The record-union., 1899-10-07

Christian Victor of Scnleswig- Holstein,
and a large number of nurses sailed
for the Cape to-day. 1t now appears
that Lieutenant Winston Spencer
Churchill, son of the late Lord Ran
dolph Churchill, who will accompany
General Sir Redvers Butler, will not go
on behalf of the Times" but as the
war correspondent of the London
Morning Post" and the New York
"World"
In connection with the rumors that
Queen Victoria is liable to intervene to
prevent war, a curious story is pub
lished this morning by the Vienna "Es-
trablatt," which alleges that her maj
esty intends to abdicate in the event
of an outbreak of hostilities, declaring
that it has this information from IAN
excellent source"
The statement unfavorably affected
the Vienna Boerse.
The British Foreign Office, when
shown the Vienna story, declared it
simply ridiculous and utterly base
less.'
Sir Henry Campbell -Bannerman
speaking at Maidstone to-day at q
luncheon especially arranged to give
House of Commons an opportunity of
expressing the views of official Liber-
alism regarding the Transvaal crisis,
said that neither side has shut the door
on peace negotiations.
Great Britain" he continued ''nas
not made her demands as a suzerain
power, but in virtue of international
law and as the power responsible for
the we'll being of South Africa. If the
Boer Government has refused the rea-
sonable requests of the Secretary OF
State for the Colonies on September
Sth, through fear and suspicion regard
ing possible attack upon their inde-
pendence, the speeches of the Duke of
Devonshire (Lord President of the
Council of Ministers) and Sir Mathew
White Ridley Secretary of State for
the Home Department. constitute as
surances which ought to extinguish
suspicion and fear. These speeches are
quite as authoritative as any dis
patches and bind the honor of the
Government and the country. They
ought to open the way to an agreement
Party interests must stand aside at
this juncture as we'll as the reputa-
tionS of Ministers. / do not believe
that diplomacy has said it's last word,
although the country is on the brink
of war. 1t is a remarkable thing that
when the question is asked, What are
we going to war about? no answer can
be given. This country has never yet
gone into great war in such state
of uncertainty.
From patriotic motives, Liberals can
not and should not embarrass the Gov
ernment, but the time for free speak
ing will come by and by. At the pres
ent moment the interests of party, the
reputation of Ministers and our esti-
mate of the conduct of the Government
must all stand aside, as the only thing
that matters is the question of peace
or war"
Pointing out the absurdity of going
to war for a difference of two years in
the proposals, Sir Campbell -Bannerman
declared that the claim of suzerainty
had finally been exploded by Sir Will
lam Vernon Harcourt and Sir Edward
Clarke.
1T was an evil day." he continued,
when this claim was dug from the
grave. TT was decently buried in 1884
by the wise and experienced men who
then conducted British affairs-the
men who buried it because they knew
it was devoid of efficacy and a fruitful
source of difficulty. / believe the coun-
try has confounded the word 'suzer-
ainty,' which is valueless, with the
great fact which is essential and cardi-
nal-the predominance the supremacy,
paramountcy or whatever you may
wish to call it, of British power in
South Africa, which is indisputable,
and founded upon the necessary facts
of the situation
A private message from a high Off
cia1 in Pretoria, in reply to a friend
in London, says:
eve do not want any guarantee of
independence We stick to the Lon
don convention. We have lost all
faith in British statesmen, and have
nothing more to say"
Mining shares had quite a boom in
the street to-day, owing to the report
that the Portuguese Government had
asked Great Britain to protect it's from
tier. Rand mines were nearly two
points above the closing figures yes
terday, and others from Il to e.