ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 97, 24 April 1895, Page 5

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

(Fbom Our London Correspondent.)

London, March 8. A, J. Wilson Again.

Mr A. J. Wilson would nob be able to keep up his slanders anent New Zealand and New Zealand institution's if ib were nob for certain dirty birds in the colony who, with a crass etupidity almosb incredible, are constantly occupied in fouling their own nesb. One of these numbskulls furnishes5 the ' Investors' Review' for March with matter to which the edibor, with that engaging moderation to which ho has accustomed us,- gives the title, 'The Bank of New Zealand As a Vampire.' 'Bitter complaints,? says. Mr Wilson, 'reach ua from Auckland aboub the conduct of the Bank of New Zealand. Ib ia gradually drawing the whole of the business of the country into its grasp, and killing oub bhe private trader. As a correspondent put. Ib: "Suppose I, as an ordinary trader, sell a parcel of woollens to a tailor up Norbh, and draw on him through the Bank of New Zealand, the manager aeea tbe transaction, and arranges that an agonb shall go and give the tailor a. Btrong hint that he must get his goods from one of the numerous bankrupt firms carried.on by the bank under different names." If the tailor ia not independent of the bank—and very few; traders in New Zealand now are so—he has to obey, and the wholesale, merchant loseß his customer. By tactics of this kind independent trade ot all kinds is being destroyed in New Zealand, and bhe business of the colony ia more and more conducted by the Bank of New Zealand and obher. banks, through bhe agency of insolvent concerns which they have taken over againsb bad debts. Clerks are pub in as managers, and then,the whole staff is set bo work bo diverb business from private firms into the channels controlled' by the banks. The natural result of this kind of trading ia nob only the destruction of the private trader, bub such incidents as bhe confession of tho chairman at the last meeting of the Company in the colony. "The losses to bo provided for," said he, "exceeded by £300,000 the call of one-third made on the reserve." It will never occur again, of course—nob till next time.

•We have often heard thia private t traders' complainb before, and have no doubb ab all that it is just. Bub it is much c easier to make it than to suggest a way bo 0 remove the grounds for it. The banks are a no doubb destroying themselves 'by bhis 8 nefarious kind oi sapping and mining, and a in bitne .they will go the way of the buai- p nessea they have first started, then sucked „ dry, then taken over, and now " run " at a _ constantly augmenting loss. But they can i hold up their heada much longer than the I private trader, and now thab bhe Bank of t iNew Zealand baa become a Governmenb in- 8 atitution, its collapae can only be looked I for coincidenb with that of the entire »■ colony. In these circumatancea the po3i- g tion of the private trader is extremely ] pitiable. He will soon have nothing lefb j bub his vote, and he cannob always pub himself in office with bhab.' a The Topic of the Day. - All Antipodean sportsmen owe Mr Stod- ' darb and his merry men a deep debt of gratitude, in thab they have resurrected 5 public interest in Anglo-Australian crickeb. l When his eleven started bhe whole subjecb s of Australian crickeb matches was stale. _ Tho behaviour of the last colonial team at Home had justly excited exceedingly j hostile criticism, and the general feeling in ' England waa thab these-bours had been j overdono. Bub bhe firab aucceas of Mr ' Stoddarb's eleven ab'Sydney, when bhey E won by 10 runs after a match of un- 1 paralleled high scoring, altered all this. Thanks to Mr Astor's millions, copious re- • porta were cabled Home to the 'Fall Mall . Gazette,' and'public interest in the tour * was offectually aroused. Since then it has \ been growing steadily, till this week it culminatod in genuine excitement. In buses, trams, trains, etc., and at the clubs on ' Tuesday, the abnormal death-rate and the ' colonial crickeb match were the Bole topics ' poor sneezing, coughing, snuffling humanity ' cared a dump about. Ab the Colonial In- ] stitute dinner Lord Jersey said bhab ' cricket waa one of ■ the strong ties which ' connected the colonies and bhe Mother 1 Country. The ' St. James' Gazette' goes j further, saving that among the arts of ' peace which binds all Britons together, ' King Cricket reigns supreme. Trade binds ' us, bub trade ia a sorb of war. There is no ; taint of euspicion, or should be none, in the ' bond of sporb. These matches between country and country promote a healthy and increasing intercourse. In our colonial : empire wo cannot* rely merely on community of blood, language and religion, we must have a community of play, and we are getting- ib more and more. • '■'. .As long aa crickeb is our national gamo and we can meeb our kin across the aeaa in friendly rivalry on the cricket held, we need have libble fear that the colonistß will forgeb bhe Old Land altogether. Imperial Institute. The tone adopbed by Lord Herschell when addressing a meebing of Governors of bhe Imperial Institute, and when being examined before Sir Peter Edlin anenb bhe rabee due on the building, diflerod remarkably. On the latter occasion hia lordship's optimistic view had entirely disappeared. Wo learnt thab bhe Insbitubo'a only fixed income came from its endowment fund of £140,000, and was entirely swallowed up in ratea. The concerts were ebarbed wibh the idea of attracting Fellows, and (aa Mr Play ford conjectured) there was no profit made out of them. Probably if tho Lord Chancellor had been pressed he would have admitted there was a loss. The accounts for 1894 were not made up yeb, hub ib was known, his lordship said, they were.less satisfactory than those of ISO 3. After the firsb year many _of the Fellows did nob renew their subscriptions. Besides the Royal wedding presents show had given them great help in '93. This last year the refreshment contractors' commission amounted to less than £1,000. The work done by bhe Institute was remarkable, but unless its income were increased by £4,000 or £5,000 a year, its financial position would nob be aatiafactory. The frankness of this statement has nob unnaturally caused some astonishment, differing as it does altogether from the Executive's previous announcements. Professor Blackie and Mrs Gordon Baillie. I hare referred jn my memoir of Professor Blackie to the. extraordinary manner in which that remarkable woman Mrs Gordon Baillie duped tho. shrewd old Scotchman, bub I had no idea, till, reading some reminiscences by 'An Old Pupil' yesterday, of the extent of tho fraud, This gentleman say? Mrs Baillie waa a Highland woman, of a Sne, dashing presence and greab resource, and poor Blackie firmly believed in her aplendid schemes for the I benefit of the crofters and her special settlements in Australia and New Zealand. I After she had created some romantic stir by forwarding to one of the crofter agitators a broad sword wherewith ' to defend the Highlander's hearth and home,' Blackie, anxious to possess her photograph, senb her one of his own, inscribed on bhe back—

If you love me as I love you. You'll send me your love and your photo, too.

The inscription, which included a verse from the New Testament in Greek, was signed in full, * John Stuarb Blackie,' and Mra Gordon Baillie turned the photo to good account. The Professor's wrathful chagrin, when by-and-bye the melancholy truth anect his fascinating friend leaked cut, may be imagined. 'If that woman

deceived me, then she could take in the devil,' he cried. Yet, •aa an • Old Pupil' reminds us, a good many people were taken in by Mra Gordon Bail lie about thab time. Even the 'Pall Mall' gave her a hand, publishing a gushing follower (i.e. the article following the leader) headed 'The Modern Flora Macdonald.' To Philatelists. If any of my readers have'in their posses- : Biou a New Zealand two-penny stampanswering to this description ' blue or bluieb, unused,' they are the happy possessors of an article worth, approximately, £5. A strip of eight stamps answering to the above description realised £•10 at Messrs Newtoa, Ball' and Cooper's sale of foreign postage stamps held at St.. Martin's Town Hall, Charing Cross, on. Friday and .the two days preceding. The total collections dispersed realised £1,930, and from the prices achieved by some specimens, ib is very evident bhat the* philabelic craze, bhough usually ephemeral' with bhe individual, ia going to live for many generations. Two New South Wales •penny red, Sydney views, unueed,' were sold ab £10 apiece: a Cape of Good Hope •woodblock, penny red,' £5 ss; a new* Bruesain 'la mauve ' £13 ; a Nova Scotia 'shilling violet,' £23; an Indian eightanna, 'service atamp,' £10; a Ceylon ' wink star Bd, mustard colour,' £4 ; an ' Sd brown, unused,' £5 ss; a complete U.S. 'justice act,' £7 7a 6d; a Great Britain ' V.R., unused,' £11; a' 2_ lilac, the error£ £6 68 ; a Bremen ' 7 grote perforated, used, r £8 15s; a Basle '2irappen, red and blue, £-_ 10; a Cape of Good Hope, 4d red, the error, damaged,' £32; (memo— what's a sound one worth ?); a Mauritius '2d blue error,- £7. Truly to be a successful collector of philatelic trophies nowadays one must first become a man of eubstance. 4 Personal Items.

Mr W. W. Howard, the senior member of the well known timber traderß of Fenchurch-streeb, has booked for New Zealand by the Kaikoura. His wife and child accompany Mr Howard, who takes bhe journey for healbh's sake. . The party will probably break the journey ab Teneriffe or bhe Capo, and may sbop a little while at both placeß. A small bird whispered to me thab Mr Howard contemplated a lengthy holiday ab Madeira, and only turned his thought* .New Zealand wards when he hoard of the Governmenb proposals regarding the colony's timber trade witli the Old Country. -;.35.„:. •';-. :.- ' .--j Dr.. David Lyall, M.D., who died ab Cheltenham on February 25bh, ab the ripe old age of 78, had a long, diatinguiahed, and interesting career in tho navy. In '39,. soon after entering bhe aervice, he was, on account of hia taste for natural hiatory, appointed assiatanb surgeon of bhe Terror, in Sir Jamea Ross'a Antarctic Expedibion, and held thab p.oab till its return in '42. Promotion to the rank of surgeon was Dr. Lyall- reward, and.in '47 he accompanied the Ascheron in the double capacity of surgeon and naturalist on the survey of New Zealand. Returning to England in '52 he volunteered for and was appointed surgeon of the Assistance, in Sir Edward Belcher's expedition in search of Sir John Franklin. Afber service in the Pembroke during the Russian War, Dr. Lyall! became surgeon of the surveying vessel Plumper, employed on the delimitation of the sea boundary between Greab Britain and bhe United Statea in the North Pacific.^ Twenty1 yeara ago Dr. Lyall was returned aadeputyinßpector general, bub hia interest in'tha eervice waa warm to the last.

The Earl of Pembroke- Australian friends will learn wibh Bincere concern thab the clever author of «South Sea Bubbles", lies in a very eerious condition ab,Wilton House, Salisbury. His medical adviser. hag telegraphed.to a famous London surgeon, and 'bis undoretbiSd a critical".b|S|ratiou impends, Sir Geoffrey Hornby, though never Commodore of tho Australian/Btatiijfj^had, 'tia stated, many friends at the Antipodes, aa, indeed, in every other part of tho .world. He was .known throughoub the service as 'Uncle Jet.',' and in a competition for popularity would have run Lord Charles Beres*ford close. Every officer and man who ever came in contacb with the good old Admiral admired him. Although considerable differences of opinion exiated in the service regarding the relative merits of his compeers, the reputation of Sir Geoffrey waa never questioned, while those who complained of having been victims to hia stem aense of duty were only looked npon aa having failed in that duty themselves^ In a word Sir Geoffrey. Hornby was an ideal naval officer, and although hiß laurels were nob won in the heat of battle hia career will ever serve as a model for future generations.

Lord Walter Scotb, who died on Sunday ab Broughton House, Kettering, waß a brother of the Duke of Buccleuch and of the late Commander of the Australiaa Station. He had several relatives residenb in your parb of the world. Lord Percy Douglas's younger brother,. Lord Arthur, ia the caiisis belli between Lord Queeneberry and Oscar Wilde. His lordship does nob approve^ of tho very intimate and affectionate friendship existing between Lord Arthur Douglas and Mr Wilde. The pair have for a long time past been almoab ..inseparable, and the Marquis is understood to accuse the eminenb dramatiab and poseur of influencing h_9 son in an abominable .manner. Lord Arthur has for some time been on bad terms with his father, and makes no secret of hia dislike for him. We shall see what to-morrow brings forth. On dit Sir George Lewis ia working hard to patch up peace. The death is announced at Butterglen House, Dunkeld, of Colonel Jno. Leslie Robertson, C.8., who served in New Zealand, from 1863 5, and later, paid several visits to Australia and New Zealand. Colonel Robertson was only 57 years of age. I regret to announce the death of Captain Darby of the Ormuz, who succumbed to acute meningitis en the the 21st■inst;.whilst.the', vessel was at sea. The attack came on quite suddenly after leaving Sues, and the unfortunate officer died in a few hours. The catastrophe was a greab shock to all on board, and quite unhinged this chief steward, who committed suicide the following day by jumping overboard.