THE EMPIRE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 413, 23 January 1909, Page 10

THE EMPIRE.

LATEST NEWS BY THE ENCUSH MAIL. The United Kingdom. London, Decoinber 12. There have'been many expressions of satisfaction sent-by trade unionists to Mr. Osborne, in, consequence of his success in ; get-

ting the parliamentary levy which members of trade '-'unions have been compelled to pay pronounced illegal!, by the Court .'of ..Appeal. The situation was tersely summed up by Mr. Frederick Maddison, iabour M.P; for Burnley,, in; a. letter to. the newspapers:---" It is impossible to : defend: a system which compels trade;unionists. who uiiite -as p'raftsmbn to contribute money to politicians whorii they vote' against at elections. ; :Under this ar-rangement,--I, who detest State Socialism, am made to pay my share to. the salaries, of sevon Socialist members of Parliament,: who wore run as official candidates, of the Independent Labour party, arid who receive £1400 per year, though the body in question contributes much; less than £200 per year. "Up and down the country Liberals and' Tories, an overwhelming majority in the unions, arc taxed to keep; going / a ' political machine mainly worked by Socialist leaders." -: ■ A new inquest, which took place oh December 10 was ordered by the High Court'bhthc body of Elizabeth Whitaker,. whose charred body was found in: a pigstv'.at Cowling. It will be remembered that tho vicar declared from '■ the; pulpit that he was persuaded: the girl: was murdered. The doctor, who exammod, the body after exhumation,, slated that there were no signs of violence except a small scalp wound, probably caused by a fall. The jury; therefore, once- more; .returned an open verdict,;' J' Found' suffocated ';or;. burned to death, without eviderice:as•■ tb'hbw..the .fire originated." -.The coroner expressed; a hope that. after. this new and exhaustive: inquiry tho public kind of the/district would bo tranqnihsed, arid people would ho longer have the feeling of. insecurity which had undoubtedly prevailed." •■■-.'-■

, A strange .adventure befell ■ a party of eighteen, Lewis fishermen who went on a sealing, expedition to North Bona, a rocky island forty-five miles, from the /Butt of Lewis. \ They left Ness in two open boats'and secured over.3oo seals.; Then .they tried to launch their boats to.return, butthe sea had risen and they found it impossible! As the storm showed no signs of abating,-'they built rough huts and. made themselves beds of grass. The days went on and their, provisions were exhausted,-though they lived for a time on short rations; At last they had to depend_ on ...the seals' blubber for- food; After remaining .thus prisoners, on. the island -for' twenty days, the .weather. wpr,eAblo.to i ;reJurn,tp<civilisati6n4?' -j':: ■;/ . Tho.:scriousness>'of t'h'e^""coast'''erosion''.-'on East'Anglia was -shown in-a''petitiori' ; to':'thc I resident of the Local Government. Board.' At Pakefiold, /in Suffolk, twenty acres of land on which stood fourteen houses; three .'shops; and twenty-five cottages,' have been swallowed "P »y the sea during thelast six years.' Mr. John Burns promised to consider the quesi tion of granting £10,000 to tho -district'for the erection of defenco works':"-■ • .'■■"-■ ;; "At;a meeting; held, at thb. Guildhall strik--ing figures wero-given to. show the rapid, increase of the number of unemployed on tho lists of the London Unemployed Body, On October 31 .26,000- persons- were registered', 2 n n November: 10,;,31,000; on November,' 25, 30,000;, and tho number now amounted v to ._4o.oo.o ! .u:,j3n.olast_-yoar's''-basis, 17,500 of this total would bo entitled to work out actually only 3300, wero, -cmplbyed! a hough .winter- had scarcely ;begun; • nearly all existing, sources::of work had' been; tapped./ The,opinion was expressed that tho Government should be, informed; what! ridiculously ■ inadequate results were,being.'achieved,"and A resolution ..was,passed, that;» deputation should obtain: permission to i,^ lfc f^% + Enm(s.Minister,;and the, Prei siaent of/the Local Government Board'-.and lay the state,of .the case/before them.'.: ;,, .-;■: an amusinl abou't'the' only occasion on which he.wanted to'coiistilt' a doctor,_.at. ihe_arinuar dihiier'of -thV'-Rpyal of MMicine, held at the Hotel Cecil • — Only Price' in' my life';" h'o' : 'said,"?'did 1 l feel.persuaded that I was..smitten'''witb'''a ; ■mortal disease.'- I;-'started on my way'to .consult;*"distinguished "'doctor;" :&■ was.' ; 'a hot July day,- and when 'I::r'eached the physician s: house I was in a profuse perspiration. I found dn: a ' table. a book a written by the' creat. physician, on tho: subject" of, this nnr-' ticular: disease. The., first words 'which caught,my : _eyes,were. :"r ; v*' .~: ... ; ! suffenng'ifr|rnf|bis ; ,djsease..npyerr perspjres. y t r '"., ;.'• I. have Scotch blobdin my veins,'stf. I "picked up my hat and gloves and walked out.": :

Lord.Rosebery, in a. speech'at'L'eith, vigorously suopbrted the- warning'receritly given by ; Lord Roberts" to the nation. "The'other' 5 a y>" 3 . Rosehery said, "in the House of Lords, I heard Field-Marshal Lord Roberts, tho noblest of all British living soldiers, address an impassioned appeal, to'this country, .for greater moans of ; defence ' against '■ invasion;,- .The Fatherland must be defended bv, its sons, and if-the,Territorial schbmo, which issaid to be so well framed,' so wellpon-: ceivcd, and ,so practical ''a-';'scheme,--.shbuld break- down for want of men, wb should inevitably, have .to.fall.back.ori.'sbmo.suclv.svsteni;as';that';whiph', prevails -.iriySwitierland,'" AnbtTief'-grbat!:; authority;,'' ,Lbr.q'',' Esli'br; c in-: forced of'.a, sufficiently strong Arhiy; -in ;'s'peakihg at.'a-distribution' of prizes'td members of the London' Scottish. "I should liko to remind you that on: the very highest authority .we have,, been':,told, within these past few weeks, 'that' the ..Territorial Force, so far.: from being useless in 'principle;- is absolutely a national ne'oessity. It has. been laid down, on the -'very highest authority, .after'.- a careful scientific - inquiryinto': the principles, of home -defence, that, although these islands can be defended by the' Fleet, it' can: only ; .bp on tho ' conditionthat./a military force of a certain-strength is' maintained within these islands."

The Bishop of Worcester used an effective simile in ackriowledging-.the.present- of .a motor, car from his diocese. He'said: he trusted that the car would'be, as it wore,; a; parable of the way. -in which the diocese meant to-pull together,'' every wheel arid .fitting.doing its work in conjunction with the whole.; "Let us hope," he added, "that ho vigilant critics may entrap' the road and no breakdown of the, machine, may' hinder our progress." ''.'",'...'" ,';.;' ■'.'■' .'■';. A patrol of tho Baden-Powell Boy Scouts ran dispatches from beyond Potter's Bar, ten miles, along the Great North Road into Finchloy, on a recent Saturday afternoon. They had to encounter a heavy-'fire of applause. Tho dispatches were in duplicate, and were handed on at each mile to a fresh relay of two small but resolute runners, clad in khaki, with_ their full scouting uniform of red handkerchiefs, haversacks, and slouch hats,' though on this occasion their alpenstock; staves were' left at home. •; True'-to' their motto,' '•'•' Be Prepared," -the-boy scouts were ready and expectant at their placeson the. road. ' Within tho shortest possible time tho last relay raced through Christ's College gates, FTnchley, where Major Pembroke, the officer in command, waited anxiously'for tho message which, might (in theory) chango the' wholo face of' the battle. The interesting announcement has boon made that the Postmaster-Gonoral has officially adopted the-telewriter; .an' instrument by which .tho public, is enabled,to transmit writirig.vor.sketehes oyer, an ordinary telepliorio. wire.; Tho, telewriter: may.- be attached to any. telephone. The'/method is to write tho message on-a transmitting 'machino/ancl'. it is immediately; received at,,..the other end in ink' in facsimile.' If is stated that tho use of the instrument will.inevitably mean a revolution in.business methods, as it will now. bo possiblo to telephone a.message and confirm it atjonco in writing over the signature of tho; sonder. ,■■'. V '. , -■ Thero Can have: been few-fmer'oxamplos of heroism'recently'than that given by Charles' Gbtts,' a; well-known fo'otballref ereo, at 'Bac-, ton. Abbey, in Norfolk.' Ho.'arid, his brother George, together'.with- a .boy li'ariied 'Albert 'Spinks, : wero employed in sinking. Va" well wlioii.tho sides; .began'to fall-' ih; - 'Charles Gbtts ran up. the ladder, hilt was.- caught ..halfway up by the falling eartliand tirilbor. 'Ho could- still; have" forced himself ■;• free ■ and made bis way. to the top, but if dono

so the two below, would havo been crushed by tho soil and beams lot loose. ' Ho did not move. Instead he called to his brother, Look after tho lad J! and stayed still till a rescue, party, arrived. The rescuers started to dig a trench to the bottom of tho well; for Gotts, although in great pain, refused to bo moved till, tho- others were: safe. For throe hours they worked, and at last the other .two wore freed. When they turned to the hero, they found him crushed to doath, his body upright as it was caught. ■• A.rise was announced this week in rates payablo for insurance against workmen's compensation risks. After January. 1 the tariff of all the leading companies will bb from 10 to 20 per cent, higher, according to the nature of the risk. It is stated that the rates are now too low to bo profitable, particularly for . the: more dangerous occupations. ;-Doniestio servants' and shop " assistants' risks, will, not-be affected for the present,' but eventually they will bo raised also; Builders, engineers, ■ sawmillers, lead workers, painters,, professional footballers,, steam laundercrs, and drivers of- public motor vehicles art among the most"affected. Violent and disgraceful scenes characterised tho meeting of'tho Women's Liberal Association at tho Albert Hall. Mr. Lloyd ueorgo the principal speaker, and the first resolution claimed from the Government ' as a measure of justice long overdue," the 1 arliamontary enfranchisement of women. There were, however, two or-three hundred of tho Women's Social and -.Political''Union, present, who had announced their intention of wookinc; tho meeting. -.Immediately Mr. Lloyd Georgo rose to speak the uproar began; Suffragist aftor Suffragist rose to interrupt, and was only silenced by ejection, -Both parties were, of course, fully prepared, and had taken suitable measures. A strong force of stewards did their best to'quell-the disturbances, but entirely without success. Two or three of the Suffragistsrenamed themselves to chairs, and one slashed'a-steward with a dog whip when he attempted to remove her. On, the other hand, .there have been loud made against; the violence used by tho stewards.

Canada.., Lodge of Antiquity, Montreal, No. 1, on the register of the Grand: Lodge; of Quebec, A.F. and A.M. has again come into possession of the, Bible used, it is believed, when, at hew. York, George Washington was made a master.Mason. The book bears date 1599; and in Genesis:iii., 7, has the word "breeches', where the King James version has "aprons.'" /The Bible belonged to the old 46th Regiment Lodge, warranted;by the Graiidi Lodge of Ireland, and through it was used .in New ,\ork and later brought to Canada;:such is :tho tradition. It was for a time in'the pos-, session of Zetland Lodge, jbut the title of '-| ■Antiquity, was recognised} and; tho book ;handed over. ■; p r ','/; ■, ; Rev. Father M'Donald,--Vioar-Q(incral:''bf'' lAntigonish '. (N.S.), haa been appoiiitod :Roman Catholic Bishop of Victoria. ■ ■ >i "As an, instance, of the variety of life in :New Brunswick, D.K. Hazen, son of Premier Hazen,' tells in the current '."Rod and Gun" magazine of a. trip he made with his'father i and several ladies and gentlemen by canoe into ' big- game region last summer. While they. I were paddling along at night a bull moose, sec- I ing .tho rays of their lantern among the trees, I 'bounded toward the stream, and then, discovering tho canoe, tried, to leap "over it,' struck the.gunwale with one- big hoof, and precipitated the party . into".'-' the shallow stream. :-' .- - '.''"'.'']', ' :.' ' : 'Addressing a meeting .of,.the-Experimental Union at Guelph, Pfofessorr.Lavitzi.'sdid that" within fifteen years the,annual.value ;of -flie-farnr.:crops-'of ■ the Province Bf :V Ofitklio hiai'j doubled.-' ; .-.■--■■-■(■'■ ■'■•. : .-°/-'^ ( ''' : ' -A: striking incident 'occurred i at"'a..Co']irt jn.; ;tho towiv of 'Osh'awa, ; 'when Chief^Justice.;&if. •William- Mulbck' went bail for ■ a'"yS'ungT.'lad J who was, arrested on a charge of theft; "This j curious incident naturally gave rise to a great .deal of'commont. ;'• ;;• i,'-.'.."-.':.--.'■•:': ■•■■•'.■.■■j •- Preliminaries are proceedihg^'io^cdmiiibiica'! minting gold .'coinage in-Canada. 07 * r> '.''■'■": ■• j '■■ mi"- i '•■ • '.'-n v -'--'■ ."'.-■ . '■' '."' ttum 4Dr,i,l I : The, .Assistant, Superintendent.-of ..Emigra- | ,tion, informs Jus that 'there is grpat. reason, to | bolieve'that in the'near.futui'o. very consider- { ablo r additions' to world's .resources oi. pbtfblbiihi -wiH'.be'-found'to' exist iri.tho pro» viiicb. of/■ Alberta. ' For 'several hundred 'miles-' from-tho south to r th'e north boundary' along the base; of the- mountains there -aro ; sigm, that the;under-lying rock is. saturated'with potroleum, and in a number of/ places there .are immense accumulations of natural gas., An oxtonsivo discovery, of- high-grade '.copper ore, has' recently been made near Flor Island, at tho ontranco to Nopignbn ,Bay,' Lake-Superior. The deposits apparently run thro ( ugh-,a,chain,of islands,f,rpm.i;Lamb.;lslaridi •Ligntlipusp. eastward...,', ;.:.»; '. ?:) i> - 0 -., ' piioofe the .large :elevators''at' :; Port'A-rihu"f" has -this, season record : in 'hand-" ling./grain, no fewer than 1,100,000 bushols having been; passed through arid shipped during one-week in November last. Thb ship- f mentsof graia frjm Port Arthur have shown an increase of 2.000,000 over last year.

.Sir-Wilfrid Laurier experienced his first American railway accident-", at St. Vincent, Minnesota/when the coach in which ho was ■travelling, togother with the adjoining coach, .was thrown into a ditch, as the result of a broken rail.: . Sir Wilfrid and" the.other-pas-.' saTigers fortunately escaped, with; a shaking.,, Discuss'ng the recent speech of Lord Roberts'in! the-Houso" of Lords on the Navy;>tho:;T.oron;jo, ''Mail and'-.Empire" Lord-.Roberts's speech is- to ie ;takent>'as *' warning to the British Empiro,vtlien England's Navy .has its work cut out in the North Sea and British 'Channel;. .miraltjr'has already decided to concentrate : the entire Fleet within Marconi reach of the British -coast. This .s'trategi? ndve,, taken with, the rapid increase in naval armaments, shows, what: England herself thinks of the situation. If.England, in-a belter position to see behind the scenes than Canada, deems it necessary to get ready,-what now should. Canada-do as oho.of the great units of -tho Empire?" ■ - ' '_ Following on the highly favourable report of Mr. Ells, of the Canadian Government Survey, a' great/development of Newfoundland's magnificent coal areas is a probability of the near.future. The tests made show-that.the coal is of exceptionally fine quality, and can be easily, worked... _ Tho Hindus at Vancouver, at a public meet jng ; where they;were addressed by a Doniin.ion Government official, refused emphatically and absolutely to consent to .transportation to British Honduras. Great excitement and hostility ,w:ore exhibited by the Hindus,, who actually "threatened the Government official with violence. .-,.- -...-v. South Africa. ■:■■■ The... statement .of. the imports to Cape Colony -.during; the nine months ending jn September contains much interesting information.'. The total value, excluding that of gold and' diamonds in transit, amounts to £11,585,971,,. as- compared wjth ■ £12,787,704 in 1907, showing a decrease of £1,201,733; The imports of articles 1 of'food and drink are practically .identical, with those of tho corresponding period . last year. Leather goods,'principally footgear and saddlery, have been equally stationary.' Woollen manu-factures'-'show ' a slight decrease. .Tho exports .'amounted ■ to £7,895,177, as ' against .£11,804,211 -in 1907, being a shrinkage of nearly £4,000,000, but after allowing for tho great increase in the gold export this shrinkage: is reduced by one-half. A curious'reflex of '.tho--American'- panic of']ast':'year is to'be noted;in the fact that the South African dia-monds-exported from Capo Colony-during'the past" nine'months: worn vhliicd" at - "-only' £3,018,291, as against £6,868,783 in 1907.; '; - Tho railway;revenue of Natal for tlie'weok ended' October 31 last shows a'.gratifying increase, the 'amount received being £41,000 as against £38,000' during the corresponding, week of'the previous year., •';'. " The Natal Government is opening up land for settlers in Klip River County, in which Ladysmith is'the chief.town. ,-, < ; One of the most striking proofs of the increasing activity amongst Natal farmers is given by the statistics recently published of Bio agricultural aiid implements imported. In 1906 .machinery, to the"'value of. £13,600 ; was. sold'to Natal .farmers, while m 1907. not less worth was bought, which speaks highly for the advance lot-agriculture-in the--colony. -. :>:. ■ i 'If is not improbable that tlio'Closov Union' Convontio'n, will'spend considerable ...time,'!in

tho task of defining tho powers of the provinces. It is reported that an influential section of tho Convention desiro to model the Constitution as closely as possible on the British. Constitution. The Natal Government'has appointed a commission, consisting of tea and sugar planters, a representative of labour, and others, to inquire into tho question of Asiatic importation of labour. It will be remembered that a Bill to end such importation was introduced last session and postponed pending tho consideration of tho appointment of a commission. Lord Selbourne, ,in'distributing tho prizes to. students'at the Capetown Diocesan College, said the South African lifa had hitherto been confined to comparatively, stagnant pools, and'tho students would be ablo to ensure that nothing impeded the surge of national life from Capetown to the Zambesi. 4hoy must .bo patriotic, .good,-'■'stout South Africans-first, but must not forgot tho Empire of which South Africa was a part. India and the East. In spite of tho depression in trade and the competition of Bombay and Chittagong, the port of Calcutta continues to make groat progress. Iho accounts for tho first half of the financial year 1908-9 show a lar"o in: creaso m the revenue from all sources, as compared with 1907-8. The prosperity is not due to any single factor. The exports of coal were ahead of those in 1906, which formed the highest previous, record, 1,595;'626 tons, being exported, as against 1,616,285 tons the, previous year, but a general improvement was ; indicated m other sources of income. Information supplied by tlio Madras BoardinnTo r6 k Ue c ™ c f n , in g the rice crop, for 1908-9 shows that the total area-under rice IL7 ?™„ Tlllag€S > U P t0 tlle end'of September, 1908, was 3,694,800 acres, or about 1 .per, cent, less than the area sown in tho oorresponding period of 1907. It was also loss than the averages of five and ten years b y,3 and,2 per'cent., respectively.-:-.There is a prospect of an,enormous wheat crop in the Punjaub, but labour has become very costly and scarce, owing to> plague epidemics.. Labour-saving reaping machines are being, imported. '. ' ■ . Drastic measures against, tho Anarchist conspirators in Bengal and elsewhere: have been_ framed by the Viceroy in Council. They provide, in the-main, for the summary enforcement of transportation and imprisonment clauses .in;the existing Criminal Code, and .'fecial measures are to be taken to expedite the trial of prisoners, for which purpose a special-Court may. be created. Another student dacoity has occurred at Roita, in Eastern Bengal. A large number cf students, several-of them with' false whiskers arid beards: and. painted faces, armed with revolvers, guns, and daggers, broke into a house and took away cash and ornaments. ;Tho-, victims-assert that the.dacoits, belonged jto.Jhesrespectable class.' '•.■- : .