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..A LOND? N LETTER.
(By a Correspondent.)
- London, May 18.
Exhibition of Sweated Industries.
It .was gracious thing of the 1
Frinoess of Wales to make her first
publin appearance after her return
fr?ei India at the Exhibition of Sweat
SA Industries, and give proof of. her
sympathy with the movement which isa
,eking to remove this blot of sweated
'labour from our social system. The
interest which the Royal Family have
!taken in this extraordinary exhibition,
has led about a thousand visitors daily
to the Queen's Hall to see for them
suelves, and to talk to these white
islave,-and to listen to the lectures de
livered daily by some man or woman
who is an authority on the subject of
Britains sweated industry. It has been
;an object-lesson which has impressed
and sometimes shamed the bargain
loving women of the comfortable classes
"to see their sisters at work on needle
twork, slipper-making, mantle-making,
1mmlderclothing, artifioal flower-making,
ihadl-fringing. lace-making. book-fold
;ing; and many other skilled trades car
ried on in the wretched homes of the
workers for the big shops. The Prin
cess was greatly shocked when she saw
a-ready-made costume which is sold for
03.. for the making of which the
machinist is paid ls. She talked with
ithe wife of Mr. J. Ramsmay Macdonald,
the wife of the Labour M.P., and phr
chased £5 worth of the poor -workers'
goods. Such example will do good, but
at, is insisted that legislation is im
eraively necessary, and that a Wages
eoard siuch as is established in'Austra
lia, should regulate a mminimum wage
for the workers who are now slaving
for 16.hours a day to earn 5s. or lOs. a
. Ideal Agricultural, State.
The example of Denmark is often
held up to English farmers. At the
Statistical Society the other day we
Irer lo n ~reminded thatt the Dlanish
suae ieats the British because for 150
,iears the land has been gradually be
I omim the property of the cultivator,
aInd ·Th land tenure aid- .e?
Jcation have dombined with co-operation
,to nake the position of the Danish
_farmer not only secure, but phenomen:
L?ll prosperious. In Denmark there
are 1,064 co-perative dairies, with
-53,300 members, 30 co-operative.slau
oheter houses, with 66,500 members,
r135 egg export societies with 49,000
'members. The ownership of railways
aby the State and the absence of the
'burden of rent have also contributed
to make Denmark an example not only
to England, but the British colonies, of
an ideal agricultural State, which makes
the very most of its resources and op
g.ortunities.
Mr., Winston Churchill.
Mr. Winston Churchill is cultivating\
the goodwill of colonials in London.
On Enpire Day he dines with the Cans
dian Society, when 'his Parliamentary
Secretary, Mr. Hamar Greenwood, the
Canadian M.P. for York. will be in the
chair, and on' the 29th May he is to be
the guest of the West Australians in
'London at dinner in the Trocadero,
when the Agent-General, Mr. Walter
James, X.C., will preside.
ANaval Arinaments.
However much this neace-loving Go
'4ernment may be disposed to fuinl Sir
,$enry Campbell-Bannerman's promise
of an effort to bring about a reduction
of armaments, it seems certain
enough that the relative naval strength
'of Britain compared with the other
'Powers will be maintained. Our total
,of battleships and cruisers :umber 77,
PFrance has 27. Germany 26, United
!States 27, and Japan 21, while we have
mow building a total of battleships and
cruisers numberinmg 18, France has 14,
Germany 9. United States 14. and
Japan 8. We have thus gone ahead of
all other nations, and it is for this
reason some think the proposal to re
duce should come from England when
the next Hague Conference meets.
Validation of Colonial Marriages.
The long-deferred legalising of colon
ial marriages with a deceased wife's
sister is now as good as settled. In the
,House of Lords onthe 15th inst.. Lord
Strathcona congratulated the Colonial
Secretary on introducing the Bill which
has now passed the second reading. The
secret of its lon" delay in the British
'Parliament was revealed by the extra
' ordinary speech of Lord Salisbury, who
objected on the ground that it was an
attempt to pass by a flank movement a
Deoeased Wife's Sister Bill for England.
Lord Halifax. a high churchman, and
the Archbishop of Canterbury seemed to
have the same hazy notion, and it took
Lord James and the Lord Chancellor's
authority as lawyers to assure the
House of Lords that the Bill b.a noth
ing to do with marriagesi in ngland.
but only recognis's the legality of a
colonial nmarriage with a deceased uife's
sister. when the parties are domiciled
colonials.
Mr 1nn?ar Law.
Colonials in the House of Commons
will welcome the return of Mr. Bonar
Law, the new Canadian member for
Dulwiolh who has increased the Union
ist majority at the general election by
nearly a thousand votes. As an ex
Under-Secretary of the Home Office in
the last Government. Mr. Boner Law
goes back after his defeat at Glasgow
at the general election to strengthen
very materially the front Opposition
bench, which is just now making the
weakest show of Opposition that has
ever been experienced. He will take
his place with Sir Gilbert Parker to
uphold the bedraggled banner of fiscal
reform. But apart from" the tariff
question. which is for the present out
side the range of practical politics. Mr.
Bonar FIaw's common sense and ability
as a speaker, and his enthusiasm in all
Imperial questions, will make him a
valuable and useful member of His
Majesty's Opposition.
The Hague Conference.
In matters of naval defence the mem
Sere who are connected with the colon
ies will do useful service in voicing
colonial opinion in the Imperial Parlia
ment, and their opportuity will come I
when the proposal to stop the increase
of armaments comes up on the
eve of the Hague Conference.
Among Liberals here-there is a feeling 7
that the British Government should
take the initiative, and they argue-that
if all nations undertake not to increase
their armaments, the position of Bri
tain; in relation to other great Powers
is stronger that it ever was. It is
stated that in ships completed we are,
on a par with the icombuiation of- the
three next. greatest naval Powers, and.
if the ships now building be added eone
are alone ahead of, any two-Power
standard.
Mr.-Austen Chamberlain's Engage
ment.
The announcement of the engagement
of Mr.rAusten Chamberlain has excit
ed a good deal of puiblic interest, and
not 'least in the House --of 'Commons,
where, amongst all parties, .he .has been
deservedly popular for the past four=
ten syars. "His future bride, Miss Ivy
Dilnas; who lives with her father near
Windsor,. is a very beautifdl' and ine
complished young lady:, They first'met
at: Gibraltar two or three yars ago, and
they' have again me? now, at Algiers,
*biher'"Mr. Chamberlain has" been stay
ing-to recruit' his,health. They return
to Birmingham at .Whitsuntide, pn a
visit to Mr.' Joseph Chamberlain, at
Highbury, under.whose roof Mr. Austen
has always lived:; The devotion 'of"
father and son has been':a'. pleasure to
their.friends' in the" House, -and' it has
done much to. keep alive the more than
sneaking regard -whibh his .political op
pone?ntshave• alway's .ihd-for -'i,'Joe."'I
remembler, when Mr. Austen" Chamber
laind, who, had. been carefully -.trained
for ýpublic life, made his maiden seieech
in Parliamednt, with-what pllssed and
eager'interest he was listened .to'by Mr.
Gladstone -who in a generous'tribute'
to young lhiamberlain's' ability: said it
wasa speechli to gladden a proudfather's
heart, and- the House saw" that for
once the father was profoundly minoved.
Mr. Austen Chamberlain, . who was
then 28. has not; perhaps, quite ful
filled the promise of his first speech,
but .he has acqciitted 'himself respect
abl as a junior Lord of the Treasury
and Pstmaster-General, and Chancellor
of the Exchequer. As his father's son
without his father's genius; 'he has been
fortunate, and his modest personiality
has made him so popular that now
everybody is rejoicing at the interst
ing news' that he has at 'last 'met his
Watch.
Vital 'Statistics.
The vital statistics- of 'the .United
Kingdom have' of late been . causing
some disquieting speculation. The"biith
rate is the lowest oh record-..the mar
riage riate is steadily diminishing, and
there.lies before ,us the possibility of
a stationary population, which, while
it might be satisfactory enough -for a
small State would be disastrous to
Engliad, wLich is the nursery of a
world-wide Empire. .Some pessimists
are already saying that with the drain
upon our national' life to ,the distant
colonies, and the exodus of' our cosn
try-bred people to city-slums, there, is
the 'irospect that there may not be a
race stronm and energetic enough to
keep the Emnpire moving. It is acknow
ledged that the births and marriages
are falling off mostly in .the middle
classes. Among the working classes in
towns at least births and marriages are
fiirly maintatained, 'nd'whero there is
a falling off it is more than balanced
by the lower death-rate, which is now
only 15 per thousand over the whole.
country. while infant mortality is 17
per thousand lower than it was in 1904.
It is amongst the middle and upper
classes that population Nis shrinking.
With our elevated standard of living,
the difficulties which confront, young
men who are struggling to rise are so
great that a greater number than ever
are afraid of the responsibilities of
marriage at all, while large familiesare
rare among those who do undertake
the 'responsibilities of a household. It
would almost seem as if the only hope
of the British race doing itself justice
and expanding 'is in moving an. in
creasing number of our middle
class young men and women to -the
mrore spacious life of the colonies,
where a simpler life and more oppor
tunity of acquiring a comfortable posi
tion would remove the check to expan
sion which faces them in the Old
Country.
The Native Rebellion in Natal.
The growing rebellion among the
natives in Natal is beginning to
excite grave suspicion in many quar
ters in this country that the Natal Go
vernment is in some 'sort responsible
for it. Until the flight 'f Bambaata
there was no disturbance, but when he
was chased by Government troops he
found it easy to enlist a large force of
supporters from amongst those who
suffered at the hands of the Govern
Sinent from the unjust and the iniquit
ous poll-tax which the member of the
Natal Ministry declares was a good
thing, since it has forced the issue.
and enabled the Government to deal
with discontent that has long been
seething. It is alleged in a protest
published this week by the Lommittee
of the new Reform Club, that the Natal
Government has manufactured re
hellion by enforcing this poll-tax, which
is the instrument of an incompetent
s their land tc become dependent on wage
r labour. and so serve the South African
capitalists. The Natal "Mercury" is
- quoted as condemning "the wicked
F step" of farbidding the preaching of
- the Gospel by native .Christians, and
the destruction of native churches.
Parliament will be asked to appoint a
Commission to inquire into the facts of
the Natal disloyalty. and to declare
that it is the duty of the Imperial
a Government to secure the fundamental
a rights of the natives to their land, and
a to maintain personal liberty for all
a British subjects. Now that Imperial
I troops are engaged, the qLestion con
F corns citizens of the Empire every
- where. There is an earnest determin
ation here that the Government of
r Natal should not degenerate into an
I oligarchy seekinig to enslave the natives
s for the sake of cheap labour for the
s capitalist.
Australian Fruit 1Exhibition.
At the Royal Horticultural Society
- Hall there will be opened a fine dis
- play of colonial fruit beginning on June
6. The eexlibits will include splendid
displas 'of apples from Victoria and
New South Wales. The Victorian con
sieiment has been shipped by thl
B.M.S. Victoria, and the' New outh
Wales exhibit.' consisting of Jonathans,
New York Pippins, and Five Crowns,
was .landed last week by the R.M.S.
Orontes. Mr. Drakard, of. the. West
Australian Agricultural Department,
has also a very fine exhibit'of selected
fruits and "agricultulral prodiuce, which
will be on view at this Fruit Slihow
during the frst few days of the secdnd
week of June, and after. that it will lie
taken. round'toi the provincial' agricuil
tural shows. The Victorian\ and New
South 'Wales exhibits, when the show
is over, will be sold' by the Pomona
Fruit Co., Coiveit 'Garden, where
there is 'such i'n excellent miarket, 'at
good prices for the bet selected and
most garefully' packed colonial fruit.
$