NEWS OF THE WEEK.

OUR readers will be grieved to hear of the death of Mr. R. H. Hutton, so long one of the editors of this journal. After an illness of many months, marked by severe though intermittent sufferings, he passed away quietly in sleep, during the afternoon of Thursday, the 9th inst. His colleagues are forbidden by pledges which they cannot break, either to write a memoir of him, or, within the range of their influence, to permit any one else to do so. They can therefore only record their grief at an event which, in the case of the writer of these lines, terminates an unbroken friendship of thirty-six years, and a literary alliance which, at once in its duration and completeness, is probably without a precedent.

There is little of importance to record in regard to our .troubles on the Indian frontier. Sir Bindon Blood's three brigades are surely and steadily pushing forward in the Swat region in the direction of Dir, and the troops to the south of Peshawar are also getting ready to advance, but as yet nc decisive action has taken place. It was rumoured, however, in Simla on Thursday that the punitive expedition to Tirah, the centre of the Afridi country, was ready to march, and that the movement would begin at once. The dullness of the pause has, however, been relieved by one very picturesque incident recorded by the Pioneer. The officer in command during some reconnoitring work near Shenowari decided to try the effect of a twelve-pounder upon the enemy. " Much to the Bur- prise of the officers with the force, they clearly saw through their field-glasses a man among the enemy correctly signal back to them that the shot had been aimed high to the left." The man must evidently have either been an ex-Sepoy or a deserter from the Anglo-Indian forces familiar with signalling at the rifle-butts. The commanding officer took the hint, and a shell was correctly dropped on the tribesmen, who instantly dispersed. Was the signalling, we wonder, a mere piece of monkey-like swagger—` I know all the tricks of the trade as well as you do '—or was it a friendly act by a man not at heart in sympathy with the tribes, who will later claim his reward P

It is no use to conceal the fact that the struggle over the peace negotiations has ended in a victory for German diplomacy. Lord Salisbury has agreed that the control of the six Powers shall be over the old loans as well as over the new indemnity loan, and thus the German bondholders will get their pound of flesh. But while making this concession, Lord Salisbury insisted that the evacuation of Thessaly must take place immediately on the conclusion of peace. At first it was said that this had been agreed to, but Friday's telegrams show that the negotiations are still dragging, and it is alleged that the rest of the Powers now argue that a beginning must be made with the payment of the war indemnity before the Turks move. Of course, if this is insisted on, the delays may be endless, for evacuation becomes dependent upon the power of Greece to get a loan' But the necessity for getting the money quickly will pro- bably oblige her to make worse terms than she need. Though, as we have said above, Germany has triumphed, we admit that Lord Salisbury bad no choice but to give way. The prolongation of the negotiations meant the prolongation of the Turkish occupation. But since Germany had no objection to that occupation and Lord Salisbury had, Lord Salisbury was at the mercy of the German negotiators. They could play the waiting game. He could not, without bringing even more miseries on Thessaly.

News was received at the beginning of the week that Berber has been evacuated by the Khalifa's troops and occupied by the "friendlies,"—i.e., Arab tribes acting with us and under our orders. Large supplies of grain were found in the town. General Hunter, says a Renter telegram of Friday, has left Abu Hamed with four gunboats to take possession, and he will be followed later by the Sirdar. All along the Nile trade and agriculture are reviving under the influence of our rule. The grand question now is whether to make an advance on Khartoum this autumn or to wait till next year. If the Kbalifa were the only factor in the problem we should say without hesitation, Wait till next year. Other influences, however, may necessitate more rapid action. It is no secret that advances are being made on the valley of the White Nile from many sides,—by the French both from the Upper U banghi and from the direction of Obok, by the Abyssinians, and perhaps, too, by the Belgians, though the last can hardly be counted as hostile to us. It is the busi- ness of the Government to see that our interests are not forestalled.

The Duke and Duchess of York completed their most successful visit to Ireland by opening on Wednesday a new dock at Belfast. The enthusiasm in the great city of the North was as thorough and energetic as things are apt to be in Belfast. Belfast is the answer to the complaint that Ireland is poor and her population decaying because the British Government has done nothing to help her. We have done nothing to help Belfast, and she has no natural resources such as coal or iron—her very harbour was given her by man, not by Nature—yet she has the largest shipbuilding yard in the world, and everything she touches prospers. A word must be said as to the little speeches which the Duke of York has had to make by the hundred. They have not been brilliant orations, but they have been marked by a simplicity, a modesty, and a good-breeding which have rendered them quite remarkable. What a relief it would be to Europe if the Duke of York's magnificent cousin would deign to copy his style !

The Paris correspondent of the Daily Chronicle sends to Thursday's issue a curious though confused story that an attempt to revise the French Constitution is in contempla- tion. "The National Assembly is to be convoked at Versailles to consider a plan for modifying the office of President of the Republic." The correspondent then suggests that the friends of the Elysee would endeavour to utilise a Presidential crisis for extending the prerogatives of the office. "The Ministry and the Presidential party would be aided by Monarchists and Bonapartiats on the condition that the Chief of the State should be elected in future by universal suffrage." That the Monarchists, and especially the Bonapartists, would welcome any scheme for electing the President by universal suffrage goes without saying; but that the various groups of Parliamentarians, who now bold power and who would suffer from the change, would agree to this plan is most unlikely. Probably the meaning of the story is this. At the next elec- tion the Monarchists of all kinds will adopt a cry of revision

on the lines indicated in order to catch the votes of all Frenchmen—and they are to be numbered by millions—who hate Parliamentarianism and would like to deal it a blow. I am for Caesar,—no matter who," says the Frenchman. But a Caesar is far more likely to emerge from a Presidential election under universal suffrage than from a vote in the theatre at Versailles.

During the week the Trade•Union Congress has been in session at Birmingham. On Tuesday, the President, Mr. J. V. Stevens, opened the proceedings. The most important passage in his address was that in which the speaker urged his fellow Trade - Unionists to form some sort of general labour combination for resisting the capitalists. They saw springing up around them trade federations. He hoped that these small federations would be the fore- runner in the near future of a federation of all trades throughout the United Kingdom, which would create a pool to which all might contribute. " If one million out of the two million Trade-Unionists would agree to join in some simple scheme of federation, the simpler the better, that would enable the federation to order a levy of 6d. per week from each member, they would have at their command on a six- penny levy i23,000 per week." This dream of a vast Union including all trades has always dazzled the working men, but it can no more exist in practice than a general combination among all capitalists. The interests of labour are far too greatly diversified for any such scheme to succeed. Mr. Stevens was very resolute on the subject of the lock-out in the engineering trade : " Under no circumstances could they allow the engineers to be defeated."

On Saturday last King Humbert, who is advertising the continued existence of the Triple Alliance by a visit to the German Emperor, was present at a great review on the Obereschbach plain, near Homburg. At the inevitable banquet in the evening the German Emperor raised his glass to the King and Queen of Italy. He described King Humbert as " the true ally, whose presence here again shows us and the world that unshakeable and firm stands the Union of the Triple Alliance," -- an Alliance founded in the interest of peace. The King of Italy was very cordial, but also very non-committal. He was glad to pay a visit to the German Emperor, "and thereby give you fresh testimony of the relations of cordial friendship and alliance which exist between our Governments and States." Later the King declared :—" The maintenance of peace by the agreement and the unanimous wish of Governments is also, as your Majesty knows, my most ardent desire. I think I shall always be remaining faithful to my country's mission by giving my loyal support to the accomplishment of this work, the greatest and most beneficent of all for the welfare of nations and the progress of civilisation?' One is at first half inclined to smile when one hears the great Sovereigns of Europe screaming out their determination to keep the peace ; but the fact becomes appalling, rather than ridiculous, when one recognises the genuine note of terror in every voice. They are evidently inspired by the fear that somehow or other, they do not know how, they are going to be swept into the vortex of a general war,—a war in which some fifteen million armed men will be face to face. The dread that mere chance may produce such a result touches them one and all.

The Emperor of Russia's visit to Warsaw proved a great success. Many of the Poles incline towards a policy of recon- ciliation, and they decorated their capital with great splendour for the Imperial entry on Friday, September 3rd. Throughout the route representatives of all classes " in evening dress and top hats" kept order. A million roubles was subscribed for charitable purposes to commemorate the visit, and the Polish Press gave expression to the most loyal views. The genuine- ness of this new-found loyalty has been doubted, but the Emperor in his speech to the Polish Committee declared that he fully believed in its sincerity. The Emperor and Empress are to spend a fortnight in a Polish castle, and then to go to Darmstadt to visit the Empress's relatives. There they will stop a month.

A German newspaper, the Zukunft, has obtained a very curious account of an interview with Prince Bismarck, in which the ex-Chancellor expresses views on recent events. A

summary of the conversation is given in the Times of Saturday last. Prince Bismarck began by pointing out the great difference between " an alliance " and " allied nations." Russia was always cautious, and the Parisians would probably be disappointed if they saw the text of the Treaty, if there was one. People exaggerated the decorative element in politics,— visits, celebrations, toasts, and the like. On M. Faure Prince Bismarck passed a judgment, shrewd, but not unkindly. " M. Faure, who is said to have been an excellent business man— no bad school for heads of States—seems to possess all kinds of useful qualities for the new fashion of political travelling (Reisepolitik). He is inured to the fatigues of railway carriages and ship cabins, he has a good stomach, and he behaves with tact and cleverness without indulging in harmful exaggerations and excess of rhetoric." He ought not, how- ever, to have treated the Russian troops to a military salute, but to have taken off his tall hat and made his bow like Frederick the Great, who used to lower his cocked hat to his saddle-bow.

Turning to the more serious political questions, Prince Bismarck expressed himself as sceptical about any great changes. The Russians would not aid the French desire for revenge "so long as we Germans do not manage things in an utterly foolish manner." Still, " the French pot has been moved nearer to the fire, and might more easily than ever suddenly boil over." As to the demand for a great Navy, he was for more cruisers ; but for the policy of colonial conquest on the French model he had no inclination. The flag should follow trade, not precede it. The most important thing "for us " is a trustworthy Army. That was Moltke's opinion too, and he also shared the view that "we shall have to fight on the Continent of Europe the battles which will be decisive for our colonial dominions." Prince Bismarck characteristically closed the interview by a savage attack on the old Empress Augusta, whom he hated. " That exalted lady powerfully contributed to the deterioration of my nerves." She owed him a grudge ever since the period of 1848, and even when she became Queen and Empress she could never quite conceal her hatred of him. Her liking for everything French and Catholic intensified this feeling. "In course of time there arose at her Court a cabal which did not invariably employ unexceptionable methods to achieve its objects, and there was much that I should have been unable to carry through unless the old gentleman— who, by the way, suffered no less than I from these things —had always run straight at the decisive moment." These conflicts, however, tried him greatly. "I can safely say that this protracted ladies' war injured my health more than all my public battles fought in Parliament and in the diplomatic service."

Sir Alfred Milner spoke last Monday at a luncheon given in his honour at King William's Town. The times were, he thought, favourable to the Colony, because he believed that in the matter of the quarrel between the two white races common-sense was, after all, going to prevail without any intervention on the part of Governor or Government. The common interests of the two races and the absurdity of the quarrel were going to be realised on both sides. He did not want to be too optimistic, but the signs of the political weather were, as far as human foresight could judge, fair. One always despairs about South Africa, but Sir Alfred Milner is a very lucky, as well as a very able, man, and he may possibly bring some of his luck to the Cape. He has one thing greatly in his favour. He is a trained Civil servant of the best kind, and has the Civil servant's habit of being content to get things done without worrying about obtaining personal credit for their accomplishment. The sublimated ambition peculiar to the great Civil servants will help him greatly. The man who is determined not to keep in the back- ground, and who is always thinking about and working for a visible personal success, makes a dangerous Governor. Sir Alfred Milner, unless we are greatly mistaken, will not fall into this error.

The gold fever is unabated. Not only do we hear of fresh finds in Alaska, but now news comes that in the long-settled and comparatively well-known and explored province of Ontario a district has been discovered extraordinarily rich in gold-bearing quartz. Though we are not so foolish as to think that gold is necessarily more lucrative than coal or iron or copper, we trust that in this instance the story is true. We shall be very glad to see Canada receive that fillip which the discovery of gold in large quantities always gives to a country. A new Johannesburg in the centre of Canada would be just enough to turn the scale in favour of the Dominion, and make her the chief goal of emigration during the first quarter of the next century. An inrush of emigrants coupled with a policy of Free-trade would secure to Canada a great future.

An able article in the Westminster Gazette of Wednesday shows that Australia is at last becoming interested in the Federation question. It is greatly to be hoped that Australia will realise that she can never take the place she ought to have in the Empire unless she accepts Federation. The Australian Commonwealth will be a really great and power- ful State. Our only interest in the matter is that a constitu- tion should be adopted that will be worthy of Australia's future. To obtain such a constitution Australia must be careful to avoid adopting the principles which have proved so harmful in America. To begin with, and this is the absolutely essential point, she must not adopt a constitution which is practically unalterable like that of the United States. She must not put herself into a strait-waistcoat, but into an easy-fitting jacket capable of being altered and let out as occasion may demand. The people of New South Wales are, we think, right in demanding that the various States, great and small, shall not have an equal representation in the Senate, but one proportionate to population. Would not a reasonable compromise be one Member for each State, and in addition, one Member for each quarter of a million or two hundred thousand inhabitants in the State? That a Referendum to the people of the Commonwealth is the best proposal for settling disagreements between the two Houses of Parliament, we have no sort of doubt. If Australia adopts the suggestion of New South Wales in this respect, she will lead the Anglo- Saxon world as regards the solution of this standing difficulty in all States possessed of a Legislature with two Houses.

The Times of Saturday last prints the chief passages in the answers given by the Judges of England to the difficult legal question propounded to them by the House of Lords in regard to the case of " Allen v. Flood." The case is still undecided, for the final Court of Appeal has not been able to make up its mind as to the law. The facts are as simple as the law is obscure. Two shipwrights were in the employ. ment of the Glengall Iron Company. These men were at work on the woodwork of a vessel, but it became known that when working for another employer they had done ironwork. But for a shipwright to touch work on a ship which belongs to a boilermaker, as does ironwork, is a most serious matter. Accordingly, the boilermakers told the Glengall Iron Company firmly, but politely, that if they continued to employ the two shipwrights they, the boilermakers, must quit work. The Company yielded to the pressure put on them, and dismissed the two men. There was no question of breach of contract involved. The Company had a right to dismiss the shipwrights, and the boilermakers had, of course, a perfect right to quit work. The shipwrights, however, considered that the representatives of the boilermakers who threatened the Company and procured their dismissal had done them a legal injury, and they brought an action for damages. The Court of Appeal held that the boilermakers were liable in damages for causing injury to the shipwrights by procuring their dismissal. Of the eight Judges consulted, six say that the matter is actionable, two that it is not. The House of Lords has not yet made up its mind, but is said to be divided in opinion. On all hands it is agreed that there is little or no direct authority.

Our own hope is that ultimately the House of Lords will decide that the action of the boilermakers, though doubtless cruel and oppressive, was not actionable. To decide other- wise might have very disastrous consequences on the indi- vidual's liberty of action. As no single step in the series of transactions was illegal, how could the result be illegal The boilermakers had a perfect right to give notice for any or no cause ; the Glengall Company had also a perfect right to dismiss its men for any or no cause. To say, in effect, that a man must not give notice because it is believed that his motive is to procure the dismissal of another man, would surely be going very far. Besides, from the

legal point of view, the Company were under no cam. pulsion to accede to the demand of the boilermakers. Yet it is admitted that they could not be proceeded against. But while the consequences on liberty of action might be very far-reaching, it cannot be argued that a decision in favour of the shipwrights would really afford protection to workmen from Trade-Union tyranny. A very little alters. tion in the Union rules would make the position of the boiler- makers secure. Suppose they had a rule that any member who worked in the same yard with men in the position of the two shipwrights would be fined £1 a day and forfeit all sick benefits. Under such circumstances the boilermakers would have gone to the Company and have said : ' We are very sorry, but we simply can't stay in this yard if the two shipwrights also remain, for we are losing £1 a day, and forfeiting our sick benefits.' The demand for dismissal would thus be automatic. But you cannot bring an action for damages against a rule ; nor against those who make a rule which has nothing per se illegal in it ; nor again, against men who send in notices, because if they do not they will suffer pecuniary damage. What may be the common law on the case we do not pretend to say, but we hold strongly that to manufacture an illegal act out of a series of legal acts is most dangerous.

The London Gazette of Tuesday contains the official despatches in regard to the attack made on the political officer's escort in the Tochi Valley last June,—the first of the frontier risings. On the morning of June 10th at about 9.30 the political officer and his escort rested under some trees near a village called Mazar. About 2 p.m., while the pipers of the let Sikhs were playing, a man was seen to wave a sword from the top of a tower in the neighbouring village. This was the signal for a general attack. Most of the English officers were killed or badly wounded almost at once, but one and all behaved with splendid gallantry, as did also the native officers and men. There was no choice but retirement, and this was effected with great courage. A company of Sikhs under native officers—all the English officers were killed or wounded already—made a splendid stand by a piece of garden-wall, and thus covered the retreat of the guns and the main body. The orderly and stubborn character of the retreat may be gathered from the fact that in three and a half hours only three miles were covered. A stampede goes much faster than that. Equally good in the other direction was the pace of the relieving force, which covered nine miles in less than an hour and a half. Of the white officers it is recorded that Colonel Bunny and Captain Browne, though mortally wounded, continued to carry on their duties " until the near approach of death stopped them." Lieutenant Cruickshank, of the Artillery, acted with conspicuous gallantry, " getting up and continuing to fight his guns after being once shot down, until he was killed by another bullet." From the moral standpoint nothing could have been more satisfactory than the conduct of the troops. The native officers and men behaved as well as their white leaders.

There is no man more loyal and faithful when he is loyal and faithful than a native of India of high birth and position. The account of Sir Pertab Singh's reception at Jodhpore on his return from the Jubilee celebrations well illustrates this fact. In an interview be stated that he had visited no Continental countries, since the only countries in the world in which he was interested were England and Rajputana. Later he made a most striking speech, declaring that his present position was due to the British Government. " He could not say what he might have been ; but from a very tender age he was brought into contact with British officers, under whom he served, as he now finds with great ad- vantage, and if there was anything that exercised a whole- some influence on him it was the association and constant contact with the British." "It is true that the Hindoos and Mahommedans have each in their turn ruled India, but it cannot be said that they ruled so well as the British." This last sentence is no mere compliment. The thinking natives of moderate views realise that British rule is after all what divides India least. The Mahommedans and the Hindoos may both dislike being ruled by us, but each at heart greatly prefers British rule to the role of his ancient enemy.

Bank Rate, 2 per cent..

New Consols (2k) were on Fri•lav, 1111.

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