Omaha daily bee., 1910-02-12

For the first time since the reform bill
Of 1882. the British Parliament. which as
sembles Tuesday next, will present the
spectacle OF the party in power without
a clear party majority. In the eighteen
general elections In th~ree-quarters Of q
century, twelve won by the liberals and
six by the conservatives, the winning party
had a clear majority without the votes
OF allies, In fact, there had been but two
distinct parties up to 1885. when the Irish
nationalists became n united force In the
House Of Commons. The following year
the spousal Of home rule by Gladstone
drove a faction Of the liberal party, led
by Joseph Chamberlain. into the censerva-
tive party and made It the unlonist party.
Six ministries had votes, and on two oc-
casions-lSH and 1S52-one figure expressed
the majority OF the party In power. The
liberal coalition majority in the new Par
lament is estlmate at i22, but this esti-
mate Is based on the assumption that all
the Irish nationalists and laborites viii
support the ministry. Tha Is not at all
probable. The Healy-o'Brien faction Of
the nationalists is at wal with all parties,
and some Of the lsborltes are equally un-
reliable. II the ministry has a reliable
majority Of 100 votes it will be fortunate.
But that majority can be held together
only on the condition that the ministry
press to a conclusion modification or aboli-
ton Of the veto power Of the House of
Lords Stripping the peers Of the veto
power In respect to finance bills will not
satisfy the allies. II must embrace all
ministerial measures, for without some
such modification, such measures as home
rule have not a ghost Of a show in the
House Of Lords as at present constituted.
The life of the present Parliament. there
fore, depends on the ability of the ministry
to diminish or abolish the power with en-
trenched privilege and standpatlsm.
A writer in the Paris Monthly, Je sails
Tont, draws impressive contrasts between
the birthrate Of France and Germany, to
Illustrate the shTlnkage OF the former.
During the last five years for which
statistics are available, Frances population
only increased by 220. OO0. while Germany's
rose 4,0Oo,OOo. The writer puts il this way:
"As the average population Of a French
department Is 447.S15, Germany has a. dad
In one qutnquennlum to her population a
number equalling that of nine French lie
partments, while France has only ssHed
the population of a moderate sized tuwn.
According to the writer. Field Marshal
Won Moltke spoke the bitter truth when
he said that 1.-The French lose n battle
every day." At the present rate of decline
France will occupy In 1850 the lowest place
among the greater powers. In 1870 Frances
military resources were about equal TO those
Of United Germany, but in 1911 Germany
can put into the field twice as many men
as France, And yet the soil of France Is
rich as anywhere in Europe. To give a few
examples. the births during the last six
months in the smiling Cote do depart
ment were 2.S43 and the deaths 1883. In
the Yonne department the figures were re-
spectively, 1852 and 3,627. These numbers
tell their own tale of depopulation. Blame
for this condition Is placed by the writer
on French parents whose chief anxiety is
to leave their limited progeny we'll provided
for.
Unrest in India, little mentor Of which
filters through news channels, rs more dis
Quieting to the government of Great
Britain than the perplexities of a coalition
ministry. On the eve of the inauguration
of Lord Morley's reforms in India last
month, reforms insuring enlarged native
participation in provincial legislatures, a
native police inspector, Shams-ul-Alam,
conspicuous in running down seditious sus-
poets, was shot to death in a court room
in Calcutta by a Hindu youth. Just a
month before, in Bengal, Deputy Magis-
trate Jackson was shot down by a Mar
hatta Brahmin, Is or 20 years Of age. These
tragedies, together with the assassination
Of Sir William Wyllie in London last July,
are regarded by the London correspondent
Of the New York Evening Post as evidence
of the spread of nihillstic doctrines in the
far east. What really adds to the Sc
robustness OF the situation" says the corre-
spondent, lis the temperament Of the In
dian terrorist. In each Of the instances
cited above, the assassin in question ex-
claimed, as soon as caught: Don't catch
me. 1 have done my duty. / am not run
ming away The Hindu nihilist makes a
religion of anarehism. and It is as a rellg-
ious fanatic rather than as a political OK
tremlst that he engages himself In blow
ing up governmental officials. 1t is this
attitude of his that is really dangerous,
since the East Indian by nature is a
religious enthusiast, a devotee before any
thing else, and the spark from the terrorist
campfire may set the masses ablaze.' The
correspondent further notes tina THE re-
pressive measures undertaken to blot out
NNANAA AAAA3AA "AA AAAaAA A1N0 RAONkN NAuAAl
Ineffective. The conviction OF native news
paper men and the SUPPRESSION of their pub
locations has only resulted in agitation be-
ing driven underground whereas before
that the seditionist did not dare 10 ex-
press himself in the open as boldly as he
might desire. now, in secret conolave, he
can be as acrimonious as he may choose"
Municipal politics continues to clash with
archaeology at Rome. Commentators Boni
has sent in his resignation from the COM
mission for the iona Monumentsle, which
was appointed to guard the antiquarian in
terests Of the district between the Porta
Capenaand the Aurelian Wall. in which are
included the baths Of CaTacalla, the tombs
Of the Scipios and the arch OF Drusus. The
other members Of the commission. accord
ing to him. are chiefly concerned with
building a new boulevard through the dts
triet with no regard for archaeology. He
expresses his readiness, at the same time,
TO aid in such work within the gene as
has to do with his province.
ss
Rural delivery of malls in Germs-y is
to be FASTENED, wherever the condition OF
roads will permit, by the use OF motor