Arizona republican., 1899-12-30
FOREIGN NOTES
 AND COMMENT


 new lord mayor of London from all criminal responsibility in connection with the Industrial Contract Corpora tion," and it has been decided that there is no further ground for inviting the attention of the crown prosecutor to his case, yet the result of the judicial investigation which has just been brought to a close is so unfavorable to him that his resignation is being loudly called for, and may possibly have been given ere this letter appears in print.
 The lord mayor and a few of his friends bought a business for the sum of sS0,0OO, and sold it exactly three weeks later to a public company for $240,000, the lord mayor being at once vender and a purchaser, a promoter and the chief of the directors of the company formed to run the business. It is difficult to reconcile the position of vender with that of purchaser, es- pecially when the profit realized by the purchase and resale of the business amounts to POO per cent. It is scarcely necessary to add that no mention or
 
 us of the fact that the chairman of the board of directors of the company had been one of the vendors to the latter of the business which he had purchased three weeks previously, and the pros pectus was equally silent as to the fact that he and his friends had pocketed the tidy little sum of over s15O,OO0 be- tween them.
 The entire transaction would have been bad enough in all conscience had the Industrial Contract corporation proved a success. Unfortunately, it came to grief and is now in liquidation. As I have pointed out before. the lord mayor of London is the chief magis- trate of city which is justly regarded as the greatest financial and commer- cial center of the universe. He is not merely the leading citizen, but like wise, by virtue of his office, the chief judge, especially of all questions af- fecting commercial morality and integ- rity. In view of the revelations, the lord mayors utterances at the Guild hall banquet against the cunning evasion" and gross dishonesty of President Kruger, seem a trifie i'll placed and far fetched.
 I may add that we have not yet heard the last of the matter, as the bank ruptcy court is now about to take charge of the defunct company's af- fairs, and will probably compel the lord mayor and his precious ring of friends to make restitution. (
 
 Among other questions discussed and arranged between Queen Victoria and Emperor William during the latters stay at Windsor castle was that relat- ing to the future of the widowed duch- ess of Albany and her son, the young duke of Albany, who was recently pro- claimed heir to his uncle's throne of SaXe-Coburg and Gotha, but who, ow- ing to the animosity of his aunt, the duchess of Saxe-Coburg, has not been permitted to take up his residence within the duchy or to receive his edu- cation there. It may be remembered that finding all royal doors closed against her in Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the duchess of Albany took her boy and girl to Stuttgart, and invoked the hos pitality of her cousin, the king of Wurtemberg. who placed a suite of apartments in his palace at her dis posal.
 This scandal, which was made the subject of a very unpleasant discus sion the other day in the ducal legis- lature at Coburg, has now been brought to a close through the emperor assign ing a residence to his aunt, the duchess of Albany, and her children at Pots dam, where the boy is to be brought up under the supervision of his majesty. The residence placed at the is the little marble villa which for so many long years was occupied by the Princess Liegnitz, the morgan attic widow of King Frederick William III of Prussia, and the stepmother, therefore, of old Emperor William.
  Many i'll natured rumors on the sub ject of the prince of Wales attentions to Mrs. George Keppel have been set at rest by the action of the princess of Wales in inviting this very pretty wO man to join the house party at Sand ringham. Mrs. Keppel is in a delicate state of health.
 
 a very severe blow against the law of entail in the Sir Robert Peel case. Young Lady Peel, who is of Swiss birth, and her little boy are absolutely penniless, and not a cent of the s2,000 a year nominally settled upon her by her husband, the bankrupt Sir Robert Peel, at the time of her marriage, has ever been paid. Lady Peel brought suit, asking the courts to waive the law of entail to the extent of permitting the sale of a sufficient number of heir looms at Drayton manor to admit of making adequate provision for her child and herself. Her application was strongly opposed by Sir Roberts uncles and cousins, wEo, failing his son, are the next heirs to the Peel estates and art treasures, and who pointed out that the present condition of affairs was en- tireiy due to Sir Roberts own insane