Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-29
DETERMINED To FIGHT
House of Commons to Measure
Strength With Lords.
A STRUGGLE IMPENDING
Rejection of Amendments to Educa-
ton Bill First Step.
LONDON NEWS AND GOSSIP
Christmas Celebrations at Sandring
ham and Potsdam-Change at
the Austrian Court.
LONDON NEWS AND GOSSIP
Special Correspondence Of The Star.

| Special Correspondence of The Star.
| LONDON, December IL, 1906.
The liberal government is about to en-
| gage in a battle with the house of lords,
| the equal of which has not been seen since
| the reform bill was passed in 1882. They
| have thrown the education bill back at the
| hereditary legislators with their amend
ments refused. The government has taken
| a bold and courageous course in dealing
| with the lords amendment and their action
meets with the unanimous support of their
party. Never before has the upper house
| been met in so resolute and determined a
spirit. The day when the lords can recast
| and transform measure sent up to them
| by enormous majority of the commons
| has passed. and the action of the lower
| house in returning them all their amend
ments unconsidered will bring this fact
home to their minds.
The course taken by the government is
| very important precedent Indeed, It is
more of value as precedent than 1t Is
| merely with reference to the education
bill. The cabinet has, no doubt, fully
weighed not only the immediate but the
more remote results of Its action. The de-
| cison to return the education bill to the
upper house with the amendments made
| on it unconsidered is the first step in the
struggle with that assembly. 1t is this
which gives the action of the government
| special Importance. They are establishing
| a new but very important precedent, and 1t
| is certain that the education bill Is only
| the first of line of bills that will be re-
| turned to the upper house with an intlma-
| ton that these amendments cannot be con-
! sidered, on the ground that they have so
/ entirely altered them as to make them en-
| tirely different bills.
| A compromise may be made, some san
guine members expect 1t, but 1t is more
likely that the stiff-necked peers and
bishops of the "gilded chamber will &C
| cept the gauge of battle with the commons.
| The bill will then be dropped and another
brought In whose clauses will be even
| more drastic than the present measure.
| Many of the concessions to the Church
| of England contained in the present bill
| will be wholly lacking from the next one
! If this should be rejected by the lords. the
| government will Immediately appeal to
| the country and If returned with big
majority, which is most likely, as the
| parsons and lords are not too well loved,
| a new education measure would entirely
| alter the existing condition of things and
| reforms in the house of lords would also
| be promoted. So the peers stand in danger
| of losing many of their hereditary prfvi-
| leges by their present attitude: 1t is be-
lieved that the king sides with commons
! and would swing his influence to the popu-
| lar side.
Christmas in England.
| Everybody is hoping for a cold Christmas.
The country is fairly prosperous and the
| season lnlS year Will NC CSieul olCo Win
great heartiness and universally. Their
| majesties' Christmas dinner will be served
at Sandringham, their country house in
Norfolk. with most of the traditional Incl
| dents. The only members of the younger
| generation who will be staying at the hall
| during yuletide will be the children of the
1 Prince and Princess of Wales. The old
| supremacy of the Windsor kitchen has been
| impaired by the great alterations carried
out in the culinary department at .Bucking-
ham Palace. Several items destined for
| the royal table are being prepared, and
| box of biscuits and other bonbons will be
| dispatched early next week to various parts
| of Europe, including Madrid and Chris
| tiania The traditional baron of beef will
| be supplied from one of the cattle raised
| at the kings Flemish farm, and there WILL
| be a choice variety of dollhouse fruit from
| the Frogmore gardens, which will be sent
| down to Sandringham on Saturday week.
| The shops are full or original toys this
| year. There is a new series of wooden
| jointed toys, not aggressiveiy grotesque,
| that small children delight in. There are
| horses and other animals with deliciously
| humorous expressions. clowns and tumblers
and various circus performers, and they
can be made to stand or sit in almost any
position, and seem strong into the bargain
l have never seen so many candidates for
| the nursery stables, from new kind of
| hobby horse on three wheels with saddle
| to skin-covered horses and dOnkeyS on cas-
ters all of which can be ridden by child
without any grownup aid. Last year 1t was
all motor cars: Any little girl would re-
ioice in the little housewife series, con-
sisting of separate outfits for cook, house.
maid. washerwoman, etc, in which all the
| utensils whether irons and washtubs, roll,
ingpins and flour bins, or brooms, cap and
apron, can actually be used.
All Sorts of Toys.
| Then there is a miniature loom on which
| real stuff can be woven, and a hammering
toy, with which, parents will be glad to
/ H. ~ 1al
1t is impossible to describe the various
sorts of table cricket and table foot ball,
of which there are three or four new kinds
this year, but one is glad to see that the
imaginative side of the games has been
| remembered in a new and clever form of
halma called knight Grant" In which the
pieces are moved in the knights moves
in chess and In the Forty Thieves" game,
said to be invented by an Indian prince.
The newest top is the parachute top, which
sets free seven parachute tops of different
colors when spinning and combines a toy
and a game. The nursery army has been
reinforced by most fascinating troop
or should it be a cohort?-of early Roman
| soldiers. and game played with ordinary
| leaden soldiers called turning tactics will
appeal to older boys And the year is GER
| tainly notable for the advent of the Saliva
| ton Army among toy soldieN jerseys and
| hallelujah bonnets and all. But boy
| would be rather puzzled to know if they are
| fair targets for toy guns
| Christmas trees used all to come from
Norway and Germany. but England does
| not now depend SO much on the foreign
markets for them as formerly. The Eng
| lish market gardeners annually raise thou
sands of young frs and these in a few
days time will find their way to Covent
| Garden, to be distributed thence far and
| wide In this case the indigenous growth
| is able to drive the exotic product out Of
| the market, the freightage by rail and sea
| being against the foreign trees and in favor
Of those raised in closer proximity to the
| markets. Statesmen in Covent Garden are
| depending exclusively on home growers
| this year for Christmas trees, and to a
| large extent also for evergreens, hundreds
| of tons of which come to London from the
| home counties 1t is, however, different
| with mistletoe, the bulk Of which comes
from Normandy and Brittany, though fair