10
RENTS BILL
(Continued from Page 9.1
That would work considerable hardship in certain cases and as I am instructed The circum- it has done so already. stams are these. The tenant is notified by bis landlord that he must quit the He arranges Premises he is occupying. with his landlord for a period of grace during which he may find what is called alternative accommodation. Assuming he has found alternative accommodation, and, if subsequent to that the knowledga of this intended Ordinance caused the offer to be withdrawn, what isbis position! lle has agreed with his previous landlord to quit bis premises and therefore the Court can take an order of ejectment, whereas he has had the alternative accom modation to which he thought he was going withdrawn from him. The tenants are not asking for much because they have met with considerable consideration from this Council. They are asking. in so far as it is the desire of the Council to give the right of ejectment where agreement to quit shall have been made. that that right shall not be retrospective and that that sub-section shall read so as to make it operative only from the A case of passing of this Ordinance. tha: kind has been brought to the notice of Mr. Wilkinson-and I am instructed it is a bad cas-where a man having agreed to quit has been left, as it were. out in the cold by reason of the enforce reent of the agreement and the with drawal of the alternative accommoda- tion. Therefore, I ask you when in Comp. mittee, to consider the possibility of mak ing that portion rend as from the opera tion of the Ordinance and not retrospec tive. There is a provision in the New the effect that where Teritories Law
at the time of taking over the Territories a person had agreed to a sale of land. that when a certain Ordinance was put into operation, it was agreed that this sment for sale should not be opera rive unless the person came in and con- firmed his previous agreement of sale. To what extent I have properly stated the facts I cannot say, but, if that is so. it is a precedent for the application of that principle here-that after a man has wade an agreement to quit it should be confirmed before the Court should make an order of ejectment.
HIS EXCELLENer: Does any hen, mort- her desire to address the founci
No member signifying any desire to
Je sa.
SPEECH BY HE. THE GOVERNOR.
H.E. THE GOVERNOR suid: Gentlemen, I did not intend to sprak nn the second reading of the Bill, but it has come to my notice that in speaking previously of th necessity of some such measure by ad unfortunate slip, confined myself to of gross extor dealter only with one ense tina. I was carried away rather by the and did not side issue of farming
1 should give you the other information.
ike to take this opportunity of amend ing that mistake. 1 am glad. as a matter of fact, that I contined may remarks to one particular case because the result of my doing so was to produce a letter in the newspapers from the Hongkong. Land lavestment Co. which afforded the best argument i have yet sen for the passage of such a Bill as this. I am not referring to the ingenious argument to abow that at increase of 253 is equivalent to one of HI, er rather that it would have ben it circumstances had been entirely differ. nt. Personally I am selden impressed by arguments based on the old French
saying that if my aunt had been
in
man she would have been my uncle. thick it is safer i we look at the facts. There was & passage in the lett which it was shown that us result of the farming system, the Land Investment Company had received in respect of err tair. trements an income representing on their exproditur, 9.52 per cent.
is the amount Well, if 3.52 per cent. which the landlord was getting from his should say it was not entirely tenant unreasonable. I should have accepted it with pleasure in those days when i was in the position of a landlard. One took risks of property standing vacant. This 2 represents the net result to the Hongkeug Land Investment Co.
too
The
That is what is paid to them by the farmer." I contend that this is far too much. The rent is farmed by one man who probably farms it to another, and possibly it is farmed by half-a-dozen, and by the time it gets down to the tenant he paying Fot 8-32 per cent.. but probably 19 per cent. Even if there is only one farmer and he confines himself to the very mode- rate rate of el per cent. on capital that would maka i per cent. the tenant is
That paying on the property, much. This is one of the evils of the farming system which is a matter, I con- sider, that ough: to be dealt with and requires dealing with at once. I suggest to the Council that in the letter before as we have overwhelming reasons for dealing with the inrmer at an early date. Let me give you other instances. fist is a case in Irving Street-it is a case in which a farmer is concerned The rent was raised from 12 to $16 in May, and it was proposed to raise it more recently from 16 to 250. I do not think it will be coatcoded that the value of meocy has gone down 5 per cent. since the beginning of this year; so that appears to represent an increase for which there is no justification. This case On these is not an extraordinary one. Facts being represented. the farmer be though it better to compromise at $17. The text case is from Nathan Road, Kowloon The rent was raised $30 á house more than $5 per cent, increase This is an interesting case because the ground given for the increase of rent by the landlord was that if he were to build Dow it would cost him $20.000 and the land might be valued at $6,000. Such on He is Argument is entirely irrelevant. not building, but taking advantage of the thortage of houses to make a wholly unjustifiable increase of the rents paid Another care is in by bis tenants.
Austin Road, where the rent of one room began at $7, then it rose to $15 and then 16 #17. The tenant having renovated the promises the landlord put up the rent to The next case is from Mody *18.50.
Rond, Kowloon. The rent in March. 1919, waa 2100; in March, 1920, it became #103: in September, 1990, $115 and in July, 1991, 8135. That as good a caÉS of extortion as I have yet met. The next ase is from Hollywood Road: where the ant was rols'd from 0 to $70. and here was a case in Wanchai Road, where homepsint a few years ago was 75, 26d varreled to 220 TO ADUERY, SIL- April and recently to $85. Ithink that insufficient answer to the suggestÍOIT....... that the rents fixed should be those of h June. In a case in Morrison. Street reat of $175 was raised in the fourth
moon to $200, and now it is proposed to raise it to $600. In Chatham Road land was leased in 1911 by the Land Invent- meat Company at sa They then adopted the system of farming sad the rent was raised to $14, and the cord man raised it to $19, and at the same time shoe There money of 850 was demanded. are two cases in Cross Street, Wanchai. The rent was raised in one case from $14 to $25; and in another from $11 to $25. In Graham Street & rent of $30 pas raised in August, 1920. to $20, and it was now proposed to raised it to #100. In Gough Street rent was raised from 8 10 850. then to $37 in March last I think these cases and now to. #75 supply all the comment that is necessary. They speak for themselves
His EXCELLENCY then put the motion for the second reading of the Bill to the Council, and it was passed without a dis sentient vote
The ATTORNEY GENERAL then moved that the Council go into Committee to consider the Bill clause by clause.
The COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded and the motion was agred to,
Counsel His EXCELLENCY invited appearing for petitioners to remain if ther to wished.
Mr. ALABASTER remained to press the amendments he bad indicated in his address.
THE COMMITTEE STAGE.
On Clause 1, the ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved to amend the long tale by the addition of and to amend the Rating Ordinance, 1901."
The motion was agreed to.
On Clause 2, the ATTORNEY-GENERAL proposed to amend paragraph (2) as follows:
(2) Insert after habitation" in the
fith line, and every hotel and boarding house falling within any one of the classes of boarding houses specified in Rule 1 of the rules made by the Governor in t'ouncil ender the Asiatic Emigra tion Ordicance, 1915, and the Boarding House Ordinance, 1917. and published in the Gazette of the 19th day of October, 1917.' (6.)-Amend paragraph (t) by adding
or their families.
(c) Amend paragraph (iii) so as to
read:-
(ii)-Any hotel or boarding house
which does not all within any one of the classes of boarding hours specified in Rule 1 of the rules made by the Governor in Council under the Asiatic Emi- gration Ordinance, 1913. and the Boarding House Ordinance, 1917 and published in the Gazette of the 10th day of October, 1917, (d-Insert the following paragraph:- (in.)-Any part of any hotel or board-
ing house whatsoever. (Renumber the present paragraph
(ie) as paragraph (r). -Add the following paragraph:--- building for the time being vested in the Custodian of Enemy Property or any part of any suck building.
and
KILITARY TENEMENTS.
H.E. THE GENERAL: Perhaps this may be a good opportunity to make it quite dear that property belonging to the Secretary of State for War cannot be
of thie
Bill. zabject to the operation The War Department have allowed some of the married quarters to be relieve the 10 helped to pressure on the housing accommodation. Now, however, these quarters are re- ME quired for the married families
therefore, present tenants troops.
quit. I should like to make it quite clear that this Bill does not limit the powers of the Secre of State for War in that respect.
tars
to
I do not know whether this would be the placs to propose an amendment to make that clear.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL: The Ordin- ance would not bind the Crowe. If an amendment were inserted, it might give ground for arguing that other Crown
it.
was in a different category. prope if the military require this property they must obtain possession of If the Ordinance prevented them, special legislation could be introduced.
EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR: I do HIS not think it will be necessary.
Mr. ALABASTER:
pointed out in
On this clause, as ont in the petition, it is not clear whether shops are intended to be included or not.
offices are We know off not included
and I think the clause should be
perfectly clear. be made
The ATTORNEY-Ĝered said that if a shop were let separately and no part of it were used for human habition, it would not come under the Bill, but in the case of Chinese stops they were so uvd.
The SECRETARY OF CHINESE ATTAIRY: The petitioners are quite satisfied and they do not doubt that Bop is includ- ed, having no doubt whatever that a shop
domestic tenement. They is could alwan prove, ja case of need, that they do occupy their shops,
The Hon. Hr. La Cau PAE agreed. Mr. ALABASTER said that as the clause was sp
was worded now A "shop" parently governed by whether there were people upstairs or not.
The ATORNEY-GEXTRAL said that shops were used for babitation by the Chinese.
HIS EXCELLENCY asked if Mr. Alabaster. desired to amit shops.
Mr. ALABASTER aid he did, and to put them in the same category as offices and
downs.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL: Even if they are used for habitation t
Several members remarked that all Chinese shops were used as human habit
attens.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL: The proposal would defeat the object of the Bill with regard to a very large number of dwel- ling-places.
Mr. LAO CHU-PAK: Shop-keepers have suffered more than anybody else.
HA EXCELLENCY: If no member de- sires to move an amendment, the, misuse, as amended, stands part of the Bill.
THE STANDARD HENT.
O sub-clease (i), of eleuse 2, KY. ALABASTER aid the petitioners he 'repre- sected desired that the standard ·reat should be the rent which obtained on the 30th of June,
・
HILS EXCELLANCY: That matter has been very fully considered I feel that the Council is unentmonty of opinion that the date should not be altered.
The SECRETARY OF CRTNEAK" AFFIYRK: There are 200,000 petitioners who beg to
Tung ist, 1914 Dat
HIS EXCELLINer: My own facies- tion was to go back to 1914, but the difficulties were too great and December, 1990, though not the best possible date,
is the most convenient one.
THE CHINA MAIL.
Clause, as amended was then ap- proved,
Clause was adopted with verbal amendments.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved several verbal amendments to Clause 4, and re ferring to pars (c) he said the effect of the clause as it stood would be to make a man living on the ground floor liable for the conduct of tenants above. could not turn them out, and it would unfair obligation to place upon bum. If they misconducted themselves he might be turned out by the land- Jard, or it
it might be a collusive afair.
be
HIS EXCELLINCT: On the other hand, aught not a tenant to be responsible for any person he puts in his hous
The Hon. Mr. POLLUCE: They may be sub-tenants of his sub-tenants.
The sub-clause was allowed to remain 23 drafted.
On sub-clause (d) of Clause 4, His EXCELLENCY recalled Mr. Jenkin's point as to the position of a man who had agreed to quit but who found that alter native accommodation had been with drawt. He said it would be rather dif fcult to frame a clause so that inconren- ience would fall impartially on the right person. The landlord would not be able to get an increased rent from anybody else and would probably agree to a compromize and prefer that the tenant he knew should remain.
The Hon. Mr. P. H. HOLYDAX: I think the matter will adjust itself: such cases will be very few.
The Hoa. Mr. Ross mentioned that a man subject to a fine of $100 a day for every day he remained on certain pre mises after July 1st, had decided, when he beard of this Bill, to remain on and he (Mr. Ross) told him he thought he would be justified, and would be
be upheld by the Courts. The petitioners:
scrmed to think the Courts would give the land- lord damages but he did not think so, becuase the man was intimidated into giving that agreement, by which he was В day. instead of being charged $100
Mr. Ross did not $200 a month before. think the landlord would wish to get. the tenant cut, knowing that he would not get any more from a new tenant.
The Bo Mr. LAU CHU-PAX thought the clause, as amended, was the most satisfactory compromise that could be arranged.
It was agreed that the sub-clause should stand part of the Bill
On paragraph (e) of sub-clause 1 of
Clause 4.
Mr. ALABASTER said the petitioners would like the wordlessors" to be extended to inclade his families and rela fives who should have the same considera- tion as was shown to his employér.
HIS EXCELLENCY: Are they not in cluded!
Jir. ALABASTER: Not necessarily, under the Chinese system of family life.
The Hon. Mr. Ross thought the Courts would hold tha; anyone of the saune sur- name was a member of the family; it is the clan.
Mr. ALABASTER: Should it not be limit ed to families!
The Hoa. Mr. POLLOCK: Perhaps Mr. Alabaster means his wives and children? The Council adopted a suggestion of be His Excellency that the words should. "himself and his family." His Excellency thought relatives' was too wide & phrase.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved to add the following paragraph after pare, (c) in sub-clause of Clause 4-
(.) The lessor bona fide requires
possession of the domestic tene ineat in order to pull down such domestic tenement or in order to reconstruct auch domestic tene- ment to such an extent as to make such domestic tenement a new building within the meaning of the Public Health and Buildings Ordinance, 1903, and shall have given the tenant three months rotice to quit.
Subsequent amendments, and addi- tional clauses proposed by the ATTOÉSEY GENERAL were adopted without discussion.
THE THIRD READING.
fi
On the Council resuming,
H.E. THE GOVERNOR aid in this case, for Rulo 48 of the Standing the purposes Kales and Orders, I declare that au emergency exists, and that in my opinion it is desirable in the public interest that Rules 4 and 47 be suspended, sa de to enable the bill to be carried through its remaining stages at this sitting of the Council. The grounds for this declara- tion are that, as the object of the bill is to protect the tenants of domestic tene ments from unreasonable increase in rental and from arbitrary termination of their tenancies, and as rents have been and are being raised unreasonably, and as attempts bave been and are being made to eject tenants who are unwilling or are unable to pay such increased rents, it is desirable to pass the bill immedi ately so sa to afford relief to as many as possible of the class which the bill pre- poses to protect.
The CoLostAL SCENTARY seconded and the suspension of the Standing Orders Fas agreed to.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL then moved the third reading of the Bill.
The COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the Bill was passed.
TEK ADJOURNMENT. His EXCELLEXCY: The remaining busi- ness on the agenda we do not propose to take. In any case I fear these Bills will not be ready this week. I propose, there fore, that we should adjourn sine die. I should like, before we go, to express my thanks to members of the Committee and more specially, if I may say so, to the Attorney-General and his learned col. league, the Hon. Mr. Pollock, for the immenso trouble they hare taken in pro- ducing this Bill, which I trust will be sucessful in attaining the object for which it was devised.
..
FINANCE COMMITTEE
A mesting of the Finance Committee was afterwards held, the COLONIAL Bezzszary, presiding :—
THY GAP ROCK CABLE. The Governor recommended the Council to vote a sum of $19,616 in aid of the vote Public Works, Recurrent, Communi cations (8) Maintenance of telephones including all cables.
The CHAIRMAN This sum of $19,678 is the amount required for repairing the cable to Gap Bock. We took advantage of the presence of the cable ship Patrol in the waters of the Colony to employ her in recovering the cable and finding out what was wrong. Fortunately the cable was recovered in about two days After the ship actually got to work 40d it was found that the cable had been clean eut serosa? By whom and how it wis done was not clear. It may have been by fishing bok{"recovering and anchor. It required half tile of large;
cable and nearly 21 miles of smaller cable to effect the necessary repaira. The hire of the abip cost £300, the half mile of large rable £39, (1) the rest of the cable £216-a total of £1,098 and material £2,452, of which $19,613 in the equival ent in local currency. It was ful but rather expensive jab.
Approved
access-
KOWLOON TELEPHONE WIRES. The Governor recommended the Council to vote a sum of $8.500 in aid of the vote Public Works. Recurrent, Kowloon, Com.. munications. (27),/Maintenance of Tele- phones.
The CHAIRMAN: This sum is to lay underground.a number of telephone wires io. Kowloon. The pales are carrying so many wires between Kowloon and Hung hom that in a typhoon it is thought they may come down. So having a cable in stock we decided en laying these cables It involved a cost of underground.
3.900 to the Public Works Department
For simpli and 89,600 to the railway. eity it was decided to take a single vote and charge the whole to Pablic Works Recurrent.
Approved.
EARLIER TELEGRAMS.
(Router's Service to the China Mail.)
PACIFIC CONFERENCE.
PARIS, July 15th (delayed). Le Temps strongly supports the rug- gestion to invite the Netherlands to the Washington disarmament conference be esuse of her extensive interests in the Far East-Harat.
JAPANESE SAILORS IN FRANCE.
PARIS July 16th (delayed). Captain Ichije, Japanese Xaval Attache, gave a luncheon to a number of French naval officers and expressed his deep appreciation of the cordial welcome extended to Japanese sailors everywhere in France-Horns.
STATUS OF DOMINIONS.
*
LONDON, July 19th. Dr. Arthur Berriedale Keith, in letter to the Times, says that President Harding's action in not extending a separate invitation to the Dominions for the disarmament conference is a neces sary deduction from the refusal of the Republican Party to accept the separate roting power allotted to the Dominions The same in the League of Nations. consideration prevented the appolatatert of an independent Canadian representa- tive at Washington. The episode izdamentally important as a reminder that the status of the Dominions is still imperfect, so long as it is not recognised by the greatest World-Power.
UFFER SILESIA.
same
is
PAZIO, July 18th (delayed). It is believed that M. Briand has inti- mated to the British Government his readiness to co-operate in sending to Upper Silesia a joint expert commission to enquire into an equitable apportion- ing of the plebiscite territories-Hasas.
THROUGH OTHER EYES.
DO AMERICANS LOVE THE ENGLISH ?
MR. CHESTERTON'S "ANALYSIS.
Mr. G E. Chesterton, has just returned from America, and con- sequently this brilliant analysis of Anglo-American susceptibilities con- tributed to The Sunday Express will no doubt be read with the kernest interest even by those who will not share all his opinions:-
The need for Anglo-American under- *standing is a subject much too serious for solemnity. When the politicians and diplomatista talk about a grave situation or a great responsibility, they invariably go on to use language which would be perfectly proper in moving a vote of thanks to a duchess at a Flower Show, or offering a pre- sentation clock to a cricketing curate. That is, they improve their solemn occasion with the talk specially suit- able to a frivolous occasion; they deal in colourless compliments and .congratulatory generalisations, and give the impression of doing their best to say something about nothing in the nicet possible way.
Is the Anglo-American example; they can talk about nothing but. arity-about One Law, One Right, One Race, One Shakespeare, and the Musical Glasses-until any sane man standing by feels that we are very near indeed to a most horrible dis- ruption, if we get to unified as all that. But when a sane man really does like two peoples, and really does want them to like each other, his comparative realism will always have an air of bathos and almost of buffoonery, Belore attempting to give the faintest suggestion of my own feelings about American feelinge, I would ask pardon for laying down the law in the form of two neglected truths.
GROUND FOR AFFECTION. First, there are two reasons for which people may like each other; because they are alike and because they are different.
The latter is by far the commoner ground of affection between individ- uals. It is the only ground of affection between nations. No two nations, ever can like each other because they are alike. To begin with, they never are alike. If they were they would not be two nations, but one. They canon every other ground
ilarity; they can do any each other except imitate
but nationality is inimit
TUESDAY, ` JULY 19, 1921.
able. An American may be a good man, a good citizen, a good ally, 4 good friend, but he will certainly be a bad Englishman. And it would be more respectful to regard an American as an American Indian, interesting for his fantastic headdress and fascinating picture writing, than to regard him as a sort of long lost Englishman, with a
tongue that talke the right language with the right colours in the wrong pattern. A real Englishman will like him for being un-English for his steady and almost standardised high spirits, for the soaring imagination that idealises his business ambitions, for the splendid blazon of his heart upon his sleeve.
In short, the Englishman will ke the American as a character, perhaps
queer character, and vice versa: it is probably the one real way to like anybody. It does not in the least follow that a man wishes to be like what he likes, any more than a man It is in love wants to be a woman. the very last thing he wants.
men
12-
QUARRELS. The second trath, is that inter- national quarrels do not come because
misunderstand another tionality. They generally come be- cause men misunderstand their own nationality.
It is not merely because a man bas never seen a foreigner except in a picture. It is also because he bas never seen himself even in a locking. glass. The extreme example of this was the comic tragedy of the German. The German was always running about with a notebook everywhere, eagerly and earnestly understanding every. body. He was always making ah- stracts of the philosophy of the Hottentot folk lore, or drawing diagrams of the attitudes of the High- land Fling. But there question he never noted down, and that was the query of why his oĦTI remarkable individuality had so singular an effect on others as to 6ll them with a desire to kick, beat, and propel him for considerable distances why in his presence the Hottentot lost all his philosophy and the Highland Flinger showed a desire to fling him into the sea.
Was
one
The English case is not so crude as the German; but it has something of the same perilous unconsciousneRS. It is not the Englishman's ignorance of America, that is the danger. It is the Englishman's ignorance of England; of what the English have really done, of how the English really
appear.
Even when we admit we were wrong, it is always about the wrong- thing that we are admittedly wrong. I will give one compact case, which I have mentioned elsewhere. We were all taught that George III was wrong to impose the Stamp Act, and George Washington right to resist it. But in reality there was a great deal to be said for George III. I wonder how many people know that in the war following on Washing ton's, British generals under British orders marched to Washington and quite wantonly and wickedly burnt it to the ground.
There is certainly nothing whatever to be said for those generals. It was pure Prussianiem, and has ever since made it easier for every American to believe that we are as bad as Prussia. But I ask you to imagine that a foreign gentleman has let you in for an extra expense in halfpenny stamps, which is a pretty fair parallel to the terrible tax of George III. Suppose you resist this; and some time after- wards the foreign gentleman, calling in your absence, takes the opportunity to burn your house to a heap of ashes. The incident then slips from bis memory, but whenever you meet him on subsequent. occasions in society he is always apologising for the postage stamp.
Unfortunately, there are still stories of the same kind against us; and the burning of Cork is closer than the burning of Washington. It is im- possible to measure how much damage, has been done to our prestige by the recent notion of fighting anarchy with anarchy in Ireland. But the point at present is not merely that the American knows these things. It is that the Englishman does not know them. He is like a man walking about without knowing what is chalked on his back. The Irish are naturally telling everybody that the English do these things, and the English do not even know that they are done. Moreover, the point at-pre- sent is not the effect on our enemies, It is much more the effect on our
friends.
It is happily a very solid truth that we have a number of perfectly sincere, even passionately sincere, friends in America. The Anglo-Americans often reassure us by reminding us of it; and I am much more certain that it is entirely true than I am that it is entirely reassuring. If we are wise we shall be warned by a new note in the very voices of those who are most attached to as by type and tradition. Such men are always telling the English guest that they at least are still faithful, that they do not Believe England is so black as she is painted or her prospects so dark
as they are drawn, The affection of these men for. England in of the
most vivid and genuine kind, for it is the kind above described, which rests on difference and not on similar- ity. Americans love England fɔr not being American, for the romantic irregularity of her roads, for the antiquated solidity of her cuttages. for the ancient mystery of her cathe drals. And many of them do feel this affection very acutely just now; but it is because the situation is acute. So, in 1914, many perfectly patriotic Englishmen went about saying, "I cannot think it of my dear Bavarians, " or-"I will never believe it after the happy days I spent in Heidelberg."
Absit omen!"
For there came upon me with # cold shock of wonder, and of some- thing like anger, that the note of all this was new. England was being pitied, and the England of my boyhood bad not accustomed me to the feeling.
Even now I will mention it because I do think it vitaly urgent that we should wake up to realities, and avert dangers that others sec mare clearly than we.;
A
\
AMERICAN SYMPATHY,
The optimists tell us that many Americans sympathise with England in ber quarrels. They do, indeed, sympathise they sympathise as they might sympathise with Poland before her disruption, or with Spain in the first disasters of her declice. And this is a practical, and may yet be these profitable warning. If Americans disliked England it might be their own fault ; indeed, it certainly would be their own fault. For civilised and historic Christian nation. like the English, with a constellation of poets and heroes, must have some- thing about it that a reasonable foreigner might like.
But if they pity England it is probably cur own fault; because wo have strayed from our strong position and missed the advantages of our real virtues. We must have made - Rome bad mistakes of our own, which may yet be remedied, and the first and worst mistake is always to assume that it is only foreign critic who is to mistaken. The deeper causes which I should trace it, the amnesty for political corruption, the multiplic- ation of new and vulgar officialism, the refusal to reply to Soci lism with vacant distribution of property,
fl
are matters too large for this note. But I will conclude with one or two typical scraps of advice for retaining for our country the respect of reason- able Americans.
FRANKNESS NEEDED.
(1) If you are resolved to resist the Irish claims, say you are doing it for the protection of England, which they understand, and not with any notion of the patronage of Ireland, which they very rightly despise. Do not in the name of sanity, &$7 that you love the Irish, but alas they cannot govern or manage their own politics. There are plenty of Ameri cans who loathe the Irish, but they all know that the Irish can manage politics and that they largely gover America.
(2) If you want really to defend the British Empire, do not say that the Anglo-Saxon has a mission to rule everybody, but say that the Englishman really has a taste for turning up everywhere. The average American is not an Anglo-Saxon, but he is an intelligent human being, and be can understand that some people have more itch for a sort of sea-faring and trading adventure fban other people. Let him judge that idea by the success in tolerating different religious cultures in India, and not by the ghastly failure to crush a religious culture in Ireland, (3). Whenever you really note a foreign fault, pause to ask if you yourself have not the opposite fault; and set yourself, like. a patriot, to put it right.
LUCKY BABIES.
MET AT NEW YORK LIKE AMBASSADORS.
With their identity surrounded with secrecy and all immigration laws waived in their behalf by the United States Government to enable them to enter this country, 15 British babies. all less than a year old, arrived in New York in the "Aquitania.".
In the same way sa Ambassadora and other great personages greeted on their arrival their infant majesties were met at the three-mile limit by representatives of their hosts, When they landed smart motor-cars -carried them away to their final
destinations.
Where these actually proved to be-
will probably never be known, because the babies have been adopted by some of the most prominent families in New York. In a few years their names will appear in the social re- gister.
Plans for what is described as the New Mayflower Fügrimage" were made by the National Adoption Society of England with the co- operation of the British-American Adoption Committee at New York, one of several agencies existing to this country to supply the grat demand from childless parents for healthy children of the best stock.