The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-02-03
TOO MUCH
POLITICS.
That Appears to Be the TrOu-
BILE With England Now.
All the Cabinet Ministers Are
Discredited.
A NEW MAN WANTED.
Public Turns Its Eyes Toward
Lord ROsebery.
Parliament Spends Its Time
in SQuabbIing.
A NEW MAN WANTED

copyright 1900 by Associated Press.1
London, Feb. 3.-The Indignation, hu-
initiation and amazement of the nation
at the iRcompetency displayed by its
ministers has risen to heights probably
never before attained. While the en-
pire is engaged in the most serious
struggle to which it has been commit
ted since the first years of the Nine
teenth century, while the statesmen
and the legislatures of the Self-goVern-
ing colonies faithfully represent the i'm
perial spirit of their constituents, While
the Britishers of all ranks have risen
to the occasion with q courage and a
unanimity unsurpassed in their annals
the statesmen at home have commit
ted themselves to party manOeuVreS,
mutual recriminations, contradictions,
shutting eVaSiOnS and palpably lame
excuses so utterly needless of the tenn
per OF the people, that the movement in
favor of reconstruction of the cab1-
net, first inaugurated a few weeks ago,
promises, unless more vigorous pOncy
is speedily adopted, to develop into
national uprising which will sweep out
the politicians whose utter failure al
most appears to justify, in the words of
the Daily Mail, the prOpheSieS of the
downfall of the British Empire so liber-
ally poured forth by writer's and speak
ers in the United States and on the con-
tinent."
Even the Times that bulwark of con-
house of commons during the past few
days is simply irritating and offensive
to nine out of ten people in the United
Kingdom.
Consequently, it is not astonishing
that the people are looking for some
strong man to lead them. Lord Rose
bery's name is the most prominent.
His pitilesS flashing of Lord Salisbury
on the day parliament reassembled
marks him, in the opinion of many, as
the right man to face the present inn
perial crisis. A small faction, led by
Daily Mail is pushing the claims of Mr..
Joseph Chamberlain, the colonial secre-
tary, for a trial. The Mail says he has
shown himself to be "shrewd, deter
mined and able organizer and apparent
ly, is the only member of the cabinet
who grasped the realities of the situa-
ton in South Africa" though the paper
admits he lacks tact and that his
speeches have done much to ALLEVIATE
the sympathies of America in this war
France. Yet, the Mail suggests it would
be we'll to watch Mr.. Cham berlain's at
titude during the next few days.
Truly has the patience and fortitude
of the people of Great Britain been sub
jected to severe tests. After a brisk
rally from the staggering blows to the
nations military prestige the people had
a right to turn to parliament for en-
enlargement and inspiration. But, one
by one, the ministers have been I'M
masked and discredited and the weak
ness of the official leaders of the OPP
position has been revealed. From every
newspaper in the land has arisen the
cry that party strife must cease and
political ambitions be laid aside, and
that the stihed determination of a will
ing people must have rein. A result of
this outburst is seen in new and more
lofty tone introduced into the discus
sion by the speech of Mr.. George Wynd-
ham, the parliamentary under secretary
OF the war Office Thursday evening,
which was the first ministerial state
ment evincing a proper appreciation OF
public feeling. There is no hope of the
deba tesson Lord Edmund Fitzmaurice's
amendment to the address in reply to
the speech from the throne collapsing,
so a division will hardly occur before
| Tuesday. There is a movement on foot
to induce the government to refuse to
! discuss at any length Mr.. John Red
mond's amendment, on the ground that
the present stage of the campaign is
! not suitable for the discussion of con-
| Citation or the terms of peace.
Mr. William Redmond desires infor-
nation as to the relations of Great
Britain with the United States and Ger
many, and proposes to ask Mr.. A. j
Balfour, the government leader, Mon
| day, whether he has any announcement
bearing on the proposed new triple al
lance between Great Britain, the Uni
| ted States and Germany, announced by
| Mr. Chamberlain at Leicester Novem-
| Der 80.