"Pourmics next week" was the title of a celebrated cartoon in Punch some years ago, and might well be the heading of this morning's summary, for the absence of politi topics in the papers brought by the Pekin is remarkable. Punch is reduced toa stock subject for its cartoon, well drawn of course, Lut by no means stirring. La-Dour and Capital, two dogs, are lying exhausted after a fight over the bone label led "Trade," with which the foreign fox is jauntily making off, Considering that Labour and Capital are just as much at odds on the Continent as they are in Great Britain, if not more so, and that our export trade is still increasing, there is little reality in the picture. Writing some years ago on disputes between employers and employed, an American economist mentioned that the machinery in a certain large mill in New England was driven by a pair of engines similar in every respect, one of which was named Capital" and the other "Labour." When they worked harmoniously, everything went well in the mill; but any accident to either of them necessitated the stoppage of the other, and of all work in the mill. It is an excellent practical allegory. We mentioned last week that Punch's cartoon ut January 25th was almost exactly the same as the Pall Mall's of the 16th, and that what made this more noticeable was that Punch had on @ previous occasion accused the Pall Mall of pla; m from itself, when the interval was too short for plagiarism to have been probable. Evidently Mr. Burnand should have made sume explanation this week; it was due to his own readers as well as. to the Pall Mall; but there is nothing about itin this week's Punch, while the Pall Mall gives a facsimile of the following note, which is, to say the least, very inadequate I never saw the Pall Mall Budget and never heard of your cartoon, remain Yrs. faithfully F. C. Bursaxp."
'The Pall Mall still gives us a page of leaders' on the Topics of the Day, and very devoid ut living interest they are 'The Toryism of To-morrow," which tel us that Lord Randolph Churchill and his henchman Lord Dunraven—for they are confederates in politics as well as on the turf—are coquetting with the Eight Hours' Movement; "Exit Country, EnterRealm?", which is a notice of Professor Seeley's aspirations for a federation of the English-speaking peoples; and ' The Imperial Pen-ay argument in favour of Mr. Henniker The conclusion of it is Mr, Henniker Horton is not a persona grata, but there is no reason to disbelieve his word when he tells us From personal visits I am in a position to state that the most popular, the most acceptable, and the least expensive gift England could confer on her children and children's children in Australia, Africa, Cavada, the United States, and the Indies would be ocean Pee agree with Mr. Heaton in thinking that riy postage.
the area of the universal penny should include the United States. ut for the moment we confine ourselves to the limits of the Queen's Realm. The Republic will come in by-and-by. To-day our duty and our interest alike point to the Imperial penny. Whoever is blind to the obvious Imperial, and commercial, and human advant that would accrue from the universal establishment of the penny stamp as the means of tal communication between all her Majesty's subjects stands in need not of argument but of understanding. As to the question of its practicability, where there is o will there is a Mr. Goschen has handsome surplus. Let him devote but two per cent, of his four 3 rullions tothe work. of establishing the Imperial penny post and the dream \e ideal-Et would become an accomplished fact. Only facilitate the dispersion of the congested two per cent! Sound State policy should masses of our population. But one of the greatest deterrents to emigration is the interruption which it makes in human intercourse, People dg not like to leave ter friends, and to lose the opportunity which near neigh-Dourhood affords of frequent converse. To beyond the region of the penny post is to banished into the desolate and dim expanse from whence communication is costly, and therefore is minimised. It would pay.us as a mere matter of social "economy to carry all letters between emigrants and their friends and relatives below cost price. But of that there need be noneed. Notwithstanding Mr. Raikes's oracular dictum about the absence of the enormous area of productiveness," there can be no doubt that the Imperial penny post would soon pay.
The St. James's leaders on the other hand are on Good Progressive Radical Legislation," the drift of which is that Tories and Radicals hold. the same opinions at bottom on the subject of Property, however much the latter may pretend to fall in with the views of John Burns. Tt says May we, then, take the liberty of requesting Sir George Trevelyan, as the last speaker on the subject, to give us, as a representative of the official Gladstonians, fuller particulars of his ' good progressive Radical legislation on this side of the Channel," and to inform us where, if anywhere, it differs on the question of the land, and of property in general, from that of their adversaries now in power, and where, if anywhere, it agrees with that of the active and growing section of their followers whose views find expression—not avowedly haps, but in fact—by speakers like Mr.
urns?' Because if Sir George Trevelyan cannot show that the Gladstonian policy on those matters, wherever it is a safe and sensible one, differs from that of his Unionist opponents, or is accepted by his Radical followers, the country may have some difficulty in following his argument to the effect that it is its first political duty to turn out the "Ins" and to put the "Outs" into power, Its next article on "Slaves, Liquor, and Guns" is thoroughly sen: he three curses of Africa are the slave trade, the trafic in fire and the unrestricted portation of spirits. The slave-trade is native curse, but European centres, Birmingham and Hamburg, are responsible for the other tw The traffic in intoxicatin liquors and in firearms stands on a very different footing. It is not a native instigation, but owes its to the European merchant. Many of the native rulers, such as King Khama, who see no harm in slavery, are painfully conscious of the evils of the introduction of spirituous liquor among their subjects; and, in the opinion of the who have the best means of judging, alcohol and firearms have done more to degrade, demoralise, and destroy, the native races of Africa than slavery itself, As it is to European intercourse that the trade in these articles is due, 60 its prohibition could be effected without running counter to an} native prejudices. The only persons likely to suffer from regulations on the subject are the foreign adventurers and traders and native potentates of the class of Tippoo Tib. Not only is it the plain duty of Europe to endea-your to put a stop to the evils for which she by her exploitation of Africa is directly responsible, but the ways and means of enforcing her will in this respect are clear and easy. With regard to slavery we cannot at first do more than restrict its area and block the slave-routes by sea; but we can absolutely ing liquors to the natives in all ferriter and immediately prevent the sale of intoxica which are under European influence. Strin gent regulations should be enforced, and heavy penalties imposed on those who break them and the public conscience should be aroused until the Birmingham manufacturer who sends cargoes of rifles, and the Hamburg merchant who ships cargoes of potato-spirit, to Africa are made to feel that they are as much enemies of the human race as the Arab slave-dealer himself. There will, at any rate, be a ion of hypocrisy about the Conference if it confines itself to attacking the black trader in human flesh and leaves the white trader in poison alone.
The third leader, ''Socialism and Anti-Socialism" is an apology for the persecution of the Social Democrats by the German government; a persecution that is to be still more relentless in the face of the election of thirty-six Socialists to the Reichstag, if we are right in interpreting the Emperor's announcement as meaning that he will crash all who op) the government's efforts for the welfare of the lower classes, It is the old theory of absolutism; your rulers know much better what is good for you than you know yourselves; the steam is roaring out of the safety-valve; a heavier weight must be put upon it. The next article, on Strikemongering" is conceived in the same spirit. If there general strike on the Thames repressed A new struggle would be a great misfortune, but if it comes the blame will rest on the Union leaders, who have torn up the agreement and have (though they do not seem to understand this) thereby released all parties from the obligation assumed on the 14th of September. Employers and labourers may also remember, as encouragement or as warning, that a new strike would be conducted in a Very different atmosphere from the old. There will be no subscriptions from Austrelia,
picket rowdyism this time, public sympathy, no police toleration of The Spectator has a useful note on the recent black-mailing case
for some days in a trial called "The Queen v, The City public has been greatly interested Marks and others," which was essentially a case of extortion. Plaintiffs declared that defendants had extorted money by threats of denouncing their Companies in their news: papers, whiledefendanta retorted that plaintiffs had conspired to ruin them by inventing the charge. The perjuries on one side or the other were so vehement and artist, that the jury, in despair, on Monday gave up the prolem, and dividing by seven to Avo, were unable to deliver a verdict. It was a bad case, whatever the merits, but perhaps not the financial editors in London were in goal luite so important as readers thought. If all to-morrow, the public would be plundered stil, Black-malling by newspapers, injures Companies, but it is white-mailing which injures the community. It is difficult, fools as the public are, to ruin a sound concern, and the black-mailers usually attack rotten things; but it is easy to ruin thousands by praising bogus Companies, or Companies started for the vendors' benefit. The thirst for 20 per cent. is just now at its hottest, being stimu. lated at once by the excessive price asked for all good securities, and by the immense profits few Companies have made for the time, Every little capitalist fretting under 22 per cent. thinks that if he is only lucky, he may stumble on a Morgan mine, and believes his financial newspaper in the teeth of all pro-habilities, because it prophesies pleasant things.
The article in the Spectator on the New-found land Fisheries question doos not sufficiently explain the root of the difficulty. The French Government gives bounties to ita fishermen in Newfoundland water cause the French fishing fleet there By the help of these bounties the French rear training ground for the French navy.
fishermen can and do undersell our colonists, who in return put every possible obstacle in the way of their French competitors; and the only feasible plan is to buy from France the rights which she holds by treaty, including her two islands, Miquelon and St. Pierre, if anything could persuade her to sell. Fortunately it has always been the policy of the French Foreign Office to be most moderate in the assertion of French rights; while the Newfoundlanders, to whom it is a question of life or death, can hardly be expected to, and do not, practise the same moderation, The Spectator suggests the meeting of two Commissioners, to settle the question, but the difficulty is that we have nothing to offer France in exchange for what she rightly regards as a most valuable possession. Aa the Spectator so As long as theZFrench Foreign Office mai tains its present-reasonable attitude, there is doubtless little fear of actual complications
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.