The San Francisco call. [volume], June 30, 1895, Image 1

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

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VOLUME LXXVIII.-NO. 30.
TO HOCK THE SEALS.
An Explanation of Lord
Salisbury's Great
Haste.
BACKED BY THE aTIEEN. j
One Peculiar Way of Keeping
Up the Credit of the
Government.
WAR FUNDS RUN VERY LOW.
When Publicly Criticized the New
* Premier Apologizes to Camp
bell-Banner man.
7 ■•• • ■ - ■ ' •
Copyright by the New York Snn, 1895.]
LONDON. Eno., June 29.— Americans
who happen to be in the city this week
have been marveling among themselves
over the apparent indifference of the Eng
lish people to the change of government,
which has taken place with even less dis
turbance to metropolitan life than is caused
by a day's meteorological vicissitudes. The
contrast with the public excitement on the
eve of a National election in the United
States is so striking that most, ob
■ervers are gaining the impression
that English democratic institutions are
threatened by * : a greater a anger from
popular disregard of the duties of the suf
frage than exists in America. It is cer
tainly true that public interest in the
political crisis in this country is at a lower
ebb than has preceded any great election
in Great Britain during the past century.
The only sentiment on the subject which I
have heard fi pressed this week by busi
ness men and other! ordinary citizens is
the general grumble that ' the polling is to
take place just when everybody is going to
the country for their annual holiday. :
Lord Salisbury's acceptance and the per
sonnel of the Cabinet appointments t have
been received with an absence of = all com
ment outside of the newspapers and politi
cal clubs. Everybody takes it for granted
that the Unionists will secure a comforta
ble working majority in the new .Parlia
ment, and that the legislative life of i the
country will co on without any disturb
ance for months. If the polling for the
new Parliament took place everywhere on
the same day there would be a good chance
lor some surprising results, due to ■ the
overconndence of the Unionist party. 'But
If such a danger appears ' during the first
day or two of the polling there will be am
ple opportunity to guard against it. 1 There
have already been notices from an 1 ; aston
tlhing number of constituencies that there
The San Francisco Call.
SAN FRANCISCO, SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 30, 1895-TWENTY-FOUR PAGES.
will be no contest. It is only in dh tricts i
where there is a fair fighting chance to
change the present representation that
there will be any real campaign.
The event of the week, which a-roused
far greater public interest than Lord Salis
bury's accession, was the strange incident
regarding the seals of the War Department.
The cable has already made some mention
of the extraordinary fact, but the mystery
connected with it makes the matter worth
recording in more detail. When Camp
bell-Bannerman, who is still acting as
Secretary of War, went to his house, after
leaving the Commons on Tuesday morn
ing, he found a man on his doorstep who
politely requested him to aand over
his seals of office. The astonished
Cabinet officer asked the stranger
who he was, and the young
man replied that he was Mr. McDonnell,
the private secretary of Lord Salisbury,
who by the way had not then kissed hands
on his acceptance of the premiership, and
was, therefore, only a private citizen. The
War Secretary suggested that the young
man had better explain his mission in*
j doors instead qf in the street. Mr. Mc-
Donnell, on reaching Mr. Bannerman's
study, renewed the demand, saying that he
had been sent by Lord Salisbury with only
a verbal message and without written
authority. The reply of the retiring
Secretary for War was emphatic: "I
received the seals of the Secretary of State
for War from her Majesty. I shall sur
render them to her when she commands
me to do so and to no one else."
The custom in such cases with all Eng
lishmen is one of the strictest unwritten
laws of this custom-governed country.
When a new Cabinet has been completed
the incoming and outgoing Ministers go
down to Windsor by different trains in the
same day. Those who have resigned office I
deliver the official symbols to the Queen j
and those who have accepted office receive I
them -from her Majesty's hand. It is only !
when a Minister has been dismissed for
misconduct and when his behavior has
disqualified him for admission to the pres
ence of the sovereign that such a course as
Lord Salisbury took on Tuesday is adopted.
Campbell-Bannerman was naturally much
incensed, and Lord Rosebery called the
matter to the attention of the House of
Lords on Thursday in language which
made even that thick-skinned Tory pretty
uncomiortable. The retiring Prime Minis
ter said :
"In former times sovereigns of arbitrary
character have sent for the seals of their
Ministers without receiving them them
selves, but that a new Minister who had
not been in the office twelve hours should
send his private secretary to the Secretary
of State for War for the seals without any
written authority Is to my mind a proceed- '
ing so unparalleled as coming from the
head of a constitutional party that I think
it in the interest of constitutional history
and constitutional tradition, as well as the
relations we are accustomed to cultivate
between political parties themselves,
although antagonistic, that a full and
clear explanation of the nature and motive
of this proceeding should be exceptionally
welcome."
Lord Salisbury tamely replied that he
mercjy intended to relieve the Secretary
A CHARACTERISTIC SCENE AT A CALIFORNIA SEASIDE RESORT.
[from a pen sketch by Fisher.)
of War from the inconvenience of going to | i
Windsor, and he really thought his mes- {
sage merited a more courteous reception, i
This moved the Earl of Kimberly to ex
claim warmly:
"Talk of courteous receptions! Has it I
not occurred to the noble Marquis that j
there might also have been a more courte
ous message? Can any one conceive of a
more extraordinary proceedina than that
after a vote of censure had been passed on
a Minister of the Crown, he should be
asked to hand over the seals of office in a
manner that is neither courteous to himself
nor in accordance with practice? It is ex
traordinary that the Secretary of State for
War should be asked by the head of a
party to give up his seals very much in the
same way as he would send his footman to
ask a right honorable gentleman to hand
over his seals."
There were hearty demonstrations of ap
proval at Lord Kimberly's outburst on both
sides of the House and Lord Salisbury
changed his tone, saying that if Campbell-
Bennerman felt hurt, he desired to express
his extreme regret if his action had been j
discourteous.
The Premier did not, however, disclose
the real reason for his extraordinary action,
and the English public is still in ignorance
of it. The truth is said to be that the
Prime Minister of England wished to get
immediate possession of the seals of the
British War Office in order to put them in
"hock" to raise money to tarry on the
Government. The War Department was
in dire need of cash to meet imperative
payments. The passage of the supply
bills had been blocked by the adverse vote
on Friday night. It seemed necessary to
secure a temporary advance from the
Bank of England. The custom in such
emergencies is to deposit the seals of the
j needy department at a bank as security for
the loan.
It was rumored to-day that the Queen
| herself was responsible for Lord Salisbury's
strange action. It is said that her Majesty
feared that Campbell-Bannerman might
signalize his departure from office by com
mitting the War Office to the appointment
of General Lord Wolseley or General Lord
Roberts as commander-in-chief of the
army in place of the Duke of Cambridge.
The Queen is quite determined to keep this I
appointment in the royal family, and there
is no doubt that the Salisbury Govern
ment will confer it upon the Duke of Con
naught.
The present London season, which is
now drawing to a close, has been in point
of numbers at least the most successful on
record. The metropolis has been thronged
with Englishmen and foreigners since early
May. Never before have so many Ameri
cans congregated in London. Many of these,
who came here without notice, under the
impression that there is always plenty of
room in this big town have been put to
serious inconvenience. Hundreds have
spent an entire day driving with a load of
baggage from hotel to hotel before finding
even second-class quarters. The theaters
and music halls have been so thronged
that it has been necessary to secure seats
days in advance, while the West End shop
keepers have never been so happy in all
their lives. Americans hare never been so
prominent in furnishing entertainment
during the London season, especially in
music lines. It is a credit to British dis
cernment to record that English hearts
have been taken by Btorm by one Ameri
can young woman, who came here at the
beginning of the season without any royal
or aristocratic patronage. Miss Fay Davis,
a Massachusetts girl who possesses re
markable histrionic talent, has become the
brightest star of the West End drawing
room and semi-public entertainments.
Society has not failed to indulge in a few
new fads, without which the season would
have been dull, in spite of its thronged
functions. The bicycle craze has been one
feature. In the last few days, however,
the burial and mourning reform has been
the absorbing drawing-room topic. Dis
cussions upon "earth to earth" interment,
the material of which coffins should be
made and the amount of crepe which
widows should wear »erve to kill time
pleasantly. Even the Prince of Wales
succumbed to the fascination of this fad,
and a letter from him was read at
a meeting held the other day at the
Duke of Sutherland's house in which his
Royal Highness sent a cordial expression
of his approval of the burial reform so
cieties, the main principle of which as
formulated by Lord Grimthorpe sets forth
that the earth is the proper and providen
tial purifier of corruption. It seems that
other members of the royal family, includ
ing the Duchess of Albany, Princess Chris
tian and the Duke of Teck, favor "earth to
earth" burial, although all of them are des
tined, unless their wills order otherwise, to
be put into massive triple cased caskets.
Polite society had, of course, no option
but to follow the lead set by royalty and
just now there is great demand for the
lugubrious literature circulated by this so
ciety in order that dukes and duchesses
and earls and countesses and the like may
be enabled to read up on the subject and
talk with authority thereon.
Sir Walter Besant, the so-called literary
knight, was entertained at a public dinner
on Wednesday night in celebration of the
honor conferred upon him by the Queen,
and there was much large talk by the
small men assembled around the festive
board. Sir Walter Besant made himself
ridiculous, as he has been doing almost
daily since his equilibrium was upset by
receiving the privilege of putting a handle
to his name. He modestly claimed to per
sonify the dignity of English literature, and
praised the Queen and Lord Rosebery
for their perspicacity in being the first
people in history to recognize that there
is any dignity in literature, forgetting that
Sir Walter Scott and Lord Tennyson ever
existed. The Queen read Sir Walter's
speeches in the newspapers. She is not
likely to receive him very effusively when
he goes to Windsor Castle to be touched
by the sword of honor, for it was she, of
course, who ennobled plain Mister Tenny
son and sought, in the face of actual rode
rebuffs, upon more than one occasion to
confer a titular distinction upon Carlyle.
The English oarsmen no longer sneer at
the Cornell crew at Henley, but openly de
clare their performances to be a great puz
zle and a mystery. They do not hesitate
to say that if Cornell wins rowing must be
i revolutionized. The river is now tew
lively with the practicing crews. The Can
adians are exciting great ' admiration
among the spectators. : The Cornell boys
have not been doing" so much hard work
within the last few days as 'the English
crews. They take shorter bursts at racing
speed and they, are rowing at somewhat
longer stroke, 1 rarely, striking above forty
to the minute. They are taking occasional
full courses to-day, for | instance they cov
ered the course under adverse conditions
in 7 mm. 18 sec. All ' the men are fin the
finest condition. ' : / ' ' ■
It is doubtful -if money was ever loaned
at lower rates than during' the current
week. It is necessary that the/ British
Government should renew treasury bills
amounting to $6,000,000. • The ■ tenders
amounted to $60,000,000 and the lowest
price, which was accepted, fixed the inter
est at a trifle under eleven-sixteenths of 1
per cent. - - ! ;♦-: -
The Valkyrie's performance in her first
race to-day was governed chiefly by flukes
and lock, but *. she ! . raised' 1 extraordinary
hopes in all who saw her. Her behavior,
unless entirely misleading, indicated that
she is the fastest English boat ever built,
and the elation on the Clyde is something
beyond the power of ! the cable to convey
an adequate idea of. ■ v :
The appointment of Sir Matthew White
Ridley to the • home secretaryship must
have gladdened the heart of Speaker Gully,
for it was almost universally assumed that
it presages 1 the latter' s re-election without
opposition when the new Parliament
meets. This, however, is assuming : : too
much, as so many Tory place-hunters have
been disappointed, owing 5 to j the necessity
of i finding i room : for * the Liberal-Unionist
allies, that Lord ; Salisbury may • very well
have promised the speakershlp : as a
solatium to one of them.
: The Prince of "Wales has been induced to
perform the inaugural . ceremony •: at the
new graving-docks ;at ~ Southampton, and
there is much local rejoicing. Liverpool,
however, has been doing some really smart
work this week, and everything there is so
much ' improved * that any danger of the
Cunarders migrating to the southern port
may now be considered as past.
The Pa vonia disembarked her passengers
alongside the landing stage and got them
off ' to London in remarkably quick ■ time,
but a record was made with t the ■ Teutonic
train from London, which arrived with 120
passengers and 600 packages of baggage at
3:23 p. m., and \in 1 less " than half ;an s hour
everything was '-; aboard, and ■ by ; 4 o'clock
the big liner, was on her way to New York.
; The ' first performance was ' . given at
Covent Garden to-day ,of one act of ; the
opera "Petruccio," by - Alick McLean, a
• Scotch composer of only 23 years. It is the
winner of a prize* offered to 1 British com
' posers, '■' and -» its -y production '■?-. has been
awaited with considerable curiosity. Vlt is
a | light, pleasing \ composition of ; genuine
musical merit. > It contains * crudities, and
some portions were ': poorly presented,, but
it I introduces ¥a c composer r ! from ; i whom
striking work i will probably } come later,
and : ; the r. audience received '; it; with much
enthusiasm, and j greatly enjoyed the con
fusion of 1 the youthful composer when he
received the prize from | Mm"e. ! Patti and
congratulations from Augustus Harris. ; '
,; ;-. f .\- ■■-;•■' Hens? R. Chambebiaih, ";
TURNING OF THE TIDE.
Now The United Press Is
Winning the Great
War.
ITS CHIEF RIVAL DOWNED
The True Prophecy Made by
General Manager
Phillips.
MANY PAPERS ARE BENEFITED
Superior News Facilities of the
Association Whose Headquar
ters Is New York.
NEW YORK, N. V., June 29.-General
Manager Phillips of The United Press said
in an interview recently that the tide had
turned in the long tight between his or
ganization and the Chicago Associated
Press, and he predicted that the latter
would go to pieces within twelve months.
Events since then have gone far to show
that Mr. Phillips was not talking without
mature deliberation, and that his prophecy
was made in the knowledge of new forces
and conditions, which have already begun
to operate in favor of The United Press.
Attention is attracted to the fact that
within the short time that has elapsed
since the publication of his interview in
the Louisville Courier-Journal The United
Press has captured three of the principal
papers on the Pacific Coast— namely, the
San Francisco Call, San Jose Mercury and
Sacramento Record- Union — and in addi
tion to them, the Council Bluffs Nonpareil
and a number of other papers. All of these
papers had previously been receiving the
report of the Chicago Associated Press.
Charles M. Shortridge, the proprietor of
the San Francisco Call, is the president
of the Pacific Associated Press.
The fight between the two associations
has reached a stage of the greatest inter
est to newspaper publishers and proprie-
Rs. The recent gains made by The
tted Press have been somewhat in the
ure of a 'surprise to publishers who
have hitherto regarded only the superficial
aspects of the press associations' war. The
readiness of The United Press to consider
fully and fairly the propositions for a set
tlement advanced by its Chicago rival and
its evidently sincere desire to reach an
agreement for the common good of the
newspapers in the various sections of the
country was taken in some quarters as an
indication that the association controlled
by the great New York journals was ready
to give up the fight and turn its business
over to tlie Chicago oeoole. This view of
PRICE FIVE CENTS.
i the matter, taken in conjunction with th*
steady gains which the Chicago Associated
Press made for some time in the East and
S South, left a large part of the newspaper
world unprepared for the sudden spurt on
the part of The United Press, which began
almost simultaneously with the failure of
i the negotiations.
I | |It was with a view to getting at the phil
osophical reasons for this change that a
reporter asked Mr. Phillips yesterday to
explain in some measure the new forces at
work. He was questioned first as to why,
in view of the strength now shown by The
; United Press, it was willing, a few weeks
ago, to treat with its enemy for settle
ment.
"The willingness of The United Press,"
he said, "to go into conference with the
Chicago Associated Press was not due to
any weakness in our position. We have
always been ready to settle the fight on
territorial lines, provided it could be done
on a fair and equitable basis. That baa
been our policy because many of our
clients desire such a settlement. The rea
son is obvious. The presence of two rival
press associations in the same territory
stimulates the starting of newspapers.
There is no desire on anybody's part to
stifle bona fide enterprises for which there
is a field, but when news is being offered
for less than the cost of collecting it, papers
are often started by irresponsible parties
who succeed in ruining the business ol
j established papers through cutting adver
• Using rates, etc., and then after a short
career go out of existence. This sort of
j thing is a great injury to established papers
in small places and it benefits nobody.
"The Chicago Associated Press recently
I made one of its 90-year contracts with a
j new paper in Binghamton and at the end
i of three months the paper died, the 90-year
j contract and all. In view of this consider
! at ion it is natural that our clients in the
i smaller towns should desire that a terri
&co'§
COPPER RIVETED
AND
am bottom
PANTS.
EVERY PAIR GUARANTEED:
409 SALE EVERYWHERE,