

tbf vemiuillee, which includes four members cf the Hous- cf Commons, represetatatives of the Boards of Trade and Agriculture, and also an expert in thc meat trade. A Clergyman Cautioned. Thc Dean of Arches has admonished the Rev. Henry Thompson, Canon cf Norwich Cathedral, for his unlawful action in refusing to admit Mr. Baitaister, manager of the Norwich Electric Tramways, and his wife, to Communion, on the ground that the latter was bis deceased wife’s sister. Bannister’s second marriage occurred in Canada, before such marriages were legalised in England.