New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-08-16
NEWS OF TWO CAPITALS.


-o,,noed the vacillation Of the Prime Minister
and the ineptitude Of the Cabinet are not evil
sarces Of sweetness and light. At least two
h,,n6red Unionist members Of the House Of
,ro,,rons are left by the receding tide of
LEGISLATION high and dry upon the fence without
g wrap OF 2 1g leaf TO cover the nakedness OF
.ts;- oninions on the supreme question of the
d.v They may laugh over their sorry plight.
,,,t they do not find it amusing to face their
constituencies. and, like Mr.. Balfour, win first
On eoIfng or shooting in the country.
Meanwhile they viii have a large supply OF
light summer reading in the form Of CONNER
rial statistics from the Board of Trade and the
treasury. which can be employed with equal
Facility by free traders and protectionists in
,snsicating their principles. There will also be
,saAets circulated by the million from the Biz
bingham headquarters OF the preferential tarin
,,oyenaeRt and q large output Of stale Cob
senite literature from the free food and other
Truionist agencies. The publishers will also
be1p in producing an abnormally dry summer
bv distributing economies. Fisher Unwin sup
Elements the new edition OF Cobden's writings
with two volumes of essays by specialists one
edited By H. W. Massingham. relating TO the
conditions Of labor under protection. and the
ether edited by Harold Cox and dealing with
British industries under free trade. The dry
homes of Cobdenism will be kept astir by other
publishers. and the newspapers will pay more
attention during the midsummer period to
statistics than 10 the sorrows Of nursenlaids
and the declining popularity of marriage among
the lower classes.
Yet nothing can be settled until Mr.. Cham
he-lain addresses the working audiences at
Glasgow and Greenock in the first week of
October and lets the country know whether he
intends TO stand by or run away from the great
issue which he has raised. The trend Of public
opinion now seems heavily against him on the
taxation Of imported food. and there is an in
creasing probability that he will shift the issue
TO the taxation Of foreign manufactures merely
re.mposing and doubling last years registra-
ton duties on grain. He will be reinforced by
Lord Miners practical mind during the next
few weeks. and will also benefit by the pro
longsd rest which he has needed since his ex-
hausting labors in South Africa.
The American Ambassador remains on guard
during the summer. while the first and second
secretaries are taking the waters at Carlsbad
or shooting in Scotland. He is receiving visits
from commissioners, the counsel Of various dip
lomatic missions and Senators returning to
America. The first session Of the Alaska Com
mission viii be held on September at the
Foreign Office, when the date will be set for the
oral argument either week fortnight
three weeks later The American counsel will
probably ask for the shortest possible interval,
and with good reason. as little time ought to be
required for presenting the case, already clearly
defined in the printed argument Senators Lodge
and Turner are expected to join Secretary Root
and eX-Secretary Foster when they arrive at
the end Of August.
The American and Mexican Monetary Com
mission viii remain a few days in London be-
fore sailing for America The commissioners
have carried out the itinerary arranged before
they left London, but are not expected to reveal
the secrets Of their series of international con-
ferences at various capitals. and the results
VIII not be known until they return TO Wash
ington. Senator Depew is sailing homeward to-
day.
Wayne MacVeagh has passed through London
on the way to Paris and The Hague. He Will
attend the earliest session Of the arbitration
tribunal next September. and help 10 decide
whether there can be any preferred claims
against Venezuela on the part Of the blockading
powers. and what distribution can be effected
equItably among foreign creditors
The first session of the University Extension
Of Oxford has been well attended by English
and American teachers. oxford took up this
movement after Cambridge had demonstrated
lis utility, but has outstripped its rival,
having twenty thousand students, against ten
thousand. Lord Goschen. in an admirable ad-
dress on Libraries and Fiction predicted that
the number Of students enrolled for extension
work would be speedily increased TO fifty thou
sand INF