Evening star., 1913-07-13

appoints all stipendiary magistrates as
well as the director of public prosecu-
tions and is empowered with the ultimate
superv ision OF all that relates to prisons
and criminals. well to factories.
mines. lunatic asylums. cemeteries and TO
matters of sanitation.
Most striking of all the home secre-
tarys functions. however. is his extern
sive control OF the royal prerogative,
which makes him the principal channel
of communication between the king and
his subjects. Most OF the so-called royal
acts H. fact. are actually the acts OF the
honi1 secretary. 10 whom all petitions to
I the GSrsreign Cra addressed. ana who
I-eSSi.l ~ merely those he p.eases In this
capacity le really constitutes the last
coure - appeal III the kingdom, con-
ocgune.. criminals ultimate chance de-
+ Ienuir: Iar-ey on the personality OF the
man .. the hon. Office tLome Secretary
Collins. Tor example. had the reputation
Of "ra..l.?,g every .Sody." while the Right
! Hon Norbert Samuel. row postmaster
general. as homo secretary, went TO the
. other oxtreTIe. ard commuted death SEN
iences to csSS of Imprisonment Tor lie
IA more cac.s than the public relished
If "A moro helpless man than the Right
Ion. Beg.ratI sfcKenpa ever has occu-
pied this tss setIdors.y important post,
there is no record OF his administration.
Hardly had IL taken II over when trouble
hroke oug n TIE Industrial world, which
! II needed big iran TO handle The dock
Iaborers Of LONDON, with some real and
many purely 'l.-aginary grievances. struck
work. and during the weeks that inter-
vened. before the granting OF certain con-
ceSsions By the port OF London authority
+ brought the strike TO and end. We're
/ treated 10 so-rc OF the most incendiary
I speeches By professional agitators in the
/ history of English labor.
| Men who refused to "come OUT were
! assaulted right and left but McKenna's 5
| only action was to receive deputations
representing both parties and to ask them
to please be good. He sat supine while
heads were broken and Ben Tillett talked
openly of taking gun and shooting
Lord Devonport, the chairman Of the
port of London.
McKennas paltering with the suffra-
gette nuisance is too we'll known to need
any extensive comment here. A strong
home secretary would have checked the
movement in its infancy. The light SEN
tences originally inflicted on the militants
| are well known to have been due to the
| influence brought to bear by the home
| secretary on magistrates whose creation
| lies in his hands. likewise the belated
| "stiffening up process employed only
at the eleventh hour. when public disgust
at last compelled the home secretary 10
take some effective action against the
malignants. Meanwhile the success OF
the hunger strike against which Nc
kenna proved absolutely impotent, has
!, made this country laughing stock the
world over and up-to-date Mckenna $
belated remedy therefor. the famous
cat-and-mouse bill. has proved ridiculous
ly ineffective, most of the mice being
at present engaged in twiddling their
paws at the cat.
Will this man without a backbone ever
! become premier The thing seems incon-
ceivable, though a writer In the autnorl-
tative London World, whose lucubrations
I have Just been reading, appears to re-
gard ii as distinctly among the possibili-
ties. Most authorities appear to agree
that the liberal party has lengthy
tenure of office still before it, and Prime
, Minister Asquith is notoriously anxious to