THE WEEK.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 161, 9 July 1910, Page 7

THE WEEK.

IMPERIAL. TTouZ d t a n e 0U the Bud S efc * the House of Commons this week was a eharp contrast to the Budge* debate of last year, being made and free from bharp exchanges. Mr. Asquith, referring to charges made that the Government was responsible for excessive expenditure, said the growth of the Civil expenditure had been enormous, but.it would be unjust for any section of the House to denounce this unless they were prepared to retrace the steps that had •been made in the direction of social reform and similarly the granting of old age pensions was due to,demands from all parts of the House. Mr. Lloyd George remarked that he hoped by 1912 when the German naval programme dropped 50 per cent, they would all , return to more normal and saner conditions. Mr. Austen Chamberlain retorted ifchat if Mr. Lloyd George disagreed with the Navy Estimates ho should resign. It was reckless to hold put hopes of social reforms depending on the naval policy of a foreign Power. The Regency Bill, providing that Queen Mary shall 'be Regent should the King die before the Prince of Wales attains ■ the age of 18, has passed 'the House of Commons. The Civil List has , also been passed. It totals a similar amount to the last reign' of £470,000, with £13,000 increase for the younger members of the family. There is a' contingent annuity for Queen Mary in the event of her surviving King George. 'Captain Mahan, in an article in. tie "Daily Mail" on the British v. Gernun navy construction; argues that a d.'equieting feature of the situation is tae apparent disposition towards slackness in the new votes in Britain, as agairst the resolute spirit and 'tremendous ficulty for organising strength evident in Germany. ~- ' The NorxMfeutscher Lloyd annotueesj that in case, of a working agreement! between the Orient and P. and O. Comj paniesl'ityi-lQcto'ber they . will cut the from Southampton, t< the Conttsvci/ivueaJth to £60, and second! class ; toji<£(2,, phis 10 per cent. The conf pany claim's tiiat since the English con panics ,'p-ro Tunning superior steainei the Ge^rjians , jgugbt to be allowed I charge Mf.%:* Tjhe Orient and P. and/Compnnje&vCttSiiend that all rates p : mail be the same.p- 1 ra ; te war is faired. FOREIGN. The chief event of the week apad ' was the fight for the world's h*- v y _ ' weight championship between JJries • : and Johnson. Jeffriee was never I the i. •hunt, his negro opponent outppting j him in every stage of the flght,which j. lasted for fifteen rounds. i ing savagely in the last three punds, j; hit Jeffries when he liked, and |ocked |; him out with a succession of £err i nc |. blow 3. As was anticipated, ra|l riots j followed all over America. | these., some thirteen negroes and $ white j. were killed, while hundreds |n. both j j sides were wounded. Fearint further •. riots, many Mayors have pro&itt-'d the . cxliibition of the pictures. A gang belonging to the I*ck Hand . society waylaid and shotl n Italian merchant named Piccolo a/f Brooklyn. Tho murdered man \vas pi/$d up and carried to a hospital, and ho lay there dying the gang»<er to .his home «h.■■■i». 6 i«.-& : t->nd Piccolo, ■both husband/arid wifeoeing now dead. No arrests h ye .been made. A dreadfu >aihpy disaster has occurred at I Ohio, a passenger train coming i to cojision with a freight train. Tho ci ine itf the latter crashed through a am ciny car and coach filled with women d'children, many being killed. Sevei cars were overturned, and rolled ovi ai embankment. Thirtyone bodies he been recovered. The list of the in red totals 87. The "J ourrl dcs Debats" states that a ltusso-Japjjlse agreement hae been signed, which jjuarontues the status quo in Mancnurifi|and' provides that if the agreements iiissia and Japan have concluded with.thina are menaced, the parties will tie concerted measures for ftheir defence. COM tONWEAXTH. The Federa Parliament is debating the Address a-Reply. Mr. Deakin, Leader of tht Opposition, strongly condemned the i item of government by' caucus, and j hted out that the Government majo ty was so strong as to enable it to drry the whole of its policy into ci Mr. Fisher, defending tho syster paid that Mr. Gladstone and Lord Sal iiry had both consulted their support lion returning to power. Dr. Heincke -chairman of the North G-erman Lloyd cays tha:b Australia will profib by a >|d . understanding with Germany ehoulj'iJrouble arise over the white Austral! ;policy. A Melbourai girl named Alice Car-' iton, aged 11, |(fa 'Deaten to death in a shocking mansr Tvith a ibroom handle by her cousin, who acted a3 housekeeper: fie woman subsequently attempted to OTtmit suicide. When she recovered consSousness she stated that she had beatel jhe girl for 'telling unfcruths, and haiiiecome distracted when she found; thafee child was dead, and accordingly atjeapted. suicide. Official etatiiit show a considerable falling off in ! uU3itralia'& sugar production. A total >fti214,242 tons was produced in 1907., igiinst 161,253 tone last year. While sjprts fell from 11,077 to 2051 tons, anports increased from 6167 to 99J689 toW.' Btaiircosr. By all aewoujts- the Waikato Winter Show was in ewrj way a success. The exhibits we're f ■ fxtremely creditable to the. district md the large number of visitors; m "well as the great diversity of product [represented, afforded convincing pro|l\bf the widespread public "interest jtliit this display lias aroused, liegarded as an exhibition of agricultural andj- products, this show should do ja |reat deal for the disstrict; for it affbris material proof of the existence of; tfcse valuable natural resources that await exploitation on-all sides in the Waikaio. Not many years ago the land wlncti is now selling. as high as £20 an acii in this district was regarded as -wortlilfes; and nothing but the comparative isfcUtion of this part of New Zealand pray tits its value from being more generall (: ilised. The question' Of Ik;, ing reform, more particularly in its ibl on to the State's interest in the Baik f New Zealand, was discussed in the ttouse of Representatives on Tuesc\ afternoon. The matter was brought \ ,'j by Mr." T. E. Taylor, M.P., who as!. why they should not convert the St interest in the Bank of New Zealara into a share interest, and make it a national bank for New Zealand? The State had put £500,000 into the. wncern, nail the« an iitlditlonal miUiou of Bk. Josegli. > Wwd wid

the Government at present possessed the power to elect' the majority"of the d"' tors of the Bank/of New Zealand, bm the theory "-that- they: Could' by" Act oi Parliament compel the Bank of JNew Zealand to do certain things was erroneous.' The country could decide to_ e f tablish a bank of its own if it liked, -Ll*" could be done to-morrow if the pe°P le if° desired, but it Was quite a. mistake to suppose that thW" could willy niUy torce the Bank, of NW Zealand to hand, its business over to the State.: ■-:■ \ Much centres in the amendments likely to find their way on to tne Statute Book Ma session with' regard to the licensing if bookmakers, and. it ia generally conside ed that the death knell of.the layer of >dds has bene soundedThe Government , policy, as outlined in the Speech from the Throne, forecasted an amendment to the Gaming. Act, while two privat bills, circulated in the names of Sir Wl. Steward and Mr. E. Newman, aim a special legislation in this direction. 'Jhe police report states that there were 39 prosecutions under the gaming laws last year, resulting in 208 convictions, ompared with 213 prosecutions and lit convictions in 1908. The report ad<3: "The question of licensing bookmakers will have to be very seriously ccisidercd, and some restriction be plac 1 upon the many undesirable character who under the, present law follow the pi fession of bookmaking." Mr. F. Waldtjrave, Commissioner of Police, in his anual report, states that the number of fences reported to the police in the twlve months was 23,930, an increase of ji on the figures of the previous y« a r. 'i'e proportion of offences to the pqjulatioti was 2.32 per centj as against f.33 thj. previous year. \ Commenting ipon thi increases under various heading? the ffiport states that they have mostly confined to the less serious form of/crime, such as assaults, breachs of the; peace, drunkenness, slygrog filing, anil vagrancy, whilst there has b/en a gratifying decrease under the headiig of burglary and certain classes ol tleft. The percentage of arrests or summonses resulting from all offences reported during the year under review is 95.61, the figures of the preceding year teing 95.63. " " A sersational and shocking tragedy, n which two lives were sacrificed was nacted at the Mental Hospital at Avontale on Thursday afternoon,. the victims i >eing an inmate of the institution known is Mrs. Ellen M. Webster, and an/exnilitary officer, Captain Herbert Jones, yho was a nurseryman ■ and wine manuacturer residing at Omaha. Jones had cen visiting Mrs. Webster, and had been aft talking with her in the corridor. The ittention of the acting-Matron (Miss 'lolet Campbell) was attracted by a loise in the corridor such as would be aiised by a person falling heavily on the oor, and instantly rushing to the scene, vas almost horror-stricken to find .Irs. Webster stretched on the floor in r iolent convulsions with Jones in a :neeling posture across her body, and. lso apparently shaking with agonising iains. The efforts made to preent death, were fruitless, both exliring in three or four minutes after he shocking deed had been discovered. .Tie facts revealed in the course of urther inquiry and searc* showed pretty onelusively that Jones had prearranged he tragedy. Jones had in his possession . small rim-fire revolver., loaded in the ix chambers, also. a. box" of cartridges nd a razor, and only fourperice in money, ."here is reason to believe that the act vas premeditated on Jones' part, but he woman had never displayed suicidal endeneies. Mrs. Webster was an. acconiiH shed woman, reported to be a ;cendant of an aristocratic family who. vere driven from Franco, at the time o£ ,ho French Revolution, and took refuge n England. During the Boer War Vlrs. Webster, it is- .said, followed in officer who had won her affections, but found nothing but disappointment awaiting her. It was in South Africa that she mc); Captain Jones and his wife, and a friendship sprang up, and ripened to such an extent that they all came out to New Zealand together. The Joneses lived at Omaha, ami Mrs. Webster was there till October last, when she was committed to the Avondale Mental Hospital from the Magistrate's > Court at Auckland. Th« story of how she lost her reason is most strange. One day she picked up a novel by one of the modem school which lingers over details which were formerly not thought quit« suitable to print for public perusal, and the story of the unfortunate heroine was almost identical with the life ot the woman who had picked up the volume to pass an idle hour away. Everything tallied to the smallest detail, even the visit to South Africa, and, in fact, the likeness ■was- so startling that her mental balance was shattered, and there was nothing for it but to have her committed to the Asylum. Captain Jones, who has "Deen at Omaha for several years, had a vineyard there, and frequently paid visits to the Asylum to see Mrs Webster, bringing as often as not little presents for her. He was about sixty years of age, but did not look his years, in spito of his weather-beaten face, which bore evidences of the strenuous out-door life he lived in the army and after. He served in the Boer war, and instead of going :back to the Old Country, decided to try life under new conditions in New Zealand, about which he heard so much from the New Zealanders whom he met in the campaign. He -was married, and his wife as living at Omaha, They had ono child, i>orn about twenty years ago. Jones was always grateful for any kindness shown to Mrs Webster, and never forgot to show it. On one occasion explaining the gTeat interest he took in Mrs Webster, lie told a person that her husband had deserted hex in New Zealand, and had since died. Mrs •Webster had three children—one aged six, another three, and *he youngest was a toby .born about twelve months ago. These children were often .brought to see their mother 'by Jones, and she seemed much attached to them. Dr. Bell, Government Geologist, reports on the new coalfield to the westward of Waimarino and Erna stations on the Main Trunk line, that 1C outcrops have been definitely located. Samples were analysed from most of the outcrops, being taken from roof to floor of the seam. The coal is subbituminous, of the quality generally known as lignite, in seams of 4ft' to Bft in thickness, ; inteystratified with/ a great series of conglomerates, sandstones, and impure limestone. Dr. Bell said that the coal is high in ash, sulphur, and. water, which are all serious defects. •". • . v ' ■•, ,■ ■ .■.:■"-.