In reference to Irish University questions, Mr. A. F. Walbrook enabled me to utilise the following "mare's nest," which he superadds to a dozen others in the same communication : Why did not Mr. F. Hugh O'Donnell secure the services of Mr. Devlin and of his Order to prevent the carrying out long ago of that injustice to his beloved Queen's University of which he so bitterly complains in the columns of THE OUTLOOK?"

The egregiousness of the "mare's nest" discovered by Mr. A. F. Walbrook in this passage can be realised from the fact that the Queen's University in Ireland was abolished by the British Government when Mr. Devlin was a child of ten years of age, or thereabout. Even the power of Ancient Hibernians to control the British Government would possibly be ineffective at ten years of age.

How do I suggest that Mr. A. F. Walbrook's mare's nest can be "utilised"? Of course, in proving that Mr. A. F. Walbrook is hopelessly ignorant and reckless in his assertions about the recent, as well as the ancient, history of Ireland.

And allow me, Sir, briefly to protest in the strongest manner against Mr. Richard H. Glover's abominable libels on the late Mr. Parnell in his farrago of groundless assertions called the Labby Hoax. The assassination of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr. Burke was the direct work of Captain McCafferty, the chief of the Invincible conspiracy, who had the utmost contempt for the entire policy of Mr. Parnell, and whose murder of Lord Frederick Cavendish temporarily destroyed the agreement between Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Parnell-the so-called Kilmainham Compact-which Lord Frederick Cavendish had been specially chosen by Mr. Gladstone to carry out as Chief Secretary for Ireland in place of Mr. Forster. As I have explained in my History of the Irish Parliamentary Party, Captain McCafferty was the dreaded "Number One." Mr. Parnell's own life was in danger from the same knives which took the life of Mr. Gladstone's messenger of peace. Mr. Richard H. Glover's collection of mares' nests is already more portentous than the numerous contributions of Mr. A. F. Walbrook.-I am, Sir, yours, &c., F. HUGH O'DONNELL.

38 Tregunter Road, The Boltons, S.W.

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MR. ASQUITH'S "CONCESSION." [TO THE EDITOr of THE OUTLOOK."] SIR,-The terms proposed for the temporary exclusion of part of Ulster from the Home Rule scheme form another tricky move on the part of this trickiest of Governments. The tricks are these:

1. County boroughs to vote separately from the counties in which they are situate. The object of this is to hand over Londonderry City to the tender mercies of the Dublin Parliament. No doubt the Government hope that the same small majority which, at the recent by-election, returned a Protestant Home Ruler will, in a few months, vote the city into Home Rule, whereas the county will remain outside. This separation of the county and its capital city would create, one would think, a situation intolerable to both.

2. The Six Years' Exclusion Period.-It looks as if the Government think they are going to lose the next General Election, but hope that by the following one the pendulum will have swung in their favour again, so that at the end of the six years a Radical Parliament may be in a position to force the excluded counties under the heel of the Nationalists. What further tricks will be revealed when Mr. Asquith's proposals are put into the form of clauses to be inserted in the Bill, time will show. It is earnestly to be hoped that our leaders will not only refuse the concession now offered, but will also refuse to have any further negotiations with the Government. Parleying with Ministers who are not servants of their Sovereign, but of the dollar dictatorship, is worse than useless. I am, Sir, yours, &c., J. H. BARCLAY. Moseley, Birmingham.

TARIFF REFORM.

[TO THE EDITOR of THE OUTLOOK."] SIR,--Your correspondent Mr. McOmish Dott states "that the great majority of the Unionist M.P.s forced our leaders to drop the meagre food taxes." In this he is quite mistaken. To my certain knowledge tremendous pressure was put upon Mr. Bonar Law by big men in the Unionist Party to induce him to drop food duties (not taxes) and Imperial preference. The same men succeeded in creating a panic among the Tariff Reformers in the House of Commons. Mr. Bonar Law had a very bad chance, and, not being self

assertive, gave way because he believed that it was for the welfare of the country. If he had called a party meeting and taken a strong line his victory would have been complete, and we should have had a definite policy. So-called Free Trade is no doubt temporarily in favour of rich men, whose interests are bound up in keeping this country as a free dumping-ground for the whole of the rest of the world. On the other hand, the interests of our working people are bound up in Tariff Reform, in order that they may get regular employment and good wages for producing articles required in their own country. This is in reality their birthright, of which the misnamed Free Trade system deprives them.

Your correspondent gives us to understand that there is great difficulty in fixing the cost of production. Let me put it in this way. If the United Kingdom was dipped under the sea, there would be no market costing at least £300,000,000 a year to keep up. Outsiders would have no expensive British market to which they could send their surplus bounty-fed goods, free of charge, for the privilege of using it.

Our income is admittedly about £2,000,000,000 a year. Our Imperial and local taxation for keeping it up is at least £300,000,000 a year. Our own people therefore pay about £15 in rates and taxes on every £100 worth of goods which we produce. We let outsiders send in any number of millions of pounds worth of goods of the same sort as we produce, without paying anything towards the upkeep of the same market-our own. We are therefore giving outsiders an advantage or preference of £15 on every £100 worth on all the competing surplus bounty-fed goods which it suits them. to send into our own home market, for which we have to pay. Thus we are taxing our own people extra in order that outsiders should have the free use of our own home market without having anything to pay for its upkeep. I have put this argument in the House of Commons whenever I got the chance, and there has been no answer attempted. Professor Hewins, M.P., was put up to answer it at the annual Tariff Reform meeting last week, and his statement was though the principle was wrong, the argument was quite good, and that he had used it himself on the platform." As Mr. Hewins is an acknowledged expert on the Tariff question, could any argument be more contemptible? The taxes paid for the upkeep of a country have nothing to do with the wages

"that,

paid for women carrying water to wells, so that I hope your correspondent will explain in what way my argument in favour of British workers is wrong.—I am, Sir, yours, &c.,

ROWLAND HUNT.

SAMUEL PEPYS AND HIS JOURNEYS. [TO THE EDITOR OF THE OUTLOOK."] SIR,-The charming article in the current issue of THE OUTLOOK upon this subject serves to bring home to us what a mine of information the famous Diary affords, and the fact that Pepys, in his writings, is always able to vividly re-create for us the atmosphere and environment of the seventeenth century in this England of ours to a far greater degree than any other popular chronicler of those times.

One journey, not mentioned in your article, is that which he undertook, in August 1668, through this district: "Waked betimes," he writes, "and my wife, at an hour's warning, is resolved to go with me, which pleases me-her readiness. So over the water to Fox Hall; and there my wife and Deb (her maid) took me up, and we away to Gilford, losing our way for three or four miles about Cobham. At Gilford we four dined; and I showed them the hospital there of Bishop Abbot's, and his tomb in the church, which, and the rest of the tombs there, are kept mighty clean and neat with curtains before them. So to coach again, and go to Liphook, late over Hind Head, having an old man guide in the coach with us; but got thither with great fear of being out of our way, it being ten at night. Here good honest people, and after supper to bed." The Liphook inn at which they stoppedthe Royal Anchor-is still a flourishing hostelry.

In connection with Pepys' journey to Scheveningen and the Hague, in 1660, on the Restoration of Charles II, which is touched upon in your article, it may be mentioned that he tells us when on board the warship Nazeby he made merry with a supply of Margate ale, thoughtfully provided by a friend-a record of a popular Kentish product, the vogue of which still endures-more than two hundred and fifty years after.-I am, Sir, yours, &c., J. LANDFEAR Lucas, Spectacle-Makers' Company.

Glendora, Hindhead, Surrey.

THE CHURCH CRISIS.

[TO THE EDITOR OF "THE OUTLOOK."]

SIR, Mr. Boden's reply is so long separated from my last letter, and exigencies of space have prevented you printing a further one that I wrote, that I fear your readers will have lost all interest in the matter. My case was a sentence in your issue of January 10: The Dean of Durham protests against what he calls the Romanising tendency of the teaching and influence of certain bishops; but, as far as I am aware, he has never uttered one word of protest at the most notable and, for the nation, most terrible instance of Vatican influence, the Home Rule Bill." The Dean of

Durham "severely condemned the policy of drift" in his Christmas Day sermon. It is not a condemnation of the Home Rule Bill, but of the then present policy of drift,"

66

which is by no means the same thing. I fail to see either that my letter was misleading," since it stated a fact which nothing Mr. Boden has written disproves, or that he has “established " his fact. But if, for argument's sake, the sermon of protest is supposed to meet my point, I would ask your readers if it would not have been far more effective and useful if made when, or before, the Home Rule Bill was first laid on the table of the House? Spoken, then, from the pulpit of St. Margaret's, Westminster, it would have had more weight than now in the far-off pulpit of Durham Cathedral. But, had it been so spoken, would Canon Henson have become Dean of Durham? I think not. But, like so much of Unionist policy of late, I consider this protest too tardy to have any effect. (I do not even except the New Covenant, which would have been infinitely more effective and useful if signed at the moment our brethren of Ulster pledged themselves.) Mr. Boden has been at some pains to search out the names of bishops who have been deans. But I ask, Is not his list misleading, since it omits at least the number (names not being perhaps available) of those bishops during the same period who have not been deans? If these were given, my point would be, I believe, proved, that as a general rule deans do not become bishops. Like all tacitly accepted unwritten customs, it has exceptions; to quote the exceptions only is not to disprove the broad general statement I made. The percentage of deans that become bishops is relatively small. I do happen to know that Dean Henson's ambition when he was given the living of St. Margaret's, Westminster, was to become a bishop. I knew a man with whom he had been

at Oxford; and, knowing this, to see him state, just after he had gone to Durham, that bishops were not necessary to the Church, or words to that effect, when he had become independent of bishops, seemed to me in the worst possible taste. Granted Mr. Boden's argument, Dean Henson was the last man to utter it. Lord Halifax suggested a similar comment in his letter to the Times. Dean Henson, besides being a brilliant rhetorician, is also a logician. My position is this:

the laity are apathetic in this heresy-hunting crisis because the clergy have shown apathy and indifference. Mr. Boden

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calls it "suspended judgment" and the greatest triumph of intellectual discipline." If I wished to be flippantly cynical, I should translate this elegant phraseology-"Waiting to see which way the cat jumps." Now, the Church has care of the national morals in the broad sense. The greatest moral asset of the nation is its honour. If that is attacked or impaired it is the Church's duty, by her rulers and leaders, to protest, and urge her followers to protest. It is notorious throughout the civilised world that the Marconi scandal did impair the nation's honour. Therefore the Church's leaders, among them Dean Henson, failed in their duty, as they made no protest.-I am, Sir, yours, &c., : X. Q. P.

Some said that the brighter outlook for Ulster had something to do with it. This was hardly the case. The City all along has shut its eyes to the prospects of civil war. On Tuesday it interpreted Mr. Asquith's offer to mean that more was to come —that Ulster, in fact, by standing out would obtain what it wanted. But the real cause of the rise was the over-sold condition of markets and the substantial "bear" account. These conditions frightened operators for the fall. little or no investment business to assist markets. Here it is that Ulster blocks the way. Hence the fall in market prices at the end of the week was easily brought about.

THE CONSOLS POSITION.

But there was

The "bears beginning to fidget, many on the Stock Exchange jumped to the conclusion, on the strength of the Prime Minister's speech with reference to Ulster, that risk of civil commotion could be relegated to the background; and on the strength of this optimism Consols rose without a break, improving, later on, still further. The whole of the gilt-edged market sympathised; and although the full extent of the gain was not maintained, Consols are now a better market than they have been for some time past.

Once more the hopes of the "bulls' are fixed upon cheaper money. And that there is still a "bull" account in Consols there can be little doubt. In all probability a good many of those who had been speculating on the long side, cut their losses in dudgeon and disgust; but many others are left nursing the baby, and these are of the hardier kind—content, if necessary, to pay out differences and to hang on until blue sky comes into view again, which it is expected to do after the turn of the present month or, at the latest, "after Easter," as the House

has it.

Heavier losses than profits have been incurred by the general public over speculations in Consols. The jobbers made money, naturally, although every now and then they got hit badly by being caught out of stock which they were unable to replace except at substantial loss. It must be remembered that at the end of January the market looked good enough to run for at least another month or so; and the majority of jobbers, when they sold stock, elected to get it back as quickly as possible. Maybe they bought a little extra in addition, so that they themselves are also nursing "bull" positions.

Cheap money, however, is the panacea to which the Stock Exchange faith is so firmly fastened that if it fails to materialise the outlook will be the reverse of pleasant. The optimists may casily have forgotten gold withdrawal possibilities.

A LESSON IN FINANCE.

Whatever else we may bring by way of accusation against our Home railways we shall not accuse the directorates of cooking accounts in order to make their position appear more favourable than it is. Nor shall we accuse them nowadays, as a whole, of inattention to sound principles of finance and building up of reserves, nor of failing to attend properly to depreciation. The recently published railway reports have shown that our leading railways are in a strong position. Take the case of the Midland. It has depreciation funds of nearly £3,000,000, insurance funds nearly £500,000, general reserves of over £1,000,000, and other reserves nearly £150,000—say, over £4,600,000 in all. The London and North-Western has a grand total of over £3,000,000; the Great Western about the same; the NorthEastern over 2,600,000. The position of our "heavy" lines is thus remarkable. Among the others the Great Eastern has pride of place, its total of all kinds exceeding £1,250,000. In fact, almost all through the list there are some striking figures.

We do not appear to be in danger of unpleasant surprises as regards leading roads, such as was seen a week or so ago in the United States. There the Interstate Commerce Commission in the matter of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul accused those responsible of overstating the income of the Puget Sound

Railroad, the officers of the latter being declared to have used the overstatements for the purpose of selling bonds! This is really disastrous. If such a charge were levelled at a leading English company we can imagine the commotion. True, it has been officially denied, but the accusation throws suspicion, probably quite undeserved, upon American railroad methods as a whole. Then there was the case of the Chesapeake and Ohio. This was not a matter of ill-faith, but of management methods. When the company had to make a bond issue the other day it was forced to agree to set aside large sums each year for the five years' duration of the issue to capital account! In other words, the company could not have looked properly after its financial position, or such a course would not have been necessary. Here then are contrasts on which we can look with some satisfaction as regards British methods. We hope that the British boards will continue to follow the lines which they are at present pursuing.

AMERICAN RAILS AS INVESTMENTS.

Jobbers in the American market deplore the recent slump in Chesapeakes, and still more the points mentioned above which led to it, as being likely to frighten away completely the British investor from American Railroad shares. It is long since that investor has shown any marked partiality, or even taste, for such securities. In fact, it may be said that the market as an investment field has been almost boycotted.

Wall Street, however, has found new customers in Amsterdam, Berlin, and in certain of the French towns. The experiences of clients in these localities can scarcely be said to have encouraged much confidence in the American market, since the Continent has been fed with things like Rock Islands, Missouris, and Chesapeakes themselves.

The Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul matter too-and London, at any rate, has for many years past regarded these as one of the principal investment securities of the United Statesis simply disastrous, although the president of the road was able to clear the undertaking itself from actual scandal.

How American Rails pay at the present time is worth noting by means of a table. Most of the high-priced shares have been falling lately. In the case of Milwaukee, for instance—to quote the same company again—its common shares fell from 109 to 98, the subsequent recovery by no means wiping out all the previous drop. Leaving out the purely speculative stocks, this is a representative list of American investment shares, with the dividends and the yields in each case:

It is more than likely that the great Paulista company will take a prominent part in the reorganisation scheme. All three lines, which are metre gauge, link up with the Paulista's Rio Claro metre-gauge section at various points and could very conveniently be worked by the larger system. No doubt a good deal of money would have to be spent to bring them into proper condition, but the Paulista's credit is excellent and there is no reason to suppose that the funds would not be readily forthcoming.

If the Paulista management took the three railways in hand and vigorously developed the traffic it would be a good thing for the San Paulo Railway, which is of course a British concern, secing that all the Paulista traffic down to Santos has to be carried over the San Paulo.

ARGENTINE CROPS AND A MAIZE WORM.

It is still too early to give any definite figures in regard to the Argentine maize crop, which is already being cut in the north; but the news that comes to hand from day to day goes to show that in all parts of the Republic it will be a bumper output.

the increased area under cultivation-although that is considerThe remarkable feature of the maize this year is not so much the increased area under cultivation-although that is considerable-but the splendid quality; and so fine are the heads that the yield per plant will in many districts be nearly double that of last year's crop. This is good news for the railways. We hear that the maize cultivation is steadily spreading westward, and especially is this noticeable on the Buenos Ayres and Pacific

system.

As regards the zones served by the southern lines, which will not be carrying the crop for several weeks yet, we hear that the earlier-sown maize is looking perfect, but in the later-sown crop in a few districts a worm has made its appearance which has hitherto only been found in linseed. The damage, however, is not thought to amount to much.

decreases now shown by the Argentine railways as the result of It certainly looks as if a fair proportion of the big traffic end of the financial year on June 30, especially as the maize crop the failure of the wheat harvest will be wiped off before the is in many parts of Argentina at least a fortnight earlier than

usual.

To this list might be added, as supplements, such shares as Southern Pacific, receiving 6 per cent. dividends and standing at 961; Baltimores, also getting 6 per cent., and quoted at 90; Union Pacific, now in receipt of 10 per cent., at about 161; and United States Steel Corporation, whose quarterly dividends of 1 per cent. make the yield at 651 come to over 7 per cent. on the money. These last, however, are of course speculative. When the "bear operator in New York wants to bang markets, he sets in circulation rumours that the dividends on high-priced shares are going to be reduced; but so far as can be assumed from the latest batch of reports from the American railroad companies, there is no great fear of a shrinkage in the cases of the best-class undertakings. Nevertheless the broker finds that his investing clients are extremely chary of buying Yankees.

THE BRAZILIAN RAILWAY TROUBLES.

It is satisfactory to know that British investors are not directly interested in the three Brazilian railways, the San Paulo and Goyaz, the Dourado, and the Araraquara, which a week ago went into liquidation. French and Brazilian investors will be the chief losers, but a scheme is on hand to resuscitate the concerns.

All three lines serve important coffee districts to the north of the State of Sao Paulo, the Sao Paulo and Goyaz operating immediately to the south of the Rio Grande, which divides the State from Minas Geraes. No doubt the coffee depression has hit the unfortunate railways very hard, and they have never been in a flourishing state either physically or financially.

NITRATE POSITION IMPROVING.

'As was anticipated, the nitrate position has improved in decided fashion. There is now a strong statistical position, thanks to the heavy reduction in the visible supplies, which at 915,000 tons are 55,000 tons lower than was the case a year ago. The deliveries in Europe have been largely in excess of the arrivals at the ports. The position is thus strong, and although the period of restriction of supplies has ended, the market seems to be in strong circumstances to face the future. Of course we may see increasing output and increasing shipments, and these may upset calculations. But at present the demand is good, and seems equal to tackling the supplies, so that nitrate shareholders have nothing to complain about.

STOCK EXCHANGE DOMESTICITIES.

A broker of venerable aspect watched a young man filling up one of the official Stock Exchange forms that have to be sent in by every member who desires to be re-elected. At the end of the operation the young man signed his name with a flourish, turned to his senior, and said triumphantly, "That's done." Whereat the sage lifted up his eyebrows, and inquired "Why waste your money?

The question is characteristic of much of the current talk in the Stock Exchange nowadays. Having regard to the keen disappointment which they have experienced by reason of business falling away so completely after the January spurt, members are asking themselves whether it is worth while to stick to their last. Within a month from now they will be called upon to pay subscription of thirty guineas or forty guineas, as the case may be-according to the year in which they became members; and while this is not an exorbitant sum in good times, in days of dulness it is a noticeable item in the expenses.

their

The Committee are strongly blamed for having introduced an official scale of commission, which, according to many members of the House, has had the direct effect of driving away business. These malcontents, vowing vengeance, say that they will put forward a Committee of their own to contest the election which takes place next Friday. Meanwhile it is very noticeable how small a number of new candidates are presenting themselves for election in respect of the coming twelvemonth. Resignations will certainly outnumber new candidatures to a large extent, unless the latter make a spurt. Proprietors of the Stock Exchange are not likely to grow fat upon the entrance fees promised up to the present in respect of the year 1914-15, and the House brings its financial twelvemonth to a close with the feeling that it is the worst which many members have suffered during their experience of business life.

FINANCIAL JOTTINGS.

Messrs. J. P. Morgan and Co. are interested to some extent in the new Greek loan, and will receive subscriptions for it in New York. There is no doubt the sooner this and one or two other big loans are out of the way the better it will be for Paris conditions. If they are taken up, it will do much towards restoring public confidence in France.

The Mexico City default is unpleasant, because it is virtually a Mexican Government default. Nevertheless, bad though the conditions are, holders of securities concerned with Mexico are best advised to stick to their holdings.

The three Brazilian railways which failed a week ago are, as we note, being taken over by a syndicate connected with the Paulista group, and in the Paulista, it will be recalled, the Farquhar group is interested.

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takes place. To meet liabilities of £818,500 assets worth merely £87,400 are put up! A deficiency, therefore, of £731,000. It is not surprising that another firm was adversely affected. There can be little doubt that trading conditions in Brazil are far from satisfactory, and this failure may be merely one of several. The fall in Brazilian exchange, threatening gold exports, is an ugly feature.

The incursion of the London City and Midland Bank interests into the Russian company world is not a new thing. For a long time past Sir E. Holden has interested himself in Russia and its possibilities, and he doubtless intends to impress these possibilities on the British public. If we remember aright, Mr. C. Bird Crisp's first introduction into Russia was as an envoy of Sir E. Holden. Since then he has struck out in Russian business for himself.

The withdrawals of gold for Argentina gave an unpleasant shock to the markets, and caused some revision of earlier expectations as regards the monetary outlook. None the less this gold movement was natural enough. It was in connection with the coming record maize crop, now in fact being harvested in some of the northern portions of Argentina. It was not at all unexpected, or should not have been, for it had been discussed for some time past.

At the beginning of last week there were uneasy rumours about the progress of the Cam and Motor crushings. On it much depended for the Rhodesian market. It was said, indeed, early last week that certain London firms had received definite news of poor extraction results. But later more optimistic news circulated. This week again there have been pessimistic rumours. And now a poor result is published, but the figures are too vague to give adequate information, there having been' some mutilations in the cablegram, necessitating further inquiries by the board.

Openly declared hostility to the big London electric-lighting centralisation scheme on the part of the electric-lighting companies will prove a serious obstacle to success. The basis of the scheme has been denounced by the chairman of the Metropolitan Company. Mr. Fladgate last week asked for the data to be made public and also for a declaration of the proposed promotion profits. These are the two rocks which present the worst obstacles.

The rival London electric-lighting schemes give piquancy to the situation. The London companies have decided to oppose the scheme put forward by the interests at the back of the City and County of London companies. Meantime the Westminster, the St. James's, and the Charing Cross companies, and perhaps the Metropolitan, are said to favour another. The County Council is moving, and it is not likely to favour a scheme which provides very heavy promotion profits if another can be devised that will give 'cheap light and power without them. The future of the rival' schemes will be very interesting for Londoners and the financial world generally.

Talk of trouble in the coal trade is naturally a serious matter for many interests, and developments will be closely watched. The trouble arises over the interpretation put upon Sir E. Clarke's award by the masters as regards the Yorkshire miners' advances. There is threatening of trouble as a result, not only in Yorkshire but over a wider area.

The oil-share market is as good as any in the House. It shows resisting power. And it seems likely to be one of the first to show speculative revival, given a chance.

Buying of the best rubber shares is still noticeable in fairly good quarters. The recent rubber auctions have doubtless assisted the tendency. The total catalogued was a record, at nearly 1,350 tons. There was a good demand, and prices were well maintained, any little hesitancy shown at the beginning of the sales quickly disappearing. Certainly the sales seemed to show that trading interests were none too plentifully supplied.

The success of the Lever Brothers' issue was distinctly a triumph. However great the company may be and however well known, it is something in these times to be able to place an industrial issue entirely successfully.