THE WEEK.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 303, 20 December 1913, Page 11

THE WEEK.

THE DOMINION. Jj e second .-e».-ion oi the pre-«¥ftt ParJunent was brought to a close on Tuesday morning, after a prolonged debate on the Naval Defence proposals of the government. Sir .Jo-epli Ward made a ___l protest against the unlimited expenditure authorised, and predicted that it meant the imposition of ruinous taxation at an curly date. Tlie Hon. J. stated that the expenditure for Hival defen.c ttii- year would not be more than U 100.000. Already £50,000 _&i been \<.v .l m the Admiralty, and part of "the remaining £50.000 would probably fc used for the training ship. He detlared that lie had made it perfectly clear that New Zealand would consider itse'.f entire y independent in peace time. It mi"ht he right tv have manoeuvres in peace time uiih the Australian navy. 3c- presumed the Opposition would not object so Ion? as our own navy retained entity control.

When the item of -C 100.000 for expenditure incurred in connection with the waterside worker.-' strike was reached on the Supplementary Estimates, Sir Joseph Ward a~ked iV.e Minister for conic gcner.il detail-. The Hon. Mr. Herdman replied that no special allowances were made at all to special constable.-. The mounted -pecials received 10/ a day fur man aud horse. Ac to the foot specials, if they claimed the money, they would he paid 8/ a day, but a great nanv in Wellington were not claiming anything. In Auckland, he understood, they were being paid the S/. The amount of £100.000. explained the Minister, was only an estimate.

Keen interest was taken in the second ballot for the Lyttelton by-election, which eventuated ou Tuesday. The final fi-mres are -as follow: — MeCombs, .1. (Social Democrat). 2.623: Miller. M. J. (Government:. 2.402; total votes polled, 5.030: majority fur MeCombs, '226. In the first ballot Mr. MeCombs polled 2.075 votes agaiii-t 1,500 ictes polled by Mr. Miller.

The chairman of directors of the Bank of Xew Zealand, speaking at the halfrearlv meeting, held at Wellington on Thursday,- -aid that the profits for the half-year ended on 30th September last, while somewhat below there of the corresponding halfyear of 19L2. were still very ample, and the Board had therefore decided upon declaring ihe customary dividend of b per cent. Discussing future prospects. Mr. Beauehamp said Australia was anticipating a good -e-.iison. and rates for money were said to be weakening there somewhat, lenders being prepared to adTrance on mortgage at fully one-half per cent less than" they were demanding a few months ago. In Xew Zealand the Eeason, owing to the excellent winter, promised to be perhaps the most bountiful ever experienced. He anticipated that at the end of the current produce season, covering a period of twelve months, our total exports would approximate £23.000.000 Both in Australia and Xew Zealand, however, monetary ease resulting trom the excess of exports was not likely to be experienced to any great extent because, though exports had largely increased, imports had increased in even greater ratio.

The representatives of tlie Xew Zealand Rugby Criion. the 1913 All Blacks ■who hate"been touring California and British Columbia, returned to Auckland by the Niagara on Wednesday. In all sixteen matches were played, and all •were won. The total points scored by the totals t',lo. and only 6 were recorded against them. The mo-t successful point-getters on the tour were Graham and R. Roberts, each of whom, peculiarly enough, c-cored tiU points each. Graham easily holds the record for goals from tries. In all he had 30 attempts. I only six oi which -were failures. Stohr . is third in the matter of total points and second in goal-kicking. His placekickmg was rather erratic, but some of | his successful shots brought down the I house. I.vnch is first in tne number or | tries, scoring !i3. He is closely followed j by McGregor and R. Roberts, with 15 each. j IMPEEIAi. In replying t-o a deputation of Liberal members" of the House of Commons during the week, Mr. Asquith stated.that it was not proposed to increase the naval estimates next year beyond the automatic increases already provided for. The Government did not propose to maintain a Mediterranean fleet jn excess of those of Italy and Austria. Britain's largest super-Dreadnought, the Tiger, was launched at Clydebank on Monday. She is 25.U00 toils," and will develop a speed of 30 knot.-. She carries eight 12.5-inch guns and twelve ti-inch. Her cost is over two millions, without her guns. An appeal i.-> being made by Lord Desborough (president of the Imperial Airfleet Committee) for £1,000 to enable the committee to carry out its original plan for drawing the Empire's attention tv> the imperative need for aerial defence, and to provide further complementary iir~t units to the Imperial airflest for the defence of overseas Dominions.

The Xavy League entertained Captain Ilalsey and the officers of the Xew Zealand it luncheon at the Hotel Cecil on Tuesday. Mr. Churchill (First Lord or the Admiralty) said that Xew Zealand's gift at a serious crisis was one of the

greatest acts of far-seeing imagination fqr which any modern Stale could claim credit. Jn some respects it might be considered an example and a forerunner. The British Xavy had not only to consider Home- interests, but must toe that tbe world'> sea roads were poiieed and safeguarded. Moreover, the Empire had only the «reat material link of sea power to 'weld i- into an effectively permanent and enduring whole. The Xew Zealand's cruise had notably advanced this. Captain Halscy, in replying, paid a tribute to the enthusiasm and loyalty of the -Boers in welcoming the Xew Zealand. At the sub-extent reception Mr. _T. Mackenzie. (High Commissionc-r for Xew Zealand! ;aid lie did not desire to tread tlie prickly path of politics, but could not help thinking tha- if Mr. Borden had taken the line ot" action which the New Zealand Government took, he would have met with tlie same universal response. Tin- N",-v- : Zealand Government had rightly interpreted the minds of the loyal people. The difference consisted in appealing to the patriotism of the people rather than for the approval of politician-. lp the one ease love of country ■svao the foundation of the action, and in the other, unfortunately, the love nt party advantage dominated the situation.

The Home Rule controversy continues with unabated vigour. It i; again reported that the heads of the parties anin conference with a view to reaclung mice hacis of settlement. In order to te=t the efficiency of the Lister volunteer- and their readines- in th" event of the withdrawal ol" the poet and telegraph serv"n:«s. fienl. Richardson, the commander nt the force, suddenly mobilised tbe signalling and dispatch riding corps on 'jSatoidav. Four hundred motor cycliets

participated. The dispatches were carried with remarkable celerity throughout Ulster.

The first test match between South Africa and England at Durban was won by England hy an innings and 157 runs. South Africa, making 182 and 111. and England 450.

Captain Lane, of tbe schooner Polar Bear, declares that he knows that Captain Stefansson's Arctic ship, the Karluk, is lost, and that Captain Bartlett is undoubtedly dead. He says that Stefansson. with his party, is safely ashore at Point Barrow. Captain Lane'bas just arrived from northern ports. FOREIGN AFFAIRS. The Mexican conflict continues, though the latest reports indicate the triumph of the Huertan regime. It is reported that the rebels have been routed at Tampico, and that 0,000 of them are surrounded by 1:2,000 Federals. The Vulcan mine, near Newcastle, Colorado, was destroyed by an explosion on Tuesday, tlie whole 3S m:n employed in the mine being killed. Colonel Goethals (constructor of the Panama Canal) does not expect to declare the canal open for traffic before May. The Cucaracka slide is giving considerahle trouble. The famous picture " Mona Lisa," which disappeared from the Louvre a couple of years ago, has been recovered, and is now at Florence in the National j Museum. The alleged thief, who has been arrested, is an Italian. His motive is stated to have -been one of revenge for the thefts by Napoleon during his italian campaigns. The man arrested is called . Vineenzo Perugia. -He is a house-painter in Paris. While working in the Louvre jhe is said to have made off with the picture, concealing it under his blouse. i A gendarme searched his house, but | failed to find it. Perugia tried to sell 1 the picture in England, but failed. I Another royal divorce is pending. The I Princess Eitel Frederick of Prussia has 1 left her husband, and has gone to Paris. I She declares that she does not intend ito return owing to the Kaiser's -unneces- | sary interference in domestic matters. .THE COMMONWEALTH. i The captain of the steamerr Pacificjue ! reported, on arrival at Sydney, that the 1 volcano on the summit of Ambryn Island, -in the New Hebrides, has been in erupi tiou since December fi. Six new craters were formed. No casualties arc- reported ' among the white population, but many : natives arc supposed to have perished. The steamer France saved 500 natives, who were taken to Port Sandwich. The western part of the island is all afire. forming a most impressive spectacle. I The New Zealand cricketers won their I first two matches in Australia, beating i the Northern Districts No. 1 by 3015 runs ! and Northern Districts No. 2 by an innI ings and 4(1 runs.

The X.S.W. Labour Government has secured a runaway win in the seond ballots in the city" securing five out of seven, and making the figures: Labour 47. Liberal 30, Independent Labour 1. Independent 1. The live second ballots in the country will take place to-day.