Heeifit of Revieug, iOjltjOii. 



History of the Month. 



3.i5 



Speech, which was of considerable length, contained 

 the welcome announcement that ResponslbU; Gov- 

 ernment Is to be established this year in both the 

 Transvaal and the Orange Free State, in the con- 

 fident expectation that " the grant of free institu- 

 tions will be followed by an increase of prosperity 

 and of loyalty to the Empire." The Colonial Con 

 ference is postponed till 1907. The only surprise 

 contained in the Speech was the paragraph which 

 gave the first place in the legislative programme o! 

 the year to Ireland: — 



My Ministers liave under cunsicleratiou plana for im- 

 proving and effecting economies in tlie system of eovern- 

 ment in Ireland, and for introducing into it means tor 

 associating the people witli the coniiuct ol Irish affairs. 



The King then expressed what is known to be his 

 personal desire that " the government of Ireland 

 should be carried on under the ordinary law, in a 

 spirit regardful of the wishes and sentiments of the 

 Irish people." This is not Home Rule with a cir- 

 cumbendibus. It is simply the application of com 

 mon sense and good feeling to a subject too often 

 handled without either of these qualities. The next 

 paragraph announced that the inquiries now pro 

 ceeding as to the means by which a larger number 

 of the people may be attracted and retained on th( 

 soil would be completed at no distant date. Then 

 follows the menu for the Session : - - 



1. The Education Hill. 



2. The Trades Disputes Bill. 



3. A Compensation for Accident Anienduieiit Hill 



4. Equalisation of I.nndon Rates. 



5. Amendment of Unemployed Act. 



These Bills are in the first tliglit. After tht-ni 

 come the next batch of Bills denting with : — 



6. Merchant Shipping. 

 V. Crofters' Holdines. 



8. The Irish Labourers Act. 



9. Commercial Corruption. 

 ID. Colonial Marriages. 



11. Property qualification of County J s.l'. 

 12 The Prevention of Plural Voting. 



The del)ate which followed the 



reading of the King's Speech lasted 



The Debate. ^j,, ^^^^ ^^^^ y,- ^^^ month. The 



hottest speeches were made about 

 Chinese labour. The Opposition, which professed to 

 believe that without Chinainen South Africa would 

 be ruined, did their utmost to provoke and goad 

 the Ministerial majoritv to repatriate the Chinese, 

 in order to justify the use of Chinese slavery as an 

 election cry. As the majority of the Ministerialists 

 were only too eager to do this without any goading, 

 the tactics of the Opposition showed more desire to 

 snatch a debating advantage than to safeguard the 

 interests which they- professed to believe were im- 

 perilled. Some disappointment was expressed that 

 there was no promise of Temj>erance reform, which 

 was justified bv the lack of time ; of old age pen- 

 sions, for which there is said to be no money ; and 

 of woman's suffrage, on which the Cabinet is divided 



and tht- majority has not yet declared its views. 

 Mr. Swift McNeill succeeded in abolishing flogging 

 in the Navy. Colonel Saunderson moved, on behalf 

 of the Irish Unionists, an amendment deprecating 

 the Irish reforms foreshadowed by the Government, 

 and was handsomely beaten by a majority of 406 to 

 88, the first division of the Session. The second 

 division was taken on the question of Chines<' 

 labour, when the Ministerial majority rose to 325. 

 The other subjects discussed were the Partition of 

 Bengal, when six newly-elected Anglo-Indians took 

 part in the debate, the question ■>f the Unemploy 

 ed, the position of the native races in South Africa. 

 Parliamentan Procedure, etc. Neither the Inde 

 pendent Labour Party, which has elected Mr. Keir 

 Hardie as its lender, nor the Irish Nationalists pro 

 poseil anv amendments to the .Address. It is to Ix- 

 regretted that- the question of Woman's Suffrage 

 was n' t brought forwaid by an amendment express 

 ing a hope that the promise to abolish plural votin;. 

 by men would be coupled with a mea.sure restoring 

 tlie right of voting to women. The friends ol 

 Woman's Suffrage hav<- formed a Parliamentary 

 Committee to promote their cau.se, but so far they 

 have not been fortunate in securing a day for th.- 

 discussion of the matter. 



The fillies of Much of tli<- time of both Houses 

 Electinneering of Par'iament has been devoted to 

 and di.scussing the question of Chinese 



Chinese labour, labour. The question whether or 

 not the Liberals exaggerated in describing it as 

 slavery has been debated with much heat. The 

 leaders of the pnrtv were most cnreful to qualify 

 their description of the condition of the Chines*- 

 under the Ordinance. But many of their followers 

 were less particular. That was inevitable. When 

 an appeal is made to the million, it is difficult 1'- 

 avoid a certain measure of exaggeration. Yon 

 must print in capital letters if you wish what vou 

 print to be read by a crowd in a dim light at .t 

 great distance. The pictures of Hell, in which tli 

 mediaeval Church delighted, were employed with tlr 

 same ethical justification that Liberal candidnt< - 

 .sent made-up Chinamen in chains through the 

 street. Thev were not authentic, but they were held 

 to be needful in order to impress upon the liull 

 sensual mind of the common man the wholesome 

 truth that sin was followed by retribution in the 

 next world. Those who dwelt upon the horrors ci 

 the never-dying worm and the fire that never is 

 quenched argue that when they have done their ul 

 most they failed to arouse the apathetic to a sense 

 of their danger. So the Liberals who cried 

 " slavery " contend that after they have done their 

 utmost they failed to give- the masses a realising 

 sense of the objectionable nature of the Chinese 

 Ordinance. The effective velocity of a bullet should 

 be measured at the point of impact, not when it 



