NEWS OF THE WEEK.

MHE Treaty of General Arbitration between Great Britain

and the United States was signed at Washington on Mon- day by Sir Julian Pauncefote and Mr. Olney, and remitted at once to the Senate, which has in such matters concurrent authority with the President. The Daily Chronicle has obtained a copy of the Treaty, apparently us a reward for its steady support of America in the Venezuelan dispute, and published it on Tuesday in full. The terms of the document are those previously reported. In case of any dispute between the two countries which diplomatists cannot settle, each will appoint a jurist, and the two will appoint an umpire, their decision, if they are unanimous, being final. If they are not unanimous, however, or if the dispute involves territory or more than 2100,000 in money, each country will select three Judges from its Supreme Court, and they will select an umpire. If they cannot agree upon him, he will be named by the King of Sweden and Norway. If this High Court is nearly unanimous, in the proportion of five to one, its decision will be finaL The Tribunal seems to be a good one, and the Treaty, which may be denounced by a year's notice at any time after five years, is a most creditable attempt to apply Christian principles to international affairs. Its success, however, is by no means assured, any more than the success of any Arbitration Board appointed to reconcile masters and men ; and it would show better judgment, as well as better taste, if we postponed exaltation over it till 1902.

The Arbitration Treaty has been received in America, in Great Britain, and on the Continent with general expressions of approval, though the official organs of the last-named are careful to say that they shall not treat it as a precedent. There appears, however, to be some reluctance in the Senate of the United States to vote the necessary ratification. The personal enemies of Mr. Cleveland, and he has many, are exceedingly annoyed that he should have the credit of such an " epoch- making " measure, while the Republicans think that if they delay ratification the Treaty will pass into history as an inci-

dent of Mr. McKinley's term of office. The Jingoes, too, who are numerous, do not like the loss of their opportunities of stirring up hatred against Great Britain,—rather a feeble view, because if a majority wants war the Treaty will not prevent it. It is nearly certain that the Treaty will pass, but the minority in favour of its rejection will be unexpectedly large. We hope English Radicals note that an elective Second Chamber does not invariably reflect popular senti- ment.

The massacre of the week in Africa is rather a formidable one. The authorities of what used to be called the Oil Coast, but is now pompously named the "Niger Protectorate,' decided that the " King " of Benin, a fighting savage of the worst type, who rules entirely by slaughter, and whose city is an Aceldama with crucified victims meeting you at every turn, mast really be brought to reconsider himself and his ways. In particular he must reopen the oil trade, which he had stopped for some months out of pure spite. So the Acting Consul-General, Mr. Phillips, with eight other gentle- men, all in authority, put two hundred and fifty porters into a yacht, and then from a point on the river marched towards Benin, apparently in the hope that a peaceful inter- view with the Chief might avert a war. They went unarmed, probably with a safe conduct, and, of course, as they ap- proached Benin were massacred almost to a man. At least, it is certain that all the porters except seven were shot in the forest, and that they report the white men as dead also, though two, it is believed, have escaped. Benin is a dependent State of Sokoto, where we have treaty rights, though the French in Dahomey say, we believe, that Sokoto either is, or ought to become, part of their Hinterland. However that may be, an expedition must be sent to Benin to hang up the "King," and accordingly one has been ordered, to consist of a certain number of Marines and bluejackets, four hundred disciplined Houssas of the Coast, half a battalion of West Indians, and a Maxim gun or two. Nobody seems quite to know whether this force will be sufficient ; but the victory over the Ashantee King has given our people much confidence, and they will try to con- quer with an expedition of about that calibre. If they succeed they will do good, and if they fail they will do more good, for then an expedition of reasonable size will make a final end of the Benin Monarchy.

The Emperor of Russia appears at last to have found a successor to Prince Lobanoff. To the surprise, and we fancy the vexation, of the world of St. Petersburg, Count Muravieff, at present Minister at Copenhagen, has been appointed " Gerant," or Director of the Foreign Office, with the promise of the portfolio in a few weeks. Count Muravieff is a great noble of the most ancient descent, who has for the past six years acted as chief adviser of the Czars when enjoying their relief from courtiers and Nihilists at Copen- hagen. He is, therefore, familiar with all kinds of affairs, and, is especially trusted by the ladies of the Imperial house. He is said to be an able man, not very industrious, who will relieve the Emperor greatly of his at present overwhelming labours, but who will not force on his Sovereign any distinc- tive policy of his own. He is evidently regarded with a certain suspicion at Berlin, probably because the Court of Copenhagen is known to regard William II. with a fixed die- trust ; but a Russian Minister, like a Russian Sovereign, generally slides at last into the usual groove. The grand interest of Russia—viz., to get to the water on all sides—is so clear and so permanent that her policy only varies in non- essentials. If doubtful friends held Greenock, the Isle of Man, and Southampton, the policy of London would not be very fluctuating.

The Radicals had a great success on Wednesday in the Cleveland division of the North Riding of Yorkshire, when Mr. Alfred E. Pease was elected to succeed to the seat vacated by the death of Mr. H. F. Pease, by the great majority of 1,428, though a year and a half ago Mr. H. F. Pease won his seat by a majority of only 587. The majority was, therefore, considerably more than doubled, nor do the Unionists doubt that they polled very nearly their full strength. The return was—for Mr. Alfred E. Pease, 5,508; for Colonel Ropner (Conservative), 4,080. The total poll was, therefore, 9,588 At the General Election the total poll was only 8,937, or less by 631 votes. In by-elections the local popularity of a name counts for more even than political principles.

Mr. Asquith delivered an effective speech at Dewsbnry yesterday week, with the most important aspects of which,— his application of the recommendations of the Commission on the financial relations of Ireland and Great Britian, to reinforce his Home-rule doctrine in relation not only to Ireland but expressly to Scotland also,—we have said a good deal in another column. He also quizzed the Unionists on the number and the warmth of their condolences with the Radicals for their crushing defeat at the poll in 1895, and intimated that the withdrawal of the Education Bill last summer did not look as if their defeat had been quite so crashing as the Unionists are pleased to regard it. He then entered on the discussion of the Employers' Liability Bill, insisting especially on the necessity for rendering it the first interest of employers to safeguard all their workers against the kind of accidents against which it is possible, by care and precaution and constant vigilant inspection, to guard. He had no objection at all, if it could be done, to provide the workman compensation against all accidents which are not due to his own folly and misconduct ; but he warned the working class that such compensation must either come out of State resources, which would cost a great deal too much to be thought of, or out of profits, which are already reduced to a minimum by competition, or out of consumers' pockets, or out of the men's wages, and he fully expected that they would ultimately come out of the latter. In any case, it would never do to weaken the motive of the factory owner for guarding elaborately and by every means in his power against the occurrence of preventable accidents ;—therefore there must be no "contracting out."

On Saturday last Mr. Balfour addressed his constituents in East Manchester, and made the important declaration that the Government have made up their minds not to propose any Education Bill depending on Rate-aid. He explained that it would not do to make any proposal on which the Unionist party are profoundly divided, and on the adoption of any principle of Rate-aid they certainly are profoundly divided, though there is a considerable Lancashire party very favourable to such a solution of the problem. He declared that the worst of the foreign policy clouds had blown over, and that the pros- pects for this year are far less gloomy than those for the past year had been. Referring to the Irish Land Act of last Session, for which the Conservative party had blamed the Government, he repudiated any party responsibility for the principles of that Act, which was only a corollary of Mr. Gladstone's Irish Land Act of 1881, of which he had always disapproved, but which, so soon as it became law, it was the duty of both parties in the State to adapt as far as possible to practical conditions. He then went into a very able dis- cussion of the doctrines of the Report of the Commission on the financial relations of Ireland and Great Britain,—of which we have given an analysis in another column,—and concluded by showing that if financial Home-rule were adopted in Ireland, Ireland, far from being the gainer, would soon be face to face with sheer bankruptcy. The only hope for Irish prosperity was to maintain the partnership which, "to our mutual advantage, had now been in existence for very nearly one hundred years."

The Ulster Liberal Unionist Association issued on Tuesday a most elaborate and effective criticism on the issues raised by the Report of the Financial Relations Com- mittee with regard to Irish taxation, which proves that a little consideration has brought them a clear appre- hension of the enormous danger to Ireland of Home- rule in finance. First they point out that in spite of the assimilation of the system of taxation in the two countries, Ireland is now treated with full allowance for the special considerations which entitle her to lenient financial arrange- ments such as the Act of Union contemplated. "It is only reasonable to bear in mind that at present the cost of primary- education in Ireland, amounting to £1,128,000, is, with the exception of £5,868 from Poor-rates, paid out of the Imperial Exchequer, while in England and Scotland large amounts are s provided by local school-rates and contributions With the ex- ception of £100,000 from local sources, the entire cost of police in Ireland comes from the Imperial Exchequer. In England one-half is met by local taxation Another example of the advantage Ireland receives from the partnership is to be found in the postal service. As things stand, Ireland has the benefit of as complete a service as any other part of the United Kingdom ; but if a separate account is to be taken, it will be found that the service is conducted in Ireland at a loss of £40,000 per annum, while that of Great Britain contributes an annual profit of £3,500,000 to the United Kingdom." Naturally enough, these considerations weigh heavily with the Ulster Liberal Unionists. They evidently do not hold that all this expenditure by the Imperial Exchequer for Ireland on education, police, and postal service, comes under what Mr. Morley calls " extravagant expenditure." It is really expenditure on what ought to be, and so far as Irish Unionists are concerned, is, "the union of hearts," and they have no wish to see it extinguished. Ireland, they say, has "an equitable claim as an integral part of the United Kingdom, in whose welfare the whole body politic has an undivided interest, and we submit that the best way to reduce the disproportion between means and contributions to the Revenue, is to raise the taxable capacity of Ireland by reproductive expenditure.' That is a great stroke for the true Union.

The news of the week from India is bad and, sad. The Plague in Bombay is spreading fast, and the official reports show that distress, already acute or deepening into famine, extends over a population of eighty-one millions, more than that of all European Russia, and it is doubtful if the worst is yet foreseen, the local Governors being more alarmed than the central authority. The number of persons on relief works is already one million two hundred thousand, will reach two millions, and may, says the Viceroy, exceed three millions during the worst time. The Government, therefore, which already expects to expend £6,000,000 and will have to expend 212,000,000, is willing to distribute a Famine Fund to be raised in England, which on Friday afternoon reached £70,000. We have care- fully explained elsewhere our reasons for thinking that this collection of charitable cheques is playing on a great fire with a squirt, and that the aid to be granted to India must be of another kind and on a much more serious scale. The one point we have not touched is the propriety of forwarding grain (wheat and rice) on which we cannot form a definite opinion. The members of the Government of India are resolute in their belief that State purchases would only impede private trade. They must be well informed, and yet the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal declares that the weekly reports of prices weigh on him like a nightmare. In other words, the private traders stand out for heavy profits, and whatever supplies are drawn by private trade they are not sufficient for the grain-dealers to feel any sharp competition. In truth, the quantity wanted among eighty-one millions of " distressed " vegetarians, all doing manual labour, must be prodigious.

The accounts of the Plague in Bombay grow worse and worse. The disease does not diminish in virulence, thongh half the population has fled; while it has broken out in the great port of Kurrachee, in Poona, the great Mahratta capital, and in "a great number of smaller places." Even the moneylenders of the bazaars have fled, trade is nearly paralysed, the means of burning the Hindoo dead are in- sufficient, the Mussulman dead cannot be properly buried, and their cemeteries are full of exhumed bodies ; while so deep is the general terror that the native doctors either fly or refuse to touch the sick. The Government is alarmed for other capitals, especially Calcutta, where, owing to the nature of the soil, good sanitation is exception- ally difficult ; and it is discussing the possibility of a desperate, step,—the isolation of Bombay, which means, of course, ruin

for the time. The fact that the pest is diffusible, which was not the case in the last London outburst, is most ominous, as is the news which comes from all sides that the smaller animals, pigs, goats, and rats, and even poultry and pigeons, are plague-stricken. The calamity is a most awful one, to our mind more awful in the concentration of its horror than even the famine. If both should strike any district, that district will be a charnel-house. There is another danger, too, immediately at hand,—Europe will boycott India.

In a speech delivered by Lord Elgin on the 14th inst. at Calcutta—a speech which leaves on those who can read between the lines a very gloomy impression—the Viceroy reveals with some clearness the method in which the charit- able fund will be expended. It will be divided, according to the necessities of the case, among local Committees which, knowing the people, will relieve women who dislike going to the relief works, and children who are too feeble to go. That is a good method ; but, of course, the bulk of the funds must come from Government. No charity will be of much use. Up to Thursday night the Lord Mayor's lists only showed a collection of £60,000,—that is, £10,000 for each of the six affected provinces, the smallest of which is bigger and more populous than most European States. Twenty times that sum must be subscribed at once, if substantial good is to be done ; and we confess we think our own proposal detailed elsewhere is both more reasonable and more benevolent.

The Liberal Churchmen, most of them clergymen, who re- gard the Radical party with more favour than they appear to regard the Unionist party, addressed last Saturday a very curious and interesting letter to Mr. T. Ellis, the leading Opposition Whip, on the subject of the views which they take of the policy of what they treat as the popular party. This letter is signed by Canon Scott Holland, Canon Gore, the Dean of Durham (Dr. Kitchin), the Dean of Ely (Dr. Stubbs), Mr. Adderley, and several other members of what may roughly be called the new Christian Socialist party,—not that we suppose any of them to be Collectivists, but that they are -very eager advocates of the duties rather than, in the first in- stance, of the rights of property, and are evidently very anxious to represent Liberal policy as favouring the general drift of the Labour party, or, as they put it, relieving the "social pres- sure on Labour." This policy they press eagerly on every leader, and the future leader, of the Liberal party, and on the Liberal party themselves, for special consideration in selecting their new leader, and they remark that though they are quite willing to accept Disestablishment, if that be the will of the nation, the recent GeneralElection seems to show decisively that at present at least it is not the will of the nation. They add that the old Liberalism, the Liberalism tending to political democracy, has attained its end, while so far as regards the questions of Regis- tration, and of the Veto of the House of Lords on the legisla- tion of the Commons, these are important chiefly in relation to the effect they might have on the solution of social difficulties. In a word, they press the Liberal party to give a much heartier support to the Labour candidates who may come forward in Liberal constituencies, and to make the relief of social pressure on Labour a main plank in the Liberal policy of the future.

The Times' correspondent in Vienna informs us, in very .cautions terms, that the terrible movement of 1847 in Austrian Galicia shows symptoms of revival. The peasantry of that province are bitterly hostile to the landlords, and in the Slavonic districts they in 1847-48 murdered them in hundreds, as was believed at the time, with the approbation of the ruling house. The present movement is not so bad as that, but the peasants demand, as we understand their grievance, that all land not under tillage, especially all forest-land, shall be placed at their disposal. It may be necessary, it is hinted, to use force to repress them, for if they take the land the agitation would undoubtedly spread into Hungary and Bohemia, where also the lot of the tillers of the soil leaves in this era of low prices much to be desired. No two provinces of the Empire are alike in economic conditions, but we see reason to believe that the tenure question is by far the most serious of Austrian internal questions, being aggravated by an immovable conviction among the peasantry that the Emperor is on their side. Up to a point this is probably true, all Emperors regarding aristocratic pretensions with disdain, but co Power which lives on taxes is ever favourable to anarchy. Alas for the times of "good Haroun Al Raschid," the day of Grand Viziers appears to be over ! The Czar hesitates to appoint a Chancellor of the Empire ; the Sultan has whittled away the powers of the Grand Vizier until that great official, formerly the Sultan's second self, is only President in Council ; and now the Shah has abolished the office altogether, and intends to govern himself, aided by a Cabinet of twelve Ministers. The change seems slight to Western men accustomed to government by committee, but it is really very great, and by no means altogether advantageous to good government. The existence of the office insured that a strong man should usually be at the head of affairs. If the Czar or Sultan or Shah was himself strong, he governed; but if not, all power fell gradually to his Adlatus, who, even if corrupt, was usually competent and well versed in the details of business. The older Sultans were singularly successful in their choice of Viziers, and repeatedly redeemed their affairs by choosing renegades or men of low birth who really knew how to govern. Modern Oriental Sovereigns seem to fear that their Grand Viziers will grow too powerful, and, moreover, wish to have all the credit of governing, and to obtain all official plunder for themselves. The only " reform " in Turkey which would really work in any great way would be to appoint a great man as Grand Vizier, and allow him to govern steadily and absolutely for fifteen years. He might in that time organise a decent public service for the Empire.

At a public meeting held in Kensington on Wednesday in support of the proposal to incorporate the parish as a borough with a Mayor and Corporation of its own, a letter was read from Mr. Chamberlain, in which, although he expressed himself unable to take part in the movement in his official capacity, he declared himself in favour of the scheme In his opinion the best security for good and efficient government in London is to be found in the creation ol separate municipalities in the different divisions of the Metropolis. London is too large for a single authority, "which is certain to degenerate into a purely official and bureaucratic administration." He goes on to add, however, that "a central authority is necessary for certain purposes which are common to the whole of the metropolitan area, but all local business outside these common objects will be most satisfactorily administered by a competent local authority with all the powers and dignity of a separate municipality.' We agree, but only if the central body is endowed with a proper state and dignity. We want a real union and incor. poration of the various parts in the central body, not a mere federation of autonomous bodies. We want, that is, a Lord Mayor of all London, not merely a chairman of a Federal Committee.

Of submarine boats there is no end. Unfortunately, how- ever, they are usually either too much or too little inclined to remain under water. They either sink to the bottom and refuse to rise, or else will not allow themselves to be properly submerged. The Daily Chronicle of Thursday gives an account of an American invention of this kind which, how- ever, promises to be more successful. This is the Holland submarine torpedo-boat, which has been constructed for the United States Government under a special grant from Con- gress. The boat is made in the shape of a whale, but, unlike a whale, it does not require to "blow,"—i.e., come to the sur- face to take in air. Here comes in the most important and curious part of the invention. The boat takes down with it a six hours' supply of air. When that is exhausted the crew unwind a length of hose attached to a float. The float, carry- ing the hose-pipe, rises to the surface, and thus enables air to be pumped into the tanks. Imagine a whale with a nose two hundred yards long, which it can send up to the surface to take in air. The motive-power while the ship is under water is supplied by electricity. The crew of the boat consists of four officers and eight engineers. We have not yet heard of a trial trip. Though the plan for getting air is most in- genious, we shall not be surprised if for some reason or other the boat will not work under water. Nature is not so easily conquered as the inventors imagine, and the nature of deep water is to drown all beings, whales included, with lungs.

Bank Rate, 4 per cent.

New Consols (2D were on Friday, 11;21.