without diminution of prestige or advantage. As in duty bound, therefore, Lord Rosebery communicated this information to the European Powers and to America. All the Powers, with one or two exceptions, admitted that it was most desirable to intervene, but in deference to the one or two dissentients nothing was done, and China and Japan are left to fight it out without any peacemaking attempts on the part of benevolent outsiders. Lord Rosebery's policy appears to have been perfectly correct and such as to command the unanimous

Government in relation to the House of Lords. The speech was honest, earnest and eloquent, seasoned with Lord Rosebery's mordant humour. The whole of the speech was devoted to the House of Lords. At Birmingham Lord Rosebery had appealed to the country to furnish him with a policy, but at Bradford he found it necessary to lay down a policy of his own. As was expected, there is to be no wild running-amuck against the House of Lords, no cry for the abolition of the Second Chamber, or of the veto on legislation. The policy which Lord Rosebery defined

The Commander of the Japanese Military Forces. support of the nation. The addition of the American Government to the European concert is an interesting development of which we shall hear more hereafter, for the empire of China is not the only Asiatic State in whose affairs the people, if not the Government of America, are interested.

If Lord Rosebery spoke with dignity as Lord Rosebery flings down the representative of the nation at Shefthe Gauntlet. field, he spoke with equal acceptance as the leader of the Liberal party on domestic affairs at Bradford. Addressing a crowded meeting of Liberals at St. George's Hall, a hall celebrated as the place where Mr. Forster delivered many of his most famous speeches, Lord Rosebery proclaimed the policy of the

ADMIRAL ITO.

The Commander of the Japanese Fleet in the Yalu River Engagement.

was much more in accordance with the possibilities of the situation. Early in the next Session, Sir William Harcourt will introduce a resolution declaring in clear and unmistakable terms that the House of Commons, in partnership with the House of Lords, is unmistakably the predominant That resolution, partner. of course, will be carried, and equally, of course, will have no legislative value against the ten-to-one majority in the House of Lords. Its only advantage will be to clearly challenge the Opposition to try the issue at the General Election, which may now be regarded as fixed for next autumn. Lord Rosebery says that he hopes to pass some if not

much useful legislation before the dissolution, but that the time has come, or nearly come, for an appeal to the country as to whether it is willing to abide contentedly by the unbiassed, patriarchal and mellowed wisdom of the House of Lords. The following peroration is not unworthy of the best traditions of English eloquence :

In this great contest there lie behind you to inspire you all the great reforms, all the great aspirations, and all the great measures on which you have set your hearts. Before you lie all the forces of prejudice and privilege; before you lie the sullen ramparts behind which are concealed the enemies you long to fight and so long have fought. And I would ask you if you are prepared to go into this fight, and fight it as your old Puritan forefathers fought-(loud cheers) —if you are prepared to fight with their stubborn, persistent, indomitable will, to fight as they fought in Yorkshire, as those old Ironsides fought in Yorkshire, never knowing when they were beaten-(cheers)-and determined not to be beaten; to fight, as they would have said themselves, not with the arm of the flesh but with the arm of the spirit, to fight by the means of educating your fellow-men not as to the objectfor in that I maintain you are clear already-but as to the proper means for attaining that object. If you believe that we of the Government are in earnest in this matter, and capable of dealing with this matter, you will give us your support. (Cheers.) We fling down the gauntlet; it is for you to back us up.

Lord Salis

If Englishmen have reason to be proud bury of the manner in which Lord Rosebery takes it up. has faced the issue before the country, they have not less reason to congratulate themselves upon the capacity and courage with which Lord Salisbury has responded to the appeal. At Edinburgh the Conservative leader in a speech, which was characterised by many of the qualities which have deservedly made him one of the most respected of English statesmen, made the most of the fact that the House of Lords in its recent votes has done nothing more than to sustain the majority of English and Scotch members against the casting vote of the members from the South and West of Ire

land. This is evidently to be the keynote of the Conservative campaign. Is the House of Lords to be swept away for the purpose of enabling England and Scotland to abase themselves before the South and West of Ireland? That phrase in various forms he repeated again and again, and it will no doubt form the staple of Conservative oratory for the next twelve months. It will be the constant refrain of all Conservative speeches, and the Conservative classes will be exhorted to rally to the defence of the House of Lords and to close up their ranks in order to save society. The propertied classes, or, as Lord Salisbury phrases it, "all men who have

received something from the accumulated industry or civilisation of their forefathers," are exhorted to defend the House of Lords in order to save, first, the religious institutions of the country, secondly, to secure the security of contract, and thirdly, to defend the sanctity of property. Not that the Conservative party, which a few years ago passed Free Education, will oppose Socialism out-and-out. That kind of Socialism, which is the use of the machinery of the State for the purpose of achieving objects in which the community in general is interested, is taken under Lord Salisbury's special patronage. Lord Salisbury concluded his speech by declaring :—

That a Second Chamber is necessary to control the decision of the representative assembly, unless we are prepared to sacrifice all those institutions by which religion is maintained and civilisation is rendered precious to those who enjoy it. So the great issue is joined. May God defend the right!

What will be

་

It was inevitable and it is difficult to the Issue conceive how the great constitutional of the Fight? issue could have been placed before the country more clearly or more worthily than it has been done by Lord Rosebery and Lord Salisbury. The worst of it is that while that struggle lasts nothing else can be done. It postpones all proposals for legislation for the advantage and the elevation of the vast masses in this country who claim our care. The outlook is not very reassuring, for the country is confronted by two alternatives. Lord Rosebery says, Give me a majority or submit to be governed by the House of Lords. Lord Salisbury says, Give me a majority or submit to be governed by the South and West of Ireland. If we may judge by the bye-elections, of which there have been almost fifty, and the net result of which is to leave the balance of party almost exactly the same, the country will return a majority as indecisive as that which at present exists, and things will remain in the same deadlock as they are at present. It is never a pleasant thing to prophesy the defeat of one's own friends, but it is a difficult thing to see where the Liberal majority will come from. It is obvious that unless we secure a decisive majority, say, of three figures, we shall not be able to give effect to the resolution asserting the predominance of the House of Commons in the legislative partnership of the two Chambers. The predominant partner in the United Kingdom will have to be converted before anything can be done. That is the first word and the last word of the whole situation, and

Lord Rosebery will be vindicated more and more as time goes on for the phrase which created so much excitement at the commencement of last Session.

What chance we have of converting the predominant partner with the Independent Labour Party still going on the rampage, and with Mr. Redmond and the Parnellites playing into the hands of the Conservatives, it is not very easy to calculate. But, on the other hand, there are many even moderate Liberals who would recoil with dismay from the prospect of an appeal to the country resulting in a mandate which would virtually establish the House of Lords as the dominant power in the country.

What will

Lord

It is at least an even chance that Lord Salisbury will have a majority. In that Salisbury do? case people will naturally begin to speculate as to the policy which he will pursue. Lord Salisbury will be in a very strong position, stronger indeed than that of any Tory Prime Minister of our time. His excessive strength will indeed be his chief weakness, for his followers will naturally argue that at last having been firmly seated in the saddle they should be allowed to ride in the direction of their heart's desire. That is to say, they are almost certain to do two things-that is, first to attempt to redistribute local taxation so as to relieve the landlords from their present excessive burdens, and secondly, to re-open the great compromise of the Education Act by subsidising denominational schools from the rates. It is this prospect which gives so much significance to the contest which is raging in London over the School Board Election. Both sides regard the fight over the Circular as a preliminary skirmish, the result of which will indicate whether or not the voters are prepared to acquiesce in quartering the denominational schools upon the rates. Before our next number appears the contest will have been decided. It can hardly fail to have an influence far beyond the area of the Metropolis.

Government.

Speculation is already rife as to the The next composition of the Tory-Unionist Administration which, if it comes into power, will probably outlast the century. The chief question of interest turns upon the distribution of office between the Tories and the Liberal-Unionists. Lord Salisbury once offered the Premiership to the Duke of Devonshire, but he was then Lord Hartington, and in the House of Commons. It is not very probable that the Duke will receive a second offer of the Premiership. At the same time it is regarded as natural,

right, and proper that in the next Tory Cabinet the Duke of Devonshire, Mr. Chamberlain, and Sir Henry James should reinforce Mr. Goschen, who will no longer be the solitary Unionist in the Administration. Some profess to believe that Lord Salisbury will be content to go to the Foreign Office, and allow his nephew, Mr. Balfour, to be both Leader of the House of Commons and Prime Minister of the Crown. That speculation may be ingenious, but is not very probable. There are many advantages in having a Prime Minister in the House of Lords, even when the Liberals are in office; but it would seem the natural and inevitable thing under a Government which would only come into office as the result of a direct popular vote in favour of the predominance of the Second Chamber.

past and prospective, to which they are subjected by both political parties. It is to be feared that the "buccaneer of Malwood," as Mr. Herbert politely describes his neighbour, Sir William Harcourt, will not feel much alarmed at the beating of Mr. Herbert's war drum. Of course, from the point of view of Mr. Herbert, there is a clear case for revolt. Each political party sharpens its knife and cuts off steaks from the wealthy classes, somewhat after the fashion of the Abyssinians, who prefer to carve what they want from the living ox rather than embarrass themselves with a glut of dead meat before they wish to eat it. But ordinary people will find some difficulty in accepting Mr. Herbert's standpoint, which is that all taxation is robbery. If Mr. Herbert is in want of a president for the revolting rich he had better ask Lieut. McCalmont to take the post. Lieut. McCalmont came into possession of four millions sterling, which has been maturing for him for the last seven years under the provisions of the will of his uncle. Rich men, very rich men, says Mr. Herbert, owe it to their country to be front fighters in defence of the security of property. But it is to be feared that it is now as in old time as difficult to get a camel through the eye of a needle as to get a rich man to enter into the kingdom of Heaven, even

gave rise to many rumours, and there was some talk that it was due to the proposed French expedition to the capital of Madagascar. Lord Rosebery, however, has assured the public that the question of Madagascar has not even been raised between England and France, and there is no reason to believe that the relations between the two countries are any more strained than what they have been for some time past. In view of the death of the Tzar and the change of government in Germany, it is probable that the rulers of France will reconsider their determination to embark upon a costly expedition to the interior of Madagascar, where, notwithstanding the richness of the gold deposits, they would probably get more fevers than they would find nuggets.