The Pontypridd Chronicle and Workman's News

LORD G. HAMILTON ON NAVAL AFF A TRS. Lord George Hamilton, M.V., First Lord of the Ad- miralty, presided at the 57th anniversary meeting of the lioval United Service Institution. In reply to a vote of thanks for talcing the chair, his lordship said he was most struck, in looking ovrr the notes of the papers which had been read and discussed by the members of the Institution during the past year, by their great variety. There was one great distinction, however, between the papers on arr\y and navy subjects. The majority of the army papers were based upon practical experience in the field, but the naval papers were to a huge extent, theo- retical, and it must necessarily be so. During the past twenty-five years nearly all the great military I'owers had been enga^t-d in war, and military men had greatly beneiitvd by the experience of those operations. No naval warfare had to any extent happened for a very long period, and he doubted whether they could get six gie.t naval officers of the present day to Pgnv as to the condi- tions of modern naval warfare. The m:nll"a.du:e of munitions of war had now become a remunerative business, both in this country and abroad, and large establishments were prepared to supply any nation with the newest gun or weapon of precision, but all these establishments traded for commercial profit, and although, for the sake of their reputation, they would not foist upon a Government a bail article, yet he thought it desirable that the advantages of a weapon should not only be discussed by the Ad- miralty or the War Office, but by an it dependent tri- bunal such as the United Service Institution. It was most advisable that they should anticipate the out- break of war by perfecting their organisation before- hand. This institution was oil,, of the few platforms upon which all could meet on equal terms to discuss these questions, and if anything were to happen which in any way impaired its efficiency, he thought it would be an irreparable loss. (Hear. hear.) The Naval Estimates were not out yet, bill if he might be permitted he would like the result cf their labours during the last eighteen months at the Admiralty to be read before the members of the institution." It was a paper pointing out the absolute necessity of keeping the bottom of ships clean, as no matter how powerful the engines, how excelient the lines on which the vessel was built, her efficiency was considerably impaired if her hull were coated wi h birnacles. So with the Admiralty. Although tlx y h id made reduc- tions in the navy estimates they were mainly due to the somewhat prosaic work of cleaning the bottom of naval expenditure. (Hear, hear.) They had been endeavouring to remove all the extraneous growth oi past years, which he thought would not have accu- mulated if the bottom of naval expenditure had been more frequently overhauled in years gone by. So far as actual efficiency of the navy was concerned, he must say that, in every essential, they made larger provisions than had been the case before. (Hear, hear.)

A LETTER FROM MR. GLADSTONE. Mr. Gladstone has sent the following reply to the address in favour of Home Rule presented to him, signed by clergymen of the Church of England My dear Mr. Dean,-I have had the honour to receive the letter addressed to me by a body of more than 250 clergymen of the Church of England, who in it have strongly expressed their approval of the policy of Home Rule for Ireland. I rejoice to perceive in this list so many names, besides your own, distinguished for sound judgment and wide practical experience, for learning and ability, for self-denying and devoted service. Other names are known to me of dis- tinguished men who, without concurring in every phrase of this letter, agree heartily in its cardinal proposition; or who, having no scruple as to any of its expressions, now shrink from exposing themselves and their families, at the work they have in hand, to the consequences of a public declaration of this kind; consequences known to me in more than one painful instance. I entertain a lively hope that reflection and further information as to many odious proceedings now carried on in Ireland, and thinly covered (as has, for centuries, been an esta blished practice) by the de- secrated names of law and order, will greatly widen among the Established clwrgy, as they have already so much widened among my countrymen at large, the conviction that no honour and no advantage can be gained by a continued refusal to accede to the mode- rate and constitutionally-expressed demands of the Irish people.-I remain, with much regard, faithfully yours (signed), W. E. GLADSTONE. Very Rev. the Dean of Winchester."

LORD COLIN CAMPBELL'S BANK- RUPTCY. In the Court of Appeal, the further hearing of the appeal by Lord Colin Campbell against the decision of Mr. Registrar Giffard, refusing to grant him a cer- tificate removing the disqualifications of bank- ruptcy, has been resumed before the Master of the Rolls and Lords Justices Fry and Lopes. Mr. Finlay, Q.C., M.P., and Mr. Herbert Reed appeared for the appellant, Mr. S. Woolf appeared for the trustee, Mr. Aldridge for the Official Receiver. The certificate had been refused on the ground that the bankruptcy had been the outcome of misconduct and not misff rtune. Mr. Finlay, in continuing his argument, submitted that the position which Lord Colin Campbell found himself in compelled him to go to the Divorce Court to protect his honour, and the fact that the action had gone against him was a misfortune. Lord Justice Fry said that the scope of the 32nd section was that a man having shipwrecked himself was not to be allowed to manage the affairs of other people. Some argument followed as to what constituted misfortune, in the course of which Mr. Finlay remarked that there was a Scotch proverb that a man succeeded better by good luck than by good guidance. Lord Justice Fry asked whether good guidance meant coming south. Mr. Finlay explained that good guidance in Scotland meant good conduct. The Master of the Rolls pointed out that that was a very awkward proverb for the appellant's case, because it showed that a man succeeded by good luck rather than by good conduct. (Laughter.) As it appeared to him (the Master of the Rolls), it was not misfortune for a man to bring a suit, the non-success of which he knows must land him in the Bankruptcy Court. Mr. Finlay asked whether it was misconduct for a husband to take the only course he could to pro- tect his honour. The Master of the Rolls What is misfortune ? Are we to assume that the jury giving a right verdict is a misfortune ? Was not the verdict the result of a wilful act on the part of the bankrupt? Mr. Finlay, in continuation, submitted that Lord Colin Campbell had pursued the only course he could pursue under the circumstances, and pointed out that if he had paid all his debts in full and obtained the annulment of his bankruptcy, he need not have asked for a certificate at all. He pointed out that his lord- ship had, during the progress of the divorce pro- ceedings, paid for his wife's costs, alimony, &c., J61330, and, in addition to that, the costs had come to over jE3000 more. That was a thing that his lordship could not have foreseen. Upon the whole circum- stances of the case he submitted that the bankruptcy had not been caused by such misconduct as warranted a refusal of the certificate, but by misfortune. Without calling on the other side the Master of the Rolls was of opinion that the conduct of the bankrupt in taking the divorce proceedings, which were under his control from beginning to end, was such miscon- duct as brought him within the meaning of the 32nd section of the Bankruptcy Act, 1883. The bankruptcy must be the result of pure misfortune, and that could not be so in the present case. The verdict was the result of circumstances over which the bankrupt had full control, and, that being so, he (the Master of the Rolls) felt bound to dismiss the appeal, on the ground that the bankrupt had brought himself within the first part of the section. Lord Justices Fry and Lopes were of the same opinion, Lord Justice Fry pointing out that the disqualifications in the section extended from the House of Lords to the select vestry.

LORD HEVRT LENNOX made way for his relative, the Earl of March, in the membership of the Chiches- ter Division. The Earl of March now resigns, and Lord Walter Lennox is accepted as the Conservative candidate. A PLEASANT solatium too. Alderman Hooper will, it is said, have to acknowledge a cheque for £ 1250 from his constituents and fellow-citizens of Cork by way of acknowledgment of his two menths' im- prisonment. MADAMB JANS HADING, the French actress, has had a bother with her husband, who is the manager of the Gymnase Theatre, Paris. He has in conse- quence refused-and the law supports him-to allow her to act in any Paris theatre. She will thus sail in May for an American tour. A DISAPPOINTMENT in love-which preyed upon his mind." This is how a reporter prosaically ex- plains why Thomas Burns, the station master at PoUokshields, placed a revolver to his head and blew W, brajna omt

THE DECORATION SCANDALS IN FRANCE. SEVERE SENTENCE ON M. WILSON. A Paris correspondent writes as follows concerning the conclusion of the trial of M. Wilson for his com- plicity in the French decoration scandals, which, it will be remembered, resulted in the overthrow of a Ministry and the resignation of a President of our neighbour nation: Those who went to see the closing formality of the trial were disappointed, M. Wilson and his counsel not having appeared. Frc m the great length of the judgment the perplexity of the judges may be inferred. The presiding one took 45 minutes to read it, and he did not lag a moment. None of the penal clauses were, contrary to expectation, based om the late judgment of the Court of Cassa ,ion against the sale of decorations. I don't rememT.pr (remarke the Paris correspondent) ever having read a sentence in which hair-splitting and involved reasons more abounded. However, it was clear on ihe following poi us: Whereas, as regards the Crespin affair, Ribeau- deau, Geber, and Dubreuil were merely agents of Wil- son, who not only promised to try and obtain the Cross for Crespin, but positively to get it for him; and whereas it came out in evidence, and was shown by most of the facts of the case, that Wilson, to the disregard of all decency and digrity, turned his Cabinet at the Elys6e into an agency tor the traffic of the Legion of Honour, and that he was the promoter of such traffic, since the tribunal could not for a moment believe the morey paid by Crespin was for a biographical article or portrait in one of Wilson's papers, but for a positive promise that he should be decorated on 14th July." The points of penal law on which the tri- bunal based its judgment were these: "Whereas, seeing that there was a positive promise to obtain a Cross, and also seeing that Wilson had power to obtain one, several Crosses having been secured by him for other clients, he was guilty in this instance of swindling Crespin, for whom he got nothing, there are grounds for bringing Wilson, Hebert, Ribeaudeau, and Dubreuil within the penal action of the law." The tribunal ruled as follows touching the Belloc affair: Whereas it was impossible to bring home fraud to Htbert, Dubreuil, and Ribeaudeau, and whereas Wilson being only their accomplice, he has not on this head incurred any penalty, even though he appeared, as in the Crespin case, as the instigators of the others. Nor has there been any fraud proved in the Legrand case, Legrand having obtained the decoration through the good offices of Madame Ratazzi and of Wilson, woo engaged to do their best to call attention to Legrand's claims and whereas if Legrand paid them money, he did so unasked, it being proved, contrary to what Wilson declared, that he really sold a Cross which he was able to obtain, to Legrand." Comerning the apt plication of penalties, the tribunal thus decided: Whereas, seeing that the respective positions of the accused parties widely dif er, Hebert, Dubreuil, and Ribeaudeau are greatly excusable, they having beea mere subordinates and whereas the positioi of Wilson was altogether different, because of his high political functions, the fortune of hit family, and the relation in which he stood to the Chief Magistrate of the Republic and whereas by carrying on a shameful traffic in the Palace of the Elysee, he not only shocked the national conscience and offended public morality, but well nigh brought low the national honour, the tribunal, for these reasons, condemns H6bert to one month's imprisonment, Dubreuil to four months, Ribeaudeau to eight months, and Wilson to two years, to five years' interdiction of civil rights, and to pay a fine of 3000 francs; and it acquits Madame Ratazzi. The sentence against M. Wilson was listened te with utter astonishment. For some moments silence reigned in the court. M. Wilson was said to be in the Palais de Justice. He will appeal, and doubtless the others convicted will join with him. His sen- tence may be softened by a higher court, but complete absolution is legally impossible. It it possible that another tribunal might find him guilty on the charges brought into the Belloc and the Crespin cases. Advocates think the law of the judges who tried Mr. Wilson is on these points at variance with the late ruling of the Court of Cassation. Inter- diction for five years deprives M. Wilson of citizen- ship for that period. The Grevy mansion is closed against all visitors. Police agents in plain clothes are stationed before the outer gates to the walled-in grounds surrounding it. Lc National, extols M. do Villiers, the President of the Tribunal which tried M. Wilson and his associates, as a judge who has proved his integrity in the sentence which he passed upon them.

INNOCENT OR GUILTY I It will be remembered (says the London corre- spondent of the Liverpool Po..t) thaA towards the close of last year the commercial world was stirred by the adroit movement of some able schemer. At this time the iron market was in a somewhat excited state. Prices had been going up. There was a lull, and the bears," coming to the front, were beginning to operate. One day one of the principal ironbrokenr in Glasgow received an order to sell 15,000 tons of iron at the best price he could get. This was a staggerer for a market already shaken. Prices went down with a run, and very large tran sac tions were booked. Next day it was discovered that the order was a forgery, and the market slowly recovered. But the mischief had been done, and somebody had made a pot of money. After some inquiry a man named Robertson, employed in the office of an iroo- broker, was arrested, and, after an examination be for* the magistrate, committed for yrial. Upon further inquiries the authorities have come to the conclusioa that they have no evidence at their command at aB I likely to convince a jury. The prosecution has beew abandoned, and last week Mr. Robertson was set at liberty. But he has suffered three weeks' ment, has lost his situation, and has been obliged to sell his furniture in order to make up the bond for his bail-in short, he is a ruined man. The matter will be brought under the notice of the House of Commons, and the Government will be asked either that Mr. Robertson shall be brought to trial aqd afforded an opportunity of clearing himself, or ttiaB an admission shall be formally made on the part ct the Crown that the authorities acted in the matter as erroneous information.

DANIEL DEFOE'S CHAPEL. Mr. Justice Kekewich, in the Chancery Division has given a judgment of great interest to Dissentem the practical effect of which is, that in some 209 cases of chapels possessing similar trust deeds to the case before him, the congregations will be unable to alter their constitution to that of the Church of Erig- land Presbyterian body. The object of the present action was to try the question whether a chapel at Tooting, founded by Daniel Defoe, which for a century has practically been a Congregational chapel, caa pass over to the London Presbytery. The present minister, Dr. Anderson, is a Presbyterian, and the question turned entirely on the construction of the trust deeds of the chapel. Mr. Justice Kekewich said that the deeds of 1766 authorised Protestant Dissents ing worship of the Independent or Presbyterian kind, but he was clearly of opinion that the Presbyteria* Church of England was essentially different from the two religious bodies mentioned in the trust deeds. Moreover, Dr. Anderson, the minister, had effected the change in 1881 in an irregular manner. He would, therefore, make a declaration that the chapel must be used according to the trust deed, and appoint new trustees of the deed. Order accordingly.

THE ice harvest on the Kennebec river closed last week, resulting in 884,000 tons being housed. MRS. BELVA LOCKWOOD, who is in Newark, announces that she is a candidate for the American Presidency. FOUR hundred thousand salmon ova are to be de- spatched to Tasmania, for the purpose of stocking tha rivers of that colony. MR. BARNUM'S European representative has managed to secure representatives of various African tribes fat exhibition in the States. THE Government are said to be unable to entertus the proposal for the appointment of a Select Commit. tee to inquire into the whole question of the water supply of London. IF Mr. Wilfrid Blunt cares to sit for an Irish con- stituency, he will—so it is reported in Limerick—bs offered the seat vacated by Mr. Gill. MR. PICKARD, M.P. for the Normanton Division,was mulcted in £500 and costs in a recent libel action The money has been paid, to the great satisfaction of the South Yorkshire colliers. THE force of military police in Upper Burmah now numbers 20,000. But a bad report is given of them. It is said that many have come to Burmah allured simply by the prospect of looting the newly Con- quered country, and Rangoon and the out-lying dis- i tricts seem a kind of hapTY hunting-ground in which [ to carry on their depressions.