The Empire.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 3, 28 September 1907, Page 4

The Empire.

v;;;' CANADA :ANb THE NAVY. . ' "'Addressmg/'tho'Canadian Club at St';' 'J6lin,;'.^pYa':.' ; Scotia, Earl Grey, ~GpVenwr T G.biiCT,al.".bf tho Dominion',' ,said he; had been charged with making an impassioned-.nppeal. to Canada for ■an immediate contribution to the Imperial fleot. /.'Ho 'denied ho had suggestedl'that?' 1 had shown tho burden that''rests'..on tho peoplo . of r tho.,;'kiiigdom'; i ftoi.. maintain singlehanded ; tiio,;'nayy, which safeguards Canadian' liberty and trado, and that, it obviously was : impossible for. the comparatively small-population of the TJiiited Kingdom. 1 to' provide for everything without Canadian aid.' .:,j.' lr ßut/^./said..His Excellency, 'I did no<;.:say-,,tho,.timo had come for Canada ,to..take,,.up a share of tho Imperial burden of naval dcfenco ( which she'will have to tako'up some day if,we aro to remain an Empire. I'have a gbpd.rpason for the view that ..Canada :..,,.ijlbjii,d '.'n o * -mako an immediate, contribution to tho fleet. Thcro are.other .directions in which it is''more'important in- 'Imperial, in-. ...terests Canada' should expand her present energies. Canada and the 'Empire aro; necessary ' to each other;'": without', the support and strength which' Canada' onjoys as a portion'of.■thb ; British Empire,. Canada- ; might sobivccasD to be a nation; she would- soon lose''her national existence: •'■ Oh'the other baud, tho British •'Empiro'.'withbut-'Canada mi'.;ht soon cease to bo an; Empire: TJiis being so, the' fact that tho Dominion Government is not prepared to undertake tho lieavyi obligations " .vhich theso stops - will involvo' until she is financially stronger than to-day is a conclusive reason against her undertaking an; expenditure - which should follow and not prcccdo those steps to which I have referred." COMMONWEALTH TARIFF—A ':;.:; ,', ; . COMPLAINT. : . Tho; secretary of tho Birmingham Chamber- of Commerce has addressed ■the-following, letter to tho Colonial Secretary with reference to tho now Australian tariff: —"I am directed : by .the. chairman: of this Chamber and.tho,chairman,of tho Merchants' Section to inform you that serious concern is felt in. mercantile and manufacturing circle.*)" with referenco to tho operation, qf tho new Customs tariff of, the .Commonwealth of Australia, which, Recording to tho Press reports, name' into operation on tho September 9. . Tli.p, effect of the tarilf coming into f ore, o.without duo notice will bo that considerable injustice, and hardship will bo.in'llicted on exporters, and it is feared, that in many cases tho result will bo disastrous. I am informed that on'the date the tariff 'came into operation many exporters in' this (listricthi'icl merchandise afloat, others"had merchandise at the docks 'awaiting' "sliipiiieut, and others had

, goods ready for consignment to the docks. In addition to this, work' was proceeding on numbers of orders for Australia, and in several cases orders liaye' actually been cancelled. It will therefore be evident to your Lordship that enormous losses will be suffered in consequence of tho 'tariff being put into force without duo notice, and especially so in regard to articles such as bicycles, where the new duties aro considerably higher than the old ones. In view of the seriousness and urgency of.tho situation, lam directed respectfully to urgo your Lordship to be good enough to communicate by cable with the Government of the Commonwealth, requesting' them, in order to prevent serious dislocation of business and financial loss, to postpone the operation. of tho _ tariff for a period of,.say, three.-months." YELLOW AND WHITE ON THE RAND; - In reply to a series of questions in the House of Commons by Mr. Fnllorton (Liberal member for Egremont), Mr. Churchill (Under-Secretary for the Colonies) stated that 51,441 Chinese coolies wore available for work in the Transvaal mines on August 1. Tho total number of convictions of Chinese coolies for all nlnssds of offences up to January 31 was 24,233. Tho cost of returning time-expired Chinese coolies to their own country was being borne by the mine-owners. For the month of May tho proportion of .whites to coloured employed in the Transvaal gold mines was 1 to 10.5, as compared with 1 to 5.9 for the month of May, 1904, immediately before tho introduction of tho Chinese. (Ministerial cheers.) Tho numbo'r' of whites per thousand toils of oro hoisted was for May, 1907, 10.1, and for May, 1904, 15.9. (More Ministerial ! cheers.) Major Scely asked whether this -reply did not dispose of tho suggestion that the deportation of Chinese was reducing tho amount of white labour. (Hear, hear.) .'■■■'. FOUR HUNDRED MEN UNDER ■•/■"' NOTICE. _ The. "Kiriibciiey Free Press" publishes tho following statement: —. There has been a certain amount of' consternation in Kimberley this week—mail week—duo to an .unprecedented ■ dismissal of men employed by the De Beers Company. • We understand , that the demand for. diamonds has- decreased considerably in recent months and that ■ it has become necessary to introduce a system of retrenchment.'. Some 400 Europeans have received the dismal message of dismissal, and many merchant's aro .somewhat concerned regarding the rhatter. It is _ usual ■to stop all every year, and this.-year,tho reductions have been greater than ever, but wo aro assured that there necd'.bb no panic as business generally .will be better beforo tho end of tho year. This is small comfort to those who ■ havo been discharged, and the-major-ity of them,will in tho...'mbantimo' v ' move to other towns or.tako a trip to England, as Kimberley is a dreary place for,an unemployed man. THE NEW TRANSVAAL LOAN. .. ABritish Parliamentary: paper; containing the correspondence that' ha 3 taken placo with regard to the issuo of a new Transvaal loan of £5,000,000, sets out, in tho form of a t*elegram from tho Acting-Governor of the Colony, tho means by which tho charges on tho loan can bo met. A fifth pf tho total amount will be applied to reproductive services. Tho portion to be allotted to the railways will increaso their earning capacity,, and the outlay on public buildings' will save a heavy rent-charge. Several unproductive services will bo left untouched until • tho general -finances' of the colony liavo been put on a more satisfactory basis. The;Ministors aro convinced that'current"revenue will afford a' sufficient margin to provido the interest and redemption charges applicable to this portion of tho loan. Much of the estimated deficit of .€51.000 in-1907-8 will probably' lie extinguished by a reduction in administrative expenditure, and the.ro- • duced expenditure on the-South African Constabulary should wipe out the rest. No"incrcaso'-'of revcjauo-' is "expected from tho gold mines, but the diamond mines are'expected to bring in larger receipts to tho Government in the near future. . . : NEWS FROM THE DOMINIONS. Canada and "'Wireless," The Marconi station at Clifden, in County Gaiway, is so nearly ready that the ," Daily' Chronicle " announces its probablo inauguration for September. Mr. Marconi has himself superintended its erection, and ho left for tho : Canadian station on Capo Breton during August. The fee per word for wireless messages to the Dominion is to bo fivepenco, against the shilling charge of the cablo telegraph companies;. and tho offect of the new service, if it:proves-to bo practicable, must be . materially to facilitate, and encourage business transactions. Canada is in process of such a rapid dovolopmont (comments tho "Pall Mai! Gazette"), and so well assured of prosperity for a long time to comp, that pvory now link with Homo becomes at onco important. Transvaal Parties. / , It is generally, held'that in tho Transvaalllouse of Assembly (says a Johannesburg correspondent)' the Opposition are faced, as it wore, by. a brick wall, their arguments falling dead against tho solid phalanx on tho Government benches. There is a considerable amount of truth in this statement, hut it must not bo taken simply as implying a bovine and impenetrable stupidity on tho part of the Dutch members. Tho reason of the impasse is''hot far to sook. The two sides; of'tho House approach contentious; matters from points of viow so diamotrically opposed that it is an impossibility for Hot Volk members to appreciate tho arguments of their opponents, however cogent. ■ On . tho Government benches are seated for the most part men born and bred, in tho country. Thi3 is their homo, and'they arc no doubt honestly trying to legislate for what they consider the permanent interests of the colony. Thoy look on the mining industry, as a useful adjunct which at some indefinite time will probably exhaust its material, but whether the" gold is extracted moro or less expeditiously and economically is a. matter ivhich does-not appear to them as the chief point. To spin out tho process, would suit them best. On tho opposito sido aro grouped somo twenty men, tho majority of whom aro undoubtedly residing in tho Transvaal for financial reasons only. They havo como out hero to make nioiioy, and havo no intention of remaining a moment longer- than is necessary. Their aim, in the opinion of the " residonts." at least, is the wellbeing of tho gold industry, and thoy may or may not bo credited with wishing tho country generally tho greatest amount of good consonant with tho prime object. Now, with this idea firmly imbedded in their minds, it is practically impossible for the Hot Volkers to admit that tho reasoning of such people is free from suspicion. Lot arguments rain on them never so heavily, thoy sit impassive, and . everything pours off thorn like water'off a duck s back. It is tho old story—" timeo Danaos et dona ferentes." So for tho present the Government carries all 'before it, and the Opposition must be content with any small amendments it may be ablo to extract.