Blog

26 MAY 1925

In the House of Lords a debate took place on the growth of Civil Service expenditure.

The Finance Bill passed its second reading in the House of Commons by 331 votes to 139.

The Mental Deficiency Amendment Bill passed Committee stage and was read a third time in the House of Commons.

Mr Baldwin, broadcasting an Empire Day message from 2LO, said it should be the ambition of all to pay at least one visit, however brief, to Britain overseas.

An account is given of the steps taken by the Egyptian police to track the alleged murderers of the Sirdar.

The Duke of Northumberland has been appointed a Knight of the Garter.

The Right Honourable Sir John Baird, C.M.G., D.S.O., has been created a Baron.

25 MAY 1925

The King laid the foundation stone of the new building which is being erected in London for Lloyd’s.

Japan has been revisited by an earthquake disaster, this time of a more localised nature but of great severity. Several townships are reported to have been destroyed by the shock and by the fires which followed, and hundreds of souls perished.

Forty-four persons were drowned when the Turkish steamer Keriman foundered in the Black Sea.

In a lifeboat disaster on the Breton coast twenty-seven men perished.

The Prince of Wales crossed the Orange Free State border for the second stage of his South African tour.

A verdict in the Malabar murder trial, in which nine persons were charged in connection with the death of Mr Bawla and the wounding of an Indian singing-girl, Mumtaz Begum, has been reached. Three of the accused were sentenced to death, four transported for life, while the remaining two were acquitted.

The conversion of the Jews was the principal subject discussed by the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland.

24 MAY 1925

A large earthquake was confirmed in North Tajima, Japan, which had led to many deaths and damage to property.

London County Council said that it was planning to construct a large number of single room tenements to rehouse the poor following slum clearances throughout the city.

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.