INDIA.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 104, 25 January 1908, Page 12

INDIA.

'An, Attempt wa3 niado on. the morning of December (j to wreck a special train in which Sir Andrew l'ra'ser,' Lieutenant-Governor of Jtiengal, and Lady, I'Vaser, with tho Governor's stalf and ii' rtumbor of' police, were 'travelling, and having''regard to tho nature of tho explosives usfeil the railway officials aro astonished' fchat"'ii" terriblo oatastropho did not occur. The— train was running through to Khargpur, and . when between Narayangarh and iic'napur tho driver felt the ongino lift and bump.' Simultaneously ho heard . a loud explosion. Luckily, tho train did not leave tho rails, and the vacuum pipes parted, automatically putting on tho brakes. The explosion tore a lug holo in thy ground, while sonio sleepers were blown to; fragments. ■ The "Statesman," dismissing tho theory, that tho outrage was tho work of disaffected Bengalis in the Midnapur district, says:—"l'icces of shattered sleepers .tforo found at distances of from 150 to 200 yards away from where ,the explosion occurfed,' and wo aro told that some of them havo been sold at as mnch.as 100 rupees eaoh as mementoes of the first attempt that has been made on the life of a high State official Sinco tlie assassination of Mr. Justice Norman and Lord Mayo."'"A' pdlic'e officer and fifty men havo gone to'the scene of tho outrago. Under a . tree closo to the spot sweetmeats and other traces of an encampment havo been l>;urid. Various theories are put forwarjl to' account for the outrage, one being that it was the work of a discontented ganger. It is feared that scaroity will bo goneral throughout tlio United Provinces of Arga and Oudh, but tho timely aid afforded by the- Lieutenant-Governor in distributing threc-quartors of a million sterling for welldigging and seed-buying has avorted actual distress. A fair proportion of tho spring crop has been sown, but it will bo useless if tho winter rains fail. Tho wheat crop will bo gotid',' but'it is restricted in ai'ca. Tho surviving native officers of "Hodson'a Horse" assembled rocently, bearing a wreath for Major Hodson's gravo in Martiiiiero Park. The Wreath was inscribed: "In memoriam. fronv his comrades-in-arms 1857-1907"; and it was a touching and stirring sight when tho grizzled veterans placed tho wreath upon tho tomb. ' " ' Major Williams, Government inspector of explosives, who has examined tho spot whore an explosion occurred under a train in which Sir Andrew Frnser, Lieutenant-Governor of Hongal, was travelling, states that picric acid was used. Tho Government will offor a roward of 1000' rupees for the detention of tho criminal. Tho polico are making activo inquiry into tho affair; Tho Govornmont havo formally appointed conciliatory boards, consisting of Government officials, railway officers, and railway drivors and guards, for tho purpose of settling tho recent difforouces which resulted in a strike on the East Indian line. Tho situation arising from tho struggle betweon Modorates and Extremists for supremacy in tho national movement in Bengal is complicated by a further split arising from a provincial Nationalist conference at Midnapur This confereuco,, which was of a

stormy naturo, has had for a result that Mr. Surendranath Baiierji is in tho eyes of the Extremists, deposod as the .Bengali leader in favour of Mr. Arabinda Gliose. Tho Extremists are also anxious for Mr. Lajpat Rai to suporsede Mr. Rash Bohari Ghoso as President of tho National Congress. ' SOUTH AFRICA. 1 Lord Selbprno has delivered an important speech at' Benoni on tho native problem. His ExColloncy began by repudiating the suggestion that the Transvaal was responsible tor what, was going on in . Natal. He wished, iudeed, that tho wholo of South Africa wore ■ responsible for what'went on in every part of it,, but they, must yet wait to soo that politieial evolution. Meanwhile, each colony was responsible for its own affairs, and ho earnestly reprobated any reflection by ono colony on the affairs of another, unless the former had the samo information as_tha latter. it was highly regrettable, said the High Commissioner, that people outside Natal, who could not possibly havo the same information as that upon , which Natal was acting, should pass judgment on the acts and doings of the Natal Ministry, which was inspired by exactly the Same sense of responsibility as Ministers in tho Transvaal or in the United Kingdom." The people of Natal wero not less humane than the people of tho Transvaal or of Great Britain. Un tho other hand, while regretting the attacks»oil the Natal . Government by irresponsible critics, who could not possess the same in. formation as the Natal Ministry, Lord Selborne asserted, with .tho profoundest conviction, that any conflict between whites and blacks, even when inevitable, was a deplorable calamity, permanently harmful, to , South Africa, and beneficial neither to whites nor blacks.

Until the wholo of South Africa realised its joint responsibility for dealing with the native problem a permanent solution of thatpro« blem would bo iinpossiblo. It was, indeed, tho most difficult tho whito race had ever.had to solve, and thero was urgent need for thoso who were thinking oiit the. question Lu organise. must bo organisation of studied thought 'on tho problem... In conr elusion, Lord Selborne earnestly advocated tho sweeping away of prejudices. . They should not deily tho natives tho elementary principles of justice, but should deal with -tho subject .as men.' . Sir George Farrar, speaking at Bononi. protosted against, the misinterpretation; or his speech at Boksburg on November 7. . A declaration, ho said, had been attributed to him that Chinese labour was. a failure. On tho contrary, he now asserted that the'• experiment was oiio of the greatest of. South (African successes, and ho trusted that the Government responsible for tho repatriation would not regre.t its action, The. mines .would do their best with the available labour in tho interests of the whole community. CANADA. Canada is makihg Strong efforts to promote trade. _ Mr. E. H. S. Flood St. John will bo appointed a tfado commissioner for Bermuda, luo West Indies,. .and British Ouiaua, with his headquarters at Barbados. Canada at present obtains only a small portion of this 'trade..

The monetary stringency, ' while easing a littlo, is causing business men generally to curtail operations, and in many instances establishments are, reducing tho number of their hands or are working, less strenuously, it is expected that business will ."slacken generally until tho beginning of spring. The best authorities rogard tho stringency as but temporary, and feel that ilia Canadian banking system has stood ; tho test remarkably well, a ; s compared with whut has occurred in tho United States. Tho , pXi'liminary interview between Sir Wilfrid Laurier,'tho Preinior, and tho deputation whiob has, como from Ireland to urge that JJlacksod Bay bo chosen as the port; of Cajl of tho jn-oposecl -."All-Ited" steamship lino, was followed by a moro formal meeting latterly, when Mr. Ambrose, M.P., intimated that unless an Irish harbour wero selected tho scheme would not bo allowed to pass t-Wough the British Parlia-. meut. Sir Willrid, in reply, sdid .'that tho question was not a political or a sentimental one, but was puruiy economic, aud the port chosen must be such as ailorded tho best "onto under all conditions. Tho futuro of Canada, ■ considered from various, standpoints, wa-s tho subject of a paper read by' Mr. J. S. Ewart, tho wellknown writer on Imperial subj&Ls, boforo tho Canadian Club. Tho paper gavo evidence of a careful study of Canada's position and her .iiiture. From his arguments Mr. liwart drew tho conclusion that. Canada's political development had not. ruled her a-way from tho British Sovereign, though she had almost complete independence, but rather that the futuro held in storo for this country a self-controllcd kingdom of Canada undfir tho British Sovereign : politically equal with tho. United Kingdom, instead of being subservient to tho Colonial Ollico, with Imperial co-operation in all matters of mutual intorest under ■ agreed-upon conditions; in brief, a British monarchy in connection with tile British Empire recognising the British Sovereign a3 tho sole head. It was improbable, Mr. Ewart -'thought, that Canada would over turn to tho United States, and eVon more so that sho would becomo an independent Repul«ic. Discussion followed, and Colonel Hughes, M.P., said Mr. Ewart's schwho was unworkable. The feeling of tho meeting seemed to bo that Canada was doing very well in tho position sho now occupied in tho Empire. In tho Dominion Houso of Commons Mr, Monk proposed that correspondence regarding tho Anglo-Japanese Convention should bo produced. Ho said the Japanese would nover assimilate with tlio people of Canada, and whilo this country was engaged in na-tjou-lmilding tho Government- acted incautiously and imprudently in adhering to the treaty with Japan. Sir Wilfrid Laurier said ho had no fault to find with Mr/Monk's speech, and all ho said was in tho mind of the Government when thojr ontered into the treaty. Ho had no objection to bringing tho correspondence boforo tho House, but ho would ask that he should not be required to do so whilo Mr. Lenjieux was in Japan. If there was any unduo delay in rogard to Mr. Lomieux's mission, thon ho would do so. In answer to Mr. Foster, Sir Wilfrid Laurier said Mr. Lemieux had no particular status, boyond being introduced by tho British Ambassador, under whoso aegis tho negotiations wero taking place. Mr. Frank Oliver, the Ministor of the Interior, is preparing a bill to givo those residents in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alborta, who took part in the South African War a grant of land. NYASS ALAND. Sir Alfred Sharpe, 'K.C.M.G., read a paper on Nyassaland, which was accompanied with lantern illustrations, at a meeting of tho ltoyal Colonial Institute, recently, over which Sir Georgo T. Goldie, K.C.M. G., presided. Tho lecturer stated that the total European population was now a littlo over 600, whilo tho natives numbered about a million. In 1891 thero was practically nothing in tho shape of revenue locally produced, but tho revenue had grown to £82,000 in tho financial year 1006-7, of which sum tho nativo hut tax amounted to £35,000. (Che expenditure during tho samo year was £111,000, of which £76,000 was ordinary civil expenditure, including police, tho remaining £35,000 being incurred in t.ho upkeep of a military force. Up to 1904 coffee was tlio chief export, but cotton hrid now taken its place, and last year cotton to tho vnluo of £lti,ooo was exported'. The area at present under cotton was about 7000 acres. With regard to minerals, nothing had been discovered which, under existing conditions of transport, could be considered payable. Except for malarial complaints, Nyassaland might be called a healthy country, but for the Inst four years tho European death-rate was about double that of Great Britain.- What was now most urgently needed was improvement in transport, facilities and tho introduction of capital for tho development of tho country's resources.

Wo will not have this person rcclilossly flourishing a toroli in our black powder magazine, and that truth must bo driven in upon the Imperial authorities through the High Commissioners. Keir Ilardie must ho excluded from South Africa unless lio pledges himself to abstain from meddling ivitb our native races or our politics.—'"Transvaal Critic," Johannesburg,