LONDON NOTES.

Press, Volume L, Issue 8523, 30 June 1893, Page 5

LONDON NOTES.

(FROM OCR SPKO-Ali CORRESPONDENT.) MR PERCEVAL ON FEDERATION. LONDON, Moy 2L The occasion of so mauy colonial aud Indian and Canadian notabilities being present in London was. rather felicitously chosen by Mr Perceval to bring out a paper on " Aspects of Imperial Federation from a Colonial Pointof View." He real It before the Society of Arts (Foreign and Colonial section), lost Tuesday evening, and a large number of invitations were «ent out. But the utter apathy felt generally on this subject was pointedly illustrated by tho 'act that fewer than fifty persons assembled to listen to what was expected to be (and proved to be) an interesting paper and equally interesting disoussion on the great question. Mr Perceval's treatise was a very able and thoughtful one. Ho began by explaining clearly that he expressed only his own personal opinions, nnd did not speak in any representative sense. Ho contendod that the time had come when a clearly formulated polioy on tho part of tho Federationi.ts should replace the vaguo generalities on which they had hitherto reßtod. Ho suggested the idea of a. now conference, at which numerous general questions should be considered. Among these Mr Peroeval instanced naval aud military defence, postal and telegraphic intercommunication, commercial treaties, treatment of aliens, investment of trust funds iv colonial publio stocks, a general standard of professional qualification for the whole Empire, abandonment of English stamp duty on colonial loans, uniformity in coinage, marriage 'and divorce laws, naturalisation, trado and Customs tariffs, &c. Mr Poroeval contended that the Mother Country had not done what might have been dono lv furthering the work of colonisation, and had consequently lost iruoh, and population and gold had been absorbed by America instead of being secured by British colonies! and he pointed out that tho 10,000,000 British colonists (in Canada, Australasia, and the Cape) buy more British goods than do the whole 70,000,000 people of tho United States. Colonial progress had been due to thfl hard work and outerpriso of colonists themselves, and it was in extending colouiaation that some had temporarily crippled their finances, perhaps through over-eagerness to advance. He showed that up to 1887 New Zealaud and Australia had expended £14,231,145 in " dofonce," of which more thau half (£7,152,938) stood to New Zealand credit. He condemned tho niggardliness of tho Imperial Government iv refusing to defray tho cose of their own mails to New Zealand via San Francisco. He advocated the consolidation of tho various national debts of the colonies, or such part as should have been expended on publio workß of an Imperial character, such as defence, colonisation, public works, ohoapor communication, &a., under Imperial guarantee, which would re» duce tho interest payable by tho colonies to about 3 per cent., while the liability of the United Kingdom would be merely nominal. He Bays, " This country would not hesitate to spend two or three hundred millions on a war in defence of her colonies, why should she hesitate to as-ume a liability which would be one in name only, but which would immediately cause British prestige, trade and iufluoare to bound forward with new life apd vigour." He complains that under present eruditions tho colonies are too much at the meroy of the English money* lender whenever loans have to be raised or; renewed. This, he says, ia " ruinous finance," and he proposes a mutual compact among the Australasian colonies, and between them and certain banking institutions in London, which would remedy all these evils and would con-titute a sort of fihancial federation. A lengthened disoussion ensued. Sir Frederick Young characterised the paper as a most "lucid, masterly, and comprehensive " one. Mr H. M. Paul considered it a " splendid contribution to the literature of the subject." Sir Edward Braddon and other speakers were equally complimentary, including your late Governor, Lord Onslow, who waß in the Chair, and who spoke at some length on the general question. A cordial vote of thanks was passed *o Mr Perceval for his able paper. I may add that I listened to it with great interest and admiration as certainly one of tho clearestbeaded monographs on that usually-faddy question that I have yet mot witb. It well deserves wide circulation and attentive perusal. The only New Zealanders, or ex-colonists of. New Zealand, present that I noticed, whom I have repeatedly mentioned, were Dr. S* Maunsell, of Dunedin, Mrs Aotqu* Adams, of Christchurch, Mr R. R. Hunt, of Auckland, and Mr O. Rous-Marteh, of Wellington. General regret was felt and expressed by those who were present that, New Zealand was so thinly represented on such an occasion. NEW ZEALAND MEDICAL TRAINING. : ■■■•", Two New Zealand graduates of the Medical School attached to the Obago University have just passed with flying colours their ' examination for the degrees of M.R.O.S. ' and L.R.C.P., London. Their success has been so marked as to afford a gratifyingly conclusive testimony to the excellence of their New Zealand training. Dr. GeorgeAnderson Coglaud, M.D., Otago, who was three ye./ . practising in tho Dunedin Hospital, a?.;d Mr William Butement, M.8., also of Otago University, who was for some tin . 'oeura, tenens of Dr. Ernest Rawsou, W*. jn, who came Home last year to get extox tudy and qualifications, have taken this -week the two degrees of Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians and Member of the Royal College of Surgeons. Thoy did exceedingly well, and passed all the examinations with the utmost ease. Indeed, they declare that any students who have undergone the Otago training, and passed that examination for the medical degree has passed a test far more severe than that imposed by the usual English exam, for M.R.C.S. or L.R.C.P. In faot, the Loudon University exam, is tho only one which equals in "stiffness " that of Dunedin. As for the others they are said to be comparatively child's play, not merely in one respect but in all—alike in materia medica, ohomistry, biology, &c. The examiners speak in. very high terms of the work done by these two gentlemen, who will return to the colony with excellent preßtige. They both leave to-day by the Orient steamer Orizaba and expect to reach New Zealand in July, They hay ebeen working at the London Hospital, I learn from Edinburgh that a largo number of New Zealand medical students are there just now hard at work, and all doing well. Amoßg the names mentioned to tue as very promising are those of Meßsrs Fitzgerald, Fulton, M'llroy (2), Horns, Fitohotfc, Anderson (2), Beattie, Bell, Eodgera, Hodges, Burt, and Henderson. Another Otago University graduate who has just won another step is Dr. William L. | Christie, M.D. Otago University, and j M.R.C.S. (London), who has pimed his first I professional exam, for the diploma of Fellow of Anatomy and Physiology of the Royal College of Surgeons and received his diploma I on Wednesday last. His sphere of work |" has been King's College Hospital. These results must be highly gratifying to those who have taken an interest in the Otago Medical School, and affords a forcible refutation of the disparaging criticisms | mado in certain New Zealand quarters. i It is now virtually admitted by some of the best English authorities that the training in the Otago Medical School is quite equal to any elsewhere, and that the medical degree of the Otago University i represents a qualification as high as that given by the passing of any English or Scottish examination. PERSONAL AND GENERAL. | Sir Julius Vogel tells mc he is publishing ; a paper on the Australian banking crisis ia the coming number of tho Fortnightly, It | has been accepted by the editor, and will sot forth some rather new views of th esitua« I tion, its causes and its possible results. ■ ■ Your ex-Governor, Sic James Fergusson, presided yesterday at a meeting of the I Indian section of the Society of Arts, when a paper was read by Sir R. West on " Agrarian Legislation." Sir James leaves for Scotland byto-night's mail for a week's rest during the Whitsuntide holidays, return* ing to London and his parllsunwatary duties at the end of next week. Another, aad mora recent, ox*Govom«%

Sir William Jervois, who returned recently after visiting South Australia, is living at Merlewood, near Virginia Water. Miss Boiler was presented at the Queen's drawing room last Tuesday, and I hear she was greatly admired. This will not surprise anyone who knew her in New Zealand. Judge Seth-Smith has changed bis plans. He intended to leave for New Zealand by the Kimntaka on the 26th, but will not sail until the 27th June by the Ruahine. He tells mc he has " only just escaped from the hands of the surgeon," and will have tc wait some days longer before he will be allowed to use the glasses, which will show how far the measures adopted have been successful. He says that so far as he can j _dge, the operation he has had to undergo seems to have been successful, but the recovery is a slow and tedious process. Hence the delay in his departure. Mr Gilbert Carson, who arrived by the Rimutaka, is thoroughly enjoying England. He was lucky in his passage, his steamer coming through the magnificent Strait of Magellan, not often done now by that line. He has been revelling in a lively night at the House of Commons, in an oratorio at the Albert Hall, and in hearing as many great speeches and preachers as possible. He goes to Antwerp to-night, and will make a short tour through Holland and Belgium next week. Dr. and Mrs Colquhoun, of Dunedin, are Bow in London. They go to Paris next week when he will visit the hospitals there and inspect their systems. He will then (af ler a six weeks' stay in London) attend the British Medical Society's meeting at Newcastle, going next to Scotland, and then to Denmark to examine the hospital work there. Subsequently he will attend the International Medical Congress at Rome in September, and he with Mrs Colquhoun will return to New Zealand about Christmas next. They are thoroughly enjoying their English sojourn. Two other Dunedin doctors—Drs. Maunsell and Griffin—are also going the rounds of the London hospitals just now, and Watching all the new methods employed. Mr Robert Wilson, general manager of the New Zealand Midland Railway Company, left yesterday on his return to New Zealand. Yet another Dunedinite now at Home is Mr Thomas Coull, who comes on a private visit to see the Old Country and his friends, but also has a commission to represent Otago at the General Assembly of the Free Church on the occasion of the Jubilee at Edinburgh next month, when he goes to Scotland to be present. Mr Coull was among those who, by invitation, attended the last meeting of the Institute, when Mr Boyd-Carpenter j read a paper on " The Influence of Com- j mere* on the Development of the Colonial Empire." New Zealand's increasing development of her resources was very favourably commented upon. Mr Thomas Begg, of Dunedin, is now on a visit to the Mother Country. He has just left for Scotland, where he purposes staying for a couple of months at least. The meeting of the Otago and Southland Investment Company, held at the offices in Adam's Court, Oid Broad street, on Tuesday, passed off very satisfactorily. The Chairman (Mr Jame3 Jackson) reviewed at considerable length the business and results of the past yesr? The N_w -Zealand taxation of fhe Company's properties, which amounts to £3791, is felt a heavy charge, although less by £343 than in the previous year. He explained that the improving prospects of the colony had led the Directors to deem themselves warranted in taking £5000 from the reserve fund to aid the dividend instead of passing it. The large development and good prospects of the New Zealand dairy industry were specially noticed. I hear that a paper on Professor Bickerton's (of Christchurch) "Partial Impact" theory as applied to the recent astronomical phenomena, of which it supplies a feasible and ingenious explanation, was sent to a London scientific paper, but was "declined With thanks." Subsequently another essay on very similar lines appeared in the same periodical, whose editor, of course, had had the opportunity of studying the paper on Professor Bickerton's theory. This is, to aay the least, a curious coincidence.. More than fifty settlers have already gone out, to New Zealand under the new system of reduced passage money, and. a number more will leave for the colony shortly. The nlaa seems to work excellently.