LONDON LETTER.

Globe, Volume XXI, Issue 1797, 24 November 1879, Page 3

LONDON LETTER.

fPBOJt THE PEBSS COEBESPONDENT.] LONDON, October 9 Although not nearly two months had elapsed since the prorogation of Parliament all the Cabinet Ministers (except one who is enjoying a holiday on the Continent) came to London on Monday last, and assembled at a Council meeting to discuss the present state of public affairs. Their holiday period of separation has, .therefore, been brief almost beyond precedent; but it is hard to say why they should have felt called upon to meet in Council at such an unusual period of the year. Of course there are a thousand rumors as to the reason for this gathering, at which, as it lasted for a couple of hours, there must hare been more than one subject of importance to discuss ;'but probably it was felt that there wore many topics, each of which was not sufficient to demand a separate decision by the Cabinet, but all of which would form a programme on which it was desirable that thejviews of the whole Ministry should be exchanged. Indeed, the topic of finance has become of such pressing importance that if for no other reason it might have been desirable that the Chancellor of the Exchequer should have met his colleagues, and accordingly the right hon. baronet, who has been in Ireland fer some weeks past with his family, and contemplates remaining there until next month, has had to cross and recross St. George’s Channel. The settlement of Zululand which is in process of being carried out by Sir Garnet Wolsely, could not have caused the Ministry much division of opinion, while as to colonial matters, there is nothing, save the Ministerial crisis in New Zealand, which need to have been mentioned. The really important subject for deliberation was the advance of our forces in Afghanistan, but as at the time when Ministers met the important news that was expected had not arrived, the Cabinet had to separate, and that there was nothing really serious in their deliberations may bo deduced from the fact that all those who had coma up from the country returned to their rural retreats, and Sir Stafford Northooto went to Dublin, where he was last night the guest of the Lord Mayor ■at the Mansion House, and where a large party of gentlemen of very different political and religious views were assembled to meet him. I suppose Sir Stafford Northcote did not like to refuse the invitation, but any English Minister, whether Conservative or Liberal, must feel strangely out of place atari Irish gathering just now. Indeed, the invitation to dinner was preceded by a very doubtful affair. It was proposed to confer the freedom of the City of Dublin on the right hon. baronet, and evidently the feeling ■amongst the Corporation was that something might be got out of him, for, as one of the speakers observed, “We don’t get a Chancellor of the Exchequer amongst us every day,” but owing to the difference of opinion that existed the intended honor was not voted. I said above that when the Ministry met .the news they expected from the army in Afghanistan had not arrived, and it was only late last night that the Indian Office received .a long telegram from the Yicoroy announcing that (General Roberts, who is in command of 'the expedition against Oabul, had approached that city, and had had a very smart engagement with the enemy, who came ont in sufficient force to offer an obstinate resistance to his further advance, and who was only overcome and routed alter a whole day’s fighting. This news was received in official and political circles with a feeling of great relief, for as the leader of the British forces “hod remained silent for so long beyond the

time at which, a message was expected from Mm, it was feared that some fresh disaster might hare befallen our arms. Every one in London who has the means of knowing has the fullest confidence in the skill and ability •of General Roberts and those who are allied with him in the conduct of this campaign, but in such a country as Afghanistan, and with such a people as its variety of tribes, wo can never be certain whether the most friendly -assurances are not intended s a mask to some contemplated treachery. The most remarkable event in connection with our advance towards the capital was the flight of the Ameer from the city, and his coming some dozen miles to our camp, where he has since remained now for about a week. He is earnest in his protestations of fidelity to the British rule, and was so confident in the strength of the mutinous lot that he had left behind him in Cabul that ho advised General Roberts to delay his advance against that city. But the General was inflexible and determined to pursue his plan without any fear the rebellious Heratee soldiers. He has gained one decisive victory over them, but ho will frobably have a good deal more fighting to do efore he has reduced the Cabulees to subjection. And when he has done that, what is to follow ? That is a question which demands the most serious consideration. Yakoob has not proved himself “ the son of his father,” as the saying is, and, compared with Shero Ali, his weakness and incompetence as a ruler are but too manifest. Ho has not been able to rule in Oabul even when we placed him on the throne, nor does he appear to have made tie slightest effort to protect the lives of those British subjects whom he had received in his capital. It seems to mo that it would be more than folly to regard him any longer as the ruler of Afghanistan when ho is a fugitive from his own people and from that military force on which ho should have relied for protection and support. Perhaps the most important topic of home affairs is the state of our national finances, and although the situation is none of the brightest, it contains, I think, some elements of hopefulness, combined with that improvement in commercial transactions which the Board of Trade returns show us this morning to have taken place. It comes to this in short—that the revenue receipts are nearly stationary, for the increase over the corresponding period of last year is such a very small fraction that it could not be worthy of regard. On the other hand, from the extraordinary expenditure we have had to incur, even if the wars in Afghanistan and South Africa da not cost us any more than has been provided for, Sir Stafford Northcote will in all probability have to close the current year’s account, of which only half has as yet expired with a balance against him exceeding five mil lions. And the Liberals are not slow in im

pressing this fact on the public mind, though, with that perverse ingenuity which such people as Mr Childers can display, they contrive to make eut a very much worse case than really exists, and solemnly assure us that under the Ministry of Lord Boaoonsfield the country has gone back by twenty or thirty millions. They are wholly forgetful of the fact that while Messrs Gladstone aud Lowe were in office they had to deal with such a state of prosperity as the country had never before known, and the unsoundness of the arguments now used by the Liberals is shown bv their assumption that the same period of inflated trade would have continued as long as they remained in power, instead of that ebb tide of dulnoss which we hive so long experienced. The last proof of the satisfaction with which the country generally has regarded the existing Ministry is shown in the complacency and readiness with which neiw/ taxation has been paid, and the entire absence of that dissatisfaction which was so marked a feature in more prosperous times.

The Liberal party, and especially the Badical wing of them, have had it pretty plainly shown them during the past fortnight that if they desire to obtain a firmer hold on tho constituencies of tho country they must adopt some very different course of action to that which they are now pursuing. Their chief orators arc still taking every opporl unity of flogging a dead horse, and of course without any effect. Tho latest of them is Sir William Harcourt, who being invited to open a Liberal Club at Southport (a rising watering place not far removed from Liverpool) of course seized tho opportunity to make a long and certainly very amusing speech in wholesale condemnation of tho past few years* work of the present Government. But the effect of this is as imperceptible as a shower of rain in the Pacific Ocean. It fills four columns of the newspapers one morning and furnishes a subject for a leading article, but tho next morning it is forgotten. The constant hammering away at tho foreign policy of the Government will do the Liberal party no good, for in spits of all its misfortunes and mistakes the country generally has supported that policy, knowing full well that a change ot Government would not only not bring it any better fortune, would certainly slowly destroy the improved position in Europe which Lord Beaconsficld has madefor us. In another direction the Birmingham imitation of the American caucus plan of preparing candidates fora constituency has not taken root in even Liberal soil, and each successive effort of little groups of Badicals to make themselves the real electors meets with a severe robnff. The latest has been from the hands of Mr Sergeant Simon, an able lawyer, who has represented Dewsbury for many years, and was ately asked bv a Badical committee to consent to abide by their decision, which meant his certain rejection. Ho quickly extinguished them.

The anti rent agitation in Ireland, which has been carried on by Mr Parnell ever since the prorogation of Parliament put an end to his obstructive tactics, is bringing the relations between the landlords and tenantry of Ireland to a very serious state. The favorite amusement of the Home Rule leaders now is to assemble large gatherings in the country districts of Ireland each Sunday afternoon, and make to their audiences inflammatory speeches about the supposed ruin of the tenantry, concluding by a question as to what is to be done with the landlords, to which someone always replies, “Shoot them.” And indeed a lime for the renewal of the Ribbon outrages seems to have arrived. Threatening letters have been sent to the Marquis of Headfort, whose tenantry have held two meetings to disavow any connection with these letters or any sympathy with the writers. An attempt was made to shoot an agent of the Marquis of Sligo, but this ended in the death of one of the assailants, while at night gangs of men and boys visit outlying farmhouses and threaten death to any tenant who pays his rent. Irish agriculturists have not suffered so much this year as English ones, but, with smaller holdings and very much less capital, many of them having none at command, they are feeling the pressure of the times very severely. The landlords are meeting them in a very liberal spirit, but I fear that the coming winter will witness a very bitter struggle for the attainment of that latest Home Rule idea—the purchase of the land by means of a fund to be derived from the surplus of the Irish Church estate. Amongst the public bodies which are resuming work this month, after the usual autumnal vacation, is the London School Board, the members of which will retire from office towards the end of next month, at the close of their three years of public service. During these next few weeks, therefore, we shall have an excitement in every parish in London second only to the election of members of Parliament, for the longer the school board system has been in operation the heavier its taxation has become, and the more bitter, necessarily, has been the opposition to it in the minds of many ratepayers. A few of the more eager candidates have been holding meetings lately, but the war cry for this campaign was sounded last week by Sir Charles Reed, the chairman of the Board, who made a very long and elaborate defence of their proceedings during the nine years the Board has been in existence. Friends and foss alike are agreed with him that a far larger proportion of the children of London are now being educated than at any preceding time of our history, and if one side would be candid, and the other calm, it might be conceded that the good has not been unmingled with a great deal of harm to the then existing schools and their rulers or proprietors. But after all the battle will have to be fought out on the question of expenditure, and though I think the earnestness of the friends of the Board system will ensure the return of their candidates, owing to the supineness and want of unity amongst the far greater majority against them, if all could be polled, it is to be hoped that the new Board will not be so infatuated by their certainty of power as to pursue the extravagant course which has irought the present one into a very considerable amount of odium.