KTTOBER 28, 1908.
11
appcrmost in hii mind--bis proved friendahipfoT England. " I hnve referred," ho seid," to the ipeeches in which I bave done all tbati Sovereign oan to prociaim my goodwill. But,u acttons speak louder than vrnrdt, let me alsorefer to my acta. It is commonly helieved inEngland tfcat thrmighout the South AfricanWar Germany was hostüe to her. German ijnmon undoubtedly wa* hoetile —bitterly hos-tüe. The Ptm* was bostile; private opinionwas hoatilo. Bat wbat of official German/PLet my oritics aak themselves what brougfat toI radden atop, and, indeed, to absolut« col-lapae, tho European tour of th« Boer delegatee«rfao were atriving to obtain European inter-rention t Tbey were f*ted in Holland ; France rave them n rapturou« welcome. They wiabedto come to Berlin, whero th« German peoplevould hmv* crowoed tbsm with flowers. Butwbonthey aaked meto receivethem—I refused.Tbe egitation immediataly died away, andthc dplcgation returned empty-banded. Wasthxt, I aak, th* action of a surret enemy ? "
".Again. when thostrnggle was at it« beight,tho German Govornment was invited by thoGovernment« of Franc© and Russia to jorowith them in calling upon England to put antnd to tho war. Tho moment had come, theysaid, not only to save the Boer Republica, butalso to humiliato England to the dust. Whatwas my reply? I said that so far from Ger-many joining in any eonrerted European actionto put pressure upon England and bring abouther downfall, Germany would alwayi keepaloof from politics that could bring hoc intoeomplicatioos with a Sea Power like England .Poaterity will one day read th« exaot terms ofthe telegram—now in the archives of WindsorCastle —in wbich I informed the Sovereign ofEngland of tbe enswer I bad returned to thePowers which tben sought to compass her fall.Englishmon who now insult me by doubtingmy word shonld know wbat were my actions inthe hour of their adversity."
" Nor was tbat all. Jost at tbe time if yourBlack Week, in the Deoember ef 1899, whendisasters followed one anotber in rapid sucoes-sion, I reoeiTed a letter from Queen Victoria ,my revered grandmother, written in sorraw andaffliction, and hearing manifest tratet of tbeanxieties which were preying upon her mindand health. I at once raturned a sympatheticreply. Nay, I did more. I bade -me of myoffieen procure for me as exact an account ashs eoald obtain of tbe number of combatantsin South Africa on both sidos, and of tho actnalPosition of the Dpposing forces. With thefigures befor« me, I worked out what I eon-sidored to be the be6t plan of eampsign Moderthe circamstances, and submitted rt to myGeneral Staff for tbeir criticism. Thon I de-spatched it to England , and that doeunwnt,ükewiae, is among the State papers at WindsorCastle , awaiting the serenely imparti.il verdictof bistory. And, as a matter of cnrioos coinrii-denoe, let me sdd that the phn which I formalated ran very mucb on tho same Ünes as thatwbich was actnally adopted by Lord Robert«and carried by him into surcessful OperationWas that, f repeat, the act of one who wishedEngland ill ? Let Eaglishmen be just and say 1 "" Bot, you will say, wbat of the German navyP Surcly, that is a menaoe to England! Against whora but England are my squadransbcing prepared ? If England is not in the mmdcof those Gennajis who sre bent an creating apowerlul fleot, why b Germany aaked to oon-sent to such new and heavr bordena of taxa-tton » My anawer is clear. Germany is a youngand growing Empire Sbe has a world-widecommerce, which is rapidly expanding. end towhieh the legitimat* ambition of patr>ticGermans refuses to assign any bonnds. Germany must bare a powerful fleet to protect that com-merce, and her reanifold interests in er*» th«most distant seas. She expects thoae intereststo go on growing, and she must be abie to cbam-mon them manfullT in any quarter of the globe.
LIGEN SING BILL.
COM PENSATION CLAUSES
CAKEIl'n.
BALKAN CRISIS.
Under the Operation of thf closore regula-tions, Clauaes 10 and 11 of tho Lioenning BDIwere agreed to by tho Corumittee. in the Houseof Common* yestcrday, on the rmamcd discus-sion of Mr. J. F. Hope s amendment. Th«dobate, as on Friday, turned principally apoothe basis of compensation, tbe Talue of aSchedule A aasessmeot a* a measnre of ralae,tbe intrntioD of the framors of th« Act of 1904,and the meaning and the propriety of tbeKennedy judgmeot. The chief speecbee werethose of Mr. Cave and Mr. Balfoar from theOpposition side, and those of Hr. Leif Jonesand Mr. Asquitb from the defeodera of tbeBill. Mr. Care, especially, deliTered a weighty,cloaely-rpasoned speech, which was listened tood both sides of the House with marked atten-tion snd resp**ct.
Mr. Balfour argued with snrae warmth thatthere nfrer had been the slightont amhiguityabout the meaning of the Act of 1904, asregards romponsation. Two dehnite principleshad been clcarly laid down :
(1) The Inland Revenue autboritiex wereinstructed to eatimate the value of atioenae for compensation, just as they esti-matod the value of an estate for estate duty.
(2) The compensation was to be th« füllmarket raloe of the liccnae.And what is the füll market raloeP Ob-
Tioosly, what it will fetch from th« person mostdestrnus of parchasing tbe house to which thelicense is attached. That person is the brewer.And on that prmciple Mr. Justice Kennedyframed bis famoos judgment.
Mr. A^qutth doee not aooept tiiat jodirraent,either qua iawyer or qua statecman. Ii*" fundamental noe," beaaid, isthat it lsclodesm tho ralue of th« hoens* tbe brewer's wbo;«-sale proflt, as if wben a brewer lost a tiedbouae bis trade with that house were ab*"-Iutely lo*t and were not transferred elsewhere.Mr. Aaquith's argument was ibat you shouldlock not to acüual market value, but stmply tothe cspitalised rack rem tralue, in addition rothe local goodwill arttanhing to tbe Positionand traditiona of tbe bouae itaeJf, as apart fromtbe personal goodwill attaching to tbe popnlariTy or «kill of tbe license-holder. Boththeee fartont, be contended, ought to afrpesrto tbeir füll extent in a Schedole A aseeusand therefore Lhat had been takeo as the teetof ralue under tbe brfl.
Tbe Governmont, he s«)d, had been aetnatedby no other motiro; though tbe Temperamorarors on bis side had inrated tbat SchedoJ«A had been solocted as fho basis of compensa-tion in order subataotiaUy to reduoe theamoont of compensation and so accelerate therate of redactinn of licensee. Bat it was not theexüftmg Schedule A aaseasrnents, baphazard,chaotic, and oaaed oa no uniform System, tbatthe Governtmcnt had in mind, but renaed andincreased assessmeots, which wotild representthe real valne of the housee. " We are goingto make<lm>wer5 honest hy Act of Parlvamcni,'said Mr. I>eif Jones, cbeerfully.
" Can there be any fairer measure of ralnethan Schedule A ?" asked Mr. Asquitb. " Canany he more groteequely unfair?" asked Mr.Care and Mr. Balfoar. Tbe latter pointedout that in any giren localtty it does not muchmatter whether the assessmente are undulyhtgh or unduty low, so long as all poople areasseesed on the same prmciple, high or low. Butit makes alt the diffprence whco you pick outone trade, as the Government propose to do, inthat locality, and force license-holden to pushup their a&sossmonts if they aant proper com-pensation on rednetion, which means that theywill hare to pay higher rates for all localpurposes, while their oeighbour» pay on theold unduly low scale.
Mr. Care also made a rery strong point withregard to the ante 1869 beer-housee, whichroluntarily gaTe up thoir statutory privilegetfour years ago on the honourable unterstand-ing that they should share the pririleges oftbe Act of 1904 in the matter of oompensation,i They hare now parted with their old eecurity,and the bilt deprires them of their quid proquo.
■ m V. ■ ■■ Ii ■■ ■ I i Iii i
PRACTICALLY RESÜLTLESS.
Tbere is no confirmation of the report thatGermany has agreed to the programme of tbeConierenoe. In ofbciai quarters, both inLour and elaewbere, it is regarded as atleast prematare. In any caee, it is recognisedthat Germaoy'e attitode will be mainly detar-nrned by that of AusUia.
Acoordmg to Baron toh AebrenithjJ, Aostriais Willing to go to tbe Conforeooe, said eeentt di.sr.uss tbe annexation of Bosnia and Herze-govina, but only on Kondition that hör'■Sovereign rights " are reene^-tod.
Much int<rwl 's displaved in Riwna's atti-tiHi«> tow;vrds the annfxntion. It is r«-gardndas signiheant that tholVar ha.«; not yet thougbtfit to graut an audimen to tho AuMrian Ara-ba5.sador. who arrived at St. Fotrniburg manyday* ago mnih an aiito^rapb Irtter from th«Kraporor Francis Joseph, announnng t he"fait aooomplL." Freiing in the Duma tsstrongly a^ainst the id**a of Russia renounringthe protection of the Soirthcrti SlaTs, snd th«visit of tlio young Crown Hnnoo of Sorvia toSt.. Petcrhburg will not, it n tiioiight, tend todirainish Muscovite sentiment agaunst Aas-Uift's srtion.
The Bulgarian Government ia now said to bemore favo-urably inclined towards grantingoom-pensation to Turkey, but the opp<»iton of theSofia. Parbament may bnng abont a Cahinet
CT ISIS.
From Our Special Correspondent.
PARIS, Tueaday Night.The generaJ conaensus of opinion here isthat M. lswolsky's visit to Berfin has provMpracticallybarren. Itroaybe truethatGermanyhas corutenU:d to take part in a Conference, botshe attaches to her aaaent two rondittons whirhnrtnally nullify it. She wül agree to a ron-ference if tho programme to be laid hefore itis acreptnd by Ausina on tbe one hand and byTurkey on the other. Aa, bowover, the chiefobstacle to the meoting of a Conference is thatAustria ia detormined to exclude, and Turkevto inoJude, Üie qneslion of the annexation ofBosDia aod Herregovina, Germany 's qualifie«!assent does not bring us any nearer to a Con-ference. The official announoement issned inLondon to the effect that England has nereroppoaed direct negotiations between Anstnaand Turkey confirms the new frequently ex-preesed in my messages. On tbe contrary, allthe three parties to the> new understaodiogwould rejoice to learn that a provistonalarrangemunt between Anstna and Taxkey hadbeen reached. Their potition in this respectis not open to qoostiom. They ask, in the firstplace, that the terms should be such thatTurkey can aooept them voluntarily withoutinjury to her Imperial interests, or to the pres-tige of the new regime. In tbe aeeond place,they demand that the terms, in so far as theymodify or repeal any of the proviaion* of theTreaty of Berbu, should be submitted to tbesignatoriea of that treaty for sanction and rati-fication.
There is no danger whatever of any objeo-
tion on tbe partof France, Russia, and England being ratsed to an agreement which haa beeooordiaUy and freely acoepted by Turkey. Tbedecision, therefore, still rosts with Germany, because no one believea that Austria woulddeliberately reject adrice siuoerely teadered byBerliu. When, therefore, we »re told that tiienegotiations, sdSrWrded "st "Berlin, wiT^4saL^e-nowod at St. Petersburg , all that is me*aitis~*that Germany will be ready to act ae inter-roediar>- in any negotiatioos wbich Ao«triamay deairo to nodertako with Raasia.
^RSONA
i, F-orATToy.
J