The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-11-15
The Prime Minister Has His Own Troubles With Labor Leaders

ManAN EOE LlbGt suits.
 The mania for bringing libel suits damages is on the increase. another member of the Soap combine' having just brought suits against The Daily Mall and allied publications.
 The forces in favor of compromise on the licensing bill, now before Par lament, are growing. not only among those unconnected with the liouor fn-
 terest. but within the trade itself. There are, of course. strong influences which will resist the passing of the nill in practically any shape. Now, however. that the government has of Tered of it's own accord to modify the time limit clause in such a way as to give an extension of seven years in the enjoyment of the monopoly value. tt Is being suggested in unexpected quarters that if concessions Were caT- rfed little further d measure might be obtained which would be prefer able. whatever else might be said about t. to a scheme of high license duties. The ideal which is presenting itself % many minds is a plan under which
 the surviving licenses at the end of the fourteen years should have a run
 of seven years more. subject only to the discretion of the justices, and with out, of course. the compensation levy; the existing holders should be given. preferenee. subject to good conduct. In the event of a competltfon- for licenses. The difference between this and the government scheme is the depletion of the two-thtrds majority local option proposal and the insertion of the preferential proposal For the moment the government stands com- mitted to the two thirds majority local nkNFtnFa arh fV4a aVNr
 shaw's Opinion.
 George Bernard Shaw. in the course
 of an article on Mir Victor Grayson's attitude in the House of Commons.
 says:
 none cant but wonder gIoomfly whether MT. Grayson's action will be sufficient. or whether the unemployed problem will be ignored until an Eng fish city Is burnt and half the inhabi- tants stoned and beaten to upset order and the other half shet ard sabred Go restore it.. It is true that Mir. Grayson, though suspended, has succeeded in calling attention to the unemployed in Parliament, just as Mir. Frank Smith has in the London City Council buf will anything serious be done The last time the difficulty arose the part of Mir. Grayson was played by the Queen. With an impetuous contempt for the constitution which must have scandalized even Miss Christabel Pank- hurst. that eminent lady without vast ing time consulting ministers. swept to the public over the heads of the Houses of Parliament. No doubt 1t was the duty of the Prime Minister to move the suspension of the Queen. But he did not. perhaps because he could not count on the support of the Labor Par ty. and the lady victorious happy and glorious, forced Parliament to act. But pretence of organization by a sense- less machinery of fundamentally pur- poseless committees and the like, it did nothing but offer the mob money, who knows something about the prob lem, has been very wisely and properly doing all he can to prevent the mob from getting 1t.
 .crhat Is how the matter sta.ids at present. You have four capable per- sons of varied position. character and experience, namely. the Queen, Mir. Victor Grayson, Mir. Frank Smith, and Mir. Will Thorne, all driven to the same conclusion, to wit, that it is hopeless to induce the House of Commons and the County Council to deal with the starvation question by orderly meth ods. It is, of course, possible to arrive AL- Lu&C CphNfuciOu, 9SG' IO 0ECEQb the preservation of order as Heavens first law, and give up the struggle as hopeless. This appears to be the posi- tion of the Labor party. Only two La. Dor members, we are told voted against Mir. Grayson's suspension. No doubt 1 they had excellent reasons for their conduct; so had the Liberals and the Unionists. and the reasons appear to have been the same all~round, which fha avh sh ould have Labor members at all If Unionists and Liberals will do just as we'll"
 Great Cooperative Concern.
 The trade union delegates to whom was submitted Sir Christopher Fur ness's cooperative scheme have now 1t for adoption by the To- cal branches of the various unions con- cerned. If this advice be followed. the 1 and engineering yards at | the Hartlepools will become a great l cooperative concern. The men will l take up shares on easy terms of pay ment, and on these they will obtain a | fixed interest of { per cent, togethe CT | with such further dividends as the | surplus profit of the concern may yield. l There will be a works council. com- posed in equal numbers of represen- tatives of the men and representatives | of the firm. All grievances ana dis putes are to Come before the council. | which will also discuss various mattersi of common concern. If 1t falls to ef- | feet settlement in case of dispute, the matter will, go automatically to a. court of arbitration. Sir Christopher | Furness4 hopes that If the experiment | succeeds, it may lead ultimately to the | of the strike being aban- doned throughout the entire industry, and the stabltshment of a board of | composed of delegates from | the councils of the various works in | the area, with power to appoint an ar bitrator for the settlement of all gen | sral differences.
 As a result of the recent railway ! combine over 100 trains on the North l British Railway Conlpany's linez have | been withdrawn from service, the | The most important withdraf9ais are ] two corridor expresses from Edinburgh ! to Dundee and Aberdeen and vice versa. 1 and also the curtailment of6the Edin- burgh and Glasgow service. A num- 1 Der of Sunday trains are to be with drawn likewise. It Is. customary at | the beginning of the winter season to | reduce traffic. but the reductions an- are exceptionally numerous l aud are made in the interests of econ | omy. The public. complaints are dis= regarded. L
 England's first lady mayor fin her own right" Is to be Miss NJ. J. Dove, | and the town over which she, is to rule is High Wycombe. Miss Dove was chosen mayor r-elect at a meeting of the town council. which sat until almost midnight. She has consented to take ha aNE aa