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OUR LONDON LETTER.1

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OUR LONDON LETTER. 1 [From OUT Special Correspondent.] i London. Peace has been signed. The war is actlio ally as well as technically over. From first to lasi Germany'^ perfidy has cost the world little :urt of lave years of conflict and deso- lation. This is a time for rejoicing. It is also a time in which good citizens privately and publicly should make acts of faith in peace. The world is not merely weary of war, it has come to understand the waste and horror of it as men have never under- stood them before. Everywhere among free men there is an cariiest desire, which should become an invincible determination, that I the world shall never again be scourged by such bloody conflicts as those through which we have passed. However difficult it may be, we must now make an effort to appre- hend the necessities of peace not less thoroughly than we gave ourselves to mas- tering the needis of war. The dispositions of war-time must not be carried over into the time of peace. With the signing of the Peace Treaty it has become an obligation on all the parties to it-on the Allies and on those who were eur enemies—to make that Treaty a reality, so that out of it there may grow a new world order in which Reason shall be solidly established in the place so long held by Force in the councils of the nations. This generation will hardly be able to justify itself at the bay of history if it does not now devote itself resolutely to the working out of that salva- tion of the nations from war which it has spent so much blood and treasure to attain. PARLIAMENT REASSEMBLES. "The House met," to quote the official Parliamentary Debates, "after the adjourn- ment on the 6th of June for the Whitsun- tide Recess, at a quarter before three of the clock, Mr. Speaker in the chair," on June 24. After a pretty heavy question list had been got through the House went into Committee of Supply, and listened to a very remarkable speech from Mr. Kellaway, who moved the vote for the Ministry of Muni- tions. I think it wa.s Dr. Addison who de- scribed the orig-in and development of that Ministry as a romance, and certaiiilv tne more one hears of its extraordinary achieve- ments the less one is inclined to quarrel with such a description of it. Mr. Kplb. ay, who sits for Bedford, has made a great impression on the House during the war, and his speech as Deputy Minister of Muni- tions on this occasion was his greatest Parliamentary effort, and earned for him general congratulations. I cannot quote here anv of the statistical information which Mr. Kellawav gave to the House, but there is no doubt he expressed the common view when he said that the war proved that when we are brought face to face with threat to our liberty there is no limit of human effort beyond the capacity of British in- dustry. NATIONALISATION. I Too much attention ought not to be paid to suggestions now being made about poli- tical movementvs against the adoption of Mr. Justice Sankey's recommendations. Talk of a possible political crisis is, I find, dis- counted in all responsible quarters. Prob- ably the wish is father to the thought in the minds of many of those who suggest such a development. There is ,no doubt that men of all parties are not of one mind on this matter. But there never was a question in considering which it was more necessary to put the interests of the nation before those of political association and sectional prejudices. There will be plenty of denunciation of one side in this controversy bv the other during the weeks that are ahead. Probablv nationalisation would not lead us to the industrial El Dorado predicted bv some of its advocates. It is equally pio li- able that it would not prove "the end of all things," as is asserted by some of its oppo- nents. The business of the Government and of sober citizens is not to ta,ke sides as be- tween these verv vocal partisans, but to seek a wav out which shall be best in the interests of the whole community. There is little doubt that such a way out will be f( nd without any such political crisis as is now being suggested. THE WOOLLEN TRADE. I I hear of an interesting suggestion which, if it is adopted, will do something to re- lieve the strained situation with regard to woollens. At present the public is angry at high prices and short supplies, charges of profiteering ag-ainst spinners and manufac- turers are common, and, in this, as in most trades, the workpeople are wanting more wages. Some arrangement is needed where- by the consuming public could obtain some benefit from the Government wool contracts and the issue of wool at reasonably fixed prices. To re-impose the Standard Clothing Scheme is considered undesirable. It is, therefore, suggested that the worsted trade, top-makers, spinners, and manufacturers, combers and dyers should voluntarily com- bine to convert a definite portion of the wool released by the Government at fixed prices into a serviceable type of cloth, stan- dardised in quality and weight, and suit- able for men's and women's war. This mighsfc be called "Victory Cloth," and its production would be calculated to greatly ease the present unsatisfactory conditions in this trade. It will be interesting to see whether anything comes of this sensible suggestion. I WArt MEMORIALS. I A good deal of discussion is going on just now as to the best form which wai memorials can take. Memorials are con- templated by towns, parishes, schools, and numerous organisations to those associated with them. Generally speaking, I think there is much to be said for the view that civic memorials should take a useful and practical rather than an ornamental shape. For smaller memorials I have not heard of a better plan than that which has been adopted by the well-known Latymer Upper School, Hammersmith. It intends to raise a Memorial to those of its Old Scholars who have fallen in the war. and is fortu- nate in 1 eing able to count on the assist- ance of Mr. Frank Brangwyn, R.A., who is a Governor of the School, in the designing of the Memorial Tablets which it is pro- posed to erect in the School Hall. This ensures that the Memorial will be worthy of the School's record which is a fine one. Thirteen hundred of its old scholars are known to have served during the war; one hundred and llinety-eig-ht made the great sacrifice. It is the youthful who fall in war-time, men whom it would seem have had no time or chance to bring their names to public notice, but it is remarkable to notice in the list of fallen men how many names appear whose fame—more notably, of course, in the world cf sport—had passed bevond the barriers of local reputation. The school wishes to keep their memories green. DUBLIN'S Boss." I A remarkable figure has passed trom the business and political life of these islands by the death, which took place in Dublin the other day, of William Martin Murphy. A Cork man, Murphy early began big business undertakings. He had large railway and tramway interests in Great Britain and Ireland, on the Gold Coast, and elsewhere. Also he had numerous concerns in Dublin, and his paper, the "Iri^h Independent," wielded under him great influence. A Nationalist, who at one time was in Parlia- ment, Murphy was rather a dark horse in Irish politics. He was one of the many examples of the combination of extreme nationalism with a conservative, not to say reactionary, outlook on domestic politics. It was the great Dublin strike that made him the best-hated man in Ireland. He stood up t to Larkin and Connolly, and, in the end, beat them. Even Ireland has never seen more misery and terror than that strike brought to Dublin. But the indescribable agony of the Dublin poor did not move Martin Murphy. Privately he was a charit- able man, but against the syndicalist, move- ment of the Irish Transport Workers he was adamant. As I have said he broke down the strike. As an inrlustri:d "boss" )..rurphy had a giant's strength—and used it like a giant.

OUR SHORT STORY.I

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EPITOME OF NEWS. I

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I CHILDREN WITNESS SUICIDE.…

I DUAL TRAGEDY AT ROCHESTER.J

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ICLUB WINDOW. I

FUN AND FANCY.

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