THE ISLE OF MAN

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2546, 21 August 1915, Page 6

THE ISLE OF MAN

STARVATION AND BANKRUPTCY

PROPOSAL NEGATIVED By Toloerapli—Press AssoeiiUon-Oopyrlglil ("Times" and Sydney "Sun" Services-) London, August 19. Mr. Ambrose Qualtrough, a Radical member of the Houso of Keys, moved that, ill view of tlio imminence of starvation and bankruptcy in tlio Isle of Man, the British Government bo asked to annex the island to Lancashire, declaring that things are so . bad that Manxites have even offered to. board aliens, which would turn the island into hell on earth. Qtber members thought the island would gain by annexation. The motion was lost.

The. above cablegram gives a somewhat exaggerated idea of the condition of things in the Isle -of Man. It is porfecfl'y true that' a good deal of distress exists in that little country amongst that large portion of the population wnich is . dependent upon the "visiting industry" for its living. Douglas, the largest town in the island,' consists of big boardingliouses which for" a short time cach year are filled with boarders, but are empty for the rest of the year. The outbreak of war last year sent the trippers home just as "the season" had begun'. This year the continuance of the war and the fact that submarines liavo been 'operating quite close to the island, have rendered it a certainty that practically no trippers would cross the Irish. Sea. Besides, all tho splendid fast steamers of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company have been commandeered, and only four 6tnall vessels were Teft to keep up communications, and one, the Ramsey, was torpedoed in the North Sea last week. Naturally, the boardinghouse-keepars and shopkeepers who cater for visitors are in a .parlous way. On the other hand, the farmers are doing well, and a good deal of employment is being afforded .to artisans and labourers by the existence of two ' large internment camps at Douglas and Peel. ' . _ • It was suggested thai; relief might bo afforded to ; tho boardinghouses if arrangements were mado for well-to-do German families to bo sent thither and boarded in Douglas and other towns. Mr. Hall Cain© strongly advocated this as a relief measure, but the suggestion received little support in the island. A plebiscite of its. readers, taken by the "Isle of Man Times," was almost unanimously against it. ' Some ■of the boardinghonse-keepers favoured the idea, but those of them who were really Manx were indignant at the idea cf lackeying to Germans: they preferred any hardships, and Tesented Mr. Hall Caine's interposition. Mr. Ambrose Qualtrough is a member of the little Manx "Parliament, and is not talfen seriously. He spent some time in Castle Itushen gaol a couple of months ago as a penalty for spreading false rumours, the particular story being that the German'prisoners had escaped from ffie Douglas internment camp and were looting the town.