Birmingham Evening Mail from Birmingham, West Midlands, England • 4

THE BIRMINGHAM MAIL WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 16 1925 ST ALBAN THE MARTYR DEPORTATION PROBLEM INTER-LIBRARY LOANING Whatever Maete ok AIMS NEW FRENCH OFFENSIVE ou REFER You will do welt belore deciding to wiite to tu lor our Price also tot our bargain List winch includes a large aud varied selection PIANOS BY FAMOUS MAKERS Grands Upright and Placer Pianos at prices which how 8UBSTA NT LA SAVIN (J Payment ma? be extended over any period to suit purchaser convenience Full allowance for Old Instrument! in Exchange Dale Forty a Co Ltd 80 S3 NEW STREET IMPORTANT REDUCTIONS IN PRICES OK "HIS MASTER'S A OPHONE You are invited to send fcr fuM particulars cr better still call in and inspect our stock Terras Arranged Instruments Taken iu Part Exchange Dale S3 NEW orty Co Ltd STR KKT BI RMINGH AM Strohmenger Pianos at Famous in the Reign of William IV Pianos Players Grands Lists Free Sole Agenta: Constitution ILL Three minutes from GWR down Snow Hill FAMOUS PIANO HOUSE Est 74 Yfars Gi rRAMOPHONES HIS MASTERS VOICE" COLUMBIA SONORA ACADEMY MECCA Exchange Las Pajmect Scotcher Sons Ltd 59 61 CORPORATION STREET fOpposito Martineau Street) BIRMINGHAM MAIL WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 1C 1925 ADVERTISEMENTS end ell Butoh Communications should be iKlclrewvi to THE MANAGER nnd letters dealing' with EDITORIAL Matters ONLY should ba addressed to THE EDITOR Ths Mail Is registered for transmission through the Post in the United Kingdom at the newspaper rate of postage (end if forwarded by post foT 13s per quarter payable in advance) and to Canada at vh Canadian magazine rate of postage Editorial Advt Orncis 9 11 Corporation St Publishing Orricis 6 Cannon Street Telephone 4015 (Central) London Orricis 88 Fleet Street EC 4 WEATHER REPORT SPECIAL TWO FOB EC A ST FOB THE MIDLANDS Fresh to high and squally winds from between south-east and south-west perhaps a gale at times locally becoming unsettled generally with much cloud and some rain spreading from the west temperature about normal Wind southerly or south-westerly strong and squally to moderate mainly cloudy or dull vix rain at times but some fair intervals in most parts moderate to rather low temperature At 8 am the barometer was steady A deep depression centred south-west of Iceland is aim st stationary and a secondary tiynugh extending across South-western Ireland to the Bay of Biscay is moving north-easterly Winds will be mainly between south and south-west and weather unsettled but little rain is expected in eastern districts Midland Institute Observatory Edobaston For 2 liou'j ending 3 am Barometer Sea i Birmj Level Thermometer iTein Min Winl Inch A verage of direction I rain ke-w W-SSW I Sun Thin Sir 5k 9 30 8 '46 14 '3780 30390 1529660 30257 1629295 29886 1 54 then there is little prospect of an advance by Labour in the political field In a multitude of counsels there is more often distraction than wisdom and judging from the opposing points of view expressed in these voluminous and often vituperative resolutions the elements which go to make up the Labour party are all at sixes and sevens Mr MacDonald and most of his colleagues on the Executive are believers for instance in Parliamentary institutions in democratic government through the medium of the ballot box and in the responsibility of the Government to the people generally They believe in the British Commonwealth of Nations in a scientific redistribution of the throughout the Empire in the League of Nations and in the Geneva Protocol (of which Mr MacDonald was one of the authors) A section of their followers have no patience with Parliamentary institutions or with methods of ordered progress and development hut want a revolution with or without violence and demand that the Parliamentary Labour party shall withdraw from Parliament and conduct campaign in the country for forcing the existing Government duly elected by the people from office They declare moreover that when next a Labour Government is formed the Prime Minister must be responsible not to the King and the people but to the Labour Party Executive which shall appoint all Ministers and decide the policy' of the Government in all matters If this section of the party' had its way the Government of the day would really be vested uot in the Ministers of the Crown acting for the nation at large but in a committee meeting at Eceleston Square This is a dictation which no self-respecting statesman would tolerate for a moment and if those who dream of government by a trade union junta were to read the history of Labour Governments in Australia for instance they would learn that the principle was tried there in practice with disastrous results The resentment entertained by a section of the party against the ex-Premier is indicated by a resolution supported by a number of branches calling upon the Executive to apologise to the Soviet Government and to Zinovieff for its participation our in the publication of the notorious Red Letter which together with the previous resolutions referred to indicates the radical weakness of the Labour party arising from an inherent inability to trust its own chosen leaders The wild crop of anti-British resolutions indicates another weakness which gives point to the view of its opponents and to the majority of the British people that the Labour party is not yet fit to The Empire is condemned in these resolutions in the most extravagant terms such as Slave Imperialist Imperial exploitation and repression of hundreds of millions of coloured workers and and a host of similar phrases which show how far removed are these adherents of the Labour party from the point of view and the sentiment of the British working man The League of Nations to which Mr MacDonald pins his faith for the pacification and regeneration of the civilised world is stigmatised as an alliance of Imperialist his Geneva Protocol is anathematised in the same breath as the Chamberlain Pact on the ground that they are both new Imperialist combinations pledged to the support of the iniquitous Treaty of Demands are made for the immediate withdrawal of British troops from Germany China and Egypt and for handing over Egypt and India to native control in complete opposition to the policy advocated and maintained by Mr MacDonald and his colleagues in the last Labour Government And sandwiched among all these resolutions are demands (from over fifty branches) for affiliation with the revolutionary Communists for prohibiting Labour leaders from writing articles in the capitalist press or joining the Freemasons for maintaining unemployed persons at the same rate as they w'ould receive if they were at work and for all sorts of other ridiculous projects Of course most of these resolutions will suffer the fate which stacks of them have suffered in previous years but they are entertaining as indicating the atmosphere of mental disturbance and disorder in which a not inconsiderable section of the party moves and has its being and the hopeless and impossible job which confronts Mr MacDonald and his associates in their attempt to mould a united and effective party out of this chaotic agglomeration WOMAN WHO LEFT HUSBAND THREE WEEKS AFTER MARRIAGE OLD BAILEY TRIAL RECALLED Whether a deported Frenchwoman who subsequently marries a British subject is still liable to expulsion from this country was the novel point raised before Mr Leycester at Bow Street Police Court to-day in a case against Louise Wise of Ormonde Mansions Southampton Row London WU She was charged as an alien with having been found in this country after an expulsion order had been made against her in September 1932 Defendant claimed to he the wife of a British music hall artiste and put in a marriage certificate showing that she was married at St Pancras Register Office on May 32 1915 Mr Vaughan Williams defended A police-sergeant said that when arrested defendant told him she returned to this country two mouths after she was deported The officer said her marriage in 1915 was supposed at the time to be a marriage of convenience and two men were indicted at the Old Bailey for conspiring in connection with the matter Search was made for defendant at that time hut she absconded Cross-examined witness said defendant was registered in the name of Mrs Wise under the National Registration Act in 1915 and she had been living at her present address ever since Defendant giving evidence stated in reply to the magistrate that she lived with her husband for two or three weeks and they then agreed to separate When they married they bad no intention of separating immediately afterwards Her husband had never supported her Mr Vaughan Williams submitted that the marriage gave her the status of a British subject and that the deportation order coukl no longer apply to her The magistrate pointed out that under the Aliens Order 1920 a person against whom a deportation order was made was deemed to retain his nationality notwithstanding any intervening naturalisation marriage or other event unless the Secretary of State otherwise directed he added the defendant is still liable to deportation We might have some difficulty with the French A remand was ordered DOUBLE TRAGEDY FATHER-IN-LAW SENT FOR TRIAL ON MURDER CHARGE MENTAL CONDITION George Frederick Miles (aged 54) of 22 Hutton Grove North Finchley a police pensioner appeared on remand at Highgate to-day "barged with the murder of his daughter-in-law Selina Miles (aged 26) and her baby Agnes Mary (aged seven months) at the house in Hutton Grove on September 7 Prisoner who was in charge of two policemen stood looking vacantly around him for several minutes before sitting down Mr Clayton for the Director of Public Prosecutions said the evidence would show that prisoner had not been his normal self for two or three years He had been suffering from nerve trouble and apparently the presence of his son and daughter-in-law in the house irritated him When Agnes Charlotte Miles wife of the accused entered the box Miles stood up and shuffled from one foot to the other in an agitated state Mrs Miles recalled seeing her daughter-in-law in the kitchen on the day of the tragedy clutching her throat and collapsing in a corner She saw her husband with a bloodstained razor in his hand and when she asked him what he had done he said he had cut the troat of Selina and also she thought of the baby Mrs Miles said her husband had not been well for three years He complained of pains in his head and he had lost the use of his left arm He had had to give up a job of cleaning up the police station on account of his head and he was then in bed for six months Mrs Miles said her son and daughter-in-law had returned unexpectedly to the house in August and were only to stay until they could find other accommodation Her husband was irritated at their return thinking that the work would be too much for her George Frederick Miles jun a labourer son of the prisoner and the husband of Selina Miles while giving evidence appeared to be deeply distressed and he kept his eyes from the dock The policeman who was called in on the discovery of the tragedy said accused did not seem to be sane and could not comprehend questions put to him at the time When told to sit down he said I only lie down but my head is too bad this Prisoner was committed for trial SHIP Photopress deck as quickly as the men with her On the General Serret the party was met by the crew who stood sullen and menacing We want Captain one of the party shouted wants Captain Whitburn? answered a member of the crew flashing an electric torch do Madame de Casares owner of the General Mme de Casares called out There was a momentary silence while the owner of the flashlamp disappeared for a hurried consultation in the cabin Then a man came up carrying a hurricane lamp and shouted No one is allowed on this ship better get Joyce the steward How dare you talk to me like remonstrated Mme Casares want my captain Fetch Following a brief conversation between the man with the hurricane lamp and a river police officer one of the party attempted to go further on the deck of the General Serret but the crew moved towards him menacingly and he jumped back The man with the hurricane lamp then asked Mme de Casares if she was the owner why she paid her crew have! she declared paid the money over and if the men received it not to ADVANTAGES URGED BY PROFESSOR SANDBACII SUGGESTED CONTINENTAL LINK The Conference of the Library Association was resumed in Birmingham to-day There was again a very large gathering nearly all the 450 delegates attending to hear a paper by Professor Sand-bach of the University of Birmingham on the subject of inter-library loaning The speaker pointed out the responsibility his audience held as guardians of treasures in the form of printed matter and manuscripts He sai-1 he could understand their desire tor the safety of these charges especially those which were irreplaceable but so long as a book was standing on a shelf its value waj being wasted like dead capital waiting for an outlet or inexhaustible raw material lying unused Most libraries particularly the larger ones and those possessing special collections had books unused for years some of which were in actual demand elsewhere One obvious remedy for this regrettable state of affairs was as general and generous a practice of inter-library loaning as possible It might be desirable in the public interest for one perhaps more than one of our greatest libraries to keep its collection intact within its own walls but for other libraries to do this was both against the public interest and a short-sighted policy losing in a parochial outlook the sight of the general good No library however excellent uld supply every need and the library which refused to lend lost more than it gained Co-operation was as essential in this matter as in all domains of life Only recently had a movement towards library co-operation on a national scale set in On the Continent and in the United States the principle was alrendy established and had developed into a comprehensive system with international connections RESERVOIR LIBRARIES The Association of University Teachers had erdeavoureil to develop a national practice of library co-operation In proportion as these hopes were realised the first beneficial result would be a fuller utilisation of the very valuable resources that had been and constantly were being accumulated by libraries throughout the country A further advantage seemed bound to follow for inter-library loaning would pave the way towards reducing overlapping and would set money free for other desirable purposes Another line of co-operative development was the which was being favourably considered by the Board of Education Committee on Public to establish throughout the country reservoir libraries subsidised out of public funds which would provide other libraries on loan with rarer nnd more expensive works There were great possibilities in the proposal and be hoped it would be put into practice without long delay The system would give British students and investigators enormously- improved conditions for their work If the facilities could be extended to loaning arrangements with the larger Continental libraries tlie conditions would be almost ideal A BIRMINGHAM EXAMPLE To the subsequent discussion numerous authorities contributed Mr A Savage chief librarian Edinburgh Public Libraries emphasised the value of help from the larger to the smaller libraries and recalled the admirable system instituted in Birmingham ten years ago under which books were lent to other Midland libraries under conditions which were fair and reasonable In this respect he desired to pay tribute to public spirit and to the organisation by Mr Powell Borrowing should not be resorted to as a road to economy A library was not doing its work properly unless it devoted one-third of its income to book purchase Dr Baker University College of London asked what would be the ultimate effect on publication of an extended system of lending specialised books Such works owing to their necessarily restricted circulation were already very expensive the reduction of the number of copies would make the question of publication and the cost per copy a still more difficult proposition Dr Guppy Rylnnds Library Manchester held the view that librarians were guardians of national treasures which should not be exposed to the risk of damage or loss in transit These works however were always accessible to scholars who came to see them When they were lent as he had had personal experience there was sometimes considerable difficulty in securing their return In eases where it was inconvenient for scholars to visit the Hylands Library passages they required were sent to them in rotograpli copies which were preferable to extracts in that they excluded the possibility of error Professor Wood Woodhrooke College delivered a literary paper on William place in English literature rendered appropriate in view of the fact that the present year is the quater-centenary of the publication of translation of the New Testament UNLOADING THE The General Serret the mysterious schooner voyaged from Antwerp to Dover to Gravesend and afterwards to London was berthed at Wharf at midnight on Monday and the task of unloading her cargo of whisky began at eight yesterday morning Two powerful cranes were employed The casks of whisky were swung fiom the holds eight at a time deposited on the wharf there picked up by another crane placed in a barge and taken into a bonded warehouse adjoining There wore 10000 casks and cases in all to be dealt with and the work lasted until late last evening The whisky is worth before payment of duty something like £13000 The story of the General Serret to date reads like a romance She was to make several voyages to the American coast with whisky and she had shipped coal and stores at Antwerp for a non-stop run to New York Owing to engine trouble however she was compelled to put into Dover where her consular pass ran out and she became a ship without a flag No one is nllowed to go on board It is said that even Madame Casares the managing director of the company owning the ship was not allowed on board on Monday night Accompanied by her legal advisers with the river police watching she mounted the ladder leading to the RECOLLECTIONS OF A FAMOUS BIRMINGHAM CnUBCH THE BROTHERS POLLOCK The dedication festival of St Alban the Martyr Conybere Street Birmingham which is this week boing celebrated with all the solemnity and dignity of worship for so many years associated with it recalls a memorable chapter in the religious life of Birmingham and the story of two of the most saintly men who have adorned the Bele Roll of the Church of England Sixty years ago the Rev James Samuel Pollock began bis mission in the district we now know as Highgate but to which in tiiose days still clung the designation of James Pollock was assisted from the opening of the little mission by his brother Thomas Benson Pollock who having given up his curacy in London came to Birmingham to spend a fortnight with his elder brother It was the longest fortnight on record for it extended to 39 years James and his brother had been graduates of Trinity College Dublin where Tom gave early evidence of his talents winning the Prize for English verse in 1855 and those maturing gifts earned him a conspicuous place among W'riters of are Soldiers of to mention but one VAUGllTON'S HOLE" Father James as he was affectionately called made his first appearance in Birmingham in I860 It was on Holy Day December 28 and on the following day he accepted the assistant curacy of St Ludgate Hill He was dismayed at the smallness of the congregation which assembled out of a population of 16000 Recalling the contrast with the crowded services at the Manchester church where he had held his first curacy Father James approached his vicar and asked to be given charge of a small chapel or mission room free and The vicar consented a site was chosen and a very modest scheme was proposed But it came to nought his vicar finally telling him that people do not understand mission health failed him and he went back to London but as he con fessed in his little book of memoirs his thoughts often turned to Birmingham and its spiritual needs Both James and Tom Pollock always styled themselves and in all the success that afterwards attended their efforts they were content to remain mere mission priests to the very last In 1865 Dr Oldkjiow vicar of Holy Trinity invited Father James to return to Birmingham to assist in carrying out his wish to establish a mission or a site selected in Leopold Street In Father own words he found in a densely-populated district no church no Dissenting chapel mission room school endowment grant or any other spiritual provision for the He accepted the charge and entered on his task on June 23 I860 and was licensed by the Bishop of Worcester on August 2 of that year AX ARCHITECTS IDEAL "I determined (he wrote) not to build a little highly-decorated ehapel for the spiritual edification of a favoured few but to provide a large temporary building offering a welcome to all who would come and claim their share in its privileges trusting that tlie congregation which collected would in time feel the need of erecting a permanent Dr Oldknow of whose kindness and generosity James Pollock wrote with warm gratitude would not however permit the building of anything that was not permanent Accordingly two friends uniting with Father James to guarantee £5Q0 each a plot of land in Leopold Street wps bought apd a small brick chapel which afterwards formed part of St Schools was opened on September 14 1865 The mission became an instant success and many were turned away for lack of accommodation The chapel was enlarged but the need for a bigger and more permanent structure became increasingly imperative It was ia dealing with this material side of a spiritual issue that the two brothers experienced Kieir keenest disappointment and grief The obstacles of finance serious as they were were small compared with the unhappy series of efforts inopposition made in quarters that might have been expected to be sympathetic Fortunately Father Pollock had a good friend in the Bishop of Worcester of those days Dr Phillpotts andi in face of interminable difficulties St was firmly established and a few years later St Mission was founded In 1881 after incredible exertions the noble fane that stands with the imposing lines of a mediaeval abbey upon the slofe of Conybere Street was opened the work of the late Mr Pearson It is said of the architect that when he planned the church of St Alban the Martyr he did it with the expressed aim of making all who entered it kneel down in reverent prayer Those who know St and love to worship there can appreciate to the full the reiparkable effect that has attended) the ideal of the designer "THE To many folk perhaps St Alban's recalls most vividly to their minds tlie disgraceful disturbances which amounted almost to riots and created so painful a sensation in the city Father James with his characteristic humility always alluded to these as "The Bother" Into the origin of those stormjr days when the devoted brothers passed through fierce persecution it is not necessary to enter but as Father James has pointed out had no connection with ritual though prejudice on that score was naturally imported into the controversy One Sunday it is related the little church wss filled with a crowd of roughs none of whom had the remotest association with the district The sermon preached by tlie Rev Pollock was interrupted by fits of coughing and the announce rnent of the forthcoming harvest festival was greeted with roars of laughter Then followed scone of which an eye witness wrote: screamed men imprecated shouting hurrahing cat-calling groaning and emitting the most discordant Finally the choristers fearing an attack on the altar ranged tliems'dve in a body before it but the hearts of the disturbers failed them The danger of bodily violence was so great that the police detained the brothers in the vestry from the mid-day service until late at night when it was deemed safe to escort them home On several occasions they were under police protection though neither of the dauntless brothers asked for it Not satisfied with persecution of this character the opponents of the Pollocks resorted to a monster petition to the Bishop of Worcester for the vein oval of Father James Father own record of signatures showed that very many of his poor people thought that they signing for not against their beloved mission priest Some 23900 signatures were thus obtain" by hook or by The memorial did nrt however impress Bishop Phillpotts whose notable reply ran I cannot adopt the opinions of the memorialists or take the course of action which they THE SUFFBAGETTBB Since those days of 1867 only one disturbance has rnffled the life of the parish and this had no reference to matters of Church doctrine discipline or ceremonial The cause was the hectic political energy of the suffragettes who on a Sunday in the Octave of the Patronal Festival of June 1914 caused a commotion during the sermon by the Bishop of Birmingham (Dr Russell Wakefield) and were summarily ejected On the following Sunday strange rumours circulated among the poor folk of the district and during the open-air procession round the parish several innocent ladies were set upon and roughly handled by an excited crowd of women By the tact and strategy of the police assisted by a body of men associated with the church under the then vicar (tlie Rev Underhill) tlie situation was saved when it was wearing its ugliest aspect The troubles of St to-day are still financial The stately church is suffering from the hand of time and the corrosive ravages of an acid-laden atmosphere which are playing sad havoc with the exterior of tlie fabric and unless the proposed restoration is speedily put in hand irreparable damage will be done to this striking monument of two of the mot attractive figures that Birmingham has ever known in its history LIVELY PROSPECT FOR LABOUR CONFERENCE BID FOR SUPREMACY FRESH ATTEMPT TO REMOVE THE AFFILIATION BAN Evidence of Red bidding for supremacy in (he Labour party is abundant iu the agenda for the impending annual conference at Liverpool To those in touch with Labour matters (says a correspondent) the conference is regarded as a turning-point in the history of the Labour party Political leaderships are undoubtedly threatened and it is obvious that the Left elements are at bitter variance with the ruling executive Lively discussions are almost inevitable A year ago the London conference passed by-large majorities resolutions designed to eliminate Communist influences from the party The success or failure of this measure will be gauged at Liverpool by the amount of support gained for a host of amendments to a series of resolutions in which an attempt is made by the Executive Committee to set forth broadly the policy of the party in relation to the outstanding political questions of the day These amendments which are very ingeniously drafted seek in a variety of ways to make sweeping changes in the official policy of the party For example it is suggested that the name of the party should be changed to The Socialist and that the official colour should be red Over forty branches support a proposal that the Communist party should be affiliated to the organisation or alternatively that individual Communists should be allowed to join One branch suggests that a ballot on this vexed question should be taken Labour leaders are asked in another resolution not to write articles for the Capitalist Press Among financial suggestions are two in favour of a pooling of resources to be allotted to candidates and the raising of a capital levy of Is per head per annum fiom all trade unionists APOLOGY TO ZINOVIEFF! The Zinovieff letter is a matter of serious discontent Five local Labour parties subscribe to the following resolution That in view of the failure of the Parliamentary Labour party and the Labour party executive to probe and report on the forged Zinovieff letter and considering the attacks the publication of the letter subjected the Soviet Government to by the reactionaries in this country the conference instructs the Executive Committee to send an apology to the Soviet Government and to Zinovieff for its association through our party leader with its publication Further recognising that the present Tory Government was elected as a result of an unsciu-pulous use of this forgery the conference declares that the Parliamentary party should withdraw from Parliament and conduct a campaign in the country to force the resignation Nervousness at the failure of the Labour Government when in power to carry out the ishes of the trade union movement is voiced in resolutions which urge that the Labour party should not accept office while having a minority in the House of Commons future Labour Governments or representatives occupying important public positions shall be under tlie direction and control of the Labour party executive is one suggestion Appointments to a Labour Cabinet by the Parliamentary Labour party instead of by the Prime Minister is another WORKING RATES FOR UNEMPLOYED The suggestion for dealing with the unemployment problem is the establishment of a National Employment and Development Board provided with funds by Parliament and the rank and file have sweeping suggestions for maintaining unemployed persons at the rate they would receive if in work Those persons it is suggested should not be forced to accept work out of their own trade or profession or out of their district Superannuation for everyone over 60 a dole of 30s for the unemployed man or woman 15s for the wife and 10s each per child and a minimum wa: of £4 a week for 44 hours are other suggestions The Executive urges public ownership and control -of banking opposition to all food taxes and a tax on capital value of unimproved land There is no definite lead on the questions of Free Trade and Protection EMPIRE COUNCILS The Executive and the rank and file are again at variance over Imperial matters The Executive calls for closer political and economic relationship with the Dominions for a survey of Empire land and a scientific redistribution of population in the Empire with bulk purchases of Empire food by the Government and co-operation with Imperial farmers Closer association between the Labour associations within the Empire is also urged In contrast with this suggestion of Imperial co-operation there are amendments sprinkled with such phrases as Colonial rapacity of British etc and calls are made for self-determination for all parts of the Empire the formation of and organisations in the Empire and the surrender to the natives of the land In foreign policy the Executive stands by the Geneva Protocol and the International Court of Justice calls for a reduction of armaments and opposes the suggested pacts of guarantee The principle that no treaties shall be negotiated without the consent of Parliament is reaffirmed The amendments are mainly bitter attacks on and the utterances of certain Labour The Dawes scheme is heartily condemned by half a dozen local parties A complete break from previous foreign policies is called for and the suggestion of in policy is scorned The League of Nations is occasionally described as futile A band of Imperialist robbers is one epithet An amendment to a resolution on well-worn lines on Egypt suggests the restoration to Egypt of the Soudan and the administration of the Nile waterways by a joint commission A complete State monopoly of foreign trade is a new suggestion REVOLUTIONARY SOCIALISM MR CHURCHILL ON THE CHALLENGE BY THE EXTREMISTS Mr Churchill in a letter to Mr Hammersley MP for Stockport in support of Mr candidature in the Stockport by-election replies to the attacks upon the Government made by Mr Lloyd George in his speeches at Stockport on Saturday All this cheap abuse of the Government (he says) fades into insignificance compared to the threats which are hurled at us by the Socialists the Communists and the extremists of the Labour party The electors of Stockport have only to read the resolutions passed at the Trades Union Congress to see how utterly powerless the Parliamentary leaders of the Labour party are in the presence of their more violent supporters In one resolution the Congress by millions of votes have whistled the British Empire down the wind In another they have declared their resolve to destroy the whole existing economic fabric of society Here is the real challenge The issue is not with the Liberal candidate a man whom all respect or his supporters- It is with the ugly menace of revolutionary Socialism that the nation will have to deal Now is the critical period when a decided vote from a great Lancashire constituency will play a definite part in national affairs lue Conservative Government and the new Parliament will pursue their sober path Patience and perseverance in the cause of peace at home as well as abroad with a firm determination to defend constitutional government against every subversive assault is the kevnote of its The prospectus of the British Industries Fair (Birmingham and Midland Section) to be held at Castle Bromwich from February 15 to 26 has been issued As previously the Fair will be under the auspices of the Board of Trade and the Birmingham City Council and the schedule will be on the usual lines About 209 separate gifts totalling £180 were made at the annual Gift Day held on Monday in connection with the Cannon Sfreot Memorial Baptist Church Handsworth The church which was founded in 1737 in Cannon Street has been in Handsworth for ten years During the last four years the members have attended at the Church Hall at the corner of Soho Road and Alfred Road It is hoped to erect a large church on a site fronting the main road RIFF VILLAGE CAPTURED AFTER THREE BATTLE SEVERE LOSSES Paris Wednesday A spcial Fez despatch to the Matin states that the French offensive was resumed yesterday in the Taounat sector with great vigour Its objective was the occupation of the territory of the Maz Gliaoim tribe which was the first of the tribes to join Abdel Krim After an engagement lasting more than three-hours in the course of which the enemy suffered severe losses the village of Maz Ghaoua was captured The French infantry supported by cavalry have occupied the upper reaches of the Amfez River a tributary of the Mergha without meeting much opposition Several of the adjoining heights have also been occupied The big bombing played a decisive part in fighting breaking up enemy concentrations with showers of bombs and inflicting heavy losses on the Rill's Further Fez messages state that according to reports from the Spanish sector the Riffs are preparing another attack on Tetnan The French have occupied the village of Akchiane dominating the valley of Oued Exchange MANY REBELS SUBMIT FRENCH COLUMN COMPLETELY FREES ANOTHER POST Paris Tuesday The following Fez message has been received here: the Western group the Beni Bou Coraa a sub-section of the Beni Mestara tribe who are now in touch with our troops are manifesting a tendency towards submission Quiet prevails over the whole front of this group which is completing the organisation of the conquered positions In the group of the centre sector as a result of our operations in the neighbourhood of Issoual Tafrant and Teroual 150 families of the Beni Mesguilda to the north-east of Mjara 450 families of the Qned Cacoulet and 300 families of the Qued Boubene the two last tribes belong to the Beni Zeronal in the upper valley of the Qued Aoudour have tendered their submission The Beni Mia are also said to be ready to submit in case of a fresh advance on our part On the front of the sixth corps the submission movement is being pursued among the Branes notwithstanding the Riffian pressure which continues to be exercised This morning a column that started from Dareaid Mesbon at daybreak and succeeded in completely freeing the post of Tissi-Lacen driving back the enemy who appears to have suffered severe Reuter FRENCH OUNDED SENT HOME Paris Wednesday A hospital ship arrived at Toulon yesterday bringing 2S7 French wounded from Morocco-Central News SUPPLIES INTERRUPTED DIFFICULT POSITION OF SPANISH AT ALHUCEMAS BAY Madrid Tuesday A press telegram from Melilla states that the barges which until yesterday kept the Spanish force at Alhucemas Bay well supplied with food have had to lie withdrawn owing to the roughness of the sea From the same cause the telegraphic cable between the peninsula of Morro Nuevo and the Island of Alhucemas has not yet been laid The High Command anticipated bad weather and consequently the force was furnished with provisions to last several days Enemy snipers continue to harass the posts in this sector particularly at night Spanish aeroplanes are constantly bombing the villages of Beni Ourighel and the Alhucemas coast General Ballespinosa of the Military Directory stated here this evening that the news from Morocco was excellent The weather he said had improved to-day and the provisioning of the force at Alhucemas Bay had consequently been resumed at' Reuter MURDERER LYNCHED Paris Wednesday French reports from Fes state that information received in the Spanish sectors in Morocco indicate that the enemy is preparing a fresh attack on Tetnan Latest advices state that French cavalry have occupied the village of Akchiouine which overlooks the valley of the Wad Aniezez A telegram from Rabat to the Matin says that following a family quarrel the Caid Dri Ben Gheradi why was very well known in the Wad Zem area was shot dead by one of his relatives The assassin was lynched by the witnesses of the murder Reuter PRESSURE ON SPANISH FRONT Madrid Wednesday The official communique regarding the operations in Morocco issued by the Spanish Commander-ir-Chief states There is nothing of consequence to report Six men were wounded in a burst of fire directed on our outposts in the Alhucemas sector General Nou vilas is leaving to-morrow for Rgaia and will take command of a strong force to counter the increasing enemy pressure on that part of the front All the landing operations at Cebadilla Bay are being carried on with some difficulty owing to the uncertain Reuter MYSTERY OF DEATH BODY FOUND UNDER BENCH IN A LABORATORY STRANGE INQUEST STORY The puzzling circumstances of the death of Thomas Parker Cook a young research chemist who was found dead under a bench in the laboratory at the experimental metallurgical works at Twickenham Road Teddington on Sunday evening were investigated by the District Coroner this morning Frederick Noel Cook executive officer to his Office of Works residing at Uxbridge identified the body as that of his brother who was 23 years of age and a metallurgist He resided at Aschurch Grove Ravenscourt Park Hammersmith Witness last saw him alive on Thursday last and he was then in good health and spirits He was a healthy man and had no domestic or financial worries He was unmarried and was not a teetotaller On Saturday morning witness arranged over the telephone to meet his brother if possible at St Pancras Station to see their father off by train His brother did not keep the appointment and when he had not arrived at Uxbridge witness commenced to worry wrote to his lodgings and then went to Teddington Entering the laboratory he found his brother lying on the floor at the side of the chair with his head against a wall William 'Douglas French of Fitzwilliam Road Clapham said he had known Cook for two months They worked at the same place and left together on Saturday morning They had three drinks before going to the station Cook went over the bridge and mentioned that he was going to St Pancras Station As far as witness knew Cook was a sober man and was always cheerful There was no reason why Cook should go back to the works EVIDENCE Henry Thomas Durrance controlling engineer at the experimental works deposed to having paid Cook his wages on Friday He was in his usual good spirits and made no complaint about his work He had been Employed at the works for about a year and his work was very satisfactory Police-constable ampins said it appeared as if Cook had fallen from a cliaii His head was resting on the hot water pipe Dr Davidson divisional surgeon said there were no signs of a struggle in the laboratory There were evidences of strangulation The postmortem examination revealed that the organs of (he body were healthy Subject to an examination of the contents of the stomach witness thought that probably Cool bad a fainting attack while the chair slipped op to the floor and the distorted position of his bead on the hot water pip rained death by strangulation There were -io symptoms of poisoning although there was a bottle of solution of cyanide of potassium uncorked on the bench The Coroner said he did not think it necessary to postpane the inquest for the contents of the stomach to be analysed The cause of death was one of accidental strangulation and be would return a verdict accordingly The barometer is 64 1 feet above sea level The thermometers (with the exception of the grass minimum which is two inohes above the grass are in a Stevenson screen four feet above the All readings taken at 8 am summer time Lights on vehicles to-morrow 818 pm to 547 am Number plates on motor vehicles 748 pm to 617 am BROADCASTING PROGRAMMES BIRMINGHAM (Wave Length 479 Metres) Stalion Pianoforte Quintet Afternoon Topics: Carol Ring Chivalry in every-day Corner Letters 60-655 Lozells Picture House Orchestra: March "Old (Teike) Overture "Pique Dance (Suppe) Fantasia Trovatore (Verdi arr Tavan) Valse (Williamson) Elsie Stell (solo violin) Big Ben Weather forecast and news William Morris on Musical interlude Royal Horticultural Society Talk Le Breton Martin CoLs-wolds (from London) 8 Radio Fantasy No 7 entitled written by John Overton music specially arranged by Joseph Lewis-Characters in the order of their first speaking Sir Charles Armitage Percy Edgar Sarah Grant (his ward) Gladys Oolbourne Thomas (a footman) Joseph Lewis Sir Peter Winthron Joseph Lewis John Dreams Percy Edgar Peter Winthron Stuart Vindcn Gaffer Hurst Percy Edgar A Wagoner Joseph Lewis Phoebe Darrel (hostess of the Barley Mow) John Overton Scene 1: The Library at Barrington Manor Scene 2: The Rose Garden Scene 3: The Kitchen of the Barley Mow The whole action takes place on a Midsummer Eve during the reign of George III 915 Act 3 "The Tales of related from the Theatre Royal Leeds 1010 Weather forecast and news (from London) Weekly feature: Nat I) Ayer in his Pianologues (from London) 3 Close down DAVENTRY (Wave Length 1600 Metres) 40 915 (from London) Greenwich time signal Part of the by Bonnet Concert: The 2 10 Trio and Ernest Platts (baritone) Corner Old English Music (with comments) by Constance Jenkins Un with the Lark" told by Auntie Yvette Letters Light Music See Birmingham Programme East of The Wireless Orchestra: Chinese March Kwang (Lineke) Intermezzo "In a Persian (Ketelbey) "Siamese (Lineke) Wynne Aiello and Leonard Gowings A Lover in Damascus I Woodfordc-Finden) The Orchestra: Two Hindu Pictures (Ilanscn) Selection Chu Chin Chow" (Norton( Betty Nuthall Junior Lawn Tennis Champion on Junior Lawn Tennis (from Wesisate-on-Sea) Items bv Request The Orchestra: March Stars and Stripes (Sousa) Overture "William Tell" (Rossini) See Birmingham Programme 1045 -Close down A cycle or motor cycle and a wireless set a perfect combination See the latest cycles and motor cycles at Olympia London September 21 to 26 Excursions from oil Communicated NOTES ON NEWS Drnlsp Strike Well theirs is tyring work Headline Armada Retires we understand is dead And Queen Anne Being Weaker Distillers deny that whisky bottles hold less than of yore Well it seems less Last Hope A Bath defendant was said to have sent a telegram announcing his own death We must try that one on our rate collector Tough Eating In his new film Charlie Chaplin cooks one of his boots We have often suspected the chef at our favourite restaurant of the same trick Dulcet Tones The town crier of Burnham-on-Sea claims to have a seven-mile voice He is believed to have inspired that pathetic little ballad Whisper and I shall hear 1 Consideration of the provision of a pier at West-c! iff was deferred yesterday by the Southend Corporation They are not sure until the next spring tide what length it would have to he Political Many Voices Ax even livelier time than usual is promised for the delegates to the Labour annual conference in Liverpool at the end of the month if one may judge from the sheaves of i evolutions and amendments which have been tabled for discussion These indicate that there is scarcely a single political or industrial question domestic Imperial or international upon which the party is not hopelessly and completely divided If the vigorous advocacy of widely-varying opinions is a sign of intellectual vitality then the Labour party is in an extraordinarily healthy state of mind On (he other hand if some measure of agreement and unity on fundamentals at least is essential to the effective progress of a political party VICTIM OF THE WAR STORY OF WEST BROMWICH SUICIDE STRUGGLE FOR RAZOR One of the tragedies of the war was related to the Borough Coroner at West Bromwich this morning when he held an inquest on Ashley Gardner (aged 37) of Heath Terrace Lower High Street who was a partner in a firm of mineral water manufacturers A sister-in-law Annie Gardner told the Coroner of a struggle she had with her brother-in-law for an open razor with which lie had cut his throat She said that he was unwell in his bed room on Tuesday morning and with his mother she sat in the room He requested them to leave but the mother refused and a few seconds later there were piercing screams Witness rushed back to the bed room to find her brother-in-law kneeling on the beil with an open razor in his hand and a gash in his throat She struggled with him for possession of the razor but failed to get it and he again cut his throat and collapsed It was stated that the man suffered from pains in the head as a result of a shrapnel wound! but he had never threatened to take his life Police-constable Hulme said the bed room floor and bed were covered with blood and Gardner was removed to the hospital be died about three hours later The Coroner recorded a verdict of Suicide while of unsound and said it was one of those unfortunate cases which resulted from the war Police-constable Hulme said Gardner was one of those conscientious men who would not apply for a disability pension The Coroner: any rate he was certainly a victim of the TRAMP TO SEE WEMBLEY WOLVERHAMPTON SIXTH ATTEMPT SUCCEEDS Missing from home since the end of last month Horace Needham (aged 13) Park Village Wolverhampton returned yesterday after having visited Wembley The lad begged his way nearly to London and at Maidenhead fell into the hands if the police Subsequently money was subscribed to enable him to gratify his ambition to see the Exhibition and he returned home delighted with his experience and with a completely' new kit He said a porter from Maidenhead took him to Wembley on Saturday and it was lie said simply wondcrful Tattoo was very nice nnd tomb was all right only it frightened me a hit seeing all the mummies Now I have seen it all 1 am quite satisfied and shall never leave home This it is stated is the sixth attempt to walk to Wembley hut on no previous occasion did he get beyond Coventry or Stratford-on-Avon The largest catch of herring this season was reported yesterday at Yarmouth It totalled 276000 fish all of which were taken in the nets of a Lowestoft drifter They were sold for over cgoo.