The Northern Guardian. — 1898-04-27 (Hartlepool, Cleveland, England)

CURRENT TOPICS.  The declaration of war with Ppain will no doubt prevent many Americans from visiting London this year, and there will especially be weeping and wailing among the lodging-house keepers. As far as crossing the ocean goes, however, there ma be little or no danger at all, and the great British steamship Lines will not be inteitered with, of course. As it is, the inconvenience of capture is likely to be largely with the ships fly'n,z the Spanish flag, of which by far the greater number are British owned, 'mine- Lee scartet and yellow" to avoid port dues and the regulations of the Board of Trade.  The difficulty of drawing the line in the matter of contraband of war continues to exercise the minds of the Government lawyers. With regard lo coal, of cause, the Spaniards are far worse off than the United States, and the distance of their nearest available coaling station from the sest of war makes their naval movements extremely difficult and slow. With the submarine tables working all over tne world, the chalice of a secret descent upon America's unguarded coastline is aardly within the bounds of p-ifsibility. But the Spaniards may ver, possibly cut tne Cuban cables, anti, it they can, the American as well, which would at least give them a chance of concluding the campaign with that secrecy which is essential to their success upon Cie high seas.  An important meeting was recently held in London to promote the national federation of trades unions. A resolution in favour of this object was passed by a small majority; but. enough transpired at the meeting to show that federation in the full sen-e is hardly more within the range of practical politics in the case of trades unions than in the case of nations, and Tenny,l son's "Federation of the World" is ,ccinfessed.y a long way off yet. The first step would be to promote federation within the separate trades. There are, in fact, comparatively few trades which have sufficient self-restraint and origami.ing power to establish and maintain a single strong union. In most trades tnere are many competing and sometimes antagonistic organisations. Then, again, there is no room for federation amongst allied trade-4. Until allied trades are federated, it is hopeless to expect that an organisation of all the workers can be realised. The annual Trades Union Congress shows that the various societies can combine for the purposes of discussion. At present that is really all that can be done.  The late Sir Vivian Majendie had occupied the pcsition of Inspector of Explosives to the Horne Office for a period of twentreight years. His 'same had pa.ssed almost into a proverb. A whole generation have teesone habituated to read after the account of every explosion that Captain Majerrhie. or Majer Majendie, Colonel Majendi"cisited the were of the accident" and, "examined the fragments of the explosive." He was lotge.t known as Major Majendie. At any rate. he held that rank when the Fenians and Irish.merican clynamiters kept him so busy. He was a thnroughly fearle: man; 'rliere are many stories of the cool indifference with which he treated clockwork explosives which might have sheltered him to pieces at any moment. Ile had experienv of actual warfare during the Siege of Sebaqopol, hut his life was prthablT often in moro danger whilst inspecting explosives on behalf of the Home Office.  Sir Richard Burton's posthumcus work entitled "Jew. Gipsy. and Islam: has given mortal offence to the Jews, as is not surprising. Sir Richard never concealed his dislike for the Hebrex race; and it was in no small measure due to the ircompatability of temperament between himself and the Children of Israel that the Government found it inadvisable to entrust him with certain high dficial nusitious which he c,.\-cted. But this work he revives the Mediaeval scandal that the Jews were addieted.to human sacrifices, and lia argues ingeniously in support of this hateful ailegation, which has for centuries been regarded as an exploded myth. Rochester Cathedral, a! is well known, owed much wealth and renown to the belief in this legend of Jewish sacrifice. St ‘Villiam, whose shrine at Rochester during some years competed in popularity with the shrine 01 St Thomas at Canterbury, wa; a boy who wa,r Lelieved to have been murdered by the Jews fcr the purpose of one of their sacrificial offerings. With regard to gipstes Sir Richard Burton is much more interesting. Like Borrow, he Lad studied the race in many different pails of the wcrld. He believed himself to be of giper blood.  •-----0-  To Tan