Page:The Annual Register 1899.djvu/127

 1899.] The Grant to Lord Kitchener. [119

Khalifa's fighting men, and on the belief in the supernatural character of the prophet. Lord Kitchener destroyed the first in battle, the second by his action in regard to the Mahdi's remains. Lord Charles Beresford (York) observed that the dis- entombment was not carried out according to the traditions of English chivalry ; but he held very strongly that Lord Kitchener was absolutely right in giving the order for the dis- entombment. He also twitted Mr. Morley, as a trustee of the British Museum, with having himself sanctioned the desecration of the tombs of Egyptian kings. After some further debate, in the course of which no new point was made, Lord Kitchener's grant was agreed to by 393, while Mr. Morley's point of view only obtained 51 supporters, composed of very heterogeneous elements.

In the House of Lords Lord Salisbury moved (June 8) a reso- lution affirming its willingness to concur with the other House in making a provision for Lord Kitchener. The Earl of Kim- berley, while heartily concurring in the motion, expressed his regret at the manner in which the Mahdi's remains had been treated. In reply Lord Salisbury said he had reason to believe that what Lord Kitchener had ordered to be done had not been quite rightly interpreted by those who carried out the order ; but the question was not one of ethics or of policy, but of taste, and tastes varied in different countries, and m the same country at different times. In any case the Sirdar did what he thought necessary to destroy a baneful superstition, and in that object they might hope that he had succeeded.

The same evening (June 8) a vote of thanks was moved in both Houses to Lord Kitchener for planning the Nile campaign, and to his officers and men for gallantly carrying it out, and bringing about the overthrow of the power of the Khalifa. In the House of Lords the vote was unanimous, but in the Com- mons, where the motion was made by the leader of the House and seconded by the leader of the Opposition, there was a minority varying from 16 to 20, comprising 6 English Badicals and the remainder Irish Nationalists, the majority in all cases ranging from 320 to 355.

The report stage of the London Government Bill (June 6) revived the discussion of several questions which had been left open in committee. They dealt for the most part with griev- ances of classes rather than of the ratepayers at large, or referred to the special aspirations of certain reformers of the constitution. The original bill in fact had been subjected in committee to so many changes — the majority of which the Government had accepted with little demur — that there was slight desire on the part of the Liberals to impede the progress of a measure which they had had their fair share in shaping. Mr. L. Courtney (Bodmin, Cormvall) the champion of women's suffrage and pro- portional representation, was necessarily anxious to see his panaceas adopted. His first attempt, moreover, was crowned with complete success ; for, by 196 to 161 votes, the House agreed