THE WEEK.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 287, 2 December 1911, Page 11

THE WEEK.

IMPERIAL. The Foreign Secretary (Sir Edward Pre*) made his cigerly-awaited speeca nn Foreign Policy in the House of Com™L| m Tuesday. The speech dis- !___ that Britain had carefully safe- _____ her interest during the troublous me _ of the Moroccan negotiations, ami W exhibited a firmness which had £,„,_ Germany's hand during the conversations between the Powers, compelling her to consult Britain and to sup„lv information which she sought to j litbhold: The result has been to jjeatly add to Britain's prestige in in-, tiu-national affairs, and proportionately! ♦ 0 diminish Germany's importance. The j .neeeh ' was warmly welcomed in France, i but caused a bitter outburst in man."; German paper-. In the House of Lords j Viscount Morley, discussing the situa- \ tion, said that there was no reason why ; German, 's. naval expansion should im- j pair a desire for cordial friendship pervading the whole tuition. It was natur- : al that Germany should desire to find, territories for her surplus population, ; fife Edward Grey's speech was one j of the most remarkable a Foreign Secretary ever delivered. It echoed what he • believed was a general desire for better relations with Germany. Last week it was announced that [ Germany intended to spend an addition- ; al, 17. millions sterling on her navy in the next seven years. Britain's -answer, was not long delayed, and on Thursday ! it was stated that Mr. Churchill in- ! tended to raise a loan of 30 millions i or more for the Meet and Dreadnoujht ! docks. The Admiralty was reorganised ,by the retirement of Admiral Sir A. K. •Wilson, who is replaced as First Sea. | (Lord by Vice-Admiiral Sir F. C. j Br___in. Vice-Admiral Prince LouLs j Alexander of Battenberg and Captain I tVm. C. Pakenham replace Vice-Admiral , Sir Geo. Egerton and Captain C. E. j Madden as Sea Lords of the Admiralty, , It is presumed from these changes that ! Mr. Churchill, the new First Lord of the Admiralty, desires to begin the reorganisation of the navy, including the creation of a naval war staff with advisers of recent sea experience. The King offered Sir A. K. Wilson a peerage, but "he was allowed to decline for personal reasons. » The secret articles attached to the Anglo-French declaration of 190. have been published simultaneously in London and Paris. The articles define the territory allotted to Spain in the event of the breaking up of the Moroccan Empire. It is also provided by the articles that whatever other changes occur, j three articles of the declaration provid- j in" for (1) equal treatment of cable services, (2) the neutrality of the Suez Canal, and (3) free passage through the j Straits of Gibraltar, will remain unaltered. Mr. John Hays Hammond, who was America's special representative at the j Coronation of King George V., at a banquet in Boston on Monday night, I gave the inside history of the Jameson raid. He said that the chief agtitators were Americans, who were not acting at any time under the British flag. The impositions of President Oom Paul Kruger were such as no Anglo-Saxon could stand for a single minute. Dr. Jameson entered the reform movement against the wishes of others. Kruger played false towards, the Reform Com- | mittee. ,He gave the men to under* | stand that if they pleaded guilty they j •would be merely fined. Instead, they were condemned to -death, and the, intervention of Mr. Otaey (U_. Secretary of State) alone saved the reformers" within 24 hours of the time fixed for the execution. FOREIGN AF-AIRS. News from China is somewhat indefinite and at times contradictory, but it would appear that the Imperials are now asserting themselves, and that Che rebels are getting into trouble. Li Yuan-Hung, their leader, has accepted Yuan-shi-kai's terms, and _ willing to send representatives to a National Congress. Imperial flags are flying throughout Peking to show the people's joy at the establishment of the Constitution. The Regent, on behalf of the Emperor, has taken an oatih to the shades of the Imperial ancestors to uphold the Constitution and to organise a Parliament excluding the nobles. Mr. Champ Clark denies that he ever reilly favoured the annexation of Canada. He would tie the first person to vote against such a project if it were offered by the United States. It was the most preposterous canard ever put into type , since Gutenberg invented printing. He had frequently expressed the hope that the two countries would unite in rmitual agreement, but never for one moment thought of forcible annexation. A conspiracy is' declared to exist with the object of piecing General Reyes at the head of the Mexican Government. A general rising against President Madero "is said to be threatened. IN THE COMMON-HEALTH. Changes in the Federal Tariff were announced on Thursday night by Mr. Tudor (Minister for Customs). They include preference to Britain by means of higher duties on foreign goods. Mr. John Murray has decided not to resign the Premiership of Victoria in favour of Mr. Watt (Works Minister). The match between M.C.C. and New South Wales had to be abandoned owing to rain. M.C.C. scored 23S in the fir3t innings, and New South Wales IDS I for eight wickets, Gregory making 60. THE DOMINION. Replying to a deputation of nurserymen asking for a tariff for protection against imported fruit trees, in order to prevent the extinction of the industry in New Zealand, Sir John Findlay expressed the opinion that unless the tariff was ad- [ justed to enable the wages required by j the law to be paid, the whole industrial system of New Zealand must come to the, ground. He believed that there were, in the Dominion industries to-day which were languishing for want of proper protection, and which could be fostered tot -•nefit the whole Dominion. He advo-! catrd a* a remedy eon- mc the machinery j which was used with such triumphant | Sucre's hv Germ-any, in the erection of j the most scientific protective tariff in ■ the whole world. The commission .shortl'- to be appointed to inquire into the cost of living would, he hoped, have its powers widened to collect evidence in j such cases as nurserymen. Wm. and Maud Borers, who were convicted on Saturday on charges arising out of the burglary at Adolph Kohn's jewel- j lery premises on March 10, came up for I sentence on Monday. Tbe male accused asserted that his wife believed that he came by the goods honest] c. The woman l pleaded that she had suffered enough. She. had been seven months in jniol. and I had been subjected to the awful ''third degree" in America. His Honor sentenced William Rogers to five rears' Imprisonment nnd four years' detention for reformatory purposes and Mauri Botrei. to two vcars' Imprisonment and to two years' reformatory treatment.

The nomination of candidates for Parliamentary honours closed on Monday, and they involve #jntested elections in the whole of the European seats of the Dominion except that of Gisborne, for which Sir James Carroll has the unique I distinction of being returned unopposed. ! Another member of the Cabinet, the ] Hon. ... T. Ngata, was returned unop- | posed for the Eastern Maori electorate. ' Generally speaking, the nominations for ; contested seats closely followed the unI official 1" t previously published', an ex- | ception being in Auckland Central, where j Mr. W. Richardson stepped into the field jat the last moment to oppose Messrs. : Glover. Gleeson, and Savage. Speaking at the -half-yearly meeting I of the Bank of New Zealand in WellingI ton on Friday the acting-chairman (Mr. I Martin Kennedy) said the bank's profits ! had been well sustained, and compared I favourably with the corresponding I periods of previous years. Having reason to anticipate that the second half of the I financial years would prove proportion- , atelv good the directors had declared an I interim dividend on all shares. As regards the com-mertrial outlook, the chair- • man said that trade, which had been somewhat slow throughout the i .ear now showed a considerable revival , The wool market, which for the past few months had been somewhat depressed, was showing signs of revival, I prices so far realised at the current London sales being a distinct advance on j the closing quotations of the previous i series. With the mare settled state of I European affairs, there would seem reasonable ground for anticipating generally improved trade conditions, and as a conI sequence, possibly a further advance in | wool prices. In that case exports from I the Dominion for the year ending the j "oth September next would probably ■ equal, if not exceed, the average of the I last three years, coupled with an easier I position in the Australian Commonwealth that will most likply folfbw on | the recent satisfactory rainfall that has 1 I taken place there. Such an improvement - j would no doubt go far towards relieving i I the apprehended monetary stringency in I Australasia next year.