The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1900-09-23

public can De expected 10 take Keen
interest In stocks.
The question OF home rule except in
Ireland is scarcely mentioned. Mr., Her
bert Gladstone. who represents West
Leeds. advises his constituents to let
the matter rest. but the Earl Of Sand
wich strikes a much franker note in
lrenouncing his adherence to the gov
ernment and returning TO the ranks Of
the Liberals because home rule Is
dead.
A miniature bomb has been thrown
into the Conservative camp by the
Liberal Morning Leader, which pub
fishes lengthy story showing that the
wife. sons and daughter of Mr.. Joseph
Chamberlain hold almost all the shares
Of the firm Of Hoskirs Sons. contractors
to the admiralty, Among the sons
holding large amounts of the stock is
Mr.. ]. A. Chamberlain (the eldest SOM.
who is a civil lord of the admiralty.
To put worse complexion on the matter
1t is pointed out that there are no
Hoskins now connected with the BUSH
ness. which Is practically a family con-
Germ and apparently prosperous. The
only answer so Ear vouschafed to the
accusations is letter from Mr.. Cham
berlain's secretary saying that the min
lister is not disposed to notice cowardly
inslnuation contained in an indirect
charge"
Rumors assign the war ministry to Mr..
Chamberlain in the next cabinet, the
suDpnsitlon being that the Marquis Of
Lansdowne will retire and also that
Mr.. Chamberlain win then have Lord
Roberts as rommander-in-chief and
Lord Kitchener as adiutant- general.
Earl Halsbury, the lord high chancel-
lor; Earl Cadogan. lord lieutenant of
Ireland; Viseount Cross, the lord of
the privy seal and Mr.. William Court
Gully. the speaker Of the house OF COM
mons are all said to be likely to re-
tire.
The controversy on the relative mer-
tits of the British and American bag
gage systems has been revived by the
complaints Of transatlantic visitors
who have lost trunks in England. These
in turn have called forth protests
against the adoption of the check sys-
tenn An Englishman who has visited
America writes to the Pail Mall Ga
zette giving details Of his checks. the
delay and the alleged impossibillty Of
obtaining compensation. declaring the
Americans tolerate any system how
ever complicated so long as It has the
appearance Of being business-liAe. Most
of the detractors Of the check system
miss a point by devoting their argu-
ments against the delay in delivering
I baggage after its arrival. 1t Is pos
sible that the correspondence may ac-
celerate the adoption Of some form Of
American system for. partly through
ignorance and partly through the de-
fects Of the English system, no end
Of trouble and expense Is undergone
bv the thousands who yearly cross the
Atlantic. through loss Of baggage.
Another American inovation will
shortly appear in London in the shape
Of 25O laundries run by American en-
ployes and with American machinery
o o Q
How greatly the British government
profits by death can be judged by the
returns Of the estate duties for 1892
1900. Just issued. They show that near
ly 14,000,0O0 pounds were added tC
the exchequsr from this cause. The
total sum bequeathed by 55.431 persons
amounted to over e292, 100000 or halt
the national debt. Twelve million ac-
counts paid tolls to the amount Of
g2,OOO,O OO6
Lord Landau is airing a curious
grievance. The advertisement columns
recently contained the announcement
Of the birth Of child to the Countess
Of Llandaff. As Lord LANDAU is a
bachelor (he was born in 1862 and was
home secretary from 1886 to 1892, the
announcement caused him some annoy.
ance and mystificatlon, which was on
ly explained by the fart that a child
was born TO the wife Of man named
Matthew who two years ago announced
his intention Of assuming The title Of
Earl LANDAU. This announcem snt ap-
pears to be his only qualification for
the peerage.