462 



The Review of Reviews. 



and parsonages, all modern endowments, and such 

 part of the glebe as is not included in ancient endow- 

 ments, or the alienated endowments those at present 

 applied to the Welsh bishoj)ries and chapter will go 

 to the University of Wales, its colleges, museum, and 

 library ; while the parochial endowments will be made 

 oyer to the county councils for charitable and public 

 purposes. 



A gratifying sign of the times is 



Controversy the improved tone and temper of 



Without Venom: this Disestablishment controversy. 



The debate in Parliament occa- 

 sionally sank mto the old acrimony of Church versus 

 Dissent, and some of the firebrands of the Opposition 

 flared luridly in the " new style " approved by their 

 leader. But the drum ecclesiastic has not been beaten 

 with the old savage vehemence. The Archbishop of 

 Canterbury has set an admirable example. He admitted 

 at Carnarvon that " the change was advocated by 

 many high-minded, honest Christian men, and he 

 criticised, not their motives, but their policy." He also 

 granted that " the four Welsh dioceses had a distinct 

 character of their own, and had a special claim for 

 desiring consideration of their own circumstances and 

 policy." These frank demands cut the nerve of the old 

 rancour, which charged Disestablishers with impiety 

 and would allow no distinction between the Church 

 cast and west of Offa's Dyke. And Bishop Gore is in 

 favour of Welsh Disestablishment. 



So genial is the ecclesiastical atmo 



sphere that just this moment has 



Scottish Reunion. , , . . _ ^ , ,. . , 



been chosen tor the listabhshed 



Church of Scotland to make official 



overtures to the United Free Church of Scotland, with 



a view to combining both bodies in a Church which 



would retain the endowments and continue to be 



recognised by the State as " national, preserving her 



continuity with the Church of the Reformation," but 



which shall be " free from external authority and shall 



be governed or limited only by her own constitution." 



It will be interesting to see how tiiis project of an 



endowed Church with complete sjjiritual autonomy 



will appeal to the forthcoming Assembly of the United 



Free Church. Much may turn on what is involved in 



Slate recognition as national Church. 



The economic as well as the moral 



cohesion of the British nation was 



well illustrated in and after the 



coal strike. The cessation from 



work of a million miners, though causing manifold 



distress over wide districts, left great parts of the 



island very slightly affected. The London County 



Our 



Wonderful 



Trade. 



Council anxiously considered whether special provision 

 should not lie made for the schoolchildren during the 

 Easter holidays, but the most careful inquiries showed 

 that there was positively less distress than usual in the 

 East End and in the central South, where poverty is 

 always most rife. The retail price of coal in London, 

 though high, never nearly reached the price charged 

 in some of the colliery districts. Such is the suction 

 of a great world-market ! The railways had not 

 recovered normal working and customary fares by 

 Eastertide, and there was consequently much less 

 travel during the holidays. A notable exception was 

 the Great Eastern Railway, which by storing vast' 

 masses of coal in advance, and by aid of its oil-driven 

 1 icomotives, was able to offer the usual Easter facilities, 

 and thus secured a record traffic. The Board of Trade 

 returns for March were awaited with much curiosity. 

 What would be the outcome of the month when the 

 pits were not working, and our trade >vas supposed to 

 be paralysed ? The result was exactly contrary to 

 anticipation. For total imports and for total exports 

 March 1912 Beats the record of March 1911, and of 

 every March before it. More than 51^ millions' 

 worth of exports and more than 61 millions' worth of 

 imports are the unexampled figures for March. John 

 Bull was supposed to have stabbed himself in a vital 

 part by the coal dispute, but the old gentleman was, 

 after all, only enjoying a better circulation than ever. 

 A similarly gratifying result 

 appears in the Budget statement 

 of Mr. Lloyd George. The Chan- 

 cellor of the Exchequer, wl o 

 proposed no change in taxation, reported a realised 

 surplus of £6,545,000, which he declared to 'oe the 

 greatest on record. Another element of novelty was 

 that he made no proposal for the disposal of this large 

 sum. It would be kept in hand by the Government 

 for use to meet such emergencies as might arise. I3ut 

 it would not be used for any other purpose than the 

 Navy without the sanction of Parliament. The 

 spectacle of a nation with the means in its pocket of 

 buiiiling three Dreadnoughts, as contrasted with other 

 nations tliat are staggering blindly into debt in order 

 to build more ships, is as potent a factor of defence as 

 it is a signal vindication of P>ee Trade finance. The 

 Budget for 1912-1913 stands briefly thus: — 



Expenditure : 



Consolidated Fund 



Service /37. 017.566 



Army 27,860,000 



Navy 44,085,400 



Civil Service... 49,859,354 

 Revenue Depart- 

 ment 28,062,680 



The Budget. 



Tax Revenue ... .^'153,795,000 



33,394,000 



Non-Tax Revenue 



/^i87, 189,000 



1811,885,000 

 Eslini.itcd .Surjilus 3<i4,0'jo 



/CiS7,iSy,ooo 



