On Wednesday Mr. John Ward, M.P., proposed a motion censuring
"those Britishers who have thought proper to engage themselves to cosmopolitan syndicates, and to interfere in foreign labour disputes." This motion, which was aimed, of course, at the Britons who have taken the place of strikers at Hamburg, Antwerp, and elsewhere, was carried unani- mously. A telegram was sent to. Antwerp announcing the terms of the motion. We may say here that the riots at Antwerp have been very serious during the week. There has been great injury to property, particularly in the timber yards, owing to fires which are attributed to incendiaries. On Wednesday a redrafted resolution on the House of Lords—there had been an abortive discussion the day before—was adopted as follows :—" That this Congress condemns the action of the hereditary House of Lords in rejecting measures passed by the people's representatives in the House of Commons, thereby impeding national political advancement and social amelioration, and strongly urges upon the Government to take such steps as will secure the abolition of that privileged assembly, and thus remove an obstacle to the efficient carrying into effect of the declared expression of the people's will through their elected represen- tatives. We further protest emphatically against the creation of any further new peerages." We are interested to notice the courageous and perfectly logical plea made by Mr. Will Thorne in the face of much opposition for compulsory military training, which is a truly democratic scheme and a very different thing from conscription. The resolution against both conscription and compulsory military training was, however, carried, Mr. Thorne alone dissenting from it.
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