English Clippings.

Bruce Herald, Volume IX, Issue 806, 26 May 1876, Page 7

English Clippings.

(• Pall Mall Budget.')

The Navy Estimates for the years 1876-77 were issued on Ist March. The total sum required is £11,288,872 (including £197,480 for conveyance of troops), against £10,825.194 lasb year, or a nett increase of £463,678. Thelargest item of increase is £449,992, under the head of "steam machinery and ships built by contract." The number of officers, men. and boys for whom a vote is asked is 40,400, against 40.600 la3t year. The number of ships and vessels in commission on the Ist of December, 1875 (exclusive of Indian troop-ships) was 241, against 242 on the Lst of December, 1874. The effective ships for general service are 4 armor- plated line-of-battle ships ; 11 armor-plated frigates and corvettes ; 11 other vessels of the same class; and 77 sloops and small vessels, of which 1 1 are sailing vessels ; total, 122, against 115 on the Ist of December, 1874. The other vessels in the fleet are classified as follows : — First reserve ships, armor- plated,* 7, others, 9. ; gunnery and training ships, 8 ; stationary receiving, and depot ships, including royal yachts, 19 ; surveying vessels, 4 ; troop ships, 3; store ship 3, 3 ; drill ships (Royal Naval Reserve), 8 ; tenders, 65.

The General Annual Return of the British Army for the year 1874, just published, gives 5702 as the number of deserters in 1873, and 5572 as that of 1874. According to the statement in the ' Times ' a little while ago. giving the official announcement of the number of men who deserted, it appeared that las* year there were 5629, while in 1874 the number re-iched 7939, and in 1873 a still larger number. During the year 1875 the ' Police Gazette ' gaves the names of 4382 deserters from the army — a discrepancy of upwards of 1200 from the number given in the ' Times.' The Secretary of State for- War, in hia speech in reply to Mr Holms' motion on army reform, is reported to have said that there were about 1000 fewer desertions last year than in the year before. We must remain in doubt, then, at least as regards 1875, till the publication of the General Army Return for that year. This may be looked for soniowhere in 1877. As regards 1873 and 1874, it is almost too much to expect that farther returns or announcements relating to the desertion of those years will do more than add to the difficulties in which the subject appears at present to be generally involved.

In the general animal return of the British army for 1874, just printed, is a table showing the heights of the non-cotnniisaioned officers and men on the Ist of January, 1875, ' from which it appears that on that date there were out. of 178,270 soldiers 11,479 under five feet five inches, 23,750 five feet five inches to five feet six inches, 35,894 five feet six inchea to five feet Beven inches, 30,105 five feet seven inches to five feet eight inches, 28,093 five feet eight inches to five feet nine inehe3, 19.375 five feet nine inches to five feet ten inches, 11 214 five feet ten inches to five feet eleven inches, 5814 five feet eleven inches to six feet, and 3905 six: feet and upwards 1676 are returned as "not reported." Of those " six feet and upwards," 749 belonged to the Household Cavalry, 180 to the Cavalry of the Line, 870 to the Royal Artillery, 10G to the ltoyal Engineers, 463 to the Foot Guards, 1389 to the Jufan'ry of the Line, 03 to Colonial Corps, 31 to Army Service Corps, and 54 to Army Hospital Corp3. The proportion of sit feet and upwards man per 1000 was 22, and of thnse under five feet five inches 65 per 1000. These inequalities of stature in onr soldiers may be taken perbapi to illustrate Mr Carlyie's definition o i heroism—-" the divine relation which in all times unites a great man to other men." A decision of some importance to friendly societies was given at the Ashton County Court recently. An action was brought by the father of a deceased member of the ) Grand United Order of Oddfellows against the Mount Zion Lodge for £8, funeral money The deceased joiued the lodge in March, 1875, and eUorfcly after he came into the benefit died ; but Ihe lodge refused to p&y to the plaintiff the amount due on the death of a, member. It appeared by the evidence that no medical examination was required from the deceased on joining tha locjge, but that he had, " as an konesb man," to answer certain questions as to his state of health. In defence \t was urged that these question^

were not answered by the. deceased " as an honeßt man " ; that hia declaration as to the state of his health was, in fact, false ; that at the time ho made it ho was not healthy, but extremely nervous and delicate, and had a tendency to consumption. The judge, however, said that if the society was content with the declaration of health it could only be taken a3 false if the peraon making it knew he was noh healthy. If the society wished the health of intending members to bo more strictly looked into, they should obtain a medical certificate, and, as they were wealthy, he would advise them to increase their medical officers' salaries and to get such certificates. The verdict was accordingly fur the plaintiff. Tt certainly seems imprudent in a matter of business to trust a man's own evidence with regard to his health, and it 13 a well-known fact that consumptive patients are often almost to the last ignorant of their previous condition. The native journals of China are not as a rule read much, in this country, which is perhaps as well, for their views respecting foreigners are almost too clearly expressed to be pleasant. The 'North China Herald' gives the following extracts from an article in the ' J-pao,' a native journal, on the subject of tht> Yunnan affair, which, it -will be observed, 13 treated in a colloquial style : — fv A loj'al old man said to me in regard to the Yunnan afl'iir ; Will it be necessary to wait till Li arrives to discern the right or wronoj of England and China, and. the merit or guilt of Li Hsicli-tai ? If Margary was guilty of leading Indian soldiers and surreptitiously attacking our country, and Li Hsbh-tai killed him, then truly he is a loj'al subject, a. meritorious subject. Jf, after Margary has been killed, China kills a loyal subject, and meritorious officer in compensation, it will not only be unreasonable of China, but be held contrary to reason in all Western countries. The hearts of loyal people will be scared, and their loyalty evaporate. What the Government depends on is the heart of its subjects. If Margary surreptitiously attacked us and was killed, the ofßeer'9 merits should be largely rewarded. If England wishes to fight, then Li Hsich-tai should be choseel to conduct the war. Then the more he can kill the more he should b* rewarded, that all people may hear of it, and be desirous of dying to save their country." A Canadian lecturer has lately taken some pains to show that the growth of the Dominion compares not unfavorably with that of the United States. No province of the Dominion has retrograded in population within the last ten years, while t>vo States of the Union — Maine and New Hampshirehave shown a decrease, and Vermont has increased by no more than five per cent., against seven per cent, increase in Quebec, the least advanced of the Canadian provinces. Canada can compare not discreditably even with the State of New York, which, in spite of its enormous urban population, only exceeded the Canadion rate of increase by one-half per cent. The statement that there is a large annual emigration from Canada to the States was admitted by the lecturer ; indeed, the American census of 1870 shows 480,000 native British Canadians settled in the Union ; but this evidence of a restless spirit of movement 13 not peculiar to 1 the Dominion. " There were twelve States < of the Union which had lost a larger percentage of native-burn population than had Canada. The ten States lying south and east of Lake Erie had lost nearly double as large a percentage of native-born population as Canada." The fact, however, remains that the internal intermigrationof the people of the United Stats does not result in any deduction from the national strength, while the outflow of population from Canada is an uncompensated loss.