The Birmingham Post from Birmingham, West Midlands, England • 7

THE BIRMINGHAM DAILY POST THURSDAY OCTOBER 29 1908 THE PRIME MINISTER HECKLED ON GREAT FAMOUS BIRMINGHAM MEN THE LORDS AND THE CHILDREN BILL the SUFFRAGIST RAID THE COMMONS HORNING EXPRESS EDITION KAISER AND BRITAIN COUNCILLOR KENRICK ON GEORGE DIXON SCENES AT A BAZAAR THE KAISER INTERVIEW SECOND READING AGREED TO IHE reported interview BELGIAN COMMENT DEMONSTRATION IN THE GALLERY SUFFRAGISTS IN THE COMMONS SUBSTANTIALLY REMARKABLE SCENES SCENE IN THE GALLERY rreu Alternation Tima Telegram Paris October 28 transmit the following statement upon the interview with the German Emperor published 1 London to-day It is from one who has not i- h-iH constant opportunities of familiarising jy had constant opportunities £Fbom Oca PAKLiAHE-rrxKr Correspondent Bbcssels October SB Commenting on file statements ascribed to tb German Emperor ra the report of -the mterrviwr with his Majesty published in the Daily Teltel the considers tbefB inadmissible on the part of the Emperor There i would be" it says in the fact of acquainting British public opinion with diplomatic communis cations so serious made in the given cirenm stances such absence of international usages tint! we cannot believe for a single moment that tlm German Emperor took the responsibility for it Admitting for an instant the impossible what ia to be thought of a Sovereign who abuses confr dential communications which have been made to him in order to turn in his favour the publio opinion of a particular country and to mtm International understanding which he may think is directed against him Would it not he a veriti able felony? It is not thus that the new grouping of the Powers which has been established in these latter years can be broken or the iKtersstuui situation lie consolidated to the advantage of many DISCONTENT WITH MULEY HAFID The Daily Telegraph special correspondent off Casablanca News from Marrakesh and tha southern districts shows that there is a growing feeling of discontent with Mnley Hafid wbean financial situation it may be observed leaves a good deal to be desired By far the larger portion the revenues of the Empire are retained by tho State Bank and as Muley Hafid has not yet bean recognised by the European Powers these sumo remain untouched though the de facto Sultan would very much like to lay bands on them Hi only means of providing ready cash is to impoea taxes on the tribesmen Marrakesh the first town to proclaim Muley Hafid has been rewarded in most unmerited fashion Rewarded indeed ia hardly the proper expression for tbe town hao been compelled to pay 230000 duros (£40000) into1 the Hafidian treasury Nor is this all for tboj most curious contribution perhaps ever recorded in history has also been levied While furnishing money the town has also been compelled to pro-! Vide no fewer than 1000 cats for the Imperial Palace which has been overrun with mice Bonn of the tribes in the neighbourhood of Marrakesh have refused to pay their contribations to the Imperial treasury so expeditions are being organised to compel their obedience and gu inary conflicts are expected mfelf witli the attitude of the German Emperor Id his Government towards Great Britain ranee and Russia during the past twelve or irteen years but who himself played a part in onre of the more important events with which he i-ls He sj cannot comprehend why the present moment wild have been selected for revising in the form (Jerrnan Imperial declarations the history pyents With regard to the nature of which it Vll apparently be for eve-- impossible that his Itaiesty the German Emperor nud those who are have been conducting the foreign policy of Britain France and Enssia should see eye to eye The necessity of the hour is surely European tv and to raise at such a moment against two prance and Eussia which are in relations i friendship with England the charge that in hour of trial in 1889 and 1800 they invited Ger -0jn them in an attempt not only to save "hBoer Republics but to humiliate England to cin only have ope tendency and one It can only mean an attack upon the oblcC Triple Entente and an attempt to break bv methods which any responsible adviser Sovereign could hardly fail to consider imprudent and to say the least ill-advised It is certain these assertions will not remain without sort of a reply and the exchange of assertion ind counter-assertion cannot tend to clear the -tTDOsphere of international relations at a moment jika the present His Majesty no doubt makes a lv difficult when he charges those who doubt accuracy of his assertions with insulting but if he descends into the arena of public aad international into the journal istic arena to how can he hope to avoid oiniter assertions and even contradictions" -regards German dealings with Enssia and prance during and before the South African war rrbat I now state belongs to the realm of irre-f-agable fact On January 1 1806 the day before the Kruger telegram Baron Marschall von Biebor-t(jn tlen German Foreign Secretary paid visit to Herbette then French Ambassador in Berlin- He came presumably with uis Imperial approval to ask Herbette if France vould join Germany in European diplomatic action with a view to securing the independence and integrity of the Boer States Herbette in reply pointed out that France had no particular merest in South African questions and that first of all he would like to know whether as a quid quo Germany was prepared to give France her support in the Egyptian question which at that time closely interested the French Government Baron Marschall replied in a negative gouve whereupon Herbette stated that even fare consulting his Government he felt sure France could not interest herself in projects with regard to South Africa The next une the South African question came up in an international sense was after the South African had broken out It was in November war naa uiovvu out did it with conscientions thoroughness and dulness that was perhaps unavoidable The peers thereupon discussed the measure with a view of giving it a second reading and they did so according to convention each speaker suppressing so far as he was able any consciousness of knowing anything at all about it except what Earl Beauchamp had disclosed by way of interpretation of the distributed copies The bill was welcomed almost with fervour and its passage is assured Lord Alverstone the Lord Chief Justice who for twenty years has worked in the cause of the better protection of rights in this country and whose efforts at legislation on these lines when he was in the Lower House proved to be in advance of public opinion or cf the publio opinion of companies insuring infant led off the chorus of congratulations Speaking as one of his judges he especially praised that part of the hill which consolidates a number of Acts affecting children But he offered a few criticisms One was as to the provision making a parent or gnardian criminally responsible for the death of or injury to a child from burns or scalds attributable to an unguarded fire Of the provision against overlying he wholly approved The clause would be operative only where it was established that tbe mother was drank He was dissatisfied with the habitual clause and wanted it left out As to the smoking clauses he most earnestly pleaded for their omission not because he thought them bad but because they were highly controversial were not an essential part of the framework of the measure and could better be dealt with separately He praised especially that part of the biU which establishes courts and severs the treatment of child offenders from the ordinary police court and prison associations The Earl of Meath who sits on the cross benches and in all things is severely non-partisan favoured tbe House with a homily on the indiscipline of tbe British home the lack of parental control and the deficiency of parental responsibility which he suggested that the hill would still further weaken He Hnked up the question with the hooligan unemployables to be seen in the streets and suggested that children were pampered and spoiled and were not made to endure therefore becoming hooligan wastrels It was an amusing argument to put before a body of gentlemen the majority of whom had passed their infancy in golden 1 write figuratively of course had never felt cold or hunger and reckoned their pocket-money at Eton or Harrow in sovereigns and five-pound notes The thought of the speech was no doubt sound enough but the language missed fire because the very children whom the bill seeks to protect have to suffer Incredible hardships The noble earl was followed by the Bishop of Ripon a now aging ecclesiastic whose chaste and polished oratory is as delightful to the House of Lords as it was to those who were privileged to listen to his prose poems at Lancaster Gate in the days when he was winning his way to distinction Deftly breaking a lance with tbe Earl of Meath a former parishioner of his at that remote the Bishop proceeded with an eloquent eulogy of the bill a eulogy suffused with a glow of love for childhood and of eager hope for the potentialities of noble citizenship inherent in every child He pleaded for the whole bill and nothing less than the whole and he closed on a note of regret It was that tho bill contained nothing which wonld effect any limitation of child labour in this country The number of half-timers was rising not decreasing as is sometimes imagined There are as many as 380000 of these victims of our industrial system and his argument was that a very undesirable strain was put upon their powers of life a strain endangering their physique their mentality and because of these things their moral forces also It was a fine speech finely delivered restrained and measured at qnite in the House of Lords manner which vetoes gesticulation or but passing from cold thought to wannth of feeling and from physical impassivity to lively but rhythmic and graceful gestures Lord Lytton followed with a prolix speech of approval and thereafter the Archbishop of Canterbury reviewed the bill in phrases of unusual cordiality The Archbishop makes no pretence at oratory he lacks the magical quality that sometimes invests orderly thought and plain prose with indefinable charm and his speeches are perhaps better to read than to hear One point should be noticed here It was a tribute to the thought and labour of Mr Rnggles one of the generally unknown or at least unrecognised mental personalities who have contributed to the making of the statute if that word may be used in anticipation of events Ldrd Lansdowne sentences of commendation and struck ont a new thought His mind is of the order which cannot get into motion on any theme without sending forth an original idea The idea was that the signs of degeneracy in our population might be associated with the ills of child life which it was hoped the bill would alleviate The House then gave the bill a collective blessing by leading it a second time The women suffragists were successful in creating a previous turbulent scene in London yesterday the occasion being the opening of a bazaar by the Prime Minister at the Highbury Atheneum in aid of the funds of the Union Chapel Highbury Comer Upon Mr Asquith arrival on the morion of Dr Guinness Rogers he was accorded a vote of thanks for his presence and in reply he had begun with the words You owe me no when immediately a voice cried women owe yon no thanks There was an instant attempt to silence the owner of the voice but she went on You don deserve any thanks You deserve to he put in prison The lady was ejected and Mr Asquith proceeded It is a great pleasure to me to be here he said when another voice shouted Taxation and representation go together What about Mrs Pankhurst in Holloway Who axe responsible for that This lad also was removed amid a storm of hisses Mr Asquith resumed but another immediate interruption led to the ejection of a third woman whose parting words as she want through the door were How dare you call yourself a The Prime Minister managed to complete sentence It is a great pleasure to me to be here to-day to revive old memories and old associations This church of yours has in many respects a peculiar and indeed a unique when another interruption led to the fourth ejection Ignoring continued interruptions Mr Asquith continued his speech with tne remark that he was reminding his hearers that that church founded as it was in the early days of the Evangelical revival in the last century founded by persons same of whom were members of the Established Church and others of the Nonconformist Churches was both as a place of worship and as a centre of religions work a meeting-ground to which all Evangelically-minded men and women had come together (A Woman: with the Liberal Since that rime the church had become definitely Nonconformist but it had never lost the comprehensive and catholic spirit breathed into it at its birth From this point there were continual interruptions and the Prime Minister had great difficulty in making himself heard Hypocrite' Down with the Liberal Who sent Mrs Pankhurst to prison were among the cries which met almost every sentence he uttered and amid an excited od turbulent scene seven or eight more women were removed from the hall screaming and struggling as they were earned out When quiet had been restored Mr Asquith resuming paid a high tribute to the work of the late Dr Allen They were endeavouring to carry on his good work to maintain the church in a condition worthy of its best traditions and to furthering the new calls made on its activities and usefulness There had been one special feature of Union its pioneer work among the churches of London It was always a propagandist and missionary agency It went out into the slums the neglected byways of the Islington of that time and there it provided by its offshoots and branches spiritual ministration intellectual enlightenment moral supervision encouragement strength and health to people who would never have been expected to be found within the actual walls of the chapel itself (Applause) It was a great a work the necessity of which was growingly recognised by all the Churches throughout the length and breadth of the country The Union Chapel in its early days was the pioneer in magnificent Christian enterprise and it onght not to be allowed in these later days to fall behind the best traditions of its own past and to have its energy sapped and its work curtailed by impoverishment and lack of means Here again Mr Asquith had to stop whilst two women were carried out Still another voioe came from the don't yon give women the Continuing amid laughter and applause Mr Asquith said he trusted the later stages of the bazaar might be carried on without some of the turbulent accompaniments which had diversified their proceedings without marring their hannony (Applause and another interruption during which another woman was taken ont) He hoped the church wonld in years to come he worthy of its great and memorable past (Cheers) There was another exciting scene as the Prime Minister left the buildings but tbe who had during the speech been holding ait epeu-air meeting from a carriage were unable to get near to him though their cries for some little WrsncrxsTXK Wednesday Evening Never in the history of the British Parliament as such a scene enacted as that which interrupted the proceedings to-night in Committee on the Licensing Bill High above the Press Gallery is another gallery cut off frot the House itself by what is known as the grille broad panels of open decorative brasswork with interstices too small to thrust anarm It is known as the Gallery and admission to it is obtained for ladies by members to whom the Speaker grants tickets The regulations are of the strictest and the demand for tickets is usually in excess of the supply Behind this grille which does not command a full view of the House there can be dis-oerned night after night the vague figures of ladies here a cloak or hat or blouse of distinctive colour there a gloved hand now and again peering face Very seldom can whisperings be heard for the attendants enforce silence with the rigour of gaolers To the House the ladies might not be there They are without the pale unlike the male visitors who sit in serried rows in the spacious open gallery opposite the Press GaUery and facing the Speaker's chair These sentences will give an idea of the siting of the scene to be described The House was thin not more than a few score members being present and the discussion on Clause 12 was unexciting Mr Remnant was in possession and unfolding a tcrious and technical argument There was a sudden rustling in the Gallery as of movements deliberately and noisily made by some of its occupants Almost simultaneously a voice rang out loud and shrill: of the Liberal Government Then came the sounds of a sharp' scuffle Evidently an attendant had pounced upon the owner of the voioe and that not ungently We have the voice continued with shrill determination and the scuffling was renewed Amid it came the words demand the and then something about listening behind thi6 insulting griUe too Then the struggling became quite violent to judge from the noise it produced Meanwhile Mr Remnant who like the rest of the House had for the moment been nonplussed and had turned instinctively as everyone did to look np to the gallery went on with his speech and endeavoured to make himself heard above the din are insulting shouted the voice and then there were bangs as though part of the grille would be wrenched away The straggling continued with increasing noise and then a fresh voioe threw ont the word with all the ardour a tongue can summon Votes for Its owner had apparently been passive np to this stage Other attendants had apparently arrived and they seized her also But the most extraordinary thing was that it seemed impossible to eject the women Force was apparently useless Then came a lull in the straggle What had happened? Then it became clear to ns in the gallery that the women had somehow or another fastened themselves to the grille itself by something that could not he cnt Attendants went away to get files and tools and the figures of several police could be seen behind the grille Meanwhile the first woman made quite a speech had listened behind that insulting grille for forty she shouted to nothing but the illogical utterances of men Why did the Liberal Government call themselves Liberals? How did they show their Liberalism and so forth undo it! You nnio cried the woman in hysterical triumph as the attendants made yet another attempt to undo her apparently a padlocked chain At length attendants arrived with tools and set to work to remove that part of the grille to which she was attached No sooner was this done the other woman meanwhile keeping np a running fire of determined-" Yotas-for than all eyes were -diverted to 'the other tod of the HSttsfe by a voice from the Gallery for women!" he shouted and he hung ont a placard of some sort He was at once pounced upon by the attendants and those sitting near him and hustled ont of the gallery The disturbance in the Gallery continued cried a voice evidently belonging to a friend of modern Andromache self-bound to the iron framework of the grille out! injure And then from Andromache herself: yon dare do it! do nothing of the kind! You dare touch me! have you up for assault!" The suffragists last evening sprang another surprise upon Parliament which for ingenuity and audacity outrivalled the recent effort of Mrs Trevor Symons Shortly after half-past seven at an lionr when it was certain the Ladies' GaUery would be practically empty a little band of daring spirits obtained admission to the Gallery They included Miss Muriel Matters and Miss Helen Fox who gave their addresses as Robert Street They gained admittance to the gallery by the kindly efforts of Mr the Independent Labour member for East Leeds and Mr Stephen Collins the Liberal member for Kenning-ton Miss Matters and Miss Fox wore long dark cloaks which conoealed wound round their waists a Jong and heavy chain To these chains were attached spring padlocks and waiting their opportunity the ladies made their way to the front seats close to the grille to which latter they attached the padlocks thj click of which attracted for a moment the attention of the unsuspecting attendant but of none cf the other occupants of the gallery Mr Remnant the Unionist member for the Hol-born Division of Finsbury was speaking on the Licensing Bill when he was rudely interrupted by voice proceeding from the Ladies Gallery calling out Mr Speaker members of the Liberal We have listened behind the grille long enongh The women of England demand the Simultaneously in another part of the Gallery a laTge bill was thrust through the metalwork of the grille bearing in large letters the words Women Freedom League demands Votes for Women this session A number of attendants promptly rnshed forward with a view to removing the demonstrators but experienced unexpected difficulty in achieving their object owing to the fact that two of the suffragists had chained themselves securely to the grille In the meantime the first interrupter continued shouting in a lond voice have listened this insulting grille too long! Leave oil speaking about the Licensing Bill and get to the question! Get the domestic side of legislation represented! We have sat too long and listened to the illogical utterances of men who know nothing about The second demonstrator here exclaimed shrilly women demand the Her associate resumed speaking in a breathless manner due to her struggle with the attendants caU upon the Liberal Government to show it is a liberal and not an il-liberal Government towards the women of England Here the other demonstrator ejaculated and her companion taking a deep breath continued For forty years we have sat behind this grille We demand the vote in A third voice then shrieked out: protest against the inaction of the Government Why you attend to the All this time the attendants were busily engaged in endeavouring to detach the demonstrators from the grille but were quite unable to unfasten the padlocked chains which encircled their waists It was eventually found necessary to remove bodily the section of the grille to which the women had attached themselves The first demonstrator as she was removed administered a slap to one of the attendants which was distinctly heard in the Press Gallery indignantly remarking at the same time that she should proceed against him for assault After some further commotion during which the suffragists of whom there appeared to be several called out variously We protest against the inaction of the talking about the Licensing Bill and attend to the necessary things and Votes for the gallery was cleared of aU its occupants and except for the voice of Air Remnant who throughout the disturbance kept steadily on with his speech silence prevailed After the first ejection a young man rose in the middle of one of the upper rows in the Cillery at the oiner'ehd of and londly bawled I demand justice for the women of at the same time flinging in the air a large bundle of papers which scattered as they fell and littered the floor in the neighbourhood of the bar He was promptly seized by two attendants and bundled out stiH shouting I demand votes for women I protest against injustice to The suffragists were taken by the attendants and the police to one of the committee-rooms where the chains were released from the sections of the grille to which they were attached by means of a file They were then conducted downstairs and escorted off the Parliamentary precincts Mr Caldwell who was at the time in the place at the table sat quite undisturbed during the scene not even turning his head to see what was going on while Mr Remnant not only continued his speech without the briefest interruption but raised his voice as if to drown the disturbance The hint of what was occurring brought about a score of members from the dining-room one or two of whom leisurely picked up and examined specimens of the literature thrown down on the floor The Solicitor-General and Mr Herbert Gladstone were the only occupants of the Treasury bench while on the front bench opposite sat Mr Austen lain and Mr IT Forster About five minutes elapsed between the fi rst interjection and the complete clearing of the GaUery In spite of the hubbub the debate was kept going and at nine a division was taken Just after it had been called and while members were proceeding to the division lobbies a man rose in the third row of the Gallery and DEATH OF THE EARL OF DROGHEDA The Daily Telegraph Dublin correspondent telegraphs that the ninth Earl of Drogheda died! last evening at his Irish residence Mcore Abbey Monastereven Co Kildare Lord Drogheda completed his sixty-second year on April 29 9a! succeeded his cousin in 1892 In 1889 his lordship was elected a representative peer for Ireland in succession to the seventeenth Lord Dunsany Th deceased peer took a special interest in music and was patron of mere than one musical society Lad Drogheda was the owner of a large estate in Ireland He married in 1879 Anne Tower daughter of George Moir LLD formerly Sheriff of Stirlingshire He is succeeded in the peerage by his only son Viscount Moore who is in his twenty-fifth year SCIENTIFIC COINERS AT WORK The series of lectures on famous Birmingham men which are being given at the University under the auspices of the Social Study Committee of the University of Birmingham was continued last night when the Lord Mayor-elect (Councillor Kemrick) delivered an address on George Mr Neville Chamberlain presided and there wa a very large attendance Councillor Kemrick gave a brief chronicle of the life of Mr Dixon whom he said Birmingham might well regard as one of its greatest citizens To him (the lecturer) it was an honour and pleasure to be allowed to speak of one whom he regarded as a kind of educational godfather since it wa6 he who introduced him to public life in relation to education (Applause) It was as an advocate of education that Mr Dixon would be recollected in the future Had it not been for that bent of his mind he might well have been remembered as typical of the best kind of commercial greatness Keen broad-minded well informed scrupulously honourable hc was well fitted to raise the tone and enlarge the sphere of commercial dealing and he speedily put his firm in the front rank of Birmingham merchants As a Councillor and subsequently as Mayor he showed himself by his generous sympathy and by his wise actions as possessed of all those qualities that had distinguished the great English towns in thoir admirable self-government and on his election to Parliament he was probably the most popular man in Birmingham His devotion to education overshadowed all those things and in the future George Dixon and the schools would always remain connected (Applause) No doubt were he living to-day the secondary school and the University would have his constant attention and devotion but in his day the problem of the education of the masses forced iteeif to the front and poshed aside all other educational problems The first intimation they had of the interest of Mr Dixon in the question of education was in January 1867 when he was Mayor He summoned private conference at his house at which all the leading men of the town without distinction of party or sect were present to consider what could be done to remedy the want of education then so striking a feature of tho great towns The time was ripe for tbe movement and in March of the same year an Education Aid Society was formed similar to the one at that time existing in Manchester The society raised a considerable annual income most of which was spent in paying the school fees of tbe children for the schools of Birmingham deficient as they were at that time were by no means crowded There were places for about 30000 children but another 25000 were required before it could be said there was room for every child in the town The society did much towards ascertaining the actual facts concerning those matters and still more in rousing publio opinion Mr Dixon soon showed be fully grasped the magnitude of the situation and it would have been an immense pleasure for him to have been told that his views so clearly and so early expressed had since been realised and that one at least of the boys coming from the bottom of the elementary school had obtained the highest honours of the University of Cambridge (Applause) Mr Kcnrick traced the work of the Education League and of the subsequent passing of the Education Act by Parliament which came into force in 1870 That he said was no donbt a momentous period in Mr life for he was one of the chief protagonists not so much as an ardent supporter of the the position he hoped to as acritic and a mover of amendments That bill was disappointing to the Education League and other hills brought forward since then had aronsed a great amonnt of opposition those of 1896 and 1906 being withdrawn while the Act of 1902 which had admittedly done much for education had also laid the foundation of a widespread agitation which everyone agreed must be dealt with and satisfied before long It was not too much to say that education harmless and attractive as it appeared was a deadly subject for the because the feelings aronsed in connection with it were among the strongest that exercised men and women (Hear hear) It was now nearly 40 years since the Act of 1870 was passed and the Straggle emphasised by the League and unions of those days still went on and apparently mudt go on until our system of education was of a more national character titan at present (Hear hear) Bolt at the same time education went on and had-wfcmtofeed out until it had reached every child' the kingdom and indeed until a generation of those trained in public elementary schools had arisen of whom it might be said that their education for the most part was equal to what passed for secondary education thirty years ago (Applause) WoBK 05 THE SCHOOL BOAKD Passing from political topics Mr Kenrick returned to the subject of local administration in which Mr Dixon took a prominent part as a member and chairman of the School Board until he resigned in 1896 Birmingham was one of the towns in which the largest deficiency of school buildings found bnt no time was lost in erecting buildings and with so large a number of important schools under its management the Birmingham Board was able to take a leading part in guiding other boards in the country With Mt Dixon at its head there was no difficulty in Shaping a policy liberal in its views hut very full of common sense in working out its problems (Applause) No one could talk with him without seeing that he completely grasped eveTy problem before he dealt with it and although lit might cost him much time to really get at the bottom of things he did not grudge such time and never forgot what he had acquired As a leader of a party he was a model Always ready and eager to greet the success of any of those working under him he never relaxed his own efforts and was always spurring them on to fresh activity (Applause) He (Mr Kenrick) well remembered when Mr Dixon asked him to become a member of the Board that he pointed out he should find plenty to do in two fields after the games and he said is nothing being done in that direction And look after the attendance it is very To-day games and exercises were constantly being pressed upon them by the Board of Education not perhaps so much in Birmingham for they had had them for many years (Applause) As for the attendance that of the elementary school was now pretty much np to the standard of the secondary school and whereas they used to be content with anything over 70 the average for the past month was over the highest figure it had ever reached in Birmingham (Applause) Mr courtesy towards all those with whom he came in contact was always a theme upon which people in Birmingham loved to dwell When' bis illness compelled him to retire from the Board ho still retained his interest in what was going on and was glad to see his old colleagues and hear what was being done That intense love of what had been the work of bis life he retained to tbe end At tbe beginning he said that Mr Dixon would be regarded as one of Birmingham's greatest citizens He hoped he had said something to induce the audience to share that feeling for he believed many years would elapse before they wonld be able to boast of one who devoted bis talents and his fortune so Wisely to the city of his adoption (Load applause) On the motion of the Chairman seconded by tihe Rev MacCarthy a hearty vote of thanks was accorded Councillor Kenrick for bis address The Daily Chronicle states that connterMt half-sovereigns so word fully like the gemma article that only the expert can hope to deteetj them have been circulating for some time past ia London So far as the experience of tbe aufboxi- ties at the Mint goes this is the first time fiat spurious half-sovereigns have been manufactured i in a systematic manner and naturally thn officials are most anxious to trace the source of the imitations It was in May last that these tMeiV'flf'hrt at tbe arrets poqobr ri r-fb Lrrl Bank of England The experts there of course were not deceived by them bnt at tbe same time it was realised the coins were such extraordinarily good imitations that the general puhlic wonld not! be at all likely to discover their true character Indeed the coins had already passed through the hands of experienced bank officials Since then spurious half-sovereigns obviously all from tha same have reached the Bank from time to time But whether or not many are in circulation it is impossible to tell The manufacturer of these half-sovereigns it is estimated makes profit of 4s 6d on each coin At first the expert at the Mint were uncertain whether the counter! feits were cast or struck Bnt they have now come to the conclusion that they were cast The authorities suspect that the are being manufactured on the Continent time assailed him from all directions As qnickly as possible Mr Asquith drove away and the crowd quickly dispersed THE MEAT WARRANTY QUESTION 1899 The late Count Muravieff then Russian Foreign Minister was in Paris in that month He saw Delcasse then Foreign Minister and in ronrse of conversation suggested to him that i situation seemed suitable for representations to Great Britain in the interest of the restoration ot peace The reply of the French Government Count Muravieff on this occasion was that the only action France could contemplate would be amicable representations of a kind similar to those which had been made in the case of the recent Hispano-American conflict She would have nothing to do with any further action of any kind Again in March 1900 Count Muravieff made representations to Delcasse and they were received in precisely the same spirit as before On his way back to Enssia Count Muravieff visited Potsdam where he had an opportunity of conferring with the Emperor William and Prince Buidw He pointed' otft the moment was now more suitable for making representations to England since the tide of war had turned somewhat in her favour and the tin fish national feeling would consequently no longer he so sensitive The German reply was and this is most important and that contemplated action might not be the affair of day It might be prolonged Germany wonld therefore like as a preliminary it was doubtless meant if not said as a guarantee against all that the three Powers Germany Russia and France should begin by reciprocally pledging themselves to maintain the status quo in Europe France at once felt that this proposal meant that she should expressly ratify and consecrate afresh the Treaty F-ankfort and she absolutely declined to be a party to the German proposal The negotiations then dropped are doubtless the incidents to which the Emperor William -refers when he states that he informed England of what had been proposed Hi- Majesty's language seems to vary in the most striking manner according to the nationality of person hom he happens to he honouring by ddr-ssing him His conversation on board an Aaierican yacht ia the Baltic on cne memorable ccrasiou did not convey the impression of particular friendliness to England To more than French Vrabassadoi particularly to ihe i Marquis do Noailles he has repeatedly and! i-sistently spoken of English and on nc occasion when Madame Eejnne was acting in Berlin he had this Amhnsasdor in the Royal box I and dlscour-ed to him or nothing else I have heard Similar things from Russians and I know THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE INTERVENE DEATH OF SIR WILLIAM AVERY SERVIA AND MONTENEGRO The Rome correspondent of the Morning Poet telegraphs: I am informed from a Montenegrin source that a military convention has been signed by Servia and Montenegro for mutual support against Austria THE BLOOMSBURY MURDER Tbe death took place yesterday in London of Sir William Beilby Avery of Oakley Court Bray near Windsor whose connection with the well-known firm of weighing-machine and scale manufacturers made his name one of the most familiar in Birmingham commercial circles Outside the circle of his most intimate friends the news of the deceased death will come as a great surprise he bad not long passed his 51th year and it was not generally known that he was seriously ill Though Sir William was connected with the firm which bears his name he was not prominently identified with the public life of the city He was a son of the late Mr William Henry Avery and the nephew of the late Mi- Thomas Avery a former Mayor of Birmingham and succeeded to tbe fortune He married as his second wife a French lady Mr Avery was a director of the United Rhodesian Goldfields (Limited) and of A Darracq and Co tbe well-known motor-car manufacturers being himself an ardent motorist He was also a life governor of the University of Birmingham He formerly resided in Wellington Road Edgbaston bnt as stated above has not taken any prominent part in the public affairs of the city He received his baronetcy in 1905 and the title now devolves upon an only son of his first marriage William Eric Thomas who was was born in 1890 The funeral will take place at Witton Cemetery on Tuesday next A special meeting of the National Federation of Meat Traders was held in London yesterday when tho following letter from Earl Carrington wae considered My dear Sir I have for some time past been carefully watching the discussions that have been taking place on the warranty question It appears to me that the matter is eminently one for the interchange of opinions between the two parties to the discussion and I would therefore suggest for the consideration of the National Federation of Meat Traders that arrangements ehenld be made for the holding of a conference between representative members of the federation and of the Central Chamber of Agriculture with as little delay as possible It might be arranged that representatives of the Tuberculous (Animals) Committee should also he present Your committee will probably agree that the resolntion of the federation should be suspended until the proposed conference has taken Your very truly (Signed) The following resolution was subsequently adopted by the meeting That on the suggestion of Lord Carrington President of the Board of Agriculture this federation agrees to a postponement of the demand for a warranty with fat stock until the 1st of January 1909 in order to permit of a conference with representatives of the Central Chamber of Agriculture The Daily News says Early this morning wo weTe informed that in ccnmeotion with the murder Of EstMr Plunger in Bernard Street Russell Square 'oil' the 17th last a man had been detained in the city and taken to Bow Street The identity of the man has yet to he established but onr information indicates that he a foreigner probably of German or Austrian origin The detention took place too late for enquiry into the antecedents to be made last night but these will be set afoot this morning The hng1 not been charged UNEMPLOYMENT IN GERMANY Morning Berlin com The shonted: wh yon do justice to Englishmen of Russia Hc threw Mote 6heaf of leaflets over the front not have been regarded ml the aljcly on tUe fl5or the HoU9e Two rg a- precisely flattering or three attendants rushed down the steps and Bcvt Telegrams seized the interrupter who cried with a stifled 'Berlin October 28 voice Justice to w-omen and the unemployed Reuter despatches reproducing the interviews The attendants reinforced by others carried the Emperor William published by tho man struggling violently up the central gangway Daily lelcgraph" have been forwarded to the of the gallery and out through the doorway at the jnperor who is staving at Stolberg at back while he continued shouting again and again: Justice for women and the unemployed! This incident caused a great sensation among members who crowded on to the floor of the House and gazed at the struggle which was going on kwt is unable io confirm the details aloft The Chairman cried and members the conversation until the English text of the becoming at last alive to the fact that they were committing a breach of order in loitering about the floor while a division was in progress proceeded lo the lobbies as the last muffled cries of Justice for women died away in the distance keen laid before his Majesty and -ft Imperial reply lias bon received As a whole However the interview is regarded' in official substantially correct It is declared AND THE A SHROPSHIRE IRONMASTER BIRMINGHAM BUTCHERS QUESTION telegraphs The Imperial Statistical Bureau pub-1 iehec to Arbeitsblatt particulars lishes in the The death is announced of Hr Clement Groom of Wellington chairman of the directors of the Hay-bridge Iron Company and manager of the Haybridge works Hr Groom who was fifty years of age had been in failing health for some months He became much worse on Monday and died on Tuesday evening Tbe deoeased gentleman was greatly esteemed among the ironmasters of the Midlands and his demise is deeply deplored by his numerous friends The funeral will take place at Wellington to-morrow What unutterable barbarity the police had threatened to inflict upon tho and both she and her companion were young and was not heard in the gallery belpw However dreadful it wa3 it was not put into execution Not until part of the grille was removed did she disappear and her voice cease to trouble the air The second padlock grille and was likewise removed but while she was being dealt with it was impossible to still her tongue Votes for women! Votes for alternated with the clang of tools and the wrenching away of the grille Once the women were got away the House settled down pretty quickly to a pretence of listening to Mr Remnant who throughout the scene which had lasted nearly ten minutes had pluckily kept up his end in a lond voice He moderated it and everything was getty prosy again when a second man rose in the gallery and throwing down a bundle of leaflets shouted you give vetes to women and attend to the unemployed?" His neighbours simultaneously laid rough hands upon him and he was enveloped in a throng of men who hustled him to the attendants and with drastic expedition he disappeared from view Evidently the disturbances in both galleries was concerted As the reader will see from the report there was a little breeze at question time about the suffragists The business of the night was the consideration of Clauses 12 and 13 of the Licensing Bill 'iney deal with the methods of payment of compensation by the Licensing Commissioner! and with the methods of levying and management of the Compensation Fund In other words they were very technical and the discussion was dry For the greater part of the afternoon and evening the attendance was small The House filled up towards eleven Members did what they could to conceal their interest in the missing panels of the grille great gaps as though windows had been taken out and nothing behind them for the gallery had been cleared of all ladies But of tbe debate itself nothing need here lie said At 1030 Clause 12 was added to the bill by 300 to 114 Clause 13 (none of the amendments having been discussed) followed suit After the divisions in an exceptionally crowded House it was noticeable that Mr Asquith was making notes on a slip of paper which he handed to Mr Haroourt the First Commissioner of Works The Speaker took the chair and the formal business being transacted Mr Asquith nose and was loudly cheered from aU quarters Speaking of the "discreditable and disorderly scenes of the night he said that as leader of the House he had to ask the Speaker whether any steps could be taken to maintain the dignity and order of the House Loud and prolonged cheering followed Mr Balfour associated himself in a single sentence with the Prime request The Speaker then said that the decencies having been violated he had reluctantly decided that for a time at least both the Gallery and the Gallery are to be closed Immense cheering followed and the Speaker then adjourned the House It is one of the hoary hypocrisies of Parliament that the House of Lords do not know what the House of Commons have done or are doing The theory is that the peers dwell in altitudes where newspapers do net circulate and in an atmosphere so rarefied that vulgar Commoners in or ont of the lower branch of the Legislature cannot breathe it The peers live and move and have their being in a world of their own occasionally descending from its Olympian peaks to appear at Westminster and deliberate with semi-divine detachment of mind on the affairs of mankind Until they descend they have no knowledge of mortal activities and are wholly dependent upon what the House of clerks put on the agenda paper That is the Parliamentary theory In accordance with it Earl Beauchamp to-day on behalf of the Government informed them that the House of Commons debated and now submitted to them a certain measure known as the Children Bill which he would venture to describe to their lordships This he did part by part and clause by clause as though the Lords oould not by any possibility have heard of the measure and needed elementary supplied by the trade unions as to unemployment in Germany during the quarter 'ending September' 30 last The figures relate to forty -nine organised trades with a total membership of 1 Seven organised trades did not send in their statistics in time for publication On September i 26 last when the books were made up MJMgj members of these forty-nine trade unions were! registered as out of employment that is 27 The! percentage of unemployment on the last working day in September October November and! December 1907 was 14 16 17 and 27 respCo tively and for the eight months of this year 2J 27 25 28 28 29 27 and 27 respectively Not quite 110 of the Association of German Miners with 112236 members were out of work an September 26 last and 31 of the German Metal Association with 365563 members were out of work on the same day During the threw months under discussion (viz those ending September 30 last) members of trade ware unemployed on 1658252 days including Catholic holidays and the total sum of £81111 was paid to these members in the form of relief In the third quarter of 1907 the sum thus paid waa £40249 At a meeting of tbe Birmingham Association held last night the following resolntion was passed relative to tho warranty of cattle: That this meeting of the Birmingham Wholesale and Retail Associations hereby agrees with the decision of the National Federation to meet the Central Chamber of Agriculture at the suggestion of lord Carrington President of the Board of Agriculture and arrange if possible a friendly settlement of the meat warranty MARKET DRAYTON FARMERS RESIST THE DEMAND At a largely-attended meeting of influential farmers and cattle feeders in the Market Drayton district held yesterday it was unanimously decided to give no warranty whatever to the butchers who purchased their stock in the pnhlio market and the auctioneers were requested to sell the stock under the same conditions as at present obtaining h- historical fact that during the Boer war 1 and Russian Governments made Miggefc ions to tne German Government which Odi have led to complications with It is that 0 j110 tocident at this juncture is in no li-V vfDie affect the relations since established between Great Britain and France vi tI Cologne October 28 clMnfornied correspondent of the Koel-J ltlInS telegraphs with reference to the th eiPrasfe) bv eome journals that in Berlin -n Emperor William published rorreT: -V is believed to be a reproduction of his Majesty's remarks Tbe death took place last night of Major Hubert Richard Lovett of Henlle Hall Shropshire Major Lovett who was fifty-four years of age was the eldest son of tbe late Colonel Heaton Lovett and was educated at Cheltenham Choosing the army as a profession he entered ihe Royal Rifles and served with distinction in Egypt and Afghanistan He was on the Commission of the Peace for Shropshire was a regular follower of Sir Wynn's Hounds and for many years was a member of Oswestry Rural District Council Vkwount Enorooto the first organiser of the Japanese Navy died say the Morning Post correspondent at Tokio on Tuesday He was bom cat August 25 1836 and was rightfully regarded by the yomyer men the of the Japanese CANNOCK CHASE AS AN ARTILLERY RANGE THE ALLEGED UNIONIST APATHY Complaint was recently made in a Unionist newspaper that an apathetic attitude was being displayed by the Unionist representatives in the House of Commons and attention was drawn to the recent division lists particularly in connection with the Licensing Bill A correspondent who brought the matter to the notice of Sir A A eland Hood MP Chief Opposition Whip has received tbe following reply Ail tlie membens of the Unionist party have been accounted for in the recent divisions on the Licensing Bill Those who have been absent have been paired or absent ill or speaking in the country I may point out that in all the important divisions the Radical majority has been far below its normal MURDER TRIAL IN GERMANY FOURTEEN WOMEN ARRESTED Almost simultaneously with thesoenes insido the House a large number of members of the Freedom League presented themselves at St Stephen's entrance and two of them Miss New-lands and Miss asked to be allowed to enter the lobby to interview a member They were admitted and the rest of the party immediately proceeded to the equestrian statute of Richard I in Parliament Square Mrs Boorman-Wells who recently returned from America mounted the plinth and commenced to address a crowd which had assembled and increased momentarily The police intervened but the suffragists refused to desist and as they resisted the efforts of the police thev were arrested in twos and threes and taken Cannon Row Police Station At ten fourteen arrests had been made their names being as follows: -Miss Henderson Miss Marion Leith-field Mrs Emily Dnval Miss Barbara Duval Miss Edith Bremner Mies Mary Manning Violet Killard Mrs Dina Boorman-Wells Miss Dorothy Moloney Miss Alice Neilans Miss Dorothy Spencer Miss Marion Holmes Miss MeCallum and Miss Munel Matters Several exciting incidents took place during the arrests and a large force of police was occupied until a late hour in keeping the crowd which had assembled on the move In the neighbourhood of Cannon Row Police Station the crowd was so dense that the gates of the station hod to be closed As each fresh arrival was brought in by the police she was heartily cheered by enthusiasts in the crowd Miss Matters who was regarded as the heroine of tie evening having a particularly enthusiastic reception Mr Stephen Collins on whose recoin- mendation the women entered the House says that before taking them into the Gallery he expressly warned them as to their conduct stating AN IMPERIAL MESSAGE TO INDIA' Simla October 28 The Viceroy announces that on November 2 message from the King will be communicated to the princes and people of India on the oocaaon of the fiftieth anniversary of the assumption of by the Reuter OPINION IN FRANCE Tclegmma 1 Park October 28 Gerr revelations attributed to the man tmperor and widely reproduced here attention in France and are Provoke considerable controversy It is tWaSifered in 1116 Eest-informed quarters that having regard to the tone and 'vhjch they were made are best calcu-tw 1p1roduoc the ffect obviously aimed at by puhhcation So far as France is concerned 'mu 0f tho statements which the Emperor is Resented as having made appear on to uenge An eminent authority with whom "er representative discussed these disclosures stated that on two important points they irT1' tl0t in strict accord with historical fact proposed intervention of France Russia and rtaiany to stop the Boer war fell through not account of any opposition on the part of to but becaUfie France refused to subscribe essential condition stipulated by that Mr Courtenay Warner the Liberal member for the Lichfield Division of Staffordshire having asked the Secretary of State for War if he was making any provision for the urgent need of more artillery range accommodation and if he had considered the suitability of Cannock Chase for an artillery range has received a printed answer from Mr Haldane to the effect that Cannock Chase has not been specially considered for an artillery range The question of obtaining artillery ranges says the War Secretary has been and is still being fully considered BATTLE BETWEEN INDIANS IN TEXAS New York October 28 A telegram from Texas reports a battle between Papagot and Yaqni Indians north of the town of Altar in the Mexican State of Sonora in the course of which forty Yaquis were killed A the result of this engagement it is expected that a treaty of permanent peace will be signed between the Governor of Sonora and the Yaqui warriors Twenty-four of the latter have in fact arrived at Hermosillo the capital of the State far purpose It is understood that the Fapagoto operated under tbe direction of the Renter Beider! Telegram Berlin October 28 The trial at Leipzig of the charge of murder brought against a girl of 24 called Minna Doell and her sweetheart Schmidt yesterday reveals a remarkable degree of callousness Minna Doell was the housekeeper of Arthur Giegler a bookseller aged 26 Last November Giegler disappeared from his rooms the housekeeper telling the neighbours that he had gone to Italy for the winter fintm Doell in the meantime lived on in the apartments alone in January while she was in Dresden it was remarked that an evil odour come from the apartments Suspicions were aroused and the door was broken open An examination of the room revealed the partially decomposed remains of Giegler in his bed tightly packed in sheets and blankets evidently with a view to preventing the odour from penetrating outside In the next room was a camp bedstead up against the door of tbe room where the dead body lay and it wonld appear that Doell slept for two months or so almost by the side of her alleged victim Thera was every indication that Giegler died a violent dentil THE CANADIAN ELECTION (From Ou Special Correspondent') Montreal October 28 Fuller returns to-day from various parte of the Dominion have not altered the situation Sir Wilfrid majority is pretty certain to he quite 56 and the position in the House will remain unchanged The Liberals will have a comfortable majority with which to carry out their projects The textile manufacturers are disappointed with Mr ineffective campaign in Ontario where so much was expected by the Conservatives and where there were high hopes of being able to secure under Conservative auspices increased protection especially against English woollen goods Mr Fielding the Mini of Finance who will retain his position in the Cabinet has made a plain intimation Mty that when he offera his Budget the tariff wall practically SEDITION SENTENCES IN INDIA The following resolution has been passed by the Indian Humanitarian "That this committee views with deep concern the large number of severe sentences of penal servitude and transportation lately passed upon Indians for political offences which in many oases would be no offence at all in this country and earnestly appeals to the Secretary of State to advise the Government of India to grant a general amnesty namely that tho status quo of the three owers concerned in Europe should be guaranteed la fresh ratification of the Treaty of Frankfort AiJ' meant Gw fijwl abandonment of that it had been found necessary to be cautious as e-Urraine a suggestion to which France had I to the admission of ladies and that he hoped they mfr momeDt listened Thus would excuse him asking for their assurance that th? TFot Frank-1 they wonld behave themselves and that they con- hecn tbe stumbling-block tomplated no mischief the They at once replied with RELEASE OF TCHAIKOWSKT that -f course they wonld behave them-and upon this assurance they were way ot arriving at an entente with Ger-That was the insuperable obstacle interrentkm in Fwfl1 Mike to to this class of offender on the occasion of the forthcoming jubilee of the late Qneene Proclama instruction upon it It was the duty of the Lord (Steward to discharge hi office in that way and he a laug selves iadmiti laugh mittad Tchaikovsky.