NEWS OF THE WEEK.

ON Sunday the Spanish Prime Minister was shot by an Anarchist, and died an hour later. Pending the forma- tion of a new Ministry, the vacant office has been placed in the hands of the Minister of the Interior. The crime took place at Santa Agueda, in the Basque Provinces, where Señor Canovas was taking the baths. The assassin is a Neapolitan of good education and bearing, who, on his own confession, killed the Prime Minister as an Anarchist counter- blow. Senor Canovas, who was in the hotel, was following his wife downstairs to dinner when they met a friend. Madame Canovas stopped behind for a moment, and her husband went on. When he reached the Piazza, he found two bathers sitting there, and another man, who instantly walked up to the Premier and shot him. "The first shot struck Senor Canovas in the head, a second one went through the body, issuing behind the shoulder-bone, and a third lodged near the heart. The assassin fired a last shot in the air, the bullet being flattened against the ceiling, and cried Long live Spain !' " The murderer offered no resistance, and was seized at once. Madame Canovas, says the account furnished by the Daily News, which is by far the most complete, alarmed by the noise, ran towards her husband. "She went up to the assassin and, calling him 'murderer' and assassin,' dealt him a blow on the face with her fan." The latter bowed with mocking politeness, and said : "I am not an assassin. I have avenged my Anarchist brethren, and have nothing to say to you, madam."

In all probability the murderer's words accurately de- scribe the motive of the crime. The harsh treatment, to give it no uglier word, which has been meted out to the Spanish Anarchists has made them mad for revenge. It is not necessary, therefore, to presume any widespread con- spiracy or any special or immediate scheme to upset society. Angiolillo—that appears to be the final version of the murderer's name—who appears to have come from Naples to Barcelona in 1896, and there got connected with various Anarchist groups, doubtless thought he was doing a most noble act in avenging his comrades. Needless to say, we have no feeling but abhorrence for Angiolillo and his friends, and hold that society has a perfect right to protect itself against such crimes by the most summary pro. cessee. At the same time, we cannot doubt that the widespread belief that the Anarchist prisoners are cruelly, nay barbarously, dealt with by the police authorities in Spain, has done a great deal to intensify the desperate feeling of hate entertained by the Spanish Anarchists. It has been said that every country has the Jew it deserves. That is still truer of the Anarchist. Till he commits an overt

act, an Anarchist should be let alone and allowed to prate as much nonsense as he pleases. But the Spanish police have no notion of such abstention. They would harry a Methodist local preacher into outrage.

The funeral of Senor Canovas was to take place on Friday, but the accounts will not reach England till these pages are in our readers' hands. The Government, it is announced, have decided to give Senora Canovas the title of Duchess, to make her a grandee of the first-class, and to grant her a pension of 30,000 pesetas. The murderer, who is still under examination, will be tried by a military tribunal, probably on Saturday. He is said to have now abandoned the arrogant manner he first adopted—on the day of the crime he recited as a kind of Litany the names of all the Anarchists who had been executed in Spain and France—and to reply correctly in Spanish to all questions addressed to him. French and English police officials are to go to Spain in order to see if they can identify Angiolillo. It is said that at one of the preliminary examinations the murderer declared that "it was not yet over," and that Felix Faure's turn would be next. "That brute will go through it like Carnot." Probably this was the usual bravado of the criminaL We do not believe in the wide-spread conspiracy about which se much is being written just now.

The abominable murder of Sefior Canovas and the presence of so many Anarchists in London has naturally attracted a great deal of attention to the asylum which we grant the Anarchists. We have no wish to give the slightest pro-. tection to murderers, or plotters of murder, whatever their opinions and whatever their wrongs, real or supposed ; nor, again, eo we care to see men who are suspected of Anarchist opinions "dumped" down on our shores by the Continental police. At the same time, the matter is one which requires the most careful handling. Though we do not desire to give asylum to criminals, we do hold it to be our duty to allow men to come here who are hunted out of their own countries merely because of their opinions, even when those opinions are wild and foolish. As to the criminals, is it certain that our present extradition laws are not strong enough to render them liable to be handed over to the authorities of the countries in which they committed their crimes P If they carry on plots here, they can undoubtedly be punished. Whether we should allow foreign Governments to pass sentences of exile to England, to make London their Siberia—which is, in fact, what they do—is another question, and certainly requires consideration. On the whole, we should be inclined to trust the experienced and capable officials at the Home Office. If they ask seriously for a change in the law in order to secure adequate punishment for foreign criminals and foreign plotters and to keep us clear of a criminal invasion, we should be willing to see such legislation passed,—provided, of course, that we are not asked to refuse asylum to men prosecuted for holding unpopular opinions.

On Saturday last the German Emperor's yacht, with the Emperor standing on the look-out above the captain's bridge, dressed in a Russian infantry uniform, and characteristically shouting greetings in Russian to the sailors of the Russian men-of-war, steamed up the roadstead of Cronstadt to meet the Russian Emperor on board his yacht, the Alexandria.' The Kaiser and his wife were entertained at Peterhof, and on the evening of the day of their arrival there was a State banquet. The Emperor of Russia proposed the health of his guests in the usual Court phraseology. He spoke, however, of "the traditional bonds which unite us" and of the "precious guarantee for the maintenance of general peace which forms the object of our constant efforts and our most fervent wishes." There was probably something more than convention in this last phrase, for it is admitted that the Emperor of Russia is sincerely anxious for peace, and has no desire to set his millions in motion.

The German Emperor almost surpassed himself in his reply. He began by a most effusive expression of delight in the " surprise " which his brother - Emperor had contrived for him,—the right to wear the uniform of a Russian Admiral. His appointment as a Russian Admiral was a proof " of our traditional and intimate relations founded upon an unshakable basis." In future the two Emperors would pursue the same paths and would guide the intellectual developments of their people. "I can, with full confidence, lay this promise anew in the hands of your Majesty—and I know that I have the support of my whole people—that I stand by your Majesty's side with my whole strength in this great work of preserving the peace of the nations, and I will give your Majesty my strongest support against any one who may attempt to disturb or break this peace." We wonder how the Emperor of Russia liked this touch of blustering patronage. A genuinely peaceable man does not always relish being told by an irascible friend that his bludgeon is ready for instant use in the cause of peace. But even if the Emperor of Russia is not embarrassed by the speech and the incident, what about poor M. Faure ? Will he not find, like Esau, that all the blessings have been anticipated by the first corner? What can he say more than that he will stand by Russia? And what can the Emperor of Russia do more than acknowledge the attention with thanks,—unless, of course, the President and the Emperor use the language suitable to those joined in a regular offensive and defensive alliance P But is Russia prepared to go as far as this ? If she does not, how will France be made to feel that she stands in any better relation than Germany ? The German Emperor and Empress left Russia on Thursday; the Sovereigns, according to the correspondents, embracing with more than the usual fervour. Will M. Faure kiss and be kissed also ?

The only point to chronicle about the peace negotiations is that they are still sticking. The present difficulty is the unwillingness of the Turks to give up Thessaly till they receive a portion, at any rate, of the indemnity ; and the inability of the Greeks to produce any money with which to pay the Sultan. It is, of course, only natural that the Turkish Government should want to have the indemnity actually in hand, for they know by personal experience how easy it is to slip out of paying a war indemnity. The Reuter's telegrams in Friday's papers state that it is possible that a compromise will be arrived at, under which Turkey will for the time *emain in occupation of a good deal more territory than was at first intended, but Greece will get immediate possession of the plains of Thessaly. It is to be hoped that some other way out of the difficulty may yet be found, for temporary occupation by the Turks might drag on for years ; in any case, it would only be stopped by the Concert. But next year the Concert may not be equal to even its present feeble powers of action. Truly the peace negotiations are a sort of nightmare.

Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria has during the week been paying a surprise visit to the Sultan, kissing his hands as a sign of homage, and generally assuring him of his devotion. This has greatly pleased the Sultan, who was getting alarmed at the rumours from Sofia, and he is now said to have com- plete confidence in his vassal's loyalty. One does not like to suggest that so cunning a man as the Sultan is capable of being deceived, but Prince Ferdinand is a very astute; person, and a very pertinacious one. Meantime, Bulgaria has been getting into a serious diplomatic trouble with Austria. In an interview with a correspondent of the Lokalanzeiger, the substance of which is given in the Daily Hail last Friday, M. Stoiloff, the Bulgarian Prime Minister, after indulging in bitter recriminations against the Austrian attacks on the Bulgarian Government a, propos of the crime of Captain Boitscheff, said he had told the Austrian Consul that he must not regard Boitscheff as a typical Bulgarian official any more than he (M. Stoiloff) considered all the Hungarian nobility corrupt because one of their number had been publicly accused in Parliament of infamous trafficking. Austria, added the Premier, need not be too touchy about the Bulgarian scandals. The circum- stances of the Archduke Rudolph's death still remained unexplained. The Austrian Government was naturally indignant at this, and demanded a formal disavowal of the interview under the threat of withdrawing their diplomatic representative. As, however, no satisfactory disavowal was forthcoming, the Austrian Agent has left Sofia, and diplo- matic relations will apparently be broken off altogether. It is difficult to see why the Bulgarian Premier should have acted thus, unless it is true that he wishes to embarrass Prince Ferdinand. The Balkan States are so honeycombed with intrigue that this is not by any means an improbable explanation.

The Times' correspondent in Crete, telegraphing from Canea on Monday last, gives a most depressing account of the situation. Nobody, he says, seems to know who is master in the island, with the results on the islanders that might be expected. Djevad—the Sultan's emissary—is, he reports, intriguing to bring about a show of reconciliation between the Christians and Mahommedans. If he can accom- plish, or seem to accomplish, this, he will be able to say he has had an easy success where the Powers have failed. To carry out his plans he gives "dinners to the European authorities," and sends soft messages to the insurgents. One of his chief ideas is to widen the international zone by pushing the military cordon further into the insurgent terri- tory. The excuse is that this will enable many Mahommedan families to return to their homes. The Admirals, says the Times' correspondent, have unfortunately been somewhat moved by the seeming humanity of this argument. But the result of this policy must be fresh fighting, for the in- surgents are determined not to allow their lines to be put back. We can hardly doubt that the right plan is to main- tain the present status quo as to the zone, which at any rate stops bloodshed, until the final and complete settlement of the Cretan problem has been arrived at.

At the present moment Paris is greatly excited over the arrival of Prince Henry of Orleans. The papers, indeed, write of almost nothing else but his schemes for a great Russo-French Viceroyalty in the "Equatorial Provinces" of Abyssinia, which is to be established under M. Leontieff, a Russian officer, apparently in territory most of which is within the British Hinterland. Prince Henry is, however, careful to point out that, though he is working with the new Governor.. General, he is not under him. "It is not a question of a Governor and his assistant ; it's one of two people working stoutly together for one common cause,"—a sentiment with a slightly Anarchist flavour. In any case, there is a sort of Port Tarascon air about the whole scheme which does not seem to promise well. Paris, however, is more excited about the duel which is to take place as soon as the pour-parlers can be finished. At present the four seconds are hard at it dis- cussing the conditions, and, doubtless, " dressing " a proces verbal of their deliberations in case of an accident. Meantime, General Albertone, with his sword drawn, and doubtless long- ing to be "at 'em," is waiting at Turin. It is to be hoped the incident will be closed before President Faure starts for St. Petersburg. If not, the Russian fetes may be put in the shade.

There is always war somewhere on the Indian frontier, just as there was always something moving on the Roman borders, but every now and then we get an access of the chronic complaint. That is the condition at present, and so every day has its war telegram from Simla. On Monday last a sharp fight took place at the Shabkadar Fort, fifteen miles from Peshawar, which ended in the complete defeat of the Mohmand raiders. Colonel Woon, in command at Shabkadar, moved out at 6 in the morning to attack the enemy. He had with him two companies of the Somersetshire Regiment, some Bengal Lancers, and four gnus, besides his own Punjab Regiment,—in all, 1,200 men. He soon found himself face to face with 6,000 Alohmands in possession of a strong position. After he had been engaged for some three hours, he perceived that he was being outflanked, and was about to draw off his force. Fortunately, however, General Eiles—an officer of great promise—had left Peshawar early that morning, accompanied by two companies of Sikhs. When he reached the ferry on the Cabal River, he heard firing, and hurried on to Shabkadar. He at once assumed command, concentrated the fire of the guns upon the enemy's left, formed up his cavalry on his own right, and then flung them at the whole line of the Moll mends. The Bengal Lancers, under Major Atkinson and Lieutenant Cheyne, carried out the charge in brilliant style. They went through the Mohmand line from end to end, re-forming on the left of our infantry. By this time General Elles' Sikhs had come up, and he then struck with his whole infantry force, and drove the enemy in confusion into the hills. By 2 o'clock not a tribesman was visible. It was an excellent piece of work, and shows what fine stuff we have in our Indian officers.

At dawn on Saturday last General Hunter entered Abu Hamed, and after a fierce hand-to-hand fight in the narrow and labyrinthine streets of the village, lasting an hour, completely routed the Dervishes. The Sondanese troops, who fought with their usual bravery, lost twenty-one killed and sixty-one wounded. Two British officers—Major Sidney and Lieutenant Fitzclarence—were, we regret to say, killed while leading their men to the assault. The Dervish Commander, Mahomed Zein, was taken prisoner, and he and the other Soudanese blacks captured in the fight have been sent down the river to Merawi. A quantity of arms, standards, camels, horses, and other property were captured. The inhabitants, as usual, have shown every sign of rejoicing at their delivery from the Dervish tyranny. These facts are drawn from an official statement issued by the Sirdar. He adds that the Khalifa continues to reinforce the Mahmoud's army at Metemeh, where both sides of the river are fortified. Mahmoud recently sent reinforcements to Berber, which were recalled on the news of our advance. "It is expected that the arrival at.A.bu Hamed of the gunboats which are now being passed over the Fourth Cataract will prevent him from leaving Metemeh with a large force." The capture of Abu Hamed is a most im- portant event, and General Hunter is to be congratulated on a very brilliant piece of work. If he had not surprised the place, but had allowed the Dervishes to evacuate it, half the effect would have been lost. The next step will be Berber.

The Report of the Industrial Commission has been presented to the Volksraad of the Transvaal. The preamble states that over-speculation and over-capitalisation have nothing to do with the present condition of things. There have been some bogus mines, but no good would be gained by probing the past—a characteristically South African remark. The Com- mission recommends that overtures shall be made to the Portuguese authorities, in order to supply an increase of black labour, and that the Liquor Laws for natives shall be more strictly enforced. Other recommendations are :—(1) Facilities for coal and agricultural supplies to the Rand ; (2) the cement duty, the brick-making concession, and the lotteries to be abolished ; (3) inter-State transit duties to be abolished and food-stuffs to be admitted free; (4) the dynamite conces- sion, if possible, to be cancelled, and a 20s. per case duty substituted ; (5) the Netherlands Railway tariff to be reduced 25 per cent.,—this alone, it is asserted, would save the gold industry £500,000 a year. Along with this news comes a telegram to the effect that the Boer Government is "greatly embarrassed financially." If this is true, there seems little hope for the proposed reforms which, at any rate to begin with, will cost money. Cancelling concessions means compensation.

The Queen's Speech proroguing Parliament, which was not published in time for any comment from us last week, contains little of special interest. It speaks, however, of the six Powers persuading the King of Greece "from the war upon which he unhappily desired to enter," which, we suppose, is intended to mean that the Concert holds that Greece began the war. A paragraph in regard to China notices the opening of the West River to European commerce ; and another as to Abyssinia states that a commercial treaty has been concluded with Menelik. Mention is made of the proofs of the attachment of the Colonies afforded by the fiscal legislation of Canada, and the offer of naval help by the Cape "following the example of Australia." The enlargement of the harbours of Dover and Gibraltar are noticed as specially worthy of congratula- tion. The list of measures carried is certainly one of which the Government need not be ashamed.

The polling in the Brightside Division of Sheffield, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Mr. Mundella, took place on Friday, August 6th. The result was the return of Mr. Maddison, the Home-rule candidate, by a majority of 183 Mr. F. Maddison polled 4,289, and Mr. J. F. Hope 4,106 votes. At the previous elections the Home-rule majorities had been far larger. In 1892 Mr. Aittndella's majority was 1,277. But though Mr. Mundella was much respected, and held a very exceptional position in Sheffield, it is generally admitted that the great reduction in the majority is not satisfactory, either from the Home-rule or the Labour point of view. Lord Londonderry should take the lesson of the election to heart. Mr. Hope was by no means the kind of Tory he approves of, but Mr. Hope very nearly won the seat. Yet, according to Lord Londonderry, the ordinary Conservative was not going to cross the street to vote for any supporter of such a dangerous couple as Lord Salisbury and Mr. Chamberlain.

On Friday (August 6th) the Archbishop of Canterbury dedicated a beacon in the form of an Irish cross which has been erected on the crest of High Down as a memorial to Lord Tennyson. We are not, as a rule, happy in our monuments and memorials, but nothing could have been more appropriate than this sea-mark, erected at a place full of memories of the great poet, looking out on the seas he loved and knew, and typifying that connection between the sea and English life which found so marked an echo in his verse. The present Lord Tennyson is reported by the Times to have said of the beacon, "I feel quite sure that it is the memorial my father would have liked the best."

The English railway returns for the past half-year, which were published on Monday, are important as showing that the revival in trade and business is being well maintained. They show that the gross receipts were £32,803,000,—that is, £1,156,000, or 3.7 per cent., better than in the previous half-year. The expenditure was £18,884,000, an increase of £893,000, or 5 per cent. ; and the net revenue was £13,919,000, an increase of £263,000, or 1.9 per cent. As usually happens in prosperous times, the increase in expendi- ture has more than kept pace with the increase in income. The proportion of expenses to income was 569 per cent. for the first half of 1896. It is now 59.6. The increase in divi- dends range from to per cent. On the whole, then, the railway barometer seems to show that we may continue to expect good times.

The Select Committee appointed last March to report upon the manner in which the sites available for new Govern- ment offices ought to be used, have arrived at some very sensible conclusions. To begin with, they advise a scheme which involves making Parliament Street as wide as the rest of Whitehall, and so giving us one of the finest " vistas " in the world. They think, however, that the London County Council should contribute to this great im- provement,—a proposal which, if sound in the abstract, has rather a mean look. The Imperial Government need not be afraid of making a gift to what is, after all, the capital as well as the administrative county of London. The Committee also strongly advise that the Mall should be opened into Charing Cross "on the north Bide of Messrs. Drummond's Bank." This would not only add greatly to the beauty of West Central London, but would be of enormous value from the purely utilitarian point of view. A more doubtful recommendation concerns Downing Street. Nos. 11 and 12 are to be swept away altogether; but No. 10—the official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury, first acquired by Sir Robert Walpole—is to be retained on account of its historical associations, but masked "by a new building with a good architectural façade." The Premier's quaint little garden is also to be enclosed with "a screen or railing of handsome design." It is so easy to talk about good architectural facades and screens of handsome design, but are the Committee sure they will get them P Meantime, their masking will destroy a very picturesque piece of Georgian London. The present plain garden wall is pleasant enough. What is likely to be the result of the Office of Works' efforts at "a screen of handsome design" P Meantime, there can be no doubt that the widening of Parliament Street, and the opening of the Mall into Charing Cross, would be improvements of the first class. All London should pray fervently that this part of the Report at least will be acted on, and not pigeon-holed.

Bank Rate, 2 per cent. New Consols (2!) were on Friday, 1121.