The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-05-05
LONDON NEWS AND GOSSIP.
Recurring Reports That Lord Sails
bury VIII Soon Retire.

Recurring Reports That Lord Sails
bury VIII soon Retire.
LONDON. May 4-Once again the poll
ticians talk Of Lord Salisburys retire
ment as one of the, certainties of the near
future. and pont SUCCESSFULLY to the an
nouncement that Mr. Balfour will take
the Premier's place at Mondays demon
stratfon of the Primrose League. which
has always been pet appearance of the
Marquis. Such rllmors are inevitable in
the case of a man who is past his sew
enty-first birthday, and compelled under
medical advice to absent himself in
warmer foreign lands just when British
politics are at the keenest. 1t is quite GER
tain that he would retire tomorrow II the
succession were clearly defined. but know
ing. as he does, that his disappearance
must at once widen the gulf always ex-
listing between the Liberal Unionists and
the Tory sections of the Ministerial par
ty, he will cling on from sheer sense of
duty SO long as the doctors permit.
1t is marvel to unprecedented observers
that the Cabinet should come through the
budget crisis without an open split. Out
side the Cabinet, Ministerial differences
are of the acutest. and the fact that the
Ministerial majority fell within the last
d
would have been pretty well wiped out
but for the accidental absence of certain
Nationalists. indicates by how slender a
thread even the most powerful BRITISH
Governments hold office.
BY sheer force of character and the IN
herent strength of his case. the Chancel-
lor of the Exchequer is overcoming the
strenuous political campaign directed
against his budget, and especially the coal
tax The furious threats of the mine
owners and the workers in unison to
strike, and so paralyze the industry of
the country, unless the tax is removed.
leave the Chancellor unmoved. 1t is too
palpable trick The position is well pic
tured in Punch" this week, where King
Coal enthroned on champagne bottles and
swollen money bags protests that this
paltry shilling per ton on exported coal
will bring him to beggary; but, neverthe-
less. such agitations are very disturbing
to a Ministry dependent on votes.
So. also, in the vigorous campaign on
which the opposition is embarking against
the Governments new army scheme. for
while Liberals oppose the scheme on the
ground of its militarism and its failure to
get to the root of the question by reform
In administration, many Ministerialists,
including the army spokesman, oppose 1t
on the grounds of its timid reliance on
volunteer soldiers and its failure to give
the empire a much larger professional
army with increased pay. These Ministe-
rial grumblers number eighty. Winston
Churchill Is one of them. and proposes an
amendment postponing all army reform
until the war is over. II the Liberal OPP
position and the Nationalist also support
this amendment. the Ministry may be
placed in a tight corner. To strengthen
weakened supporters. Mr.. Brodrick,
Secretary Of State for War, announced
this week that the Ministry will stand or
fall by the army proposals in their en-
tirety.
An educational problem of great politi-
cal completely also faces the Ministry
Their supporters in Parliament, in
Church. and in the press demand that the
fullest advantage be taken in the inter-
ests of the church-schools of the Law
Courts decision that the school boards
act Illegally in spending rate-payers
money on any education beyond the
barest elements the three RS in fact. At
last English ciericalism sees its way to
the Scotch competition of State primary
schools. which is killing off their sec
tartan system. On the other hand, the
Ministerialistic party, especially in the
big centres. includes many warm friends
OF school board education. and the Min
istry has to choose which section it will
offend Altogether the Ministry is feeling
most uncomfortable
A significant feature of the census re-
turns issued today is that towns of the
second and even the third magnitude.
such as Manchester. Birmingham. Liver
pool. Leeds. and Sunderland, are growing
faster relatively than London. This is ex-
planned by the magnetism of manufacture
Ing life and high wages. Only three out
failed to increase. Meanwhile the rural
districts show a persistent decline. Eng
land is fast becoming a land of town
dwellers. while dotard agriculture goes on
IN the old way, despising the means of
helping the farmer 50 successful in Amer
lea. Australasia. and northern Europe
Improved sanitation. longer holidays in
creasing addiction to bicycling and sport
and the ever-growtng area of the town
parks are, however. making urban resi-
dence more and more healthy.
The latest letters from Cape Town sug-
gest that Sir Alfred Miners need for rest
was more urgent than appeared from his
official request for a holiday The over
whelming difficulties of his position OPP
press him. and the persistent hostility of
the leaders of the Cape Dutch and their
friends in England, which formerly
passed unheeded, now are able to worry
him. 1t is, indeed. an open question with
him whether his health may not after
all. induce him to ask the Ministry to re-
lieve him from the task of governing the
new South African colonies.
The Ministry themselves would not pro-
pose such a step. but undoubtedly Sir AL
freds voluntary withdrawal would great
ly simplify the qualification OF the Beers
and of Cape Dutch. for. as Mr.. Chamber
lain admitted recently. his personality
was the greatest obstacle with General
Botha and the fighting Beers in the recent
peace negotiations. One section of the
Ministry, alarmed at the protraction of
the war and its gigantic cost Of seven and
one-half million dollars weekly insist
that the time has come to declare the war
at an end and treat all combatants found
with arms rebels. As matters stand,
no one pretends to foresee the end of the
war. for General Kitcheners task is no
less than this, to sweep out 1900 agile
and desperate men broken up into rowing
bands moving among friends in a most
difficult country three times as large as
England, Scotland, Wales, and ireland to-
gether.
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