(,t)6 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



Septcniliir 1. J<<I5. 



Mr. Elwood Mead. 



Seldom has there been so universal 

 and unanimous an expression of regret 

 as was evoked when it became known 

 ;hat Mr. Mead had decided to go to 

 California to take up an important pro- 

 fessorship there. As Chairman of the 

 Water Commission he has done yeoman 

 service for \'"ictoria during the last five 

 years. Not only has he carried on irri- 

 gation works, he has also instituted a 

 sound policy of settlement, and brought 

 order out of the chaos he found. One 

 of the first irrigation experts of the 

 day, he has had to devote most of his 

 energies to getting the irrigated districts 

 settled. That he has been so successful 

 sDeaks highly for an administrative 

 ability by no means looked for, or often 

 needed, in an advising expert. His de- 

 parture will be a real loss to Victoria, 

 and it is unfortunate that Mr. Mead was 

 not able to dwell permanently with us. 

 It has been given to few "imported" 

 experts to excite so high a personal re- 

 gard amongst all with whom he has 

 come into contact in the carrying out of 

 1iis arduous work here. 



British Parliament. 



On August 15th Parliament was pro- 

 r(5gued until November 3rd. The ses- 

 sion which thus ended was a very busy 

 one. rhe Home Rule Bill and the 

 Welsh Disestablishment Bill were passed 

 formally by the Commons, and sent to 

 the Lords, who again rejected them. 

 They can become law under the pro- 

 visions of the Parliamentary, Act, in 

 June of next \ear. The Irish Parliament 

 could at the earliest meet in Januar\-, 

 191 1;, but might be postponed by Order 

 in Council for a further seven months. 

 Meantime, Sir Edward Carson is re- 

 viewing trained men in Ulster, and 

 threatening dire things if Home Rule is 

 persisted in. There is again a strong 

 movement to try and bring about an 

 arrangement by consent, which is ob- 

 viously the way out of the difficulty. 

 Unfortunately, whilst the Orangemen 

 refuse to allow the Nationalists to rule 

 over them, they are quite prenared to 

 rule over the Nationalists. What is 

 right for one section is apparently wrong 

 for the other. The ^larconi scandals 



occupied a good deal of the tune of 

 the House, and delayed ratification of 

 the urgent!}' required contract for wire- 

 less stations throughout the Empire. 

 The Commons finall)- accepted the 

 Marconi terms a week before the proro- 

 gation, by 221 votes to 140, the division 

 being taken on i^arty lines. The Scottish 

 Temijerance Bill was finall)' accepted 

 by the House of Lords at the second 

 time of asking. Lord Haldane's Educa- 

 tion Bill was amongst those projected 

 measures which had to be dropped 

 o\\ ing to pressure of business. The Ap- 

 pelate Jurisdiction Bill, which received 

 the Royal assent, provides for an in 

 ( rease in the number of Law Lords, and 

 should greall)- facilitate business. The 

 Imperial Court of Appeal — a Supreme 

 Tribunal for the Emiiire — is likely soon 

 to be appointed. This has long been 

 one of Lord Haldane's pet schemes, and 

 was unanimously asked for by the Im- 

 perial Conference in igi i. It is rumoured 

 that Sir Samuel Griffiths ma\' become a 

 member of this Court. 



Liberal-Labour Split. 



1 he mnicrs ot Great Britain have al- 

 ways been averse to their members in 

 Parliament belonging offlciall\- to the 

 Labour Party. The Father of the 

 House, Mr. Burt, is not even \-et re- 

 garded as a Labour member. On the 

 other hand the Socialistic section de- 

 mands an almost caucus rule, and de- 

 nounces violently any bargain with the 

 Liberals. It niaintains its right to run 

 special candidates at elections, even if 

 the Parliamentary Labour representa- 

 tives had arranged with the Government 

 Whips not to do so. Relations have 

 been getting strained for some time be- 

 tween the two sections, and an open 

 rupture occurred over the Chesterfield 

 by-election. It is a mining district, and 

 the Liberals selected as candidate a 

 miner, Mr. Ken\on, who was also sup- 

 ported b\- the Labour Party, although he 

 was himself a Liberal. This annoyed the 

 most advanced section of the Labour 

 members, who resented a candidate 

 being run who was not an out-and-out 

 Labourite in a constituency which had 

 hitherto been represented by a Labour 

 member. They, therefore ran a Social- 

 ist named Mr. Scurr, but found no one 



