The San Francisco call., 1896-08-16

or two ago Mr.. Balfour was way down in |
the trough of the sea as leader, but he
finishes perched gaily on the crest of a
wave of new popularity. He and his
brother Gerald toiled arduously over the
Irish land bill, and thus won the respect
of the House as capable managers. But
they achieved something more than this
they opened the way to whole new irish
policy for the Tory party, the prospect of
which rather pleases that party than
otherwise. 1t has always been pointed
out that, other things being equal, there
was more in common between the Tories
and the Irish than between the Irish ana
the Liberals.
Practically all the militant anti Catholic
feeling in England is inside the Liberal
party, and this from the dawn of the
home-rule alliance has been weak point
IN the partnership. 1t now looks as II
that partnership were in a lair way to be
dissolved. The Balfours have carried
their point in the Cabinet, both as to
Sitting on' the Irish landlords in the
House of Lords and as to releasing the
group of imprisoned dynam1ters. They
are confident of their ability to lead the
Government a good deal further in the
work of pacihcation and reform II the
Irish themselves will back up the prac-
tical men among their representatives and
thus render mutual understanding pos
sible.
Not since the first visit here of the late
Shah of Persia has London been so de-
lighted in any guest as it has in LII Hung
Chang. Columns and columns are given
daily by the papers to his sayings ana
doings, and no one wearies of reading
them. He seems to have gauged the
English character very shrewdly and to
have seen that they are most easily and
surely amused by having strangers score
genial, but more or less cheeky, points OF
themselves. The Viceroy now regularly
quiZZes everybody who is presented TO
him and asks them all sorts of extraordi-
nary personal questions, which, being
publicly put and answered through an In
terpreter, provide the bystander with
broadly humorous entertainment.
Lis visit to Gladstone to-day was quite
in keeping with the high sagacity which |
he has shown all along, and particularly
in the matter of decorating General Cor |
of Ii Hung Chang's British tour has now |
begun, for the things which he is to see in |
the industrial north cannot help produc- |
ing powerful and determining influence
on his mind. Lord Armstrong, who is his
chief host, has at present more japanese |
orders on hand than even his vast works |
can accommodate, and so he has had to |
place lot of them outside with other |
northern firms. A partner in one of these |
firms tells me particular story, which, |
imagine was not known before, namely, |
that Armstrong has taken the job OF build |
ing and entirely eouipping big naval yard
and dock in Japan, where ships can be not |
only built, but armored, engined and COM |
pletely fitted by the Japanese themselves.
Some of his men are already out there
making preliminary plans and est1- |
mates. It is the notion that when Ii !
grasps this fact he will say that China |
must also have one.
a good deal is said in the papers just |
now about an impending general strike OF
labor in the shipping trade. The plan of
this strike as propounded is certainly am |
bilious enough, for it threatens a refusal
to unload any ship the crew OF which con- |
tains non- unionists, and this is TO apply |
not only to British ports, but to continen-
tai and American ports as well. The fact, |
however, that Lock Wilson Is managing !
the whole thing rather robs it of its ter
rors, for even the densest workingman's |
mind must by this time know what kind |
of man Wilson is. Shipowners are not |
neglecting precautions TO meet possible !
emergency, but they think that Wilson is
really intent on whipping up mem bers for
his union at 20 cents each and that the |
matter will end there.
The personal frmness of the United
States Minister at Madrid in reading the
riot act to the Spanish Government and |
preventing it from sending circular note
to the European powers in regard to Cuba |
is much praised here. 1t was the British |
Embassador at Madrid, | hear, who |
warned Mr.. Taylor of what was going on
and who also warned the Spanish Foreign |
Office that it was making mistake.
1t is inevitable that the Spanish Minis |
try should be good deal Influenced by |
the fact that the European powers are on |
the verge of big quarrel among them |
selves, and if the truth were known we |
should probably find a division among |
the diplomats stationed at Madrid follow |
ing closely the lines of that at Constan- |
tinople; in other words, it would be dis |
covered that Germany was eggIng Spain |
on to rash courses, that England was |
joining the United States in advising |
against them, and that the other powers
were drifting about watching 10 see how
the cat will jump.
After seven years of examination dur |
ing which three of the original embers !
died, probably of old age, the Royal Com |
mission on Vaccination is at last ready to |
report. 1t accepts the vaccination prin-
ciple as right, as of course was inevitable, |
but will advise that vaccination no longer |
be compulsory where parents object to it, |
and will suggest that q statutory declara- |
ton of objection by such parents be ac-
cepted as reason for immunity.
This report, 1t is to be feared. will be |
hailed with fervid enthusiasm by large |
class of people, who confound vaccination |
itself with the vaccination law and who !
hold it responsible for the effects produced |
by the vaccination of infants who do not |
receive proper care, either from those who |
perform the operation or from their par
ents after it has been performed. There |
is hardly any other law which causes such |
a vehement and bitter feeling among the |
poor as does that one which enforces the
vaccination of their children before theyj
are three months old. With many of |
these children the chances whether they |
will live or die are pretty even at that
period and vaccination among people de-
pendent on the often careless dispensary of
fieiaIs sometimes tips the balance toward |
death. In such cases the funeral of the |
little unfortunates become public demon
strations in which whole slum districts
participate. Banners are carried and |
speeches are made cursing the Govern
ment as a murderer of innocents.
In many large towns this sentiment is |
so strong that the class of ignorant peo-
pie who hold 1t is so numerous that the |
local officials have allowed the law to be-
come dead letter, thing which in Eng |
land is almost unheard of. The terrible |
effect OF this was recently seen at Glouces- |
ter in the shape of an epidemic of small |