The Birkenhead News and Wirral General Advertiser. — 1904-01-30 (Birkenhead, Merseyside, England)

THE PASSING WEEK. -1 Mr. 'Abet H. Smith, the Conservative mereher for East Herta, has proolainied himself a Free Trader, and hut sent a message to hie constituents. He cannot understand how anyone can support the mutually destructive policies of retaliation and preferential tariffs. If by retaliation vs secure freedom of trade, then we cannot give the Colonies Prefference against foreign countries.  The penalties for damage done by buried tressurerseekers have ham raised to the maximum at London police-courts, and it sae on Wednesday intinrateii that imprisonment would be the next stage. In disposing of acme rases at ?drumbeater the magistrate said that had the newspaper proprietors been before him be shanid have had no hesitation in oonrioting.  Much sympathy will bertelt with Sir Wilfrid Lawson in the le he has sustained by the death of his ma Mr. Mordsunt Lawson. who was found dead in a railway car near Carlisle, with a bottle which had contained poison. At tho inquest it was shown that !Imam acid poisming had canoed death, and the jury returned a verdict of "Suicide whihiS tunporarily Mame owing to ill-health."  Mr James Duffield, of Tallentire Htl,, near Ceekerrnouth, is director of Cammell, Laird, and Co., and general manager el the Arm's Derwent Steatworks, Workington, who has just resigned both positions, etarbed life as a trapper in Bar! Dudley's Staffordshire collieries, and euteequently going to the iron districts, began as a puddler and Mee until be became a director of the firm and manned manager of the company's Cumberland works. Mr. Duffield has on three separate occasione served as Mayor of Workington, is an alderman of the borough and a member of the County Council, and a strong supporter of the temperance movement.  Dr. Clifford is not latiolly absorbed by the controversy on religions education, for he has found time to draw up a edheine for building "a temperanee poblichouse"at Kensal New Town, and pleas are to be got out immediately. "'The magnetism of the ordinary publichoute," says Dr. Clifford, "is not in the drink—except for some who becomes shaves of it. It is really the goodfellowship that can be obtained there. As a role • man goes to a publiffkonie to discuss the fate of the universe." This and other problems may in future be discussed at " Clifford's lan."  Whitaker Wright, the great financier and company pnornoter. hoe had a dramatio end. Born in Cheshire come fifty-six years ago he left the country at an early age for America, Whe73 after a few years be became a millionaire. At the age of fortythree he transferred his activities to England to plunge headlong into the arena of our finance. On Thursday last he was eviltenced to seven years( penal servitude for his unblushing frauds and falsifications in connection with the London and Globe Corporation. and while being conducted through the which leads from the court to the canon ling room, where he was to await the arrival of wardens he oestrus to have taken tsome cyanide of potassium tabloids which led to dectruotion.  There is no doubt that rather than face the terro-, of penal servitude. Wright calmly selected the only avenue of escape, and took his own life. That he was determined on suicide in verified by the fact that after his death a loaded revolver of a Large calibre and peculiar pattern wa& found in his pocket, which seems to suggest that had the poison failed he was resolved on the more determined method. The financier seems to have been generous to the poor in his own neighbourhood, but we cannot forget him innocent victim's. many of wheee long earnings were tmpecdonably finnandererl end it is difficult to find much sympathy for a man of this type.  The most significant-election incident that beg occurred since the Protectionist agitation commenced is perhaps the resolute stand taken by Mr. Younger, the Unionist candilate for the Ayr Burghs, against the Tariff Reform League. In all recent contests the activity of the leading Protectionist organisation has been almost overpowering; in fact, there oan be no doubt that the idea of "rushing" the electors by an imported band of oratom has been badly overdone. It is not surprising, therefore, that the tactics of these agents have everywhere—at Ludlow, Ashburton, Norwich, and Gateshead— , produced a sharp reaction, and that several noisy meetings have taken place. Mr. Younger, having evidently learnt a leseon by experienoe, has wisely sent the imported orators about their business, and taught the " hustlers " a much-needed lesson.  Pity the sorrows of Lord Lister, who during the left twenty years ha• probably written more letters and spent more money in support of the Protectionist agitation then any other man. But really, although he is always protesting that his industry, represented by the famous Manningbant Mille at Bradford. is ruined by foreign competition, it appears that during the hurt five years the net profits of the company have increased at a very satisfactory rate, and amount in the aggregate to ".407,300, lest year's profit of .883,000 having been the largest since 1899. When the company woe floated in 1889 the promoters informed the public that " the profits have always been large," but the outrageous over-capitalisation of the concern resulted in something like disaster. Then it was that the Proteotionists came forward to denounce &mien competition for a state of affairs which was clearly du* to gross over-statement of pre ' vious earning capacity. The subsequent re covery in the position of the undertaking shows that wil§e management le a MOTO effective factor then foreign tariffs.  There-can be no doubt that German shipbuilders intend to make • bid fore large share of the foreign shipbuilding orders that have hitherto been placed with British yards, and owing to the longer hours and lower wages prevailing there German firms enjoy a certain advantage. As the "Glasgow Herald" in it annual trade survey points out, it is inevitable that German yards most in comae of time be able not only to compete with Bratain in neutral markets, but to claim a small share of the building of British Ships. But this share cannot be large enough to alarm our shipbuilder, so long as they caticommand ample supplies of materiel at the lowest prices. and to secure this condition of things Free Trade is indispensable. Bence, es theHerald" remarks. British builders-ere decidedly opposed to the preventicui by tariffs of dumping.' Phe have frequently within the pest year or two booed from Germany steel outings and forging@ at prams 30 per oent, bedew similar goods of English make, and this has enabled them to obtain orders for ships which they would otherwise have lost.  t!)<4  This EallistravOestarai reports that the annual rate of mortality in ariventapeix bags towns of England and Wake leat week averaged 18.1 per 1,000. Merthyr Tydvil (highest) 39; King's Norton ocrigeso, 2; Birkenhead 18, Wallasey, 14, Liverpool 21  For Health.Faderwearat If,ss. Boit  .1 4*