The sun., 1900-10-30
LIBERAL PARTY DIVIDED.
CHAMBERLAIN AIDED ny EN0LANDS
POLITICiL SITUATION.
Complaints OF the High Price OF Coal and
Conditions Likely to Mako IL Permanent
The English BOYS Hero and His Advice
London Plagued with "Hooligansm.' -

WIN
/ LONDON, oct 20 Parliament Is not to meet
until late in next January Between now and
! then the Cabinet must frame its scheme OF army
reform and consider important changes in
Eng.and's fiscal ARRANGEMENTS The latter qucs-
iion ha' been avoided by the Government in
the recent electoral campaign 1t involves
raising II great deal of additional revenue. in
consequence both Of the heavy war eSpendi-
turo- and of the need Of strengthening the I'M
per1l defensive forces Nothing can be pre-
dctcd yet regarding either army reform schemes
or budget changes For want Of more useful
employment the party leader writer's have
fallen back on lrthmc,ical calculations
The Unonsts, who have least cause to
grumble say least on the subject The Liberal
writer's maintain sorrowfully that the minority
Of 1872 In n House of Commons OF $40 members
makes them ont to bc In a much worse position
than they really are They admit n minority
of more than coO.ODO votes in an electorate OF
5oO,ooO and on that basis they think they
should hc in a Parliamentary minority OF only
about thirty All their calculations are upset
by two uncontrovertible facts First, they
let more than 100 seats 60 TO the Conservatives
and Unionists without contest. Second, the
Liberal, suffered from a division in their party.
which even after the elections Is "a far from
mcnding ns ever There arc the Liberal Imperial
ists of the ROsebcry and Asquith section and
tho Liberals of the Iarcourt. Morley and La
bOnchere section Sir Henry Campbell Banner
man Is the nominal leader In Parliament OF
the whole party How hopeless his task Is may
be gathered from the recrimlnations OF the two
factions over the responsibility for their coll
lectivc failure
The Speaker, a Liberal weekly expressing
the llarCourt policy, says this week that the
Liberal Imperial Council should be vigorously
excluded from the councils of the party" Il
proceeds to demand discipline and loyalty"
from the party whips and officers Of the party
organization who are supposed to be tainted
with Roseberlism on the other side there Is
the manifesto Of the Liberal Imperial Council
issued to-day Its cEoCutive writes.
This committee regards the failure of the
Liberal party generally To diminish the Govern
nent majority as mainly due to the fact that
the narrow and inSIlar views upon Imperial
questions advocated by an extreme but di-
minishing section Of the party. caused a wide
spread distrtlst Of tho party as a whole"
II Is obvious that reunion or compromise IL
impossible The old Harcourt section has
lost ground rather more than the other, and
yet its plight Is more tolerable than that Of
the Liberal ImperIallsts who are for Imperial
unity with remote colonies and Irish Home
Rule NJ home That they are lukewarm Home
Rulers and would like to drop the business will
not help them II Is inconceivable that there
can be any House Of Commons for the next
ten years at least in which Liberal majority
will not be dependent on the Nationalist votes
All the factors in the present political situa-
tion IN England give the present Government
an excellent opportunity 20 cope with the Gre
atiyc era which Mr. Chamberlain says Is OPEN
ing before It There is no popular demand for
domestic reforms. but there Is popular un-
easiness about the strength Of the country
rs matChed against that OF the great Powers
aud anxiety 10 see the great colonies take an
important part in the management OF the EN-
pire. as an aotuality and not merely an idea.
The present price Of good household coal
in London Is 80 shllings ton year
ago 1t was % shilngs ton and was
even thea considered dear II is a matter
that is very keenly felt and must involve dis
comfort and suffering TO tho poorer people
in the coming winter In France, too. the high
cost Of domestic fuel causes universal COM
plant among householders. The cause 81
the continued high prices which prevail over
Europe generally. is much deeper than the
common explanation that they are due TO a
coal-owners' ring The public is considerably
disturbed TO hear that the high price Of coal
is likely 10 be permanent, Speaking at Rrming
ham this week the incoming President OF the
Institute OF Mining Engineers devoted his
address TO the price OF coal He spoke, OF.
course. from the mine owners standpoint.
Dealing with tho causes Of the rise he said that
increased demand was the chief factor but
a set Of circumstances other than increased
demand underlay the present condition Of the
coal trade One Of the most notable was the
output per man per year.
In the ten years ending 1870 this was 32s TONS
IN the nine years ending 1899 II was POS tons.
a decrease per man Of thirty tons, or ~ per
cent The exact amount this decrease cost
he was not prepared 70 say. but II certainly did
not decreass the getting costs The widespread
and resolute combination among miners (pos-
sibly only owing TO increased education Of the
massesl forced up the rate Of wages, and ne
oessitated similar combination among masters.
and a resolution. born OF necessity 10 sell only
at remunerative rate. All colieries that could
not work al a remuneratve rate and pay the
high standard OF wages and other costs had been
gradually closed.
Thus the field had bean freed Of great deal
of undertaking, and competition had grown less
aggressive among coal owners He would
suggest that their future welfare lay in ooopera-
ton. not competition selling price basis
munerative one, seemed 10 him as necessary
as having a living wage basis among the opera
tiveS. With combination Of producers had
como tho advanced price. while the attitude
Of owners I'm respect 10 hours Of work and rate
Of wages showed no indication Of slaCkoninE
so that higher prices must continue than those
Of past years to enable collieres TO work at
a profit
Another serious cost was the increased as
sessment OF collierics for taxation purposes
This very materially increased costs and tho
rate, az many collicrics were very heavy
item. and one which the public had to pay.
The Compensation-to-Wo Workmen act had cost
alone I'd per ton This was the gift Of the
public 70 tho miners, and II was only fair that
the public should pay for II Timber, which
was most important item in a colliery. had
increased very considerably. The same might
be- said Of every store used. and when the total
Of the stores al the increased rate was added
to from 20 10 CO per cent inCreas" in wages since
1855 the cost totalled up 10 a considerable item.
He suggested that the combined trades,
coal and iron. form n board Of representation.
whose task should be the collecting of infor
nation in reference 10 selling prices Of foreign
made iron on the English market, and the ar
al %