NEWS OF THE WEEK.

THERE is no "latest intelligence of the war." News of the battle off the Philippines, which should come first, had not arrived when we went to press, and the remaining "news" sent over from New York in reams is most of it un- founded. The newspapers there feel a necessity for feeding the public excitement, and publish anything which reaches them, true or false, without sifting, and without caring if the intelligence is contradictory. The general confusion as to facts is increased by the efforts—reasonable and praiseworthy efforts—of the Departments in Washington to keep their plans secret, and by the determination of the Spanish Government that nothing unfavourable shall be published so as to diminish public enthusiasm. We are not quite sure, moreover, that "strategic messages" are unknown devices either in Washington or Madrid. Our readers will, we think, do well to disbelieve all messages from Cape de Verde, where the Portuguese Government is in a very " tight place," being bound to do things which it has no means of doing, and also messages about the movements of American battleships. Mr. Long is not the man to warn the enemy.

War was formally declared by Congress on Monday, to date from April 23rd, and all prizes taken before that day will be restored. Fortunately no lives had been taken, as even an Act of Congress signed by the President will not entirely restore vitality to a corpse. The scenic outburst of force in action which the newspapers, both in America and England, appear to have expected, has not, however, occurred. Havana is blockaded by a small fleet, and is being filled with Spanish troops ; some new fortifications at Matanzas have been destroyed by shells " with great loss of Spanish life; " some prizes have been taken; and an American officer of the exceptionally smart type has been landed in Cuba to organise and encourage the native insurgents. For the

rest everything is as yet " intended " only. It is in- tended to land five thousand men on a point in Cuba, fortify it, and through that gap in the defences to pour in arms for the insurgents and food for the " Concen- trados " who are starving. It is intended to form an army of fifty thousand men at Chickamauga, and when it is formed, to attack Havana by sea and land, afterwards making the capital a base for the subjugation of the whole island. It is intended finally to enlist a reserve force of four hundred thousand men, who will be carefully organised and gradually trained; but all these things take time, and the land war should not commence till mid-September. It will not, for the President yields to the organisers, unless public impatience overbears the experienced men. In that event, the Americans will probably crush the Spaniards by throwing masses of men into the island, and, after expending a third of their number, drowning all resistance in blood.

It is impossible as yet to see what the Spaniards are doing. The theory is that a squadron is on its road to bombard the American cities on the coast, Boston more especially; but there is no proof of this, the telegrams about warships seen passing being untrustworthy. It is possible that there is such a squadron, and that all the telegrams from the Cape de Verde are falsities intended to hide from Americans the fact that the fleet there collected has sailed; but the Spaniards keep their secrets well. It is equally possible that no squadron has started, that the coal difficulty has been found insuperable, and that Cuba is to be left to defend itself. We thought last week that we saw convincing evidence of the adoption of this plan—much the wisest, as Americans may weary of a long war—but this week we content ourselves with saying that the naval policy of Spain is the uncertain factor in the situation. The Americans are obviously uneasy about it, and are watching their coast with the swift liners which they have purchased from the shipping companies and armoured in a way for war. Whatever the Spanish plan, the pause in visible action has created an impression, possibly erroneous, that the war will be a dreary and protracted affair.

There seems to be some certainty about the news from the Philippines. The squadron which the Americans keep for the protection of their interests in China has undoubtedly left Hong-kong to attack Manilla, and the Spanish Admiral, with his squadron, has left harbour to intercept the invaders. A battle is therefore expected to-day or to-morrow, on which the fate of the islands will depend. If the Spaniards win, the colony will sink back into quiescence, but if the Americans, Manilla, which is badly fortified, must surrender, and the natives, rising in insurrection, will for a time govern them- selves. As the Americans cannot keep the islands, and as all the Great Powers desire them, their ultimate fate is one of the most curious problems of the war.

The Spanish Minister of Finance says that people are far too pessimist about the finances of the country, and that Spain has resources sufficient for the war. Her ordinary accounts for the year show a small surplus, the revenue being thirty-four and a half millions, and she can raise extraordinary means for war. He proposes to do this by raising an imme- diate loan of £4,000,000 on the security of the quicksilver- mines, by calling on the Bank of Spain to issue notes, by compelling taxpayers to pay a year's dues in advance, by covering the outstanding Floating Debt by an issue of Treasury bonds, by asking advances from the holders of State monopolies, and by creating Rentes without limit. Of those proposals, all of which will be accepted, three, the anticipation of revenue, the issue of more bank- notes, and the emission of Rentes, ought to raise considerable sums ; but paper, if over-issued, soon sinks, and the Rentes must be sold at ruinous prices. Spain, however, which need not pay her troops except in driblets, which has finished buying ships, which cannot resupply her colonies, and which has no reason to dread invasion, need not pay away enormous extra sums. We are all a little deceived about this by the example of Britain and America. which in

war-time obtain all their extra force through lavish expendi- ture. If the Madrid Treasury can raise an extra million a mouth for the first year of the war it will get along fairly well. In the last resort the service of the Debt must be suspended.

A Blue-book has been issued full of despatches about the German seizure of Kiao-chow and the Russian lease of Port Arthur. The two stories run together chronologically in a bewildering fashion, but the English reader may skip the German half. He knows all about that, and knows it accurately. The Russian half is more interesting because it chows that the Russian Foreign Minister, Count Muravieff, did on March 15th pledge himself and the Czar to leave Port Arthur open, and did on April 1st with- draw that pledge " because Russia could not abuse the lease which has been granted her by a friendly Power to arbitrarily transform a closed and principally military port into a commercial port like any other." The British answer to the despatch recording this cynical breach of faith is not in the collection of papers, but of course the real answer is the lease of Wei-hai-wei. We have commented on these docu- ments elsewhere, and need only add that the current state-, ment that British ships went out of Port Arthur at Lord Salisbury's bidding is untrue. All that Lord Salisbury did when M. de Staal remonstrated against their presence was to say that the orders had been issued by the Admiral in com- mand of the fleet in those waters, and that they would probably soon move. As a matter of fact they had moved before the complaint reached Lord Salisbury. The remon- strance was caused by an impression universal among Russians that the British meant to seize Port Arthur.

The partition of China in reversion has advanced a step, Japan having demanded that the territory opposite Formosa between the sea and the hills shall not be alienated without her consent. The present position, therefore, is that nobody openly wants China to break up, but that if it does break up, Russia will take the Northern provinces, England the valley of the Yangtse Kiang, France the Southern provinces, Germany Shantung, and Japan the districts opposite Formosa but outside the Yangtse Valley. The remainder, it may be presumed, will govern itself. That is a pleasing arrangement, but we should like to know what is to become of Thibet. With that lofty plateau in Russian hands India would be untenable.

The Standard publishes the opinion of a diplomatist at Vienna which seems to us worthy of attention. He says that Continental statesmen are really alarmed by this war because they think it will compel the United States to make of themselves a great naval Power, which would impose its will on the Old World in matters of trade and navigation, and ultimately produce the conflict between the Old World and the New which Count Goluchowski prophesied. It is quite certain that Continental statesmen are greatly irritated by the war, and that they fear the result upon trade sketched out by the diplomatist, but they also fear, greatly fear, another thing, an alliance of the English-speaking peoples which would be too strong for the rest of the world. Per- haps, however, they are a little premature. We have not forgotten how in 1863 the Continent prophesied that the Union would turn itself into a great military State, or how in 1865, after Napoleon quitted Mexico, all thoughts of war died out in the United States, and the "million of heroes " return- ing to civil life devoted themselves to industry and log-rolling for pensions. It was a wonderful spectacle, part admirable, part comic, and part tending to deepen doubters' cynicism. Men who were ready to die for their country and who did risk death were ready to kill Congressmen if they refused to tax the people to provide them pensions.

On Tuesday " The London Gazette Extraordinary" was issued containing the Queen's Proclamation of Neutrality. The Proclamation begins by quoting the provisions of a Treaty with the United States under which we are bound to prevent the fitting out of any vessel intended to be used against any Power with which we are at peace, and also to prevent our ports being used as naval bases. It next quotes the Foreign Enlistment Act. Finally, the Home Secretary writes a letter to all the chief Departments of State, which lays down definite rules as to the observation of neutrality. The chief of these are that if a war-vessel of one of the belli. gerents puts into one of our harbours it shall only remain twenty-four hours after necessary repairs, and that only sufficient coal shall be supplied her to carry her to the nearest port of her own country or any nearer destination. It is also laid down that no prizes may be brought into our ports. The Proclamation is, of course, common form, and does not, and is not meant to, favour either belligerent in the slightest degree. But though it looks simple as well as fair, doubtful questions are sure to arise under it. If, and when, they do, we trust that the representatives of the countries concerned will consider the matters in controversy in dry light and not in white heat.

We greatly regret to notice that there has been a Plague riot in Jullundhur (Punjab), for this reason. We received information a week ago that rioting was probable, and that public feeling in the Punjab is dangerously excited about the Plague rules. So deeply do these rules offend the population that when they were published in Delhi, before any case had appeared, many thousand families quitted the city. The people are not afraid of the disease, which comes or not " according to the will of God," but they hold inspection, segregation, and examination after death to be insulting intrusions upon their privacy, which is the foundation of their honour. So keen is the feeling, that officers of great experience and deeply humanitarian opinions doubt gravely whether the Government ought not to let the people die rather than risk the possibly frightful con- sequences of persistence in scientific measures of prevention. We do trust that Lord George Hamilton will not in this matter be deceived by Indian official optimism, but will believe that though it may be our duty to enforce sanitary measures, we may have to do it at a serious risk of provoking insur- rection.

On Friday, April 22nd, there was a fierce little scene over the distress in the West of Ireland. Mr. Dillon moved the adjournment of the House to call attention to the matter, and declared that they had not heard a word of human sym- pathy from the Irish Secretary. The Lord-Lieutenant, by his statement to an American correspondent that the accounts of distress were exaggerated, had stopped the flow of charity in England and America. If it had not been for the exertions of the Manchester Guardian no relief would have been received from England. The Government ought to adopt a more paternal system when people were starving in Ireland than they need do here. Mr. Redmond followed in the same strain. Mr. Gerald Balfour, in reply, declared that the distress had been greatly exaggerated, and that there had not been a single case of death from famine or starvation. Mr. Redmond retorted that these deaths from disease were caused by insuf- ficient and unwholesome food. " How far is the hon. Member prepared to go ? " asked Mr. Balfour. " No doubt, if we could distribute champagne to sick people—" These words roused an instant storm. There were cries of "Shame!" and throughout the rest of the discussion the word "cham- pagne " was hurled across the House at the Chief Secretary. Yet in reality Mr. Gerald Balfour's point was a perfectly good one, and we are entirely with him when he said that the most serious point connected with the West of Ireland was not the particular distress, but the general problem. The way to solve that was not to pour money into the distressed districts. His speech as a whole showed that the Government is taking abundant care that the people shall not die of want, though it is refusing to make pauperism per- manent in the West. When the House divided on the Motion to adjourn, the Government majority was 104 (204 to 104

We note with great satisfaction that on Tuesday the House of Commons rejected the Westminster Improvement Bill by a majority of no less than 252 (336-84). The vote and discussion were of good augury, for they showed that the House of Commons is strongly averse to placing the beauty and the historic traditions of London at the mercy of a body of capitalists, who, however worthy they may be as private individuals, would act simply with the desire of earning dividends. Mr. Burdett-Coutts's speech moving the rejection of the Bill was quite excellent, being sound in sense and care- fully thought out. We are glad to see that he did not, in his very proper desire to defeat the Bill, forget to note that a well-considered extension of the Embank. 'Dent, undertaken by a public body acting, not with a view to profit, but in the public interest, is greatly to be desired. The completion of that section of the Embankment in a manner worthy of the site had, he said, long been the .ambition and hope of all London. "The great road which faces the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and which itself, when Parliament Street was widened, would be a -continuation of Whitehall, ought, of course, to be carried straight to Lambeth Bridge, to form a junction with the rest of the Embankment beyond Lambeth Bridge. Such a road between the House and Lambeth Bridge ought to be left -open c. its river side, and the space between it and the river left as an open space for the continuation of the Victoria 'Tower Gardens, gradually narrowing down to the bridge." `That seems to us a thoroughly sound statement of what is wanted in the matter of the Westminster Embankment.

On Monday in the House of Commons the Attorney-General moved the second reading of the Bill for allowing prisoners to give evidence. No fewer than twenty-six Acts of Parlia- ment had been passed giving prisoners, in special crimes, power to give evidence. The present Bill did away with the anomaly of a few prisoners being unable to give evidence, and brought our practice into line with thereat of the English. speaking world in the Colonies and in America. Mr. Pickers- gill and Mr. Lyttelton opposed the Bill, as also did several other speakers,—the strongest argument used being that Judges would get into the Continental habit of bullying :prisoners. Sir Edward Clarke, in a most convincing speech, showed, however, that the present system of closing the prisoner's mouth was barbarous and unfair. No experience could be greater or more worth considering than his own, and he was able also to quote an almost universal consensus of high legal opinion in favour of the proposal. In truth, his speech did what House of Commons speaking seldom does. It entirely demolished "the other side." After a long debate Mr. Balfour moved the Closure, and the second reading was carried by 149 (229 to 80). Mr. Lyttelton, however, moved that the Bill should be referred to a Select Committee, and on this motion the debate was adjourned. We very much hope that this demand will be refused, and that the Government will persist in carrying their Bill through the House this Session.

In the House of Commons on Wednesday the Irish Local 'Government Bill went into Committee. After the rejection ef the proposal to disallow the exemption from the ballot to illiterates or alleged illiterates—a schoolmaster in Ireland was once forced to vote as an illiterate—the Committee discussed the proposal to have double-member constituencies. This was supported by the representatives of the Irish Loyalists, on the ground that it might secure representation for the minority. Ultimately Mr. Gerald Balfour asked that the amendment might be withdrawn till the Report stage. Personally Mr. Balfour is favourable to the proposal, but it is clear that he does not mean to put it into the Bill unless there is a general and strongly expressed desire for it in Ireland. Taken on the whole the discussion both on Wednesday and on Thursday night indicated that the passage of the Bill will not be a matter of any very great difficulty.

On Thursday Mr. Balfour received the Sugar Bounties deputation, taking the place of Mr. Curzon, who, we regret to see, was still too unwell to be present. Sir T. Sutherland, Sir E. Hill, and other speakers began by putting forth the very familiar arguments for preventing the access of bounty. fed sugar to our shores, — and so interfering with the principle that England is a free market to which all men may bring what they have to sell, and sell it without let or hindrance. Mr. Balfour in his reply was not as discouraging to the advocates of coercive action against bounty-fed sugar as we should have liked, but his speech if carefully con- sidered holds out no promise that the Government means to run the risk of ruining the confectionery and allied trades for the very doubtful prospect of helping the West Indies. The Government, he said, would do its best to make the con- ference a success. The very fact that it had been called by bounty-giving Powers—that bounty-giving Powers are going to take part in it—showed that public opinion among them is tending in the direction of the conviction that bounties, how- ever valuable here and there to particular individuals, are not beneficial to the community which gives them as a whole. "Everything that the Government can do to show that this is in truth the case, every means that we can employ to bring the deliberations of the conference to a successful issue, will be used." If this merely means that the Government will be very sympathetic, but will not threaten to engage in a tariff war with any States that do not alter their internal fiscal policy at our bidding, we, of course, cannot object. If, however, it means retaliation against bounties, and a return to certifi- cates of origin and other antiquated engines of commercial torture, the Government will be committing a gigantic blunder.

A recent issue of the Times contained an account of one of the most striking discoveries ever made in Egypt, no less than an uninjured sepulchre among the tombs of the Kings at Thebes. Though the gold and jewels were taken out of the tomb probably in the XXth Dynasty, the mummies of Amenophis and seven other Kings lie in the rock chambers intact, with the garlands of flowers still on them. The tomb is entered as one enters a fairy palace in the "Arabian Nights,"—first a steep inclined descending passage, then a well some 26 ft. deep, and then the sepulchral chambers. In the outer chamber the body of a man is found bound on a richly painted boat, his arms and feet tied with cords, a piece of cloth stuffed as a gag into his mouth, and marks of wounds on the breast and head. In the next chamber are the bodies of a man, a woman, and a boy. The King's tomb is of magnifi- cent proportions, in perfect preservation. "The roof, which is supported by massive square columns, is painted a deep blue, studded with golden stars, and the walls are entirely covered with paintings, the colours of which are as vivid as if laid on only yesterday." We note with intense satisfaction that the bodies are to be left where they are, with certain pre- cautions to prevent injury by visitors. Travellers to Thebes will thus be able to see an Egyptian King lying in state exactly as he was left three thousand four hundred years ago.

The Daily Chronicle of Tuesday quotes from the private letter "of a Seattle (Washington) correspondent" an account of a Homeric combat which took place at Hong-kong between some foreign and Anglo - Saxon bluejackets. An allied body of Russian, German, and French sailors some four hundred strong barred the way to a force of one hundred and fifty Anglo-American sailors. "The Yankees and Britishers," says the letter, " not half the number of the enemy, advanced to the charge, shoulder to shoulder, some crying ' Hail, Columbia,' and some ' God Save the Queen.' They drove like a mighty wedge through the mass of foreigners. The allied German, French, and Russian forces were soon surrounded, and in the words of an eye-witness, ' the small squad of Anglo-Saxons knocked seven bells out of them." How pleased the midshipmen and all the younger officers on the American and British fleets must have been at the story of so glorious and suggestive a scrimmage.

At the Mansion House on Saturday last Mr. Asquith gave the University Extension students a very interesting address on " Criticism." To many people a critic was nothing more than a censor, and criticism meant disparagement. Again, people made a false antithesis between the critical and the creative. " The business of criticism," as Matthew Arnold said in a well-known passage, "is to know the best that is known and thought in the world, and by in its turn making this known, to create a current of true and fresh ideas." That is sound, and so was Mr. Asquith's own attempt to state the requirements of the critic. " He must have acquired the faculty of seeing things at first hand and for himself, of finding his way to their central meaning, of bringing to bear upon what was new the gathered and reasoned knowledge which he had gained elsewhere, and of expressing in words intelligible to himself and to others degrees of comparison and shades of difference. If representation was the function of art, interpretation was the function of criticism." We have dealt elsewhere with Mr. Asquith's attack on art criticism, and will only add here that the whole address was not only thoughtful, but stimu- lating.

Bank Rate, 4 per cent.

New Consols (24) were on Friday, 1111,