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OUR LONDON LETTER.

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OUR LONDON LETTER. [From Our Special Correspondent] When Parliament reassembles, not mucli is likely to be heard of new legislation There is some speculation as to what steps if any, the Government will take witi regard to the Plural Voting Bill, which ha; already been passed twice in consecutive sessions, and would in the ordinary TO 'have been dealt with by the Commons foi the third time this year, and sent to thE House of Lords to become law under the provisions of the Parliament Act if the Peers rejected it, as they certainly woulc have done. Whether this course will be followed in the present state of affairs re- mains to be seen. Apart from this, the House of Commons will chiefly be occupied in voting the necessary supplies and passing such further measures as may be considered necessary with the country at war. It i: certain that strong representations will bE made to the Government with regard to the great increase in food prices and in the cost of certain commodities, such as coal. Thi, is largely due to the extraordinary rise in shipowners' charges, and there is a strong and growing body of opinion in favour ol Government intervention in the matter. Another question which is being discussed is as to the action which the Government will take with regard to a General Election. By the Parliament Act the life of a Parlia- ment is limited to five years, and as the pre- sent House of Commons was elected in- 1910 its term would, under ordinary circum- stances, come to an end this year. A General Election of the usual kind, however, with the country divided into parties, is un- thinkable under present conditions, and there is probably not a single member of the House of Commons who desires that such a contest should take place. The five- year life of a Parliament, however, is statu- tory, and no doubt the Government has a plan for dealing with the situation. In political circles it is freely 6tated that the terms cf the Parliament Act will be com- plied with, and that the present Parliament shall be formally dissolved this year; in which case the election would be only formal al.so, the present members being again returned. The Parliament, so elected, would last only till the close of the war, when a new election would take place in the usual way. The consent of the leaders of the Opj)osition would be necessary before this plan could he adopted. While many people are still sceptical re- garding the likelihood of a Zeppelin attack upon London, the raid upon Norfolk liae- made it seem less improbable than before. Instructions to the people as to what to dc in such an event have been issued by the authorities, and headmasters and head- mistresses of schools have received sugges- tions as to the precautions to be taken if the Zeppelins come during school hours. The desirability of consultation and a com- mon plan of action for such an emergency is urged. The children themselves are keenly interected in the whole business, and I am told that in some schools a "Zeppelin drill" has already been introduced. There is. I understand, some disappointment among the youngsters at the order that if an air raid should take place they are to be kept within the school buildings at theii ordinary work, and on no account to be allowed near the windows. It is pretty cer- tain that in the event of a raid there would be a rush for the stations of the under- ground railways, which may perhaps be re- garded as bomb-proof shelters. As a pro- tection and an aid to the public in such a case wooden barriers are being placed on the stairs to minimise the danger of injury in the case of a rush of people downstairs. In the earlier months of the war these papers that brought out special war editions on Sunday evenings often had important news. For some time, however, there has not been anything worth printing in a special edition, and the evening war bulle- tins have consisted only of a more or less judicious compilation of the morning's news. The papers had something on Sun- day, however, and not long after the an- nouncement by the Admiralty of the North Sea victory the newsboys were running through the streets shouting the glad tid- ings at the full pitch of their voices. The streets are not as a rule crowded on Sun- day nights in these days of lowered lights, but here and there crowds were gathered. The news passed rapidly from lip to lip, and people cheered excitedly. The newsboys soon sold out, and papers were hurriedly read and handed on to others, GO that all might learn what had happened. In con- .,cert halls and picture theatres the perform- ances were stopped so that the announce- ment could be made. Everywhere it was "the most popular item in the programme, and reading of the official message was lhailcd with enthusiastic cheers and the sing- ing of the National Anthem. Altogether it was a Sunday night London will remember. The early closing of hotels, restaurants. and other licensed houses has resulted in a large addition to the number of night clubs in London, which were sufficiently numerous even before the war. Something like one hundred and fifty of these clubs are in ful" swing every night in the Soho district. According to the promoters, these clubs only exist for the purpose of providing inno- cent recreation and gaiety for those people who do not like going home early. They can have a supper and a dance or a game of cards at a night club, and take a taxi home two or three hours after midnight. Stories are being told, however, about some of these clubs, and if there is anything in the stories they are not all places of innocent amuse ment. One hears of young officers, home from the front on leave,- or expecting shortly to go to the front, being victimised by gangs of rascally confederates. There are tales of cheating at cards, of loaded dice and all the other things which have been used from time immemorial in the greal game "of Rook v. Pigeon. The night club? are liable to frequent inspection by the authorities, who have power to close any oi them if they consider such a course justi- fied. It is understood that the advisability of such action is being carefully considered. In nine years the number of street acci- dents in London in a year has more than doubled, while during the same period the number of persons killed in a year in such accidents has been more than quadrupled. This alarming increase is, of course, due to the increase in the number of power-driven Vehicles, which during 1913 caused 2,000 more accidents than in the previous year. As a whole, it appears from the report of the London Traffic Branch of the Board of Trade, power-driven vehicles are twice as dangerous as horse-drawn vehicles. The most terrible death-dealer of all is the motor-'bus, which has killed 556 people in four years. The danger of these vehicles has, however, largely decreased in propor- tion to the work done. There is no doubt, says the report, that the fitting of the side wheelguard has had a very beneficial effect in checking the number of accidents. A. E. M.

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BRITISH AIRMEN DROP BOMBS…

THE POST AT THE FRONT. I

WOOLLENS IN WAR. I

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??9 ? if ?V nit% ?)'? Ij®-*

I FOOTBALL AND THE WAR. J

ILFORD TRAIN SMASH. I

THREE TRAINS IN COLLISION…

GUILTY BUT INSANE. I

ICHILD'S THREATENING POSTCARDS.…

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aAh MD MD M, , .-.)""I.

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OUR CHILDREN'S CORNER.

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