The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-10-09

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leEel pment - the polItie4 ns-Itu-
.tlan- ~ Great Britain. Her. every
idea is thre he'd DLt ana every meas
IRE moulded into permanent FORM.
But - return 10 the minister II war.
NJ HalIane might be taken for Tom
l. Johnson. CIeEelauds roaabtabl.
mayor, SD much ) n like him in face
ana figure. He is plausible 4n speech
ANA 50 g~ood-EatureI that III. ONE can
be angry with him. however much ne
may dissent from his conclusion. For
two hours he held the attention OF
The house ana gaIlery-au unusual
feat in London. where the yeaghes
are not so long as in America He
was frequently encouraged rs cries of
Hca-, Hear the usual applause i'm
the house If II was no.
ticeable that the hcartiesr responses
were drawn forth by his expressions
in favor Of peace and arbitration. The
reorganization scheme which he pre-
scented provides Tor a reduction of
several thousand men ana a consider
able decrease in the total cost. but To
make the scheme more acceptable the
remaining regiments are SO disposed
as to give the country a larger ng1tinG
force than it now has. It was inter-
esting to watch the opposition
DEIlt4I'N. 4itEt - iNHtAA'42 N4S'#8tFAN
attack everything that the new gov
eminent proposes. EX-War Minister
Foster followed Mr.. Haldane and
picked flaws in his plans, but did not
receive the attention accorded the war
minister.
The army question is ~arousing con
siderable interest. and the govern
ment bill is likely to have more Oppo-
sition in the hOuse of lords than in
the In fact, Lord Roberts
has already attacked the bin in ad-
vance in a speech which affords con-
elusive proof Of the tendency of man
to magnify his own calling. Nothing
better illustrates the conservatism Of
the house Of lords than the fact that
the liberal party can claim but one
tenth Of the membership of that body,
While it has 200 majority in the popu-
lar branch of parliament. 1t must not
be supposed. however. that al the
bills passed by the house of commons
will be defeated in the house of lords.
for while a large majority Of that
house may really oppose a measure
they recognize nat the very existence
of their body would be jeOpardized il
it opposed the people OF any impOr-
tant question. NOminally. the house
of lords has an equal voice with the
house Of in the enactment of
laws. but as a matter of fact it does
not dare to exercise the power Whicn
it has.
The navy department has reduced
the appropriation for large vessels,
and it is certain that at the next
Hague conference Great Britain will
be found supporting a proposition for
the limitation of ornaments. Mr..
Edmund Robertson, the financial sec
rotary to the admiralty, presented the
governments scheme for reduction
made a favorable impression upon
the house of
The minister of education. Mr.. Bir-
relI. has been the busiest of the min
listers so far. He has had charge of
the educational bill which has been
under discussion for several months
and which after being perfected in
the committee of the whole. has been
passed to a third reading by a major
ity of 1872. As the bin deals WAth re-
ligion as we'll as education, and con-
Germs the children of the country, it
arouses deep interest. In England the
public school system has grown up as
an addition TO the church schools, or
rather the public school have supple
mented the work formerly lone by
the private schools. As these schools
increased in numbers and Importance
the church schools began to ask for
a division Of the school funds, and
this, as it usually does, brought into
politics the question OF religious in
structiOn in the schools. As long as
the private schools, were supported by
private contributions or endowment
their religious ~nstruction was entire
Iy in their own hands, bat when these
schools began to draw their support
from the public treasury the taxpay-
ers objected to paying for instruction
in the creed Of any other church than
their own. Four years ago the CON
servatiVes enacted Il law which gave
to the established church Of England
considerable advantage over the non
COnfOrmiSt churches in the manag
ment of the public schools, and this
led to a campaign against the law by
the nOn-cOnformists. Their opposition
to the conservative government con-
tributed not d little to the liberal vic
tory and the bill now under considera-