Evening star., 1925-07-05

L
Il recent news of the world:
Great Britain.-On June 9 the fifty
fifth anniversary of the death of
Dickens was marked by the dedica-
tfon to the British nation of one of
the most interesting of Dickens
dwelling places in London, namely,
48 Doughty street, to which house
he brought his bride, the charming
Catherine Hogarth, and where he
wrote the latter part of "Pickwick."
"Oliyer Twist" and Nicholas Nickle-
by" 1t is a pity we cannot have
preserved all of the dwelling places
in London of the man thanks to
whom early Victoria London is ev-
eryman's home town, who added as
much as any man has added to the
perennial store of jollity in the world,
and who did as much as any has
done to raise the self-respect of the
plain people"
Sir Samuel Hoare, the British min
lister Of air, is organizing a uni
versity air squadron at Oxford and
another at Cambridge. He is estab-
fishing airplane clubs all over the
| tight little isle for instruction pur-
poses.
France.-The more important fea-
! lures of Caillaux's bill ''for relief of
the difficulties of the treasury for
tightening of the public debt" are as
| follows:
1. Authorization for increase of
| the note circulation of the Bank of
| France from $4,000 ,000, 900 to 81, ,000,-
600, 900 francs and for new advances
| from the bank to the government to
| limit of 6 1000, 900 900 francs.
2. Authorization for a new loan on
terms very advantageous to sub
| scribers, but to which only holders
| of national defense bonds should be
| allowed to subscribe-strictly a con-
! should go some way toward relieving
| the pressure of the floating debt.
| The bill was passed on June 81.
| The increase Of the note issue, with
| the corresponding advances from the
bank to the treasury. is solely to
enable the latter to redeem bonds in
| cases where holders will not consent
to conversion. Before the first of the
| new year maturities to the tune of
/ 21,000, 100000 francs have to be dealt
with.
| The emergency necessitating these
measures is the outgrowth of condi-
tionS and policies sufficiently-disc
| in previous numbers of this summary.
Caillaux neatly calls the operation "a
| liquidation Of the past" He says that
acceptance of his 1926 budget with it's
| increase of taxation by 1000, 900, 900
| francs, would definitely close the era
of loans. He has his work cut out for
him to get that budget accepted
| against Socialist resistance. The ex-
changes have shown their approval of
| the bill by a certain rise of the franc.
The French government has for
| mally notified our Government that
! it will soon be ready to enter on
negotiations at Washington looking
| TO the funding of the debt of the
! French government to ours. Such
negotiations must, l understand, pre-
| suppose adoption by the French Par
| lament of CaillauX's 1926 balanced
| budget.
| The Moroccan Wharf.-The fighting
| in the French protectorate of Morocco
| during the week past was severe
Abd-el-Krim attacked with determine
| ton on a wide front, in particular
| making a fierce thrust toward Tasa,
| and, foiled, he stubbornly contested
! the French counter offensive. But,
| though the Riff chieftain was repulsed
with heavy losses, yet in a moral
sense he gained, because the mere
| fact that the French role is a de-
| fensive one is injurious to French
prestige with the tribes in or near
| the fighting zone, and the injurious
effect is cumulative with continuance
of that role. On all hands 1t is ad-
mitted that a powerful French Of
fensive, which should sweep the
Riftians out of the French protectorate
and badly punish them in the process,
is necessary if disastrous conse-
quences from the depression of
French prestige are TO be escaped. In
deed, the whole French position in
Africa is involved One hears that
during his advance many wavering
tribesmen went over to Abd-el-Krim.
Negotiations concerning Morocco
between French and Spanish repre-
sentatives are still in process at
Madrid.
ItaIy.-On June 21 the Italian
camera adjourned to the Autumn,
having at the last moment, by passage
| of a bill for regulation of the press
| and another giving the government
authority to issue DEGREES to have
| the effect of law, gloriously conSum-
mated a program of legislation for
"FascistiZation of the Italian state"
| The Senate has still to act upon some
of the more important items of the
program
The London Times having charac-
| teriZed this legislation as "gagging
of the press, forbidding of free speech
md public meetings, and arminG of
| the executive with arbitrary and ir-
responsible powers" Mussolini tele-
| graphed the Times requesting "recti-
| f1cation" of such defamatory Ian
guage. The Times refused to rectify.
The Washington negotiations look
| ing to funding of the debt of the
| Italian to the United States Govern
ment have been suspended in order
| to enable the Italian representatives
| to procure from Italy more precise
statistical information as to Italy's
| capacity to pay.
| 1t is understood that the negotia.
| tions will be resumed in August.
| x x X x
| Russia.-The following item is a
| little faded, but necessary to our rec
| ord: Djerjinsky, head of the Supreme
| Economic Council at Moscow, has
signed a concession giving W. A. Har-
riman & Co. the right to exploit for
20 years important manganese mines
| in Georgia (Transcaucasia).
The Moscow experts figure that the
| Moscow government should receive
/ about $60,000,000 in royalties during
| the concession period, and that the
! Hartman profits should be twice that
sum. The world will watch will in
| fereSt the Hartman gamble on Pad