The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-09-15

Despite rather un10rtuna'o 4to
In Paris, the Lord Mayors WISH "
Bordeaux country has turned ou' " ~ h,a
most extravaganza success. lhoso oo.S
Girondin winners and merchants Ano"
well on which side their bread Is putteleo'
and they have given to the repreSen'a.i'e
OF claret-drinking London such q eoep'io-
as scarcely visiting Gar could nave GA
pected.
The reflection of their tremendous en-
thusiasm has recoiled upon Paris, anu .ho
Municipal Council there is to give TO niin'
on afterthought, trlumphal state pan-
quet tomorrow evening. All thls Is feiy
nauseous to the Anglophobe Journalists "a
Paris, and they have started up neutral.
izing clamor about the British seizure OF
the Minquiers Islands, an isolated group
of rocks in the channel, lying six miles
nearer to Jersey than to the French COAST.
The rumor that the British flag was holsteo
there, printed in Paris ten days ago, mas
been contradicted, affirmed and oeoatea
continuously ever since, but 1t has not YET
occurred to any Frenchman to go ana see
whether it is true or not. 1t is said that
the Minquiers always belonged to jersey
and the only inhabitants are few Jersey
fishermen in the season, for whom Jersey
officials built shlpway years ago.
Arthur Balfour has made an extremely
feeble impression upon the new members
of his own party at the recent brief session
of Parliament. His manner was so hesl-
tating, his voice at times was so nearly
inaudible, that wondering observers were
led to the belief first that he was Ill, and
later that he had been cowed by Chamber
lain's show of superior vitality and energy.
Whatever the cause may be, he is obviously
under a cloud. His bad luck pursues him
into the recess. AS if his bimetallic vaga-
ries had not brought to him humiliation
enough, fresh abasement has been forced
on him this week in the form OF pub
lished letter, in which he reiterates In de-
tail his recent confession that the Cabinet
of which be is one of the principal mem
bers will have nothing to do with silver.
am informed that he was very reluctant
to write this letter, but it was insisted on
by the other Ministers, who convinced
Lord Salisbury that it was necessary In
order to forestall impending demonstra-
lions of the monometallist strength IN the
city of London.
The first of these is Gladstone's letter to
young George Peel, contemptuously de-
scribing bimetallism as a passing humor
of the hour, inevitably doomed to nullity
and disappointment.
Other announcements of the same sort
are to follow in consequence of a resolution
of the single standard men to make q
thorough fight this time and drive the
enemy conn letely off the field. Even at
this early stage OF the campaign the cause
of bimetallism is visibly whitening. It's
champions are getting under shelter and
by winter il promises to be effectually
stamped out of British politics. In all
this there is wheel within wheel.
George Peel was Chamberlain's candidate
for the Warwick vacancy last spring and
resigned his berth IN the civil service in
order to accept the Liberal Unionist nomi-
nation. The revolt of the local Tories
forced him to withdraw from the canvass
and he found himself out of work as well.
1t is not by accident that he came to Lon
don, became secretary and real organizer
of the Monometallist Association and initi-
ated all active and powerful propaganda
against the silver heresy. He is still
Cham berlains young man, and the fact
that Balfour must necessarily be the chief
victim of his successful crusade could not
have been overlooked between them.
BY his evil fate Balfour was prompted to
seize this precise time, when he is being
most sharply hunted by his enemies, to do
gratuitously foolish thing on his own ac-
count. AS First Lord of the Treasury he
has at his disposal the royal bounty fund.-
from which grants ane small annuities are
given to needy deserving literary persons
or their destitute widows and orphans.
Balfour's first use of this patronage has
been to bestow gift of $1,000 on certain
George Brooks, who was violent Tory
pamphleter in the recent elections. 1t
was Immediately discovered that this
Brooks, who was at one time dissenting
preacher, was till recently vehement
Radical hack-writer. Labouchere recog-
nized him as an old member of the staff of
Truth, and cynically reprinted some of his
bitterest vituperations of the Established
church and the Tory party in the days
when he worked for a living. Since then
he seems to have subsisted chiefly by
means of begging letters, and altogether
his inclusion in the royal bounty list is
agreed to be an affront to all the others on
it. 1t probably will do Balfour's prestige
more lasting harm than even his currency
utterances.
Although the retiring ambassador at
Berlin, Sir Edward Malet, has recently
earned peerage, as such things go, he has
to pay the penalty of a rich marriage by
declining. So long as he remains Com
moner his wife, who is the daughter of
the Duke of Bedford, who killed himself,
takes precedence of all Countesses in that
capacity. If her husband took a peerage.
however, she would shrink at once to the
level of his new dignity, and this is not to
be thought of. So to the end of her days
she will continue to be Lady Ermintrude
Malet, and walk in professions some rods
ahead of her husband. If that represents
happiness to them / suppose it is NOBODY
elses business.
1t was predicted by military friend Of
mine that the first thing Wolseley would
do when he became COMMUNICATIVE
would be to reorganize entirely the system
by which the infantry soldiers are now
shod. He adds that it would be most
important reform, and this is easy to
imagine The recent maneuyers in Ire
land and the south of England have shown