Category: 100 Years Ago

23 MAY 1925

The death of the Earl of Ypres was announced.

The Prevention of Unemployment Bill, a Socialist measure proposing to set up outside the Cabinet and under the chairmanship of the Minister of Labour a Committee charged with investigating unemployment and preparing work-providing schemes year by year, was rejected in the House of Commons by 216 votes to 118.

The second Court of the season was held at Buckingham Palace.

In an Empire Day message signed by the Marquis of Linlithgow and Sir Cyril S. Cobb, the Navy League urged the Government to lay down, within the next few years, a sufficiency of cruisers to provide an adequate margin of security against all measurable risks.

The Prince of Wales held a great reception of native tribesmen at Umtaia, Cape Province. The leading chief delivered a loyal address, ending with the words, “Sun, shine on us,” and the title of “Shining Sun” has been conferred on His Royal Highness.

The new Belgian Government formed by M. Van de Vyvere was defeated in the Chamber by a resolution of no confidence, moved by M. Max, Liberal, and carried by 98 votes to 73. The Ministry has resigned.

The press reported that Amundsen had reached the North Pole and was on his way back.

22 MAY 1925

In the House of Lords, the second reading of the Parliament (Qualification of Peeresses) Bill was negatived by 80 votes to 78.

Transport policy, road development and the cheaper use and wider application of electricity were the chief topics of debate in the House of Commons.

The Poor-Law Emergency Provisions (Scotland) Bill passed Report stage and its third reading after a sitting of the Commons that lasted until six o’clock in the morning.

The Silk Association of Great Britain and Ireland expressed satisfaction with the new silk-tax proposals.

The final selection of a Unionist candidate for Ayr Burghs will be made today at a meeting of the Central Council of the Ayr Burghs Unionist Association. The names before the council are Lieutenant-Colonel T. C. Moore, C.B.E., who was defeated at Coatbridge at the last election, and Mr D. G. Somerville, who was defeated at Barrow-in-Furness. The Liberals have resolved to contest the seat.

Lord Wledisloe, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, told the Council of Agriculture that it is hoped to introduce next year an agricultural policy that will command a large measure of general consent. A Bill on the marking of imported agricultural produce will be introduced this session.

Last evening’s bulletin regarding the Earl of Ypres stated that he was gradually sinking.

21 MAY 1925

In a debate in the House of Lords on conditions in Kenya, the Earl of Balfour said the Government believed that the challenges facing East Africa and other parts of the Empire must be considered as a whole. He suggested establishing a civilian body, similar to the Committee of Imperial Defence, to address non-military issues of Imperial development.

In the House of Commons, the financial resolution on the Widows’, Orphans’ and Old Age Pension Bill was agreed, and MPs took the report stage of the Poor-Law Emergency Provisions Continuance (Scotland) Bill.

Mr Austen Chamberlain announced that Lord Allenby has resigned as High Commissioner in Egypt and that Sir George Lloyd, MP, will succeed him.

Lord Plumer has been appointed High Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief for Palestine, replacing Sir Herbert Samuel.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer plans several changes to the scale of duties on silk.

At the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Earl Haig appealed for the national observance of Armistice Day’s anniversary, and the Assembly debated proposals for a Budget Committee to oversee financial administration.

20 MAY 1925

The King, opening a new power station at Parkside, said that electricity—by reducing the smoke of our large towns and by relieving congested areas—would benefit the health of the population.

Mr Baldwin, speaking to Members of Parliament on industrial welfare, said there was a need for the smaller amenities of life on the part of both employers and employed. He added that on three things they could build everything they desired: the will to peace, the will to co-operate, and the will to work.

The Prime Minister unveiled, in Hyde Park, a memorial to Mr W. H. Hudson, the famous writer and naturalist.

The Rent Restriction Continuation Bill passed Committee unamended in the House of Lords.

The Government’s Pensions Bill passed its second reading in the House of Commons, the Socialist amendment for its rejection being defeated by 401 votes to 125.

A Brussels telegram reports that conversations are to take place at Malines, under the presidency of Cardinal Mercier, between Anglican and Roman Catholic theologians with a view to a reunion of the two Churches.

19 MAY 1925

In moving the second reading of the Widows’, Orphans’, and Old Age Contributory Pensions Bill in the House of Commons, the Minister of Health, dealing with criticism that the distribution of benefit was bad, said that the House could alter that without striking at any vital principle. With regard to the burden of the new contributions on industry, he indicated that the question was having the serious and sympathetic consideration of the Government. Mr Wheatley, who moved the Socialist party’s amendment, attacked the Bill and opposed the contributory basis. On the other hand, Mr Lloyd George welcomed the contributory principle while urging temporary respite for industry in the present critical times. The debate was adjourned.

Sir John L. Baird, Bart., M.P., has been appointed Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of the Commonwealth of Australia. His appointment creates a vacancy in the parliamentary representation of Ayr Burghs.

Herr Stresemann, in a debate in the Reichstag, said the Dawes Plan would be carried out in the future as it had been hitherto, and he could not imagine any deviation from this policy.

In the Ruhr mining disaster, forty-five bodies have been recovered, and twenty-seven men have received severe injuries.

France is expected shortly to present to Great Britain and America a plan for the settlement of war debts.

It is officially announced that South Africa has resumed the gold currency.

The Indian rupee loan will not be issued.

18 MAY 1925

Recalling the Lee Commission’s recommendation that half the recruits should be British, Lord Birkenhead said that if their responsibilities for the good government of India were to be adequately discharged, British recruits must be obtained in that proportion.

Eight Indians were attacked in a house in Glasgow by a mob of young men, one being fatally stabbed. Nine arrests have been made by the police.

The death is announced of Mrs Baldwin, mother of the Prime Minister.

America has sent reminders to her European debtors to make a settlement for money borrowed during and after the war.

The Conference of Ambassadors will meet in Paris on Wednesday to consider the question of German disarmament.

In the Italian Chamber, during the debate on the Bill for the regulation of secret societies, Signor Mussolini said that no government could tolerate a state of affairs in which those responsible for the administration of justice and for the maintenance of order should serve two masters—their country and Freemasonry.

It is feared that many miners have lost their lives in consequence of an explosion in a pit near Dortmund, Germany.

Loudspeakers in St Peter’s, Rome, enabled sixty thousand of the faithful to hear the Pope’s voice.

In their report to the Trades Union Congress General Council, the British delegation which carried out investigations in Russia claims that the “Red Letter” was a forgery.

After a simple ceremony in Canterbury Cathedral, Viscount Milner was buried in the parish churchyard of Salehurst, near Robertsbridge, on the borderland of Kent and Sussex.

17 MAY 1925

Sir Edward Nicholl said that the recent surge of country house raids had led to him selling his estate at Littleton Park at Shepperton.

It was reported that a shortage of bricks was limiting the ability to build new properties.

Several arrests were made in Belgrade following thwarted plans to kill the King of Yugoslavia.

16 MAY 1925

The Prime Minister, speaking at Oxford, referred to the Unionist party’s policy on the question of housing, insurance, pensions, and cheap electricity.

The Earl of Oxford and Asquith, addressing a National Liberal Federation gathering at Scarborough, criticised the scale of national expenditure. There was only one way of escape, he said, from our financial difficulties, and that was not by imposing taxation, but by cutting down expenditure. Liberals had no objection to the extension and completion of the pensions system; it was their system in every one of its branches. But in view of the burden on industry at present, he should be prepared to accept a temporary abeyance of contribution, the scheme to be financed by the State for the time being.

A Socialist Bill to give power to the Board of Trade, on receipt of representations from the Minister of Health, to investigate prices, conditions of supply, costs, and profits at all stages in respect of materials in common use for the building of houses for the working classes was discussed in the House of Commons. The Minister of Health, opposing the Bill, said there was no need for the drastic treatment it sought to apply. Prices had fallen since the present Government came into office, and were practically steady. If the Government apprehended a monopoly affecting prices to an extravagant extent, they would seek from the House power to control what they would regard as an unsocial act. The Bill was rejected by 232 to 113.

15 MAY 1925

The Importation of Pedigree Animals Bill and the Protection of Birds Bill passed third reading in the House of Lords, and the Report stage of the Agricultural Returns Bill was agreed to. Lord Newton called attention to the depression of the British film industry.

The House of Commons discussed unemployment on a Vote of £8,329,209 for the Ministry of Labour.

The London Electricity Supply (No. 2) Bill passed Report stage and third reading in the House of Commons, and the Protection of Animals Bill was read a second time.

French diplomatic circles deny that there will be any necessity, before a final settlement of the security and disarmament questions can be reached, to hold an Allied Conference at which Germany would be represented, as was suggested in a London report.

The King and Queen spent the day at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley and made a tour of the pavilions and palaces.

Sir Francis Bell has succeeded the late Mr Massey as Prime Minister of New Zealand. At a memorial service for Mr Massey held in Westminster Abbey, the King, the Prince of Wales, and the Duke of Connaught were represented.

Sir Rider Haggard, the well-known novelist, died in London.

Socialism, housing, and temperance were among the subjects discussed at a conference in London of Women’s Unionist organisations.

Over 1,000 delegates of the National Liberal Federation, meeting at Scarborough, discussed Free Trade, arbitration and disarmament, dereliction, and pensions.

14 MAY 1925

The death of Lord Milner was announced.

In the House of Lords, Earl Buxton asked whether the reports upon slavery which the Secretary for Foreign Affairs undertook to call for in 1923 had yet been received, and whether the League of Nations had asked for information. Viscount Cecil replied that, while the Government were anxious to carry forward to the utmost of their power the suppression of slavery, the situation had undoubtedly been modified by the fact that the League had undertaken to make inquiries into the subject. The Government would act with and through the League of Nations.

The Rating and Valuation Bill, the main objects of which are to simplify the method of making and collecting rates and to promote uniformity in valuation, passed second reading in the House of Commons.

The Earl of Oxford and Asquith, who received the Freedom of the City of London, replying to the toast of his health proposed by the Prime Minister, referred to the innate generosity of the English people and English politicians.

Mr Churchill, who was the guest of the British Bankers’ Association, said the prolongation of the embargo on the export of gold would have been taken in every part of the world as a mark of weakness in our financial system. He also spoke on pensions in their relation to industry, and appealed for a strong public opinion to support the Government in combating the upward pressure of expenditure.

A monument has been unveiled at Chanak Fair to the memory of the New Zealand troops who fell in Gallipoli.

At the Canadian shipping inquiry, Mr Preston was cross-examined regarding statements made in his report alleging unfair discrimination against Canadian ports by the steamship combine in the North Atlantic. There were several lively passages with counsel.