Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-07-08
CAMPBELL BANNERMAN STILL LEADS
Little Prospect Now for Change
in the Liberal Party.
NEWS AND GOSSIP
Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.


week that a new deal all round was In
order and that we might see new exodus
and a rally of the rebels about that brill
liant lawyer But / hear that the crisis
may be regarded as at an end. Mr.. As
quith has privately made a communica-
ton to Sir Henry Campbell Bannerman
the scope of which is that his speech was
in no sense a challenge to his leader; that
he himself does not wish to shift the full
crum of leadership; that Lord Rosebery
neither initiated nor was privy to the mani
festo, and that the liberal imperaistS are
all loyal to Campbell Zimmerman. STILL
Mr.. Asquith has drawn an immense amount
OF attention to himself, pens have in all
directions discussed his qualities as a party
leader, and have discovered in him many
virtues.
The leadership Of the party at the pres
ent moment is not a post that any public
man would seek to fill. If Mr.. AsQ,fith had
any such ambition, however. there would
not be much prospect of it's realization.
He is man the party could i'll afford to
do without, but he is auStere and proud,
and has not that popular personality among
the rank and file that is necessary to
leader 1t is difficult to point to any man
who would become acceptable to the whole
of the party. Sir William Harcourt and
Mr.. John Morley might abandon their per-
sonal prejudices If an appeal were made
to their party loyalty, but there is fam
atical virulent faction, Of which Mr.. Lloyd
George may be said to be the shining light.
that will never be satisfied until it leads the
whole body of the inert mass of politi-
clans who at present support the honor and
dignity of the liberal party.
The Trouble May Arise Again.
While, however, the immediate difficulty
is over, it would be foolish to assert that
it may not arise again. There are two
tendencies of opinion in the liberal party
on foreign policy. The difference was quite
marked in the days of Lord Palmerston,
to whose policy Mr.. Golden and Mr.. Bright
were in frequent opposition, and Mr.. Glad
stone had similar difficulties with a peace
party composed Of men like the late Mr.. H.
Richard, Sir w. Lawson and others. The two
tendencies of opinion are distinguished at
present by the often inaccurate epithets of
liberal imperialists and little Englanders.
In times of peace the currents of opinion
represented by these two divisions of the
party are hardly visible, but they are apt
to become active when great questions of
foreign or military policy have to be de-
cided. If the war should continue there
may be recrudescence of such symptoms
as were seen last week. When the war
is over it would seem that the very ex-
IRENE section of the liberals Is determined
to advocate the independence Of the two
republics The split may come then. 1t
is bound to come sooner or later.
Nj. Bloch, VINO IectureQ MONDAY dlleTlOOii
at the Royal United Service Institution on
Modern Mlitarism,' is one of the most
interesting personages in Europe. He Is
native Of Poland, and started In life as a
peddler in Warsaw. He managed to save
money, and in a few years became
banker He IS now millionaire and one
Of Russia's railway kings. Ever since he
became rich he has been possessed of an
them the economic folly of war. He has
spent a large part of his wealth in main
tanning a whole army Of experts to collect
statistics and make researches into all
branches Of every subject connected with
the raising Of armies and navies and their
operations in peace and war.
He has an immense building in Warsaw
in which his staff works. The car has
high opinion of him, and it will be remem-
bered it was at NJ. Bloch's suggestion that
the car issued the famous manifesto which
led to The Hague congress. NJ. Bloch con-
tends that military training is an anachron-
ism, ard that al. that is needed to safe
guard a country is for it's citizens to be-
come expert with the rife. That, he thinks,
Is the salutary lesson of the Boer war. All
the trouble the British have suffered. he
says is due to the fact that the army has
been too highly trained on German meth
DDS.
Original Student of Military Matters.
Since the publication of his book, us
War Now Imposslble?' M. Bloch has been
recognized as at least an original student
of military matters, and, as he says, from
his position as an onlooker he has been
able to follow the events of the South At
rican war from rather q different stand
point from that Of the Englishman. One
of the lessons in the present war, In NJ.
Bochs opinion, is that war Of aggression
cannot be regarded as hopeful against any
great power, and still less can it be waged
successfully against an alliance of powers.
This, he says, is due to improvements in
,arfC md 70 int r01, lon, ~
smokeless powder, all turning to the ad
vantage of the defense. NJ. Bloch reminded
his audience that as long ago as The Hague
conference he pointed out that the use Of
an aggressive force an extremely difficult
one. But his great proposition. of course
is that war on a large scale in Europe is
now well-nigh impossible.
Messrs. Yarrow & Company, the we'll
known shipbuilders on the Thames, have
just turned out vessel to be used as a
gunboat In shallow waters abroad. She is
| only one of a type, and others are on order
dependent on the success Of the one now
ready. She is called H. NJ. s. Teal, and is
just the kind of boat we should have had in
| rebellion there. The war would perhaps
have been over sooner for the presence of
| dozen or so of these boats. She is small
| low-decked steamer, painted blue and pink,
and awning decks. a coming tower, and
the nozzles Of two or three formidable guns
project from her sides.
| She made her trial trip down the river
| from Greenwich to Gravesend yester-
day, and the party Of naval ex-
perts and engineers who were aboard
decided that in her way she is quite
| a shipbuilding triumph. She goes fifteen
| miles an hour, burns wood fuel only, car
ries load Of forty tons a draught not
| exceeding two feet three inches, has twin
screws that revolve in tunnels so arranged
that the blades do not hang below the bot
tom of the boat, and has four rudders Her
length is 100 feet. During the trip some
| tests were made Of her steering capabili-
ties which were shown to be very remark
| able Immediately the helm and the four
rudders were put over the boat swung
round almost within her own length. This,
of course is an invaluable quality when
navigating very tortuous river. But the
chief advantage Is that she can be pulled
to pieces very quickly and the sections
welded together again while afloat The
Teal Will shortly undergo this process be-
fore she is finally stationed on the Nile.
| Trance Between London and Paris
| There is more passenger traffic between
London and Paris than any other two
cities in Europe probably. There are vari-