The Washington times. (Washington [D.C.]) 1901-1902, 1901-08-18
LONDON NEWS AND GOSSIP
rsriiament's Close Marked BY the
FiHxIe OF q Sensation.

II
Psriiament's Close Marked BY the
Ffzzle OF y Sensation.
| LONDON, Aug. E-Pariiament goes out
| today under the influence of last nights
final fizzle. The Nationalists felt naturaI-
ly agsrieved at the suggestions OF the
| most rabid OF London Tory journals that
they were corruptible in their Parliament
tary dealings. and their Indignation was
| increased by the belief that the author OF
| the insulting article was Viscount Mount
morres. an Irish peer of the Ulster ultra
Loyaiist group. whose father took a Ieao-
ing part as an Irish magistrate in at
tempting to suppress the Land League in
Galway. and whose assassination created
so great stir. But the antiQuated Parlia-
mentary breach of privilege procedure is
'he worst possible means OF furnishing
sucn journalistic excess, and most men
reel as the Spectator today says. that
the Rouse OF Commons should remember
that It's members occasionally Islander the
press In Parliament and that the pre<s
mas no remedy, owing to the privilege pf
the slsnderers- The press gets on yerv
well without being able to call the MEM
bers OF Parliament 10 account: why shouid
not the House of Commons be able to en-
cure the accusations of the press with
breaches al
privilege which should be heavily and
seriously punished are attempts to bribe
or corruptly influence members OF Parlia-
ment.
The other political sensation is today's
reiterated assertion by and on behalf of
Mr.. Cecil Rhodes that In 1852 he sub
scribed $4,000 to the Liberal party
through Mr.. Schnadborst. on condition of
being assured that the party would not
order the evacuation of Egypt. Why, one
hears generally asked, does Mr. Rhodes
rake up this matter just now? Whatever
may be the exact Interpretation to be
given to the affair by the full correspond
ence now on its way from South Africa,
the most likely suggestion is that he
hopes to discredit what he would call the
pro-Boer Liberals, and show the public
firstly, how nearly Mr.. Morley, Mr.. Glad
stone, and their immediate following were
to the abandonment of Egypt though he,
Rhodes, held IL to be the keystone of
Engiands whole position in Africa; Sec
ondly, how he used his influence to turn
the balance against what was then called
the policy of scuttle. committed the party,
and SO saved Africa. Thus runs the game
OF politics.
In view of the recent discussions here
on tuberculosis, special interest Is taken
in DIR. Darembergs report in the Jour
nal des Debats' of Frances battle
against the disease He declares that, year
after year. larger numbers fall victims to
1t in France. One-third of the total deaths
are, indeed, due to consumption. This
appalling fact he connects with what he
calls the frightful progress OF drunken
ness. French regulations concerning the
manufacture of alcoholic drinks permit
impure alcohol to oe put into the market
without fear of the law; hence, he ar
CUES battles against alcohol and tuber-
culosis should be fought together. But
the French Government has not yet
taken any action whatever in this double
battle.
Despite all the sneers of the old school
of military advisers, the bicycle is clearly
destined to play its part IN the active
warfare of the future. 1t is believed that
the recent military maneuvres at Alder
shot that cyclists are of considerable
practical utility in war. A corps of
motorists Is also anticipated as an adj
junct to the cyciist section.
The report of the well-known French
expert, Captain de Montbrison, upon the
British military rifle is somewhat discon-
certing. He suggested. for the purpose of
testing. standard approved by number
of other experts The result proved that
only three rides in use in Europe are
British rife is placed twelfth on the list.
The Dutch and Roumanian rifles, both OF
the Mannlicher type. tie for first position;
the Spanish rifle is third, the Italian fifth,
the Russian sixth, the German eighth.
and the Turkish tenth. As an indication
Of the unprejudiced character of the tests,
it should be stated that the French ex-
perts rated their own weapon, the Lebel,
as only slightly superior to the Lee-Met-
ford.
Assyriologists are much interested in ?
hf n2Nl IrsnrE hair rsV.Qr <ad htF he.
thority of the trustees of the British
respecting the unique series Of -
baked-clay tablets and fragments from =
the ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, pre-
served in the Museum The announce
ment. as made by the Manchester
Guardian" says that from the enormous
number of these tablets a selection has
been made of the whole of the cuneiforrn
texts relating to legends concerning the
creation of the world. and the mythical
origins and deeds of some of the earliest
and most famous kings of Mesopotamia
with a view to the publication of the coll
lected edition of these texts Since George
Smith, the distinguished cuneiform schol-
ar. indicated, in 1876, the remarkable re-
semblance between certain portions OF
the creation legend as narrated in the
cuneiform texts on the tablets discov-
cred by him at the mound of konyunjik,
at the ruins of Nineveh. and passages in
the early CHAPTERS of Genesis. several
rendertngs of them have appeared in
English French. and German, and inter
est in the subject has been worldwide
In America, In particular. the study has
made great progress. Among the texts
now to be published for the first time is
Mr.. Smith in his work. and after his
death lost sight of for about twenty-five
years, and only identified during the ex-
animation of the Collection last year.