There is still a vacancy in the Irish Solicitor-Generalship, whilst the post of Vice-President, Irish Board of Agriculture (held by Mr. T. W. Russell) would seem not to have been vacated in the change of Ministry.

The "Daily Mail" and Mr. Asquith.

The first leading article in the Daily Mail on February 17th opened as follows:

In his speech to his constituents at East Fife a fortnight ago Mr. Asquith made a curious allusion to the Victory Loan. He said :

66

"I have, of course, no knowledge of the response which has so far been made to the appeal. Some people who profess to know say that it has not been quite as prompt or as large as they expected. It may be so.

Who these people' were is a deep mystery. Can they possibly have been certain members of the Old Gang, who, after mismanaging the affairs of the nation for two and a-half years, still believe themselves indispensable?"

The full passage in Mr. Asquith's speech is as follows (we print in italics the part omitted by the Daily Mail) :

So.

"I have, of course, no knowledge of the response which has, so far, been made to the appeal. Some people who profess to know say that it has not been quite as prompt or as large as they expected. It may be The State in this country has never been an expert in advertisement. If this is the case, it is a case in which every patriotic citizen should make it his business to do a little advertising on his country's account. The money that is needed is there, in the pockets, in the deposits, in the investments of the people. Let them produce it in full measure and without delay. There is no more effective way in which they can show their gratitude to those who have laid down their lives that freedom and justice should reign."—(Ladybank, February 1st, 1917.)

It is clear beyond question that Mr. Asquith was using every power that his authority and position in the country enabled him to exercise to make the War Loan a success, and to urge every man to subscribe. Yet he is attacked by means of a passage dragged from its context, as one who has attempted to " queer the pitch "in the matter of the Loan. We always make the mistake of imagining that the Daily Mail cannot beat its own record for unscrupulous controversy. As a fact, it is always going several worse.

Grants to Elementary Schools.

Mr. Fisher, answering a question in the House of Commons on February 27th, stated that the following were the amounts of grants normally payable to public elementary schools for the financial 1909-10 to 1915-16, inclusive:-1909-10, £11,259,429; 1910-11, £11,456,316; 1911-12, £11,503,948; 1912-13, £11,540,359; 1913-14, £11,681,048; 1914-15, £12,270,539; 1915-16, £12,313,341.

years

The Air Board.

It was announced on February 6th that the following is the composition of the Air Board :

Mr. Baldwin stated, in the House of Commons on February 12th, that on January 1st the number of old age pensioners was 961,732 -men, 350,813; women, 610,919. The total figures of the pensions payable at the different rates were: At 5s., 905,542; at 4s., 19,410; at 3s., 20,842; at 2s., 10,382; at 1s., 5,556.

Deaths in Mines.

A White Paper issued by the Home Office on February 9th stated that the number of deaths caused by explosions of fire damp or coal dust or other underground accidents in the coal-mines of the United Kingdom during 1916 was 1,156. Those taking place on the surface numbered 149, making a total of 1,305, an increase of eight over that for 1915. In metalliferous mines there was a total number of deaths resulting from underground accidents of nineteen, and four from accidents on the surface.

Coal Output in 1915.

The Chief Inspector of Mines (Sir R. Redmayne), in his report for 1915, states that the total output of coal was 253,206,081 tons, and the value £157,830,670, showing a decrease in the output of 12,458,312 tons and an increase in the value of £25,233,817 on the figures for 1914. The average price of coal was 12s. 5.60d. per ton in 1915 as compared with 9s. 11.79d. in 1914. The quantity of coal exported was 43,534,560 tons.

Decrease in Drunkenness.

It was reported at the beginning of February that convictions for drunkenness in 1916 in the sixteen English cities with populations of over 200,000 numbered 46,638, a remarkable decrease on the figures of previous years, those for 1915 having been 80,091. The improvement is attributed chiefly to the restrictions on the sale and consumption of drink.

POINTS FROM THE PAPERS.

From the Daily Mail, February 12th, 1917.

"To-day the brave men of our mercantile marine are being drowned daily because he (Mr. Asquith) and his fellow-talkers forgot the elementary fact that if a ship is not armed with guns it cannot escape being sunk by a submarine."

Upon which the appropriate comment is supplied by " A. G. G." in the Daily News (February 18th):

"Now, why was it that Mr. Balfour and the Admiralty could not get guns with sufficient rapidity to arm merchantmen? Was it not because at that time Lord Northcliffe, with Mr. Pemberton Billing as his adviser, was using his gramophones to raise a storm against the Government in regard to the air menace? He did raise a storm. Those of us who ventured to say that it was more important to arm the merchantmen even than to deal with the Zeppelins were howled down. They had no crowd to appeal to. The sailors were being drowned at sea, but they did not buy papers. They were bringing food, but the fear of starvation could not yet be exploited. The true newspaper stunt' was the Zeppelin, and the War Office got the guns and the merchantmen did not. And now it is Mr. Asquith who was guilty of drowning the mercantile marine." We doubt, however, if the public will be impressed or deceived by this meanest of mean mode of campaigning against the late Prime Minister.

New Publications.

The Child and the War. By Cecil Leeson. (London: P. S. King & Co.) Price 1s. net.

Mr. Leeson, who is Secretary of the Howard Association, is an acknowledged authority on the problem of juvenile crime, and this booklet of seventy pages contains a statement of the causes of increased delinquency since the outbreak of the war, and a consideration of the steps necessary to remedy the evil. Juvenile lawlessness has spread like a plague during the last two years. At least 12,500 more children (nearly all boys) are now appearing before the magistrates every year than did so in the days of peace, and this constitutes a social problem of vital importance to the national well-being. The absence of the father, and often the mother, too, on war service is at the root of it all. Comfortable folk are apt to say it will be all right again as soon as the war is over. Mr. Leeson's book disposes swiftly of that spirit of easy-going, and it will be found full of helpful suggestion for those who may address themselves to this new war-time difficulty.

We have received The Channel Tunnel and the World War (84, Tooley Street, S.E.), a collection of speeches, newspaper articles, and other publications in reference to the promotion of the Channel Tunnel scheme

The Magazines for March.

IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY AND AFTER there are three articles on Empire topics. Mr. Herbert Samuel in The Organisation of the Empire: A Suggestion sets out to frame a new Constitution which would give the various parts of the Empire a full share in decisions which concern the whole Empire. He would create an Imperial Executive responsible to, and receiving its guidance from an Imperial Legislative Council chosen by delegation from the various constituent assemblies, but so limited in its powers that its recommendations would require, for their local application, the consent of each separate part of the Empire. Mr. W. Basil Worsfold writes on An Imperial Trade Policy, and Mr. H. W. Fox, M.P., on The Empire and the New Protection. In both these articles it is assumed that the war has put an end to Free Trade. Mr. J. O. P. Bland writes on The People versus the Party Machine; and there are articles by Major Sir John Hall and Brigadier-General F. G. Stone on Leagues to Enforce Peace. The former is historical in the main, while the latter is a soldier's view of the impossibility of a modern League of Peace while Germany retains any power of evil over the destinies of the world.

THE CONTEMPORARY REVIEW has an article by Lord Sheffield on Wheat Supplies of the United Kingdom written evidently before the recent speech of the Prime Minister outlining the policy of the Government in regard to food production; and an article on America and the War by Sir Charles Hobhouse, M.P., in which the balancing hesitations of the United States are considered. Mrs. Fawcett and Mr. Joseph King, M.P., tribute papers on The Speaker's Conference on Electoral Reform; and Mr. T. F. A. Smith writes on German Social Democrats and the War. In Armed Pacificism Sir John Macdonell expresses the belief that the idea of a League of Peace is capable of useful and serviceable development.

con

IN THE FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW Mr. J. D. Whelpley writes on The United States and Germany; "Auditor Tantum" on New Ministers at Work; Politicus" on The Food Problem and Its Solution; and Mr. B. Abraham on Holland and the War. Dr. Dillon, in The Polish Problem, deals with his subject from a rather pessimistic standpoint, holding that the Russian handling of the situation, under the powerful influence of the reactionaries, has given Germany great diplomatic advantages with the Poles, and has sacrificed a great historical opportunity. THE ROUND TABLE has articles on The War Conference of the Empire and on The United States and the Future Peace.

IN THE ENGLISHWOMAN Mrs. Fawcett writes hopefully of The Prospects of Woman Suffrage.

No. 283.

PAGE

142

159

158

158

160

EDITOR'S NOTE.

WE very much regret that owing to the severest pressure on our now limited space, we are reluctantly compelled to hold over until next month an account of the Electoral Reform debate in the House of Commons on March 28th, when Mr. Asquith's resolution was carried by an overwhelming majority.

ANNOUNCEMENTS.

THE INDEX to Volume XXIV., completed by the January number of THE LIBERAL MAGAZINE, is now ready. A copy will be sent post free to any subscriber on application to the Liberal Publication Department, 42, Parliament Street, S.W. 1.

THE bound volume of the LIBERAL MAGAZINE for 1916 (Volume XXIV.) is now ready, and may be obtained for 5s. 6d. post free from the Liberal Publication Department, 42, Parliament Street, S.W. 1.