The House of Commons has this week again beea principally occupied with the Old Age Pensions Bill of the Goveroment, with which progress has been made only by means of the guild lotien. One concession the Govern ment had to make in order to avoid actual defeat. They bad to argue that [an old couple living together shall each receive the same pension ax if they wore living apart. Under the original scheme the pension was to have bee 5)—{or a single person and 7/6 for a married couple together. This alteration alone will increase considerably the amount of money to be provided and numerous other amendments pressed upon the Government have been rejected simply on the score of expense, though it had to be admitted that they would have redressed serious anomalies created by the Bill ae it stands. A crowning absurdity is that the receipt of pa relief since January 1 last is to bea disqualification, bat no inquiry is to go farther back on this score, 90 that wastrel who has lived on his parish for years will be safe so long as he has kept off it for the last few months, while the honest workman who has only just fallen into evil days will be disqualified. There is n0 definite principle in the ill; and it is perfectly clear that the dissatisfaction which its anomalies will create, will necessitate the passing of an amending Act within a ear or two and this amending Act will inevitably increase largely the number of persons qualified for pensions and impose " farther heavy burden upon taxpayers. The first quarterly returns of revenue for the current year, which were issued yesterday, make it clear that Mr. Lloyd George will be faced with a deficit next year, unless there is a very marked revival of trade so that with several more millions to provide for pensions he will have. an nonviable task in forming his first satisfied with ea bie: reception of tion passed at their great Hyde Park Mesting, organized another raid on the House of Commons, and it was accompanied by the rowdiest scenes which have yet disgraced a Suffragist demonstration. In all, twenty-nine women were arrested, and to-day twenty-six of them have been sent to prison for terms varying from one to three months, in default of finding sureties for their good behaviour, while two more, who drove to 10 Downing Street in s taxicab and broke the Prime Minister's windows with stones, were sentenced to two months' hard labour without the option of a fine. Another "raid" on an even more extensive scale had been planned for to-morrow, and it was understood that the leaders of the movement would take an active part in it and provoke arrest; but it has been postponed out of consideration for the police. There is a big police fete at the Crystal Palace to-morrow and in anticipation of the disturbance all the leave which had been granted for this was stopped, much to the exasperation of the men, lither from a kindly feeling of consideration or because they felt it would be bad policy to provoke the police too far, the Suffragist leaders have announced' the postponement of the raid. It was urged by Lord Russell, who appeared as counsel for one of the ladies, that their feeling about the franchise was tantamount to '8 religious belief; and, absard as that may sound, I am assured that some of them are so convinced of the righteousness of their cause that they are ready to provoke bloodshed and to attempt to give up their lives for it.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.