Omaha daily bee., 1911-05-06

II Rsr nations Of the Earth
Tainted and disputed elections in Great
Britain go to the courts for settlement
Partisan investigating committees are
given no chance to develop skill in sup
pressing essentials and emphasizing non
essentials or to apply the whitewash brush
IN artistic fashion Outwardly. at least,
the courts seem free from partyism, and
get to the truth and declare t. The I'M
seating OF the member Of Parliament for
the Exeter division, on the ground that
his majority OF five votes were tainted
because his agents spent money unlawfully
In hiring messenger boys to do some err
rands, affords American critics a text for
laboTious editorials on the better order
of things politically abroad. Compared with
American instances the British system run
away with the halo. But the luster OF the
halo soon furnishes on close inspection
The political system which appears clean
at the ballot box is tainted in all other
directions, A recent book on THE Party
system" written by Hiiaire Belize, until
recently, a liberal member Of Parliament
in collaboration with Cecil ChesterSon.
bluntly charges the two British parties
with traffcking in titles and legislation
treasures According to the authors, on
the drink problem the conservatives sup
port the brewers and the liberal party sup
ports the grocers and the mineral water
manufacturers. and in each case an ample
Quid pro quo 10 paid into the party funds.
| The purchase Of honors is too notorious
TO be seriously disputed. Men are recon-
mended for knighthoods, for baroneteies
and for peerages whose only possible claim
| to such honors must have been large pay
ments for party purposes. Nobody pre-
| tends that this scandal does not exist"
| comments the Liberal star Of London. NO
body denies that the party system is based
upon II. But the cancer will never be cut
out because 1t suits ali parties to con-
! ceal It," A like scandal drove Grevy from
power in France years ago, the party diff
ference being that in France individuals
profited by the sale of the Legion OF Honor,
while in Britain the party treasury is the
beneficiary
Four bad seasons in succession, The
clutch Of the money lenders and the gauge
OF the middlemen are the sources of dis
content in the champagne district of
France. The gross profit upon champagne
when the bottles are first filled averages
So per cent for the producer. From this
must be deducted the cost of holding the
wine for the four years required to mature.
The wine unlabeled yields good profit
at $40 dozen bottles. The label boosts
the price to $3.50 a dozen. The small
proprietor" writes the London Mail corre-
spondent, wonders why the hotels and
restaurants in every capital Of Europe get
a couple of dollars for every franc he has
borrowed Freight and duty do not explain
the difference. He wants to know why his
| VINE has increased it's value almost ten
fold since he parted with II. The agitation
Is certain to extend, and already there are
disquieting signs in the Gironde, the Dord-
| ogne and the Lot-e t-Garonne districts The
| four Languedoc departments have not for
] gotten their treatment by Nj. Clemen-
ceau few years ago and are only wait
ing for the signal. Meanwhile the French
chamber is In discord on the essential
points and the prime minister has no So
luton to offer"
Thirty odd years ago, when Parnel. Big
gar and Healy had reduced parliamentary
obstruction to a science and brought the
House OF Commons to a standstill on the
Irish question, William e Gladstone pro-
posed the system of closure which started
the legislative wheels in motion. The APP
plication of the muzzle brought from the
Irish division vehement protests against
profaning the sacred right 10 talk" All
in vain. The muzsle was applied and
proved so good an expedient that the sue
ceeding tory administration made It work
overtime. In due time, however, the Irish
members had their joyous revenge. 1t
came with the bill limiting the power of
the House OF Lords. The tories did most
Of the talking and undertook to make 1t
a continuous performance THE sacred
n right to talk became a bore to the Irish
members and they rallied with the major
\ ity in putting the kangaroo" mu7ele
on the opposition, screaming with Joy as
the straps frightened. The fun derived from
the operation compensated for the knocks
OF former years.
The intensity of religious feeling in the
Holy Land is manifested in riotous demon
STRAIT against the syndicate OF evcava-
tors operating in the vicinity Of Jerusalem.
Profaning the temple provokes among Mo-
hammedans q frenzy as intense as Peter
the Hermit's story OF the PROCLAMATION OF
the sacred places in the Holy Land. started
in western Europe nine centuries ago. The
mosque Of Omar, said to have been pro-
faned Dy the eAcaNdloTS, mas peen nick
named the inviolate," because of the rev.
erence in which It is held 1t was built in
6SS A D., by the Caliph Omar, second head
of the Mohammedan church. The mosque
was named for the csliph. The mosque is
octagonal in shape and IL built OF colored
marble and tiles 1t contains the sacred
rock" which formerly was believed by the
Jews to have been the place where Abra-
ham planned to sacrifice Isaac. The Mos
lens say that the rock was the scene OF
the prophet Mohammed's ascension, and
that he left the imprint Of his feet upon it,
, The laborite government of Australia
has encountered sharp check in its pro-
gram OF so-called progressive legislation.
Two vital amendments to the constitution,
detailed in this column recently, were re-
jeoted at the polls, The purpose OF the
amendment was to wipe out the bounds Of
state power defined by the high court de-
| ctsion Of last year, and TO lodge in parlia-