The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1905-06-26
SCANDAL
THE THEME
But One Topic Which British
Are Discussing.
KITCHENER AS "AUTOCRAT"
Army Affairs Come in for Major Share
of Attention of the British
Public at This
Time.
KITCHENER AS "AUTOCRAT"

New York, June 2s.-The Evening
Post, in a copyright cable from London
says:
Scandal Is the keyword Of the week
in British politics. Englishmen with
out distinction of party felt profoundly
uncomfortable, even humilitated, by the
reflection that, despite a long process
sion of reforming war ministers and
schemes of reconstruction, the British
army still is exposed, under war pres
sure, and for years afterward, to the
grossest waste of public money with a
complete absence of the most ordinary
business supervision, while there also
exists a strong presumption of personal
corruption on the part OF certain OH
GERS.
| A royal commission with special semi
| judicial powers will sift the personal
and general charges of corruption and
Encouragement, and next week the
House of Commons, at the instance of
| the Liberal leaders, sets itself to con.
slider how far the ministers themselves
are responsible.
| The Spectator says:
mo one pretends for moment either
| that the ministers are corrupt them
selves, or that they knowingly have
sheltered people who were corrupt. The
royal commission in this sense will not
be trying them. Quite apart from the
commission, however, the House of
Commons has to consider whether the
government as whole and the various
secretaries of state for war were or
were not negligent when they failed to
take advantage of the repeated warnings
given to them, whether the circum-
stances were too powerful for them and
they became the victims of such circum-
stances rather than men guilty of any
want of care and forathought in the pub
| lie interest"
! 1t was on the allegations Of a cordite
scandal that Liberal ministry was UNI
seated. If the electorate had a chance
to-day, and the ministry was not in
ltrenched behind a majority of so, it is
scarcely doubted that q similar fate
would attend the Balfour government
today.
| BY a significant coincidence, the mo-
Iment that sees the British army system
in chaos under civil control finds the
military chief of the Indian army COM
Ipelling the British ministry TO acguiesce
lin the practical radiance from civil con-
troll of the Indian army. The govern
ment's enemies allege that Mr.. Balfour
and his colleagues are quite unconscious
lof the grave political constitutional
change which they have SO lightly made.
| In the words of the Manchester Guard
liam: THE question with them rather
was whether it would be better for the
Conservative party, from whose welfare
| they think the welfare of the country
| is inseparable, that Lord Kitchener,
lately a popular hero, should resign, or
! that Gen. Sir Edmund Files, the military
member of the Niceroy's council, whose
name most people in England never have
heard. OF course, there is the only one
answer to a question asked in the in
| tere5ts of immediate comfort. Lord
Kitchener must be concilitated. 1t is
true that the unanimous opinion of the
Niceroy's cabinet is that to coneiliate
| is dangerous to the state; but, reflects
the government, we have survived the
damaging blue books, and another mill
ltary resignation will burst the khaki
drum forever. So Gen. Files goes and
Lord Kitchener stays"
/ Now that India is to have her military
lautoerat, win England be ultimately
| led to seek relief from the persistent
muddle Of civil control in similar
lmomentous departure from her constitu-
tional safeguard against militarism?
! The greatest interest has been ex-
cited by the discovery OF Prof. Burke of
1.-THE Cavendish laboratory, which may be
summarized thus After years Of mega
Tive experimentation on the phosphor-
essence OF cyanogen, which Phuger de-
dared 70 contain the element of life,
| Mr.. Burke resolved to test it with radi
lum and placed it in the test tube with
sterilized bouillon. After couple of
DAYS, cultures were obtained Of atoms,
(which sub-diyided on reaching certain
size. Placed upon fresh portions of
sterillzed bouillon these erowths con-
| tinue to grow slightly, thus showing
that the influence of the radium is only
I:nitiatory. Prof. Sims Woodhcad pro-
lnounccd them neither bacteria nor crys-
tails; but they present many appearances
| of vitality, and seem to indicate the
possibility of spontaneous generation
Mr.. Burke contends that the expert
ment is not in the least destructive of
the deistic conception of the universe.
"In fact, if it can be shown that dust
and earth can produce life, on account
of their radio-activity, it would only
confirm the truth of biblical teaching"
Lending men Of science maintain an
latitude Of reserve as to the vitality of
lProf Burke's radiobes.