BRITAIN.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 December 1915, Page 5

BRITAIN.

TRADING WITH THE ENEMY. MERCHANTS' GUILD IN DENMARK. Received Dec. .7, 5.50 p.m. London, Dec, fl. Lord Lonsdale asked for particulars of the agreement with the .Merchants' Guild at Copenhagen, and whether it was permitted to re-export to belligerents. Lord Robert Cecil said the agreement was based on the principlte of effective distinction between hona fide neutral and enemy overseas trade, and of this the Admiralty had approved. Lord Robert Cecil emphatically denied j Lord Charles Bercsford's suggestions that this was a further surrender of our sea power.

THE WAR IN PARLIAMENT. SALARIES TO BE REDUCED. London, Dec. fl. It is strongly rumored that Ministers have decided to reduce their own salaries by one-third, and that they are' asking members of Parliament to submit to a similar reduction. •Mr. Birrell, in a speech at Bristol, said that Ministers and members of Parliament should set an example of economy, and the sooner they began the better.

MEMORIAL HALL MEETING. REFERRED TO IN PARLIAMENT. London, Dec. la. Mr. Tennant, in the House of Commons, repudiating a suggestion that soldiers with forged tickets were organised to 'break up the meeting in the Memorial Hall, said the disorder commenced only when the stewards, acting on Mr. Ramsay Mac Donald's instruction's, attempted to remove five colonial soldiers from the front seats.

Another person on the platform said: "Let that accursed military element be got rid of before we start." There were similar remarks by several stewardesses in Teutonic accents, otherwise, probably, there would have been no disorder. Sympathisers with the cause admitted that the soldiers' behaviour was restrained admirablv.

Mr. Ponsonby said the whole reply was a tissue of misrepresentations (Cries of "Order," and "Shame;") The remark was withdrawn.

Mr. Tennant said the report was that of an inspector attending in plain clothes. Mr, Ramsay Mac Donald said the refer, ence to him was without foundation. He did not give instructions.

PRISONERS OF WAR. HOW THEY BEHAVE. London, Dec. 6. Three lieutenants, llertzog, Seydlitz, and Longcbach, war prisoners, are about to be eourt-martiallcd at Donnington Hall, llertzog'is accused of striking a non-commissioned officer wlio barred his entrance to the dining-hall at a prohibited hour. The others arc charged with having defied the regulations by not surrendering their civilian clothes. As several escapees were found well provided with English money, prisoners are now paid by aluminium tokens of three values, sixpence, a shilling, and half-a-erown, which are honored only at the canteens.

The prisoners at Donnington devote themselves to study rather than to athletics. They have classes in chemistry and metallurgy, and even a class in English. The naval officers devote themselves to naval construction and the effect of gunfire. 'fhe most popular pastime is map drawing-, in which remarkable knowledge of the contours of the British lines is displayed. The airmen make models of aircraft. Some do not forget their duelling days, but, as Germans are poor hands with their fists, biting and scratching is not uncommon as a means of settling disputes.