THE EMPIRE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 27, 26 October 1907, Page 12

THE EMPIRE.

THE INDIAN UNREST Tho'extremist loader, Mr. Bopin. Chander, .Pal,- -has ; ; bqeri' :sentenced'■ to: six'. months') \rigorous'' , I; imprisonment; -.'for refusing' to'. givo'V'ovidonco Mil., the ..case '.ill' which tho* native .i journal . "Bando Matarani". was charged. .. with sedition. ' A > great crowd, which had assembled m tlie-vicmity of the police Court to hear.the sentenco,-.shouted ','Bande ! Mataram,'' rofuscd to disporso, .and. resisted the .polico. Amid great confusion and disorder'tho; prisoner was:removed to gaol. .. Tho 'disorderly^soeries - . lasted:' for, many liolirs. 'On'one occasion the,crowd attacked, : the'police .witK ! umbrellas - and sticks', and a 'freo''.fight ensued, tho i Bengali 1 students fiercely: attacking the' European sergeants.' l The chief presidency magistrate•.was hissed 'whori'Mr.-;Pal was •removed'".to gaol, ; and tho. 'crowd blocked the traffic-iii; Old C.ourt House • Street, "the-'chief thoroughfare - of / Calcutta. /Mr. Pal waved his .hand,. through tho' prison. 1 ■van'shutters; and this qxcitod the' crowd to a' frenzy.of cheering. Tho case had-been'postponed from time to time, and tho; accusod, who - was on bail,' Is'peht"tlio.iintqryal 'in .'holding Almost daily meetings in Beadon Square. On tho last occasion a medali'.WEs presontecUto a" student' who' had; r 'be'eiv. flogged, for. assaulting pean policeman;:, At,ollo meeting the crowd ' was-addressed by'a sqpoy holonging to a native infantry regiment from. Mandalay. Tho sepoy- was . arrested, 'nnd -\rill bo tried ■ by court-martial. V .In tho meantime affairs in Eastorn Bengal havo not improved. Two Europeans at Dinajpur ,sqv-ere.ly assaulted by' national >o]a7}t^prs/ (^tl Pa(:q^ l ;.recqntly, three porsons wero -stabbed and-oho of died.-.' The others st'ato.'that' t-hc crims'was committed-by National In these.and other cases, /although' tho crimes wore witnosed .by hundreds, the' .polico were \unable 1 to procure .ovi'donqe.".., Thq conditions,'in ...manydistricts,nre. such, the .''Englishman'.', 'd.cclai-cs. a .special Crimes Act-to-be,a necessity. ; ; , : . THE VAN,COWER RIOTS.. t ' Sir Wilfrid Latirier has received a telegraphic message from Mr. Bethuno, Mayor of ' Vancouver;.',in which-the lat'ter says, "Pleasox assure His iExrtilleiwy, the Governor, that tho disturbances, which created sonio damage to :property,. l but liono to person, are now kept 'under- control by an efficient polico force, .backed by strong public sontiment."",, i ~ ; Boron-? Ishii, the Japaneso Immigration

Commissioner, has left for Ottawa. Interviewed before his departure, tho Baron said:— , "1 have received telegrams from our bovernuiont from which I infer that Japan will upt mako an international incident of the recent riots. The relations botweon Great Britain and Japan aro very close, and are not to be disturbed by such an incident. Tho nese' Government will demand the payment or damages to individual Japanese, but you will not hear from the Government oiucially. look for no further rioting. Tho situation is woll i* ''and,'and our people havo no fear. • Sou Bingham, of Oregon, who is staying at . ictoria, 8.C., declares that there is no disguising the fact that thpro is a common underlying Soling on tho Pacific Coast on t in question of Oriental immigration. When tlio Asiatics becin. to crowd ont the ivlnto mail, lie said; tho real trouhlo will commcueo. Rio intimated. his belief that the United States and Canada would ultimately have to pursue a common policy in tho matter. . In an 'article on tho Vancouver riotmg tho Tokio "Jiji Shimpo' says:—"Regrot has already been expressed by tho Canadian Uovornment, coupled with assurances that measures will be taken to prevent similar incidents in future, and a Royal message, oven, has beon sent to tho Dominion iiuUioriti.es with referonco to the matter. ' All this turnishes tho dearest evidence that the Japanese have tho sympathy of official quarters. Moroovcr, the power of tho Dominion Government, the individual States is greater than that of tho Washington Government, and tho Canadian police is more efficient than that of San Francisco. There is, _ therefore, overy reason to believe that the fullest protecti'on will be'given to our compatriots in Vancouver." •

REINDEER FOR LABRADOR. ; Some timo ago Dr. Grenfell, of the Deep Sea Mission to Labrador (known now to all tho world as au indefatigable, missionary, and philanthropist), conceived tho idea_of introducing tame .Lapland reindeer Sir Wiliam Macgregor, G.C;M.G., tho. Governor of: Newfoundland, aided the project most enthusiastically.. A collection of tho mosses, etcij indigenous to the great peninsula was made by His Excellency's orders, submitted to Kew, and'definitely pronounced the natural'food: of the roindoor. Tho only means or transportation at present on Labrador are tho Eskimo dogs. , ' . T , ■ The advantages of tame reindeer for Labrador'are obvious. . Tho animals are good tor food, for'milk, and for clothing, and abovo all they aro of tho very best possible uso tor travelling in winter. The experiment is being watchcd by naturalists al lover tho world with much interest. Serious difficulties presented*themselvcs at the outset. In tho first place" there was the monotary question—at least £3000 was required to carry it out successfully. ' Then thero naturally arose tho difficulty of-fooding and transporting the herd a .'distance: of 2,500 miles across tho Atlantic. 1 .When: the funds were secured there was another .-.difficulty: 1 in tho way. Tho Norwegian Government prohibited : tho • exportation of reindeer moss, and as this food .was essential/ to - tho door on the voyage, it seerafed at one timo to put a stop-to the project. Howover, with Dr. Naiisen's aid anc* the support of tho British Foreign Office, this obstacle was at last cleared away. Mr. Wood has now secured his herd of 300 selected reindeer, ten. Laps,-with their families, to attend on tho deor, and through Mr. Sheldon Jackson, has secured tho sorvices of a Norwegian napied Kjellmann, who is an export in-the exportation of tamo reindeer across tlio. ocean. Ho will superintend all tho , preparations and bring tho herd across to Labrador. \ Mr. Wood has himsolf gone to Norway to seo after':all the arrangements. Tlio herd selected, is on: an island, and thpro .will ,he no' trouble in . selecting tho host stock and shipping'. them. Two hundred and -seventy will be'doe's and thirty bucks. A proportion of tho Herd will bo' wel ltrained for sledge driving in .tho winter. ■ These aro-always the largest^'strongest and finest specimens of tho Lapland roindeor. Tho Lapland reindeer aro tho sriiallest : of tho raco, and the'.American caribou aro the finest. It is hoped in timo to improve the breed by crossing with tho caribou. As regards, thevcost'of; the project, reindeer in Lapland and Northern Norway cost from £2 to £3 a hoad. Tho;oxperiso of trans-, port, of. courso, is high, but tho. .final arrangement with tho steamship owners is a reasonable onq. '. ■/.'

NEWFOUNDLAND HERRINGS.

An arrangement has been entered into between.' tho Newfoundland Govornmont and Messrs ■'Aloxandor Elett and Son,' fish curers, Buclcib, Banffshire, to carry : on horring fishing operations off- Newfoundland upon' tho Scot-tish-system. . AVhether the project will have any effect, on tho differences with the United States remains v to bo seen, butthe experiment is to be tried in earnest. It is not a : privaiG. speculation 011 tho part of Mossrs. Flett. A formal ;'agreement has been entered into, between'.the Newfoundland Government and Messrs. Flett and Son for three years to develop the herring fishing .in tho manner in which it is carried on upon the East Coast of Scotland. . A ,fow months , ago a number, of fishormen,' coopers, and girls went out from the East Coast of Scotland to train the Newfoundlanders, iii, conducting tho industry. It is. understood that the Newfoundland Government havo granted a substantial subsidy, in-order to give tho venture a fair trial. Thoro will bo no curing at sea., The fish will be! landed at convenient places and cured in barrels both for home consumption and export.; The lidvantagn of the Scottish system, is .that Newfoundland will reap the full ben fit from jthe ; fishing, and it is. /understo-ji that 'there,is an abundance of herring off the Newfoundland coast. - The value of the herring fishing on ■ tho East Coast , of Scotland this year is estimated at £1j300,000 sterling, and it can be understood that to a fishing country like Newfoundland tho adoption of -fishing methods that would bring in such a splendid harvest would be a matter of. the highest importance. 1 TROUBLE IN NIGERIA. ' ''• 'According to intelligence l-ecoivcd fromNorthern Nigeria a force had been despatched against tho warlike Dakkonkeri tribo, 'and was operating in their country at tho end of July., ■ These peoplo, who live in the province of itontagora, are one of tho tribes who were novoi 'conquered by tho Fulani/ and they have on : numerous occasions committed acts of deitormincd hostility against tho Government. The .last' outrage, which' led to a telegraphic .demaiid to Zurigqru for the despatch of 'un armed expedition;; whs of a particularly darling character. . Jt occurred somo weeks before tho despatch of- tho present news from Northeri Nigeria, and is now reported for titfirst time. . ■ ' ' 1 •"

Ono of the British residents in the province,, while on an -'assessment tour with 'a small 1 escort y of' police,' was camped for "o night insido a walled Dakkenkeri town, when he heard of. a plot to asault tho camp and murdor the 'whole party during the night. Under cover: of darkness he .immediately escaped with 'his pcoplo, and succeeded in gotting clear of tho'gates : boforo tho tribesmen beenmo aware of their flight. Tho Dakkenkeris savagely '' pursued, captured and maimed all the horses, seized tho wholo of the baggage' and kit, including tho bedding, and woiraclod sqmo of the force witli poisoned arrows. Fortunately nqno of tho Resident's party wero killed or seriously hurt, but they arrived at headquarters lit Yolwa, on '•lie Niger,' in it vory. exhausted condition, pos-, scsscd of] nothing but tho clothes they wore, having only reached safety after an arduous and continuous march of 48 hours.

Upon 'this mattor being reported to Zungoru, lifter the matter had been inquired into, tho High Commissioner despatched ' a forco against tho '-aggressors,, but . details havo not yet been reccivod of the progress ol the operations. Only last year tho Dakkenkeris mado another attack on a British forco, on which occasion thoy seriously wounded another Resident, who had to bo convoyed 111 a hammock to headquarters, whero he was laid up for six weoks. Isolated disturbances have also occurred in other parts of the protcctorato. Owing to trouble in tho Ayosha.c'ountry, on tho Bcnuo Rivor, there has boon some fighting, in iho course, of which Lieutenant Croft, Northern Nitron a Regiment, was slightly wounded. The columns patrolling tliu Munsi country are doing excellent work in.getting into touch with these hitherto hoatilo and unsubdued pcoplo.

' "Women' always talro off thoir hats bofore committing suicido," tho Hampstcad coroner remarked recently. •• "Is the deceased mnn your soil? asked the ■ Stepney coroner of a witness. Yes, ,t;he man, "but 1 did not know he was diseased.