AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 9860, 9 March 1896, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Press Association—By Telecroph—Copyright. CONFERENCE OF PREMIERS. Sybxey, March 8. This has been a week of Conferences, religious and political. The -Presbyterian and Wesieyan bodies each commenced their annual assembly, and the Premiers' Conference, which was inaugurated at Hobavt last year, made a second appearance. The of Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria were unable to be present. Mr Nelson is in the throes of an election campaign. Mr Forrest is in Parliamentary session, while Mr Turner could not come owing to Parliament not having prorogued. These colonies, however, were represented by members of the Cabinets who could be spared from their Legislative duties. No gathering of a federal character would bo complete without reference to New Zealand. Her attitude is also an ever-recurring theme with public speakers on federation. Twice this week have we been reminded of her policy in this question, on each occasion being further informed that her adhesion or otherwise is of no importance. Mr Reid, in the President's speech to the Premiers, could not refrain from saying that the exclusion of New Zealand was a matter of little consequence. New Zealand right through preferred a policy which kept her altogether apart from the federal movement. The Conference got through their work with commendable promptitude, consuming only a couple of days. In the Queensland capital the Australasian Labour Federation Conference is sitting. Sympathetic resolutions were passed in regard to the Newcastle miners, and invitations were extended to the Labour Unions in South Australia and Western Australia to join the federation. FEDERAL DEFENCE. Major-General Hutton has departed. In a farewell speech at the Union Club he dealt interestingly with colonial needs and made a strong appeal for federal defence. It may be taken for certain, said the General that the federation of Australia will some day be accomplished, but signs are not wanting that the pressure of local and comparatively minor political issues of individual colonies may cause an indefinite postponement unless a national emergency arises to force it upon the immediate political arena. This crisis must come sooner or later be well assured. It was impossible to improvise at short notice an efficient military machine in all the details of its organisation, as all the training of the leaders and staff must be the work of times of peace. When the moment of action arrives then it will be too late. Every man, who understands the situation must see that the day may any moment break when England must keep by the sword what she has gained by the sword. Having regard to the changes even now taking place under our very eyes, it was well to recollect that history repeats itself; that the British Empire must be prepared to find, ere long, her commercial and Imperial monopoly or supremacy?ehftir-| leuged. R may he fairly inferred, from the precedents of last century, that England shall have to fight in order to guard, as she had to fight in order to acquire. The facilities for communication, by steam and electricity, brought Australia upon the' arena of the Old World strife, while the sudden rise into vigorous man-'*{ hood of so young a country as Japan, j with most of the impulses which at' the commencement of the present century made England great, bids fair to dominate the Eastern Sea 3. Australia can, therefore, no longer remain inactive and unconcerned at the movements of the world beyond her 3eas. The fair land of Australia lies as a tempting land of promise to teeming millions in China and Japan. He ventured these remarks in no alarmist spirit, but the consideration of subjects which may constitute a menace to the lives and liberty of his countrymen was peculiarly the duty of a soldier.

LAND AND INCOME TAX.

The free and enlightened electors at the last two elections demanded a land and income tax, aud were not happy till they got it. This month the consequence of the Act conies tangibly before them in the shape of a formidable document to fill in. The merest glance at its requirements compels men to blame their parents for not having brought them up to the legal profession thus giving them a chance of filling in the forms in such a way as to save them divers pains and penalties. It is fortunate for the Government that a general election is not pending for, judging by the grumbling one hears, Premier Reid's mandate from the people in favour of direct taxation would receive a rude set back. The Government has decided to permit the payment of the tax in two half-yearly instalments. SENSATIONAL DIVOECE CASE. The sensation of the hour is the Schofield divorce case. Schofield, a clerk in the Joint Stock Bank, came to the colony from England, partly for health and partly to seek employment, leaving his young wife behind him until he got settled? Mrs Schofield wrote several letters, in one of which she intimated that she would reach the colonies on a certain date. She never came. A subsequent letter was received, in which she addressed her husband in a formal manner, and said she would ignore him if he returned to England. The latter seeks a divorce on the ground of desertion. After hearing the evidence, the Judge reserved his decision. Then a curious thing happened. A number of letters, some of them anonymous, reached the Judge, and were said to be due to the publicity given to the details of the evidence in the Press. These letters, as the Judge remarked, contained allegations which, if true, would cause the Court to stay its hand to prevent an abuse of its processes. It had occurred to him that something must havie happened to turn the respondent from the affectionate wife she apparently was into the woman she was when sh3 wrote the formal letters, as bitter letters as he had ever read in I Court or anywhere else. The Judge i particularly asked the petitioner

whether he had formed any attachment in the colonies, and Schofield emphatically denied that he had. After adjourning, the case, more letters came to the Judge expressing exactly the opposite to the statements contained in the first letters. The matter is postponed till next week. ' RETRENCHMENT. \ The Public Service Board has com- 1 menced applying the scalpel to various i Departments. One Department operated i upon sweepingly is the Chief Electoral j Office, which mainly existed to carry < out the somewhat cumbrous system : imposed on the electors by the Dibbs' ■ Representation Act. The Board re- : tired Mr Lewis, the chief officer, who will be well known to many in New Zealand, having visited that colony officially a few years back, and placed the office under the supervision of the principal Under-Secretary, with a small clerical staff. AN ANCIENT DOCUMENT. An interesting old document is on view here, though how it found its way to Australia is a mystery. It is apparently a deed of release concerning land, probably situate in Wales, in Britain, dated August Bth, in the twentieth year of Henry VIII. It is written in old Latin, and the text is remarkably well preserved. It was discovered in North Queensland. OFFENSIVE CRITICISM. During his long and patient innings on Tuesday, Giffen, whose careful batting and much used bowling capabilities invariably exhaust the patience of the larrikin section of the shilling crowd, was made the butt of much offensive criticism. So bad did it become at one time that Phil. Sheridan ordered the removal of an especially abusive adviser of the champion, and the crowd groaned and hooted as he was escorted off the ground. A youth who offered advice to the police was also unceremoniously marched off. Garrett, referring to the matter at a reunion of the teams, apologised for the execrable behaviour of some spectators, whose remarks at Giffen were offensive in the extreme. Such conduct was a disgrace to the cricketing community in general, and the New South Wales crowds could no longer be considered impartial. THE LORMER ENQUIRY. Melbourne, March 8. The Lornier Board of Enquiry continues its career of dirty linen cleaning. The blind goddess of justice appears from the evidence to have quite a number of amateur dispensers; even the author of the enquiry, Lormer, was called up to explain his action in the famous Mercantile Bank case, when he took such a stand against his brother Justices. Some famous cases cropped up, notably a dismissed charge of a painful nature against the Rev. Ralph Brown, the once notorious Amy Elliott case, in which a son of a wellknown clergyman was concerned, the crowding of Trades Hall Justices to the Bench in a certain strike case, and the peculiar constitution of the Court in the Foster Brewing Company. < trade mark case. Most of the Justices concerned in them were exCouncillor Strong,' was called upon |to explain why he adjudicated in the Amy Elliott case. He had two reasons—first, the case was in everybody's mouth, and he wanted to hear the rights of it; secondly, his son, a medical student, pressed him to gain the students admission to hear the jmedical evidence after the Court was •cleared of the general public. Strong admitted that he knew the father of I the accused as a fellow-member of a | church assembly, but denied that that fact was accountable for his presence. •Puekle, a Justice of the Peace, on the other hand, admitted, after considerable pressing, that sympathy with the father took him into the Court that day. The Crown also inquired curiously into the presence of several gentlemen connected with the Wesieyan Church during the hearing of the Brown case, and elicited the information that these gentlemen went less as sympathisers than as severe censors upon the alleged ill-conduct of a minister of their denomination. Lormer explained that he went to the Bench and took a perfectly impartial view of the evidence in regard to the Licensing Court. He was disgusted with the scandalous way the business was conducted. His opinions on the liquor traffic were not rabid. THE VICTORIAN PARLIAMENT. The Victorian session only expired after a struggle, in which two useful pieces of legislation was sacrificed. The much-written about Sweating in Factories, and the Factories Bill, was an honest effort to remedy some of the evils. It was a pity that for the sake of one or two minor points this measure was lost; for if, on the working of it, it was found that the amendments insisted on by the Council stultified the Act, then an endeavour could have been made to have the Act amended. However, the Premier, much worried man, snowed backbone, and declined to submit to the Council's demands on either measure. THE WODONGA RAILWAY. In the Council the Government was questioned relative to the safety of the Wodonga line. The Minister, on the i strength of a report of the Railway Commissioners, informed the members' that everything was perfectly safe> and , a large, amount of renewal work had j been done. The House, however, was not altogether satisfied. THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. When the Council learned of the Assembly's intention in regard to the Factories and Companies Bills, the members expressed regret at their loss, and then adjourned for prorogation. TYPHOID AT COOLGARDIE. Coolgardie, March 7. Typhoid continues to claim victims amongst the gold seekers. This week there have to be chronicled the deaths of two young Maorilanders —Fred Browning, thirty, and Gerald Dawson, twenty. . —. _ -, •

CABLE NEWS.