SOUTH-EASTERN AND CHATHAM

RAILWAYS.

A JOINT GENERAL MEETING of the proprietors of the South-Eastern and London Chatham and Dover Railway Companies was held on Wednesday at the Cannon Street Hotel, E.C., Mr. H. Cosmo O. Bonsor presiding.

The Secretary (Mr. Charles Sheath) having read the notice convening the meeting,

The Chairman said that this was the first meeting under the new Accounts Act, and it was also their first annual meeting. There was an idea that, following the usual course of joint-stock companies, an interim dividend would be declared without giving information. The Managing Committee, however, thought that any information which was in their possession should also be given to the shareholders of the two companies. (Applause.) The Managing Committee had taken out, for the guidance of proprietors, on the first page of the report a comparison as far as they were able with the year 1912. On the question of receipts, they published in their weekly accounts an increased traffic receipt of £200,000 odd. The actual result was £209,000, and it was made up as follows: Passenger traffic, £165,000; goods traffic, £30,000; and steamboats, £14,000.

As to the suburban traffic, there was still on the year's working a decrease under that head, but there was one great exception, and that was that they had carried 600,000 more workmen in 1913 than they did in 1912. As a matter of fact, they carried some 14,700,000 workmen at a fare under 2d., and it was a fact that, owing to the burden imposed upon the committee by the Cheap Trains Act, and earmarked, as it were, in the Working Union Act, they had to carry this large number of passengers at practically a loss. They travelled before eight o'clock in the morning and at a fare with which the omnibuses and tramways could not compete. The 14,700,000 passengers only produced £116,000, and, consequently, it did not take any very experienced man to know that that was practically traffic run without any remuneration to the proprietors. Of the £209,000 the two companies received £35,000. In comparing their figures with those for 1912, he would remind them that 1912 was the year of the great coal strike, and that the Managing Committee were able to effect greater economy during that unfortunate period than any of their neighbours. Consequently, in making a comparison, 1913 compared badly with 1912 owing to the economy exercised in that year. This accounted to a siderable extent for the increase both in coal consumption and in wages, due to additional mileage. He might also mention that both coal and materials had been higher in price in 1913 than they were in 1912. A satisfactory feature of the business was that their long-distance traffic continued to increase. Receipts in connection with seaside and country resorts and from season tickets all showed an excellent increase part of the £165,000 passenger_increase. Their Continental traffic also showed a great increase. The additional service which they put on between London and the Continent on July 1 last had been run at a cost of £11,000-£22,000 a year. The first year of a new Continental service was, naturally, not one of great profit, but, for a beginner, the new service showed extremely good promise. It had more than justified their expectations, and would, he was confident, in the near future be a very remunerative service. Their goods traffic showed an increase of £30,000 on the year, notwithstanding substantial decreases in hops, fruit, and vegetables.

con

Delightful Winter Holidays

IN

Glorious SOUTH DEVON

A FEW hours' comfortable

run from Paddington
takes the visitor into the heart
of Glorious Devon-a country
endowed with a mild equable
temperature, plenty of sun-
shine, beautiful scenery, and
a social brilliance that combine
to make a winter holiday an
occasion of tip-top enjoyment.

"DEVON," the charmingly illustrated
handbook of the G.W.R., is full of helpful
information for intending visitors. Obtain-
able from Supt. of Line, Paddington
Station, London, W., 2d., post free.

G.W.R.

THE HOLIDAY LINE

FRANK POTTER, General Manager.

BEST PRICES Given for Current Literature in all Branches by HOLMES BROS., 4 Manette Street, London, W. (Many years with Mrs. C. Hindley of Booksellers' Row.)

BOOKS, ANCIENT AND MODERN, BOUGHT, SOLD, AND EXCHANGED.

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HISTORY

Napoleon at Bay, 1814, by F. Loraine Petre. With maps and plans. (John Lane. IOS. 6d. net.)

As was the case with the author's four previous histories of Napoleon's campaigns, this volume deals only with the purely military side of the war, politics being referred to only where they actually influenced the course of military operations. It is, moreover, confined to the operations in which Napoleon was personally engaged.

Place-Names of Gloucestershire: A Handbook by W. St. Clair Baddeley. (Gloucester: John Bellows. 5s. net.)

A carefully compiled list of the principal place-names of the county, with their origin, which Mr. Baddeley reminds us bears witness to students of Gloucestershire history of the disappearance of numbers of place-names since Norman days.

The Campaign of 1806, by Thomas Miller Maguire. (William Clowes. 4s. net.)

This treatise, which deals with Napoleon's campaign against Prussia, has already appeared in the form of a series of articles in the United Service Magazine.

MAPS

The "Citizen Series" Maps of London, edited by William Stanford. (G. W. Bacon and Co. 7s. 6d. net.)

Contains twenty maps showing the different areas controlled or administered by the various Government Departments, Local Authorities, and Supply Companies, having statutory powers in and around the City and County of London.

NEW EDITIONS

Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain, by George Edmund Street. Edited by Georgiana Goddard King. Illustrated. (Dent. Two vols. 6s. net.)

The editor has gone very carefully over Street's famous work so as to bring it up to date and widen its range. The original illustrations have been retained and some notes on early painting and sculpture

are included for the benefit of tourists.

NOVELS

Simpson, by Elinor Mordaunt. (Methuen. 6s.)

The Commonplace and Clementine, by Mabel Ince. (Chatto and
Windus. 6s.)

Slaves of Chance, by Henry Farmer. (Chatto and Windus. 6s.)
Within the Gates, by G. B. Burgin. (Hutchinson. 6s.)
The Iron Year, by Walter Bloem.

Stella Bloch. (John Lane. 6s)

M. Sturge Gretton. Illustrated. (Methuen. 7s. 6d. net.)

The country dealt with lies in East Gloucestershire and NorthWest Oxfordshire, and Mrs. Sturge Gretton describes some of the most striking changes in the conditions of the country within the last century.

"God's Own Country": An Appreciation of Australia, by C. E Jacomb. (Max Goschen. 5. net.)

The author, having lived for some years in Australia, here gives what he is satisfied to be "a perfectly fair and truthful account of Australian conditions as they exist to-day." He has much to say of the working men of the country, and for the instruction of intending emigrants is included a list giving the log of hours and rates of pay for agricultural and allied industries.

Seaborne of the Bonnet Shop, by R. K. Weekes. (Herbert Jenkins. 6s.)

The Great Attempt, by Frederick Arthur. (John Murray. 6s.)
Salad Days: A Comedy of Youth. (John Long. 6s.)
The Ransom for London, by J. S. Fletcher. (John Long. 6s.)
Una and the Lions, by Constance Smedley. (Chatto and Windus. 6s.)
When Ghost meets Ghost, by William de Morgan. (Heinemann. 6s.)
The Comic Kingdom, by Rudolf Pickthall. (John Lane. 3s. 6d. net.)

POLITICS AND ECONOMICS

The Colonization of Rural Britain: A complete scheme for the regeneration of British Rural Life, by the Rt. Hon. Jesse Collings. Illustrated. (The Rural World Publishing Co. Two vols. 10s. 6d.) The policy advocated is that of occupying ownership, which Mr. Collings declares is warranted and justified by the practice and experience of all the other civilised countries. He emphasises the fact that such policy "is based on the honest principle of purchase, so that no material injury can be suffered by anyone.'

REFERENCE BOOKS

Every Man's Own Lawyer, by a Barrister. (Crosby Lockwood. 6s. 83. net.)

The fifty-first edition of this handy book of the principles of Law and Equity, which includes the new Act of Parliament of 1913, and a concise dictionary of legal terms.

Dod's Parliamentary Companion for 1914. (Whitaker. 35. 6d. net.)

Is the ninetieth issue of this very useful little volume, which gives full lists of the members of both Houses of Parliament (with short biographies), a summary of Parliamentary terms and proceedings, and a complete record of the Constituencies and returns of the last election.

TOPOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL

With the Russians in Mongolia, by II. G. C. Perry-Ayscough and Captain R. B. Otter-Barry. Illustra'ed. (John Lane. 16s. net.) According to the authors there seems no doubt that Russia is aiming to obtain a dominating influence in Morgolia in order to have a buffer State between herself and China The dominating influence in either Mongolia or Tibet means the eventual dominating influence in both these countries. Great Britain might have obtained the same rights over Tibet as Russia has obtained over Mongolia, and Russian diplomatists quite expected Great Britain to take this action."

Forty Years in Brazil, by Frank Bennett. Illustrated. (Mills and Boon. 10s. 6d. net)

Does not profess to be a complete guide to, or history of, the whole of Brazil, but a description of the States of which the author has personal knowledge, after a residence of forty years.

Unwin. 6s.)

The author of How to be Happy though Married gives in the present work his experience of a long married life, with much humour and a deal of useful advice on various problems concerning husband and wife.

Trial of John Jasper, Lay Precentor of Cloisterham Cathedral in the County of Kent, for the murder of Edwin Drood, Engineer. Heard by Mr. Justice Gilbert Keith Chesterton, sitting with a special jury, in the King's Hall, Covent Garden, on the 7th of January, 1914. Verbatim report of the proceedings from the shorthand notes of J. W. T. Ley. (Chapman and Hall. 2s. 6d. net.)

The Conscience of a King, and other Pieces, by Paul Hookham. (Oxford: Cottrell Horser. 2s. 6d. net.)

The Dignity of Business, by H. E. Morgan. (Seymour. 2s. 6d.) Some thoughts and theories on the training of boys for business. The Manual of Heraldry, edited by Francis J. Grant. Illustrated. (Edinburgh: John Grant. 2s. net.)

A new and revised edition containing a dictionary of every designation in heraldry and a concise description of the several terms used.

Parsifal and Tristan und Isolde : The Stories of Richard Wagner's Dramas. Told in English by Randle Fynes and Louis N. Parker. (Smith Elder. Is. 6d. net.)

Scril: A Story of the Stone Age True for To-day, by Edward Willmore. (Longmans. Is. net.)

Gypsy Coppersmiths in Liverpool and Birkenhead, by Andreas (Mui Shuzo). Illustrated. (Liverpool: Henry Young. Is. net.) Old Magdalen Days, 1847-1877, by A Former Chorister. (Oxford: Blackwell. Is. net.) Apostolic Fallibility, evidenced from an examination of the record known as "The Acts of the Apostles," by S. H. Halford. (Northampton Press. Is.)

France Britannia: The Official Organ of the Franco-British Travel Union. Congress Number. (6d.)

Kikuyu, or "A House Divided," by Father Bernard Vaughan. (Burns and Oates. Id.)

REPRINTS AND CHEAP ISSUES The Twins of Suffering Creek, by Ridgwell Cullum. (Chapman and Emile Gebhart's Autour d'Une Tiare. (Dent. Is. net.) Hall. 2s. net.)

Is the latest volume in Messrs. Dent's Collection Gallia, edited by Charles Sarolea.

MAGAZINES AND REVIEWS Gypsy and Folklore Gazette, 5s.; The Candid Quarterly Review, 5s.; National Review, 2s. 6d. ; United Service Magazine, 25. ; Empire Review, Is.; Financial Review of Reviews, Is. ; Atlantic Monthly, 1s.; The Journal of English Studies, Is. ; Munsey, 6d.

HOME AND
AND COLONIAL STORES.

The nineteenth Ordinary General Meeting of the shareholders of the Home and Colonial Stores, Ltd., was held yesterday at 2 and 4 Paul Street, Finsbury, E.C., Mr. W. Capel Slaughter, Chairman of the Company, presiding.

The Assistant-Secretary (Mr. G. J. Faro) having read the notice calling the meeting and the report of the auditors,

The Su^scription List will close on or before TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10th, 1914.

as the balance-sheet showed, the depreciation of your investments amounted to £31,206, your directors recommended that, on account of that depreciation which had taken place in the restricted investments in which at that time we were authorised by your Articles of Association to invest your reserve funds, you should extend the range of investment, and you concurred in this, and sanctioned some changes in the Articles of Association last year to give us that authority. We proceeded to act upon the authority to sell the old investments and to invest in the new securities, and that has been completely carried out, but the process has involved the realisation of the deficiency caused by the depreciation of the old securities, and they were sold at a price of £33,802 10s. 1d. less than what they stood in the books of the Company on the 28th December, 1912. This £33,802 10s. 1d. has been completely written off out of the reserve fund I last mentioned, and which you will recollect was, by the addition made this year, increased to £35,854 10s. 1d. If you deduct from this the £33,802 10s. 1d. of depreciation that reserve fund is still left with a credit of £2,052, and this, with the amount of our other reserve funds, brings up the total of our reserves to £270,836, which is more than represented by solid sovereigns, and with all depreciation written off and provided for. But this is not all, because I am glad to be able to tell you-as, indeed, our report states-that the prices at which the new investments were acquired are materially below those ruling to-day, and although the appreciation in their value on the 27th December, 1913, was not so great as it is to-day, that appreciation as recently as Tuesday amounted to about £5,000. While we are careful to frame the new articles so as to give the equivalent security, as well as a more extended range of investment, the new investments, although purchased well on in the year, have already yielded an interest of no less than £1,718 more than the old investments. Turning again to the balance sheet, you will see that we have a loan from our bankers of £75,000, because we do not hesitate when opportunity for us to buy well arises to avail ourselves of our splendid credit, and that is the reason why you see "loan from bankers" on the balance sheet. On the other hand, our stock in hand this year amounts to a considerable total, namely, £728,181, which is larger by £101,171 than it was last year. By this time, however, a large proportion of it has been realised at a profit, and our loan from the bank has already been reduced accordingly. In the third item on the credit side of the balance sheet you will find included with interest on dividends accrued, &c., the item of "loans and advances to subsidiary companies.' This item is a new ore. The amount is comparatively small, and I only mention it because if I did not do so it might lead to questions being asked. I think you will understand that if at this early stage we had thought it politic and prudent in the interests of the Company to say more about it, we should have done so, and dealt with it in our report. With these observations I have dealt with all special matters to which I ought to draw your attention on the accounts. It remains for us to congratulate the shareholders upon the success of the issue in the early part of last year of 27,000 out of 45,000 new Six per Cent. Cumulative Preference shares which the proprietors sanctioned at their meeting last year. In the month of February 1913 we offered these shares of £5 each to the Six per Cent. Preference shareholders of the Company at a premium of 5s. per share. These shares were all taken up and allotted, and I am glad to see by the Times of to-day that shares were dealt in at 5, so that not only have we the satisfaction of knowing that the shareholders who took up the shares have derived considerable benefit by their appreciation in market value, but we have the satisfaction also of knowing that the Six per Cent. Preference shares, which are our premier security, stand at a very satisfactory figure, having regard to the great depreciation in values to which, notwithstanding the recent rise to which I have alluded before, all securities have been subjected. At the annual general meeting at which this increase was sanctioned we were asked to place any premium which we realised to reserve, and that was assented to, and that is why I stated in the observations which I have already addressed to you on the subject of our reserve that the item of £5,504 balance of premium on share capital had been taken to the reserve account. There remains for me to mention the subject of our Articles of Association. Although the business of this Company is considerably older than the Company itself, our Company was formed over nineteen years ago, and during that period there have been no fewer than five Acts of Parliament passed in regard to joint-stock companies. In addition to that the capital account of our Company has undergone considerable increases and changes; the basis of our reserve fund has been altered, and it is only in the nature of things that with all these conditions spread over a period of twenty years our Articles of Association have become more than a little difficult and involved for the purpose of reference. We have, therefore, had our original Articles of Association, and the special resolutions which have been passed from time to time, and the effect of the legislation to which I have referred, blended into one clean print of new Articles of Association.

The report and accounts were adopted and the formal business transacted.

At an extraordinary general meeting the new Articles were adopted.

CHINESE IMPERIAL

GOVERNMENT

HONAN RAILWAY

per cent. (Gold) Loan of 1905 for £800,000 in Sterling Bonds of £100 each.

(Duly recognised by the Government of the Republic of China.)

This Loan was issued by authority of an Imperial Edict dated April 23rd, 1905, and officially communicated by the Wai Wu Pu to the British Minister at Peking, and is guaranteed, both as to principal and interest, by the direct obligation of the Government of China. It is specifically secured by a First charge upon the existing line of Railway from Taokow to Ching Hua in the Province of Honan, and its permanent way, rolling. stock and earnings.

Principal and interest free from Chinese imposts and taxes.

1

The

The whole of the above Loan was issued to The Pekin Syndicate, Limited. Bonds are to bearer in denominations of £100 each. The Loan is repayable by July 1st, 1935, by means of annual drawings at par, commencing in 1916 in accordance with the amortization table appearing below, the first repayment being made on July 1st, 1916.

The Loan Agreement provides that the Chinese Government shall not be at liberty before 1916 to augment the amount of the annual instalments for redemption, nor to repay the whole amount of the Loan, nor to convert the Loan but that after that date the Government may at any time repay the whole amount of the Loan at par. The Bonds carry interest at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum, payable January 1st and July 1st.

A full six months' coupon for £2 10s. per £100 will be payable on July 1st, 1914. The principal and interest will be payable at Lloyds Bank Limited, 72 Lombard

Street, E.C., in sterling.

Payment in full may be made on the date fixed for payment of the Allotment money, or on March 20th next, under discount at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum.

Interim Scrip Certificates will be issued in exchange for Allotment Letters on which the Allotment money has been paid, and the fully-paid Scrip Certificates will be exchangeable in due course for Definitive Bonds with interest coupons attached. Applications must be for amounts of Lico or multiples thereof.

The Bonds now offered for sale are provided for by a Loan Agreement, dated July 3rd, 1905, relating to the railway from Taokow to Ching Hua, the line forming a connection with the main line of the Pekin-Hankow Railway, and by letters of July 1st and 2nd, 1995, respectively. The line, which is about 92 miles in length and traverses a thickly populated district, has been running since its completion in the year 1905.

The Bonds were issued pursuant to the said Loan Agreement of July 3rd, 1995, made between the Director-General of Railways, duly authorised by the Imperial Government of China, and George Jamieson, Esq., C.M.G., Agent-General of The Pekin Syndicate, Limited, on behalf of the Syndicate, and the said letters of July 1st and 2nd, 1905, to and from the same parties.

Payment of interest and repayment of the Bonds is by the Loan Agreement guaran. teed upon the general revenue of the Chinese Government, ani, in addition, the net earnings of the Railway, after payment of the ordinary working expenses, are made specially applicable for payment of interest and repayment of the Bonds, the Agreement creating in favour of the Bonds a First Mortgage over the line from Taokow to Ching Hua, its permanent way, rolling-stock and earnings.

1916, in accordance with the following Amortization Table :Drawings of the Bonds at par will take place annually in London, commencing in

Year.

...

Amount

Amount Repaid. £

1924

1925 1927 1928 1929 1930

Year. Repaid. £ 39.500 41,400 43.400

1916 24,200 1917 25,400 1918 26.700 28.000

1920

...

29,300

35,800 1925 37.600

...

47,900

1933

... 55,400

1934 58,300 61,100

1935

1919 bearing a Broker's stamp. A Brokerage of per cent. will be paid on all allotments made or applications

Application will be made to the Stock Exchange, London, for a special settlement in and an official quotation of the Bonds.

lodged with Lloyds Bank Limited, Lombard Street, E. C., or Branches, accompanied by

Applications for purchase of the Bonds must be made on the enclosed form and

the necessary deposit. Where no allotment is made the deposit will be returned in full. In the case of a partial allotment, the surplus deposit will be credited in reduction of the amount payable on allotment, and any balance will be returned.

Interest at 6 per cent. per annum will be charged on all instalments in arrear, and failure to pay any instalment when due will render all previous payments liable to forfeiture and the allotment to cancellation.

Copies of the Agreement of July 3rd, 1995, and of a further Agreement of the same date between the same parties, and of the letters of July 1st and 2nd, 1955, can be inspected at the offices of Messrs. Ashurst, Morris, Crisp and Co., 17 Throgmorton Avenue, E. C., of Messrs. Paines, Blyth and Huxtable, 14 St. Helen's Place, E.C., at any time during business hours whilst the List is open.

Prospectuses and Forms of Application can be obtained of Lloyds Bank Limited, Lombard Street, E. C., and Branches; of Messrs. Cohen, Laming, Goschen and Co., 14 Austin Friars, E.C.; of Messrs. Pershous, Strauss and Co., 3 Drapers' Gardens, E.C.; and at the offices of the Pekin Syndicate, Limited, 110 Cannon Street, E.C. London, February 6th, 1914. CHINESE LEGATION, LONDON, 49 PORTLAND PLACE, W. January 27th, 1914.

Dear Sir,

HONAN RAILWAY 5 PER CENT. GOLD Bonds. With reference to your enquiry I have much pleasure in informing you that the Government of the Republic of China has duly recognised the Chinese Imperial Government Honan Railway Five per cent. Gold Loan of 1905 as an obligation of the Loan, entered into in July, 1995, are binding. Government of the Republic, upon whom, therefore, the Agreements in relation to such

As a matter of fact, the Government of the Republic has regularly and punctually paid the Coupons of the Bonds as they have matured for payment. Faithfully yours,

FEB 28

No. 837. Vol. XXXIII.]

REGISTERED AS A NEWSPAPER,

WE

THE WEEK.

E deal fully with the Home Rule debate in our first leader. There is one aspect of it however which it is desirable to emphasise in every way possible. Interest is rightly centred upon Ulster. We say rightly, because on the treatment of Ulster hangs the decision whether there shall be a constitutional settlement of the crisis or resort to civil strife. It is a deplorable error however to hold that the only objection to Molly Maguire government is the Ulster question: that if the Unionist

counties could be excluded from the incidence of the Bill Mr. Redmond's demands could be safely granted. Yet this view is becoming more and more in evidence as the debate proceeds. We have given proof of our whole-hearted sympathy with the Loyalists of North-East Ireland, but we should consider it a gross act of treachery to limit our sympathies to that section. If all parties deserted her, Úlster is strong enough and determined enough to fight for herself. Not so the many thousands of Loyalists scattered throughout Nationalist Ireland. These have trusted just as confidently in the Unionist Party and in the sense of justice of the English people. Their claim is the stronger by reason of their weakness. If they are to be given to the tender mercies of the Ancient Order, better far for them that Ulster should be given too. They would have some chance of resisting oppression with the big solid phalanx in the north to support them: without this backing they could have none. They would be crushed out by an overwhelming majority alien in policy, creed, and interest. The inclusion of Ulster would mean civil war: the exclusion would mean a cowardly betrayal which would leave a more lasting stain upon the nation's honour.

WE are glad to see that the suggestion we put forward before Lord Murray's arrival has been adopted by the Unionist peers. Lord Ampthill's motion that a Select Committee of the House of Lords should be formed to investigate the ex-Chief Whip's financial dealings will be no doubt the most direct way of compelling a full explanation of those mysteries which a Coalition majority on the House of Commons Committee were so successful in maintaining. The composition of the new tribunal, for one thing, will be more even. There will be no Labour and Molly Maguire contingents to assist the Falconer-Booth combination in confusing the issues. The peers have a sense of responsibility. They have a great tradition to preserve. They have it in their power to reverse the judgment of

FIRST GLANCE AT NEW BOOKS

the Commons that a member of the Government may accept a benefit from a managing-director of a firm negotiating a State contract, and speculate in exclusive information obtained thereby-speculate moreover in a stock which is inseparably connected with the said contract, and must be favourably affected by the ratification of the latter. This verdict forms a precedent which the Upper Chamber cannot. afford to endorse. It strikes at the very root of clean government. It leaves a loophole of defence for all manner of political corruption. It permits a Minister of the Crown to do what a Civil servant may be degraded or dismissed for doing.

THE questions which Lord Murray may be called upon to answer are now familiar to him, as we assume he has Morning Post handed to him on his arrival. A very imporstudied the comprehensive list which a representative of the

for which he applied on behalf of the party funds. It has tant question is, whether he secured the number of shares for which he applied on behalf of the party funds. It has been stated that applicants were granted only about 15 per cent. of the shares they required, so that to obtain shares to the value of £9,000 Lord Murray must have asked for that he was let in on favoured terms. about £50,000 worth. Otherwise the only inference is This preference would of course put him still more under an obligation to Another point is, when the

a Government contractor.

Chief Whip first suspected Mr. Fenner's dealings with the party funds. The alleged irregularities occurred about July 1912, yet Mr. Fenner continued to do business until the following April. Then it will be interesting to know and of the "political account" at the Charing Cross branch why his successor was not informed of this transaction, of the National Bank. Also if the account is still open, and in whose name. Lord Murray was in England for two months after the Select Committee was sitting. The new Committee will certainly wish to know why he did not see fit to tender his evidence before retiring to far Bogota, and why he declined to furnish any sort of explanation when urgent messages were being sent to his retreat. The alteration in the wording of the resolution, " to inquire into certain charges and allegations made in the public Press," will admit of an examination of the statement that party funds were invested in Home Railways on the eve of the coal strike being settled, made by the National Review.

MEANWHILE the House of Commons has to deal with another illustration of the easy moral code the Coalition has imposed upon our political life. We have been getting