The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-02-17
LONDON NEWS AND GOSSIP.
Parliament and Its Relations with
the New Reign.

OF the fact. The prime business for which
Parliament met on Thursday was to pay
the war bill and grant the King mors
| money for his royal establishment. As
holder of the purse strings, the House Of
| Commons is the only body that really mat
tiers in these great national concerns, yet
in the gorgeous royal pageant at the open
ing Of Parliament only fraction ofs the
Commoners were allowed to take part,
These were pushed away into an obscure
corner of the House of Lords after a
| tussle and scramble not dissimilar to q
football scrimmage, and six-sevenths OF
the peoples representatives were calmly
ignored altogether in order that duchesses
and countesses, and peers daughters and
aunts might make the gilded chamber
glisten with their diamonds.
Yet so complacent are the peoples rep
resentatives that, despite this buffeting
and contumely, the Liberals, Radicals, and
Tories in the House of Commons Will
unite in giving the King all he walls in
the way of money. thankful that Mr.. Bal
four is able to announce that there are no
debts contracted by the sovereign before
MS accession. That at least, is a new ex-
perience with English heirs to the throne,
and sweeps away widespread fancies that
the King had as Prince of Wales become
deeply indebted to the Upton type of
English nouveaux riches.
But through all this pageantry. Of which
the Englishman is getting his fill just
now, there peeps out a grave and growing
anxiety. Travellers and officials from In
dis. China, and South Africa all tell the
same tale. The failure to close up this
South African war is paralyZing Great
Britain's interests all the world over. An
Englishman of some renown as a traveller
and pubiicist described to me this week
the scene after raising the siege of Pekin.
of which he was a participant AS the al
lied troops marched through Sir Claude
Macdonald remarked to those about him.
We'll, it is Russian procession" And
so it was. Sir Claude had cabled for 10. 600
British troops, and had also urged the
British Government to suggest that 10000
American troops be sent. so that the An
gio-American prestige might not be preju-
diced with the Chinese in the presence of
Russia's force.
The British troops could not be sent be-
cause Of the South African war. America
had other things than China to think of
at the moment. In India Great Britain's
preoccupation in South Africa Is proving
similarly embarrassing to Lord Curzon
and the British Governors there, and at
home the Chancellor of the Exchequer is
at his wits end to know how best to face
the colossal ever growing war bill and at
the same time satisfy the heavy demands
of the King for his civil list. of Ireland
for land purchase. of the army for in
creased pay to the soldier and army re-
form generally. and of the navy for the
absolutely essential money to complete
the arrears of the shipbuilding programme
and keep Great Britain in undoubted SUI
premacy on the seas.
End the war" is the ore cry every
where. and the Ministry will not end it
surrender of the Beers, nor would the
present temper Of the English people toll
crate any other ending; yet so lacking are
British Ministers and officials even now in
ordinary foresight, resolution. and BUSH
ness organization that General Kitchener
must for months be without the re-en-
forcements of mounted men for which he
urgently prayed seven weeks ago and
without which De Wet and Botha with
their mobile commandos have it pretty
much their own way.
Tales from Aldershot this week show
that the War ONCE is treating the new
yeomanry recruits in the old fashion of
neglect and contempt for anything outside
of the regular army, and that for all the
severe lessons of the past year and for
all Earl Roberts accession to the position
of head of the army. the War Office is
pretty much the same as ever, de-
pository of encrusted prejudice hopelessly
involved in red tape and WORKOUT meth
DDS. If there were one real unofficial
leader in English public life the country
would at this moment be ringing with
indignant protests, and the Ministry would
have to mend their ways quickly or go.
Young as is the session of the Pariia-
ment which opened on Thursday, Ireland
is already managing to make her voice
heard. Her most insistcnt cry concerns
the land problem.
There are inklings in the Kings speech
of the Ministers timid doubt of the effect
upon their Ulster followers of pers,sting
in Lord Salisburys fiat mon possumus"
of few months back. 1t is announced
that the Irish Land Purchase bill viii be
brought in if time shall permit. This
pleases neither the Ulster men nor the
NationaIists, and 7. W. Russell, ex-Tory
Minister though he is, is understood to
have decided to join John Redmond, the
Nationalist. in pressing for legislation
providing for the immediate creation OF
an occupying proprietary by the estab-
lishment of the system of compulsory sale
and purchase.
Mr.. Russells position is just this: The
act of 1881 made the Irish landlord and
tenant partners. The tenant is the work
ing partner. and supplies the working
Plant, the whole capital and does the
whole work. The landlord is a sleeping
partner from January to December, and
does absolutely nothing. save draw out
Of the firm a sum of money, which the
business cannot afford. The proposal is
to buy out the landlord at seventeen
years purchase of rent. say $500 coo 600,
paid in guaranteed land stock There is
500, GOO, 900 already in hand, being the
unexpended balance of the land stock
authorized in 1891. new credit of $780,
coo. 900 is therefore needed to make the
State the universal landlord in Ireland.
Mr.. Russell warns his late colleagues
in the Ministry that, unless such legal
means be taken to settle this question,
the only real Irish question, an undoubt
ed uprising of the Irish people viii find
other means of forcing out the landlord,
Illegal combination.
The following interesting item from
Hamburg is published here: The Hans
Woermarn of the Woermann Line of
steamers, which has just left Hamburg,
has taken out a quantity of building ma
terial for Walisch Bay for the Beers set
Ting in German territory there. A num-
Der of Boer frst-class passengers were
also on board, taking horses supposed to
be for breeding purposes. There is likely
to be a great deal of activity in Waliisch
Bay before long Certain powerful Eng
lish interests are directing their attention
to the region. Various interesting de-
are impending, especially as
regards steamship communication with
The literary secret over which such
stupeudous fuss has been made at last is
out. 1t is now generally known that Lau-
renee Houseman is the author of An |
Love Letters p" The dis |
closure has caused some criticism OF the |