NEWS OF THE WEEK.

NOTHING has advanced during the week. Tuesday, the 6th inst., the anniversary of Greek independence, passed off without incident, and the Greek and Turkish armies face each other without either commencing an attack. The Powers still threaten to blockade the Gulf of Athens, and iire still " arranging for " the blockade, and the Ambassadors are still drawing up plans for the government of Crete, which still remains ungoverned. The latest " impression " is that rather than Greece should become republican the Russian Government will suffer a Cretan assembly to choose the Sovereign, and that Greece in return will keep Macedonia quiet ; but there is no confirmation of this rumour, except the quietude of Greece. The Sultan evidently thinks himself safe, and begins to complain that the Powers are so slow, and to assert that if allowed a free band he could pacify Crete, which is doubtless true. There is no tranquillity equal to that of an unpeopled desert. From Crete there is no news except that the Cretans are trying fitfully to recover their own coast towns, and that the Admirals had actually resolved to shell some plundering Bashibazouks, who, how- ever, were finally persuaded to give up their arms.

Only one step of importance has been taken by the Powers this week. They have forwarded to the Governments of Greece and Turkey a communication stating that if either commence war, it shall gain nothing. " The Powers being firmly resolved to maintain the general peace, have decided not to permit the aggressor in any case to reap the least advantage from such aggression." That is a childish state- ment. The Powers are not gifted with the spirit of prophecy, nor if Greece won the struggle could they combine to attack her in order to prevent Crete, Macedonia, and Epirus from becoming free. The communication has been received by the Sultan with pleasure, for he does not wish to see a great soldier rise in Turkey, and by the Greeks with a kind of shrug such as a man gives when his friends tell him that his conduct, which he thinks heroic, will ruin all his cousins.

The accounts of the massacre at Tokat on March 19th are at last coming in. According to a Consular report, the Mutessarif, finding that the Armenians were closing their shops, asked for soldiers to protect them, but the Governor and the Military Commandant both refused the request. The Mussulman mob thereupon commenced a massacre which lasted two hours, while the pillaging went on all day, and covered two hundred and fifty houses. We take the following petty detail verbatim from Renter's account :— " Two Armenian priests at the Bisere Monastery were horribly mutilated. Their eyes were gouged out and their noses and ears cut off. One was also partially scalped." The priests were, of course, unarmed, and these tortures were doubtless not inflicted out of malignity but just to show how perfect the " tolerance " enjoyed by Christians under Turkish rule really is. It will be observed that the soldiers neither murdered nor stole. They only allowed their co-religionists to steal and murder with impunity. It is, therefore, quite unreasonable of the Christians of Crete to make the with- drawal of the Turkish soldiers a condition of their submission. The soldiers will not hurt them. They will only look on with a certain interest and amusement while they are being tortured and killed.

Sir William Harcourt is evidently in a fix. He himself rather approves the policy of the Government, or at all events does not see his way to propose a vote of censure, but his Radical followers are sore at his inaction. Accordingly on Monday he gave notice that he proposed to move an address to her Majesty praying that British forces might not be employed against either Crete or Greece, but on Mr. Balfour asking him if that was intended as a vote of censure, he replied that it was not. Mr. Balfour thereupon declined to grant a day for a debate which could have no utility, and on Tuesday made his refusal final. We can hardly believe that the leader of the Opposition was serious. He of all men must be aware that such a Motion, if carried, would destroy the responsibility of Government, which would thenceforward be unable to suggest, much less carry out, the policy it approved. The only argument by which he defended his Motion, and this on Tuesday, was that we might in the Easter Recess find ourselves engaged in hostilities with Greece. No doubt ; but so long as the right to make peace and war rests with the Crown, that is, with the responsible Ministers, how is that to be prevented P It is understood that the Motion is dropped, and it is better so. We do not think the Ministry sufficiently anti-Turkish; but there is no chance of a change of Govern- ment, and while it is unchanged, it ought to be left free to act upon its judgment.

Mr. Curzon, Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, made a long speech to his constituents at Southport on Saturday last, in which he strongly condemned all who opposed the policy of the Government. He spoke of the possible European war as " a cyclone of destruction," and of the Daily Chronicle as a journal whose "daily ravings" were "the consolation of his breakfast-table." He declared that the objects of the Government were to free Greece and to prevent war, and that those who said it defended Turkey were either "knaves or idiots." He made a great point of the state- ment that the Mahommedans in Crete were Greeks by race—which the Mahommedan troops in Crete are not— and denied that Crete at heart preferred annexation to autonomy. If she did, however, the Powers of Europe would not ultimately stand in her way. He held that war between Greece and Turkey would be an iniquity, and asked what Macedonians had done that war should be let slip over their hills. He defined the " integrity of Turkey " as a rule made by Europe to ensure that Turkey should be divided piece by piece, a definition which will dismay the Sultan as it will disgust grammarians. The whole speech is in this arrogant tone, which would hardly become even a

man who was responsible for the policy of the country, instead of being a funnel for the policy of his superiors. There is no new argument in it that we see, unless it be a new argument to describe the Concert as a "Committee of the Privy Council of Europe, a Cabinet of the nations." We should have said an Italian Cabinet, in which half-a- dozen hostile parties have each a representative whose busi- ness it is to trip up all his colleagues. Lord Salisbury's idea that the Concert was a federation was better than that, though we fear equally baseless.

The chief event of importance in the South African Committee on Friday in last week, was the refusal of Sir John Willoughby to state what was the communication made by him to the War Office in regard to the Raid and as to his reasons for join- ing therein. On Tuesday, however, the private secretary of the Secretary of State for War read to the Committee Sir John Willoughby's letter and the official reply. Sir John Wil- loughby's letter states that he joined the Raid in pursuance of orders given him by the Administrator of Matabeleland (Dr. Jameson), and "in the honest and band-fide belief that the steps were taken with the knowledge and assent of the Imperial authorities." Dr. Jameson stated that this was the fact, and on this statement Sir John Willoughby " took in " the other officers with him. To this the War Office replied that his statement only showed " that you allowed yourself and others to be led into the commission of a serious offence by most erroneous information as to the attitude of the Imperial authorities." An officer of his experience ought to have known that the authority given by the Administrator of Matabeleland was ultra vires and invalid. " In such a case it was your duty to verify such authority by direct application to the High Commissioner or Secretary of State."

After these letters had been read, Sir John Willoughby was pressed most strongly to say who were the Imperial authori- ties to whom he referred ; but he refused to answer. The Committee on this had the room cleared, and considered what steps they should take. When the witness was recalled, the Chairman announced that they were unanimously agreed that he ought to give an account of what it was that Dr. Jameson said to him. Sir John Willoughby, however, refused absolutely to do this. He did so " on public grounds," and was prepared to take the consequences. His only addition to this was that he would answer nothing in regard to private con- versations with Dr. Jameson- The Chairman finally decided that the Committee must adjourn, and at their next sitting call on Dr. Jameson to give his account of the conversation, unless before that Sir John Willoughby had changed his mind.

At last slavery has been abolished in Zanzibar. On April 6th the Sultan issued a decree which abolishes the legal status—incredible as it sounds, we have actually been enforcing plantation slavery in the islands ever since we took possession of them—but provides that rights over concu- bines shall remain as before unless freedom is claimed on the ground of cruelty, the women being treated as wives. Com- pensation is to be awarded for slaves legally held, and if Zanzibar is unable to meet the expenditure, help is to be given by England. The clauses as to compensation are said to have made the Arabs receive the decree without discontent, and there is reported to be no probability of resistance. The Arabs, say the telegrams, were so cowed by the recent bombard- ment that they will not show fight. It is asserted, however, that in future the greater portion of the clove crop will remain unpicked. We doubt it. If the cloves are worth picking—i.e., will pay for picking—the owners will be able to get people to pick them. We cannot refrain from saying that the story of our dealings with slavery in Zanzibar is extremely discreditable. Till forced into better ways by public opinion the Foreign Office refused to act upon what was long ago settled to be the cardinal policy of this country, —the policy of abolishing slavery whenever and wherever we had the power and opportunity.

We mentioned last week the statement that M. Auguste Burdean, formerly President of the French Chamber, was one of those most deeply implicated in the Panama scandal. He was specifically accused of having in 188.? taken a bribe of £3,000. His widow has now published a letter which she received from him in 1889, when he was about to fight M. de Cassagnac, the formidable duellist. In this letter he speaks of his own extreme poverty, directs his wife, if he should be killed, to collect the monies still due to him for newspaper articles, hopes that M. Jules Ferry will give her a license to open a tobacco shop—equivalent in France to a small annuity —and trusts that his eldest son will obtain a bursary. The letter is full of feeling for his children and his wife, who he thought would be left destitute by his death, as indeed they were when subsequently it actually occurred. The letter of course does not prove that M, Burdeau did not take a bribe and pay his debts with it, but it certainly raises so strong a pre- sumption in his favour, that no one should believe his guilt until it is proved by convincing evidence. It is one of the many lamentable facts of this affair that undoubtedly some of the money sincerely believed to have been paid to Deputies was stopped in transit by different intermediaries, of whom there were many.

The Legislature of Venezuela has accepted the Treaty under which the boundary dispute with Great Britain is referred to arbitration. As the general Arbitration Treaty with the United States may be considered dead, the total result of the long negotiations is to establish the precedent that whenever a South American State acts wrongly, and is threatened with war in consequence, the United States may intervene, and compel the disputants to resort to arbitration. As the Union holds itself entirely irresponsible for South America, that is rather a one-sided kind of protectorate.

In the House of Commons on Friday week Sir Charles Dilke proposed that the Government should invite a confer- ence of the Powers interested in Africa for the purpose of considering further measures for securing equitable treat- ment for the natives. After alluding to the secrecy which hangs over the Niger—servants of the Company are under a bond, penalised in £1,000 for each breach, to reveal nothing for ten years in regard to the country in which they served— Sir Charles Dilke declared that the Congo Free State was constantly violating the Brussels Act. He next asserted that not only in the Congo Free State, but also in some of our protectorates, fugitive slaves were allowed to be recaptured. Next he quoted the notorious account given by Captain Hinde of how the Congo Army, with which he served, was "entirely rationed for months on smoked human flesh." Sir Charles Dilke also complained of the way in which the Congo State dealt with the liquor traffic. Mr. Curzon made no serious attempt to defend the Free State, but was able to make out a certain case for the Niger Company against the much less formidable accusations levelled at them. The whole subject is, however, most unsatisfactory, and we cannot but regret that the matter was left in the hands of an Under-Secretary Why could not Mr. Balfour have at least announced that we intend for the future to take a firm stand on the principle adopted by us sixty years ago,—the principle that we can tolerate no form of slavery, and will give back no fugitive slave under any pretence whatever in any country under our control? Now that we have at last abolished slavery in Zanzibar, our intention to act on this principle ought to be most firmly announced.

The Paris correspondent of the Times attributes great im portance, as also do the Paris newspapers, to a memoir forwarded to the Sultan in February by an ex-Governor- General of Tripoli, Ismail Kemal Bey. It is a scathing denunciation of the evils of Turkish administration, and especially the corruption and imbecility of the Palace group, which has " tainted " the Army, destroyed the Navy, and rendered the people incapable of paying their taxes. The Sultan has become the prey of a band of rascals. There is no remedy to be found except in their dismissal, in the reduction of the autocratic power of the throne, and in the convening of an assembly of notables to settle the necessary reforms. The memoir is full of bitter truths, but they have not had the slightest effect, nor will they have. An able Sultan or an able Grand Vizier who happened also to be a favourite might postpone the fall of Turkey ; but no help will come from below. The causes which have induced Asiatics for three

thousand years to rely on despots whom they could have dis- missed at will have not ceased to operate, and will always prevent the adoption of Western methods ; which, even if they worked at all, would only throw to the top Committees as corrupt as any previous group of rulers. Somethng in the Asiatic nature has always demanded to be ruled by an in- dividual, and has rejected the automatic pressure of im- movable laws.

The Roman correspondent of the Times, who is entirely favourable to the dynasty of Savoy, reports a great increase in Republican feeling throughout the Peninsula. Rome itself has returned a Republican Deputy, while different districts have sent up twenty-seven others. Many of those who call themselves Radicals, and, of course, all Socialists, are also Republicans. Italy is, we think, too sensible to change her form of Government, but it seems certain that discontent is deep-seated and growing. The alliance with Germany has brought nothing except excessive taxation, made more bitter by suspicions of corruption in the collections ; the military prestige of the Monarchy has been impaired by the defeat in Abyssinia ; there have been no adequate reforms in Sicily, where the situation is deplorable ; and we believe the policy of the Government in adhering to the Concert, and agreeing to occupy Crete while still under an oppressor's flag, is most unpopular. For many of the evils of Italy the Chamber, and not the Monarchy, is responsible ; but throughout Southern Europe, in France, in Spain, in Italy, and in Greece, the permanent tendency of the people when discontented is to believe that the only sufficient remedy is a change in the form of government. Italy, it must not be forgotten, has not yet been monarchical for half a century.

We are extremely glad to learn that on Thursday a meeting of Members of Parliament was held to make arrangements for the simultaneous lighting of bonfires at 10 o'clock on the night of June 22nd. The leader of the movement is Colonel Milward, the Member for the Stratford-upon-Avon division, who according to the Daily Telegraph took an important part in the very successful commemoration by bonfires at the time of the last Jubilee. On the last occasion the scheme was to send the fiery message from the Malvern Hills, east, west, north, and south. The plan, however, was unsuccessful, as several bonfires were lighted prematurely. The present proposal is for simultaneous lighting, and is clearly the most appropriate. The bonfires will be lit as a sign of rejoicing, not as a message. The sight as seen from some commanding tower or bill-top will be most impressive. Imagine seeing twenty or thirty summits first begin to glow faintly and then to break into red flame. In another column we publish a letter on the best way to build and light bonfires, which may prove of use.

Mr. Yerburgh, Member for the City of Chester, has, we see, obtained a Committee to inquire into the practices of money- lenders, whom he regards as oppressors of the people. The Committee will effect nothing. The effort to suppress usury has been made in all lands, and under all circumstances, and has always failed. If the borrower is authorised to refuse pay- ment, the lender adds so much to his interest to meet the risk of repudiation. If the rate of interest is fixed, the usurer adds what he wants as profit to the nominal amount of the loan. Men in dire want of cash will accept any terms in order to get it, and nine times out of ten are afraid to destroy their future credit by publicly refusing to keep their agree. ments. We are not quite sure, either, of the morality of the preventive laws. If a grown man, not imbecile and not drunk, agrees to pay 100 per cent. for an advance, has the State a right to help him in defrauding a creditor P A great many worthy people answer in the affirmative, but it is very hard to see on what principle their opinion is based, unless it be this, that men should be protected like children against their own follies. If so, why not protect all spend- thrifts against all extravagances ?

There is a very interesting item of Egyptian news in Wednesday's papers. It appears that Professor Forbes, an electrical expert who has been examining into the capacity of the Nile to provide motive-power, has reported that the Cataracts are capable of providing the force required for pump- ing the river-water on to the fields, and that it will prove cheaper than steam—coal six hundred miles up the river costs a prodigious sum—or than the work of men and oxen,—the ordinary large water-raiser is worked by an ox, and the smaller one by a man. Professor Forbes is also said to have reported that electricity generated by the Cataracts is capable of being used for traction purposes on the railways, and for transmission to factories at a distance,—after the manner of Niagara. If he is right, the Cataracts, which used to be con- sidered the bane of Egypt, may come to be looked on as the dispensers of benefits.

On Tuesday Mr. Seton-Karr introduced in the Commons a Motion declaring that the dependence of the Kingdom on foreign imports for the necessaries of life, and the conse- quences that would arise in case of war, demanded the serious attention of the Government. Five out of six of the people of this country were, he said, fed on imported bread-stuffs, and of these five, four, or two-thirds of the population, were fed on foreign imports,—i.e., on corn not grown within the Empire. Probably the bread-stuffs in the country never exceeded three months' supply, and they often sank below one month's. His remedies were,—(1) commercial federation with the Colonies, which would make us depend on Australia, India, and Canada for our corn instead of on America, Argentina, and Russia ; (2) the increase of our wheat production at home. We had now only two million acres in wheat. If we quadrupled this we should only have one-sixth of the country under the plough, and yet be almost self-supporting. [How this increase was to be accomplished in competition with the Colonies did not appear. If it were accomplished, what good would preferential treatment be to the Empire F] The third remedy was a reserve in State granaries. This would be no waste, because a wheat reserve would be as good as a gold reserve. That is an interesting if not a very practical sug- gestion, for it opens up some curious speculations as to the possibility of issuing wheat certificates payable in corn or gold at a fixed rate. Cat-lovers may also be interested to think that the State, if it owned these vast granaries, would require to keep a whole army of cats. But that would only be a return to an old institution. Under the laws of our Anglo- Saxon Monarchs the cat who guarded the King's barn was, treated as a highly privileged beast.

Mr. Balfour threw the inevitable and necessary official cold water on these schemes, but he threw it with the utmost good temper as well as good sense. After ex- pressing his devout thankfulness that bimetallism had not been dragged into the controversy, Mr. Balfour re- marked that " the apostles of Free-trade have too much elevated themselves into a sect professing a peculiar orthodoxy, and, basing themselves upon certain perfectly sound abstract arguments, they have been too apt to found upon those abstract arguments rules of public policy which they sometimes assume are true of all nations, races, and times." That does not strike us as a very helpful or a very fair statement of the Free-trade position. No Free-trader denies that you can get revenue easily, if not well, by Protec- tion, or that by its aid you can, if you like, diversify your population or enrich a particular class. All they say is that in all places and in all times Protection must involve waste, possibly a useful waste, but still waste. Mr. Balfour was on firmer ground when he refused to turn the Chancellor of the Exchequer into " a great corn-factor and corn-dealer," and when he pointed out that the danger of a boycott by America and Russia was not serious or imminent, " unless you can conceive America and Russia agreeing together in order to injure us, and in order to destroy their most profitable source of exportation." We have dealt with the rest of Mr. Balfour's speech elsewhere, and will only say here that it most ably and conclusively laid the bogey conjured up by the alarmists and Protectionists, and that we agree with his declaration that our people will not go to war unless they have their hearts in the business, but that if they have their hearts in it they will not shrink from privations, even though they may be stern and long.

Bank Rate, 21 per cent.

New Consols (21) were on Friday, 1121.