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LONDON TOPICS.
the press and the war.
(FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT. 1
LONDON, Dec. 2.—The Merthyr election
has. had a notable result. . It was the first
contest that has taken place since the be
ginning of the war. Merthyr is the
stronghold of th§ Independent Labour
party, arid the -vacancy arose out of the
death of that party's liigh priest, Mr. Keir
Hardie. Mr. Stanton, who has just won
the seat, is an extreme Socialist and Labour
man. He resigned his position as miners'
agent for Aberdare in order to fight the
pro-Germans and Pacifists. His great card
was "Briton first and Socialism after." The
local Labour committee declined to nomi
nate him, preferring Mr. James Winstone,
president of the South Wales Miners'
Federation. Mr. Stanton, thereupon de
cided to contest the election on his own
platform. The struggle resolved itself into
a fight with the I.L.P., of whom Mr. Ram
say Macdonald was the principal mouth
piece. In the eyes of Mr. Stanton, as well"
as of other people, the I.L.F. is associated
with peace talk and anti-recruiting. Mr.
Stanton was -willing to' accept conscription
"if necessary," whereas Mr. Winstone was
opposed to it, in any event. Mr. Stanton
had no organisation, and had to raise money
on loan' for election expenses. Mr. "Win
stone, on the other hand, had the entire
Labour organisation at bis backhand Mr.
Ramsay Macdonald, Mr. J. H. Thomas,
arid other M.P.'s visited the constituency
to speak for him. Even Mr. Henderson,
the Labour Cabinet Minister, sent a rues
sage to support Mr. Winstone. Notwith
standing all these advantages the 6eat was
won by Mr. Stanton with 10,286 votes to
0,080.. All the Liberals and Conservatives,
of course, voted for Mr. Stanton. It may
be mentioned that Mr. Keir, Hardie won
the seat at the khaki election of 1900 as a
rampant pro-Boer. This present election
is a great set-back to the I.L.P., and shows
that even in such a Socialist hot-bed as
South Wales, where all voters are workers,
. the opponents of "conscription if neces
sary" .are not many.
THE NORTHCLIFFE PRESS. "
What is known as the "Northcliffe
Press," sometimes called the "Harmsworth
Press," has occupied much public attention
this week. It should be explained that
Lord Northcliffe has a controlling voice in
"The Times," the "Evening News," and
the "Daily Mail." Tbey are virile news
papers, of large circulation, and "The
Times" still maintains its reputation of
being the most important newspaper in this
country. It is not, however, run upon the
sober, stable lines of the pre-Northcliffe
regime, though its old traditions still cling
about its name. In attempting to lead
public opinion "The Times" undoubtedly
has the assistance of really able writers,
but their oracular dogmatism is frequently
trying the ordinary man and exceedingly
irritating to ttveir opponents. For more
than a year "The Times" has subjected the
Government to its severest criticism; find
in so doing has frequently claimed to pos
sess a wisdom which is above all earthly
measure. _ The Press Bureau has been a
special object of attack, and it is the Press
Bureau, under the direction of Sir John
Simon, the Home Secretary, which has this
week turned round upon its tormentors.
. Besides its expansive criticism "The Times"
and its satellite, the "Daily Mail," have
overwhelmed the, Government and the
country with remarkably expansive advice.
It was these papers which proclaimed Lord
Kitchener to he the only man for the crisis.
After Lord Kitchener had been appointed
he became, for some unknown reason, un
acceptable to the Northcliffe press, and
they called for his removal. This wafi a
shock; to the people at large. They had
followed the cry for Kitchener; they could
not adopt the cry for his removal, and the
"Daily Mail" was publicly burned by some
of its indignant readers, who found them
selves unable to turn to the right-about.
In another matter "The Times" and its
eo-iournals undoubtedly deserved credit.
They called attention to the lack of muni
tions, and the present Munitions Act is the
outcome of their agitation. The "Daily
Mail" claims to have originated the cry,
"Single Men First." It certainly sup
ported that demand, as did other news
papers. The "Mail," too, was among the
first to call upon the Govcrnmept to de
clare cotton- to be contraband. The Na
tional Register, taxation of war profits, the
cancellation of the Declaration of London,
the reduction of the swollen Cabinet of 22
members, and half a dozen other subjects
have also been in the reform programme of
the Nortbcliffe press, which has thereby
rendered a' public service. Apart from its
flamboyant claims to superior wisdom in
r egard to those subjects, few people are dis
posed to blame "The Times" ana the
»n, '
Daily Mail," hut'there has been an under
lying tone bf depreciation of this country's
endeavours to "win the war. . It is alleged
egaiiist the Northcliffe press, especially by
the Radical newspapers; that for the sake
of securing a reputation for superior wis
dom it has "crabbed" the Government, and
magnified, failures and shortcomings to such
a degree that they have heartened our
enemies. That is the real gravamen. Last
week the "Daily Chronicle" published, from
the "RussKoe Slovo" a telegram wnieh
stated that in newspaper circles /in Petro
erau) a heavy responsibility was laid upon
the Northcliffe newspapers .for the failure
of the Entente's diplomacy in the Balkans, i
"The Times" and "Daily. Mail" were ac-j
cused in that message of systematically
blackening aD the military and diplomatic]
measures of the English Government, and
it was asserted that, their criticisms were
disseminated the Wolffe Agency through-,
out the German foreign propaganda, to,
show British unreadiness for carrying on]
■ This statement afforded ■ material for a t
fresh attach upon the Nortbeliffe press by
the London ^adicaUewspapere. The con
duct of Lord EorthcliSe ana ins
editors was brought before the House,
of Commons three days ago, but it
was shown that the Russkoe Slovo s
telegram was sent to Russia by a|
correspondent in Paris, and, ^ere
fore, could not be reckoned os the
opinion of Petrograd. Loru Northcliffe s,
friends even suggested that the message j
really originated in London, but there was .
no proof of this. Once Ike enemies of Lord
Northcliffe had got him into the toils ot
the Commons other subjects were added to
the indictment, and Sir John Simon ™ade (
a vigorous attack upon the Aortnclific
methods of depreciating, tins country,.and
a defence of his own position as head ot tne
Press Bureau. Sir Johns speech rsrther
over-reached the mark, and The Iun?» 1
has since devoted daily space to correcting
some of his mistakes. .JNo vote was given
upon the subject by the House of. Lommons.
The several hours devoted to this squabble |
ended in a sort of grandmotherly shaking
of the head, as a warning not to do it:
again. i
KEVOT.T AGAINST MRS. PAXKHURST. j
The inevitable has happened. -Some of I
Mrs Pankhurst's followers within the |
Women's Social and Political Union are m
revolt against their leader. On Thursday j
last they issued a thundering manifesto, m
which Mrs. Pankhurst was denounced for!
using their organisation for purposes outside
its objects without the authority of the.
members. The indictment blamed Mrs. ]
Pankhurst for advising the members to
rest and recuperate so far back as August,
1914 to suspend their activities, and save
mucli energy and a very large sum of money.,
This counsel of quietness did not please,
many members of the union. If they |
damped down their militancy they? at any •
rate might help to safeguard the interests
of women and children, seek to prevent the I
increase of infantile mortality, and look after
the interests of women employed in war
work. Some of the members of the union
went further. They not only censured Mrs.
Pankhurst for seeking to lay their organisa
tion on the shelf, but they complained of
her "complete control" of the funds and her
neglect of hunger martyrs, who have dam
aged their health in their zeal for the cause.
It was asserted in the document referred to
that Mrs. Pankhurst assumed authority to
expel members who differed from her, even
on matters not relating to the suffrage, with
the result that "almost all women possessed
of influence, capacity, or independence of
thought had been deleted from the roll.
The meeting at which the above document
was adopted also dealt with Miss Cbristabel
Pankhurst. It was also declared that the
time had come when she ought to resign
her association with the union or offer a
clear explanation why she remained out or
the country at a time when the services of
all women of capacity are sorely needed.
Mrs Pankhurst treats this censure with
contempt, and Mi6s Pankhuret claims that
as her mother founded the society she
(broadly speaking) ought to do what she
likes with it.
It is not easy to explain how the above
complaints against Mrs. Pankhurst- have
arisen. Mrs. Pankhurst has been working
loyally to encourage recruiting. She has
even expelled some women from her asso
ciation who bore German names and were
suspected of German sympathies. On the
other hand, she has denounced Sir E. Grey
because of the failure of his Balkan and
Gallipoli policies, and has attacked Juni for
keeping Sir Eyre Crowe in the post of As
sistant Under-Secretary at the .f oreign
Office. Sir Eyre is married to a German
wife, and is the nephew of the chief .of the
German naval staff, Admiral von Holtzen
dorff. Mrs. Pankhurst'B objection to such
an-appointment is by no means singular, ana
recalls the amazing treatment of Admiral
Prince Louis of Battenburg, At the same
time, Mrs. Pankhurst's high-handed way
of dealing with her association bag greatly
qffended many of its members. They
are all strong-minded women, and it
is not surprising there should be- diner
ences of opinion among them. The ritt
began when the Petbick Lawrences had
their disputations with Mrs. Pankhurst and
separated from her. , Tbe sseal with, which
many members of the W .S.P .U. have worked
for the cause of recruiting and have advo
cated an energetic war policy has raised
them in public favour among many persons
who have not a spark of sympathy with
their militant methods for securing the
RENT BILL.
The Government's Sent Bill is intended
to prevent any increase in the rents of in
dustrial dwellings, during the progress of the
war. Owing to the concentration of work
people in the neighbourhood of munition
Elants there has been a great shortage of
ouse accommodation in certain districts.
Landlords had availed themselves of this
opportunity to increase rents, and mort
gagees had acted similarly in regard to the
renewal of mortgages. The Government has
stepped in to 6top this practice. The bill
is limited to the period of the war and to
rentals of £30 a year or leas in London and
£21 elsewhere. It has yet to be decided
whether the measure shall apply to the
whole country or only to towns above a
certain limit of population.
PASSPORT SYSTEM.
The new regulations for restraining mep
of military age from leaving the country
are bringing much additional work to the
magistrates. No one can quit these islands
without a passport, and if of mili
tary age he must also posseSB a green
coloured form or permit. The applications
for these forms are made to the magistrates,
and it is notable how striptly the regulation
is being applied. In one. case a dergvman,
who wanted to go as a missionary to Africa, j
was required to establish his identification j
by a witness.
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