The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-09
POLITICIANS OF !. ENGLAND SHOCKED At Indifference of People in
 Crisis" MEMORIAL OF EDWARD Bronze Statue of Late King Will Be Erected on Granite
 Pedestal in St. James
 Park
MEMORIAL OF EDWARD
By PHILLIP EVERETT

London, April S.-(Special. )-En glish politicians, who, like their American colleagues, have long been in the habit of considering themselves by far the most important people in the country, are deeply pained and shocked to dis cover the calm indifference with which the bulk of the population regard the present political situation, though 1t may actually and in the disappearance of the lords from the political arena
 unless they have more valid claim than the mere accident of birth.
 While the parliament bill was actu- ally occupying the attention of the house of commons some slight interest
 was displayed in the prospects of that measure, but as soon as 1t was taken off the stage nobody seemed to care if lit never came back" The only peo-
 pie really interested in 1t seem to be the Irish and especially MT. Redmond, to whom the passing of the bill is the one chance of obtaining home rule, or rather 1t was for even within the con servative party voices are heard, meek as yet of course, but none the less persistent, that home rule must be granted Ireland sooner or later, and that it might as well be promised now. that a truly harmonious nation might celebrate the coronation of King George.
 Apropos of the conservative party, it seems more hopelessly split up ev
 cry day and doomed In all probability to share the fate that overlook the old liberal party at the. time of Gladstone's home rule proposals in 1886. Really the two events are quite plainly con- nected.
 When the liberal unionists 25 years ago
 left Gladstone's banner they added great ly to the power of the conservative party.
 For few years they tried to act as an independent party under the leadership of Chamberlain and Lord Harrington, the later Duke of Devonshire, but they grad ually grew more and more conservative and when Lord Salisbury formed his third cabinet in 1895 they have indeed become part and substance of the conservative party.
 The liberal party, on the other side, gained considerably by getting rid of its most moderate elements and ever since then liberalism in England has grown more and more radical and has kept bet ter steps with the political evolution in more modern and democratic countries It was the democratic nucleus of the party that followed Gladstone in his struggle to do justice to Ireland, and the liberal party has since then been far more homogeneous than before. The conservatives have not been equally fortunate 1t has cost Bafour years of patient labor to heal the wound caused by Chamberlain's policy of tariff reform and now, when the fate of the house of lords hangs in the balance, it is felt how | many are the opposing factions within | the thrice defeated conservative party
 The men who left the liberal camp have no desire to do battle to protect an an tiouated house of lords with it's absolute veto. Their old liberal ideas are still strong enough to keep them from becom- ing the champions of an upper chamber That is absolutely undemocratic. They desire strong second chamber as a hulwark against the dreaded socialism,, but they have absolutely no respect for the hereditary principle and ac- cordingly tn ey recommend a reform of the house of lords. which the old con servatives abhor. BalIour as leader of
 this army has therefore no choice but
 to revive his, referendum plans and,
 like MT Micawber, hope that some
 thing will turn up. But time is short and the danger of a complete collapse
 of the proud conservative party more
 overhanging every day
 
 The national memorial to the late King Edward will be erected in St.
 James park near Marlb orough house, in
 which he lived so many years as Prince of Wales. ..-
 The memorial. which 1t Is fervent- ly hoped, will be less ugly than the ether works of the sculptor's are in London, is to consist of a bronze statue of the late King upon granite pc destal with allegorical groups in bronze.
 In order that the monument may be seen to advantage important changes must be made in St. James park. The road which passes from Birdcage Walk on the south to the Mall on the north will be windened into a stately ave- nue and will be diverded from it's present direction so as to proceed di- rectly from Queen Anne's Gate to Marl- borough Gate. The familiar bridge from which people watch the gulls in
 winter and from which may be seen in certain atmospheres one of the most picturesque and romantic views that any city in the world can offer. will disappear and its place will be taken
 by a more elaborate and probably far less attractive structure.
 At the point where this new avenue joins the Mall and where an archway
 was recently erected, will be kept an open space opposite Marlborough Gate.
 Here the memorial will stand
 The sum of $250,000 has been sub scribed Of this $150.O00 will be spent on the monument and $100,000 or the |new avenue and bridge.
 Like the United States, England also has an immigration problem to solve, and bill to deal with the undesirab ble alien immigrant will probably reach the second reading in the house of com mons this month.
 The measure proposes that every alien immigrant, that s a person sub ject to inspection under the act of 1905, shall be required to register his place of abode and that every ship bringing alien immigrants to the United King dom-irrespective of the number on each ship-7shall be liable to inspec- tion.
 Increased powers of expelling con- victed aliens and of preventing insan |itary conditions through overcrowding are conferred upon the authorities.
 An echo of the Houndsditch murder affair Is found in the provisions with regard to the possession of firearms or other weapons. No alien shall be all lowed to carry any such weapon with