credit the high office of Commander-in-Chief at Bombay. Herculean Mr.
Allan, of Gateshead, sought for information how many months the Duke of
Connaught was absent from his duties when he commanded at Portsmouth.
Young Mr. Dalziel also came forward, wanting to know whether the Duke
would receive the salary of a General or a Lieutenant-General. Mr. A.C.
Morton, who had appropriated for the nonce Mr. T.W. Russell's usual
seat, was anxious for a further explanation of what was meant by the
Duke being practically the senior officer available. He also wanted to
know what experience he had had in real fighting. The reply of the War
Minister was conciliatory. There were, he explained, one or two generals
senior to H.R.H., but who were at present discharging duties from which
it was not desirable they should be removed. The pay would be that of a
Lieutenant-General. Owing to domestic circumstances, the Duke lived out
of Portsmouth, but he was little out of the district he commanded. He
served in the Egyptian campaign, which was the only opportunity he had
had during his career in taking part in active warfare. This did not
satisfy either Mr. Allan or Mr. Morton. The member for Peterboro' wanted
to be precise. How far was H.R.H. away from the real fighting? The War
Minister could only smile and shake his head. Mr. Allan expressed his
dissent, and Mr. Morton, derisively cheered by a handful of Tories,
solemnly begged to give notice that on the Army Estimates he would again
raise the question of this flagrant job.

[Sidenote: A triumph for Mr. Burns.]

The evening was notable for a splendid triumph achieved by that fine
Democrat, John Burns. It arose out of the Navy Estimates. The conditions
of labour in the Government dockyards have long been crying out for
remedy, and Mr. Burns presented the case for the men with a force and
lucidity that carried conviction home to the minds of a crowded House,
among whose members his is one of the most magnetic personalities. The
member for Battersea pointed out that, whilst he strongly approved of
the attitude of the Government in adding L30,000 to the wages of the
men, the real step they should have taken was to ignore the opinion of
the permanent officials, those bugbears of all reformers, past, present,
and to come--pay the trades union rates, and abolish classification
altogether. A very excellent smack at Sir John Gorst, Mr. A.B. Forwood,
and other standbacks on the Opposition side was the