SUMMARY OF NEWS.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXII, Issue 2810, 28 July 1866, Page 5

SUMMARY OF NEWS.

The arrival of the 'Bakaia' at Wellington from ■Panama, on the 23rd, has placed us in possession of very startling news indeed. • The Fenians crossed the Canadian borders in considerable force, at several points, and defeated the troops and Volunteers opposed to them, capturing several colours. The news states that it was the " Queen's Own" the Fenians defeated. It is quite clear, however, that but for the prompt action of the Federal authorities, the Fenians would have obtained a footing in Canada. Nothing but the advance guard crossed ; and through the loyal fidelity of President Johnson to treaty obligations, they were deprived of all support, and were obliged to return. It is said that a British brigade followed the Fenilin rearguard to Federal territory, and fired on them there, and that General Meade is making inquiries regarding the occurrence. This may lead to complications, but we hardly think bo. We trust this lesson will induce the British press and people to speak of the Federal Hepublic with more respect. That the honour of the British flag has been tarnished on Canadian soil is undoubted ; and that the Canadian Government owes its escape from further perils to the armed intervention of the Washington Government is equally certain. The Fenian soldiers are disarmed, and the leaders are in prison, and for the present the " scare " is at an end. Details of European news to the 2nd June will be found elsewhere. The general opinion of the French press is that Italy has gone too far to recede ; 'and that if the force of circumstances be too strong for the European Congress to arrest, the Prussian policy will be in accord with that of Italy. The King of Saxony has opened an extraordinary session of the Estates, in a speeck pointed directly against Prussia. It is a remarkable speech ; and equally so are the speeches of the Presidents of the Upper and Lower Chambers. There is nothing striking in the South American newa. beyond the resolution of the republican allies to fight against Spain to the last. Callao is being strengthened by fortifications. Guayaquil, the chief port of Ecuador, is anticipating a visit from the Spaniards, and the Government has decreed death to all who, directly or indirectly, assist the Spaniards— rather a threatening and futile decree, we think. By way of the West Indies we , have* the following : — An oider has been issued from her Majesty's Government, prohibiting any Spanish, Peruvian, or Chilian vessels of war or privateers from rendezvousing in auy ports of the British, colouiea. Five Spanish men-of-war left the harbour of Havana hurriedly and mysteriously on the 23rd inst. Their mission jvas unknown. The revolutionary movement was jjrogressing in St. Domingo. President Baez, being unable to subdue the insurgents, had determined, it is sakl, to leave the country. * Disastrous conflagrations had occurred in Barbadoes. A letter dated Kio de Janeiro, May 4th, says :—: — " The two Peruvian iron dads, ' Independencia,' and 'Huascar,' have left this port. Eeporb says their destitution is Havana, for the purpose of meting eufc to that city the' same measure the Spaniards meted out- to ValjaraHO, the report of the destruction of which has created a profound sensation heie." The greatest order prevails throughout Jamaica ; fine seasonable ' weather is being experienced in several parishes, and must excellent crops are looked for, although in Kingston there is a fearful heat, and a perfect stagnation in the commercial hemisphere. Cholera has developed itself in the public hospital, but most stringent measures are enforced that it should not spread in the cit\t The ' Talisman,' from New York, arrived on the 31st ult., and was immediately placed in quarantine, as the disease has made its appearance at that port. The Act abolish* ing the House of Assembly of theisland has arrived, and a proclamation has been published to that effect. Hi« Excellency Governor Storks leaves the island on the 9th instaut, to take office as one of the 'Secretaries of the War Department The Eye testimonial gets on badly ; those who were most blatant in praise and signing addresses now feel it time to ■hrink out when their purse-strings are beiug loosened. Small-pox is still raging. New York dates are to the 11th June. The counsel of Jefferson Davis have demanded an immediate trial, and the Chief Justice states that so soon as he has been placed in custody of the Court his trial will be proceeded with. It is believed the trial will be postponed till the November session. Cholera is reported on board the Liverpool steamships • Union' an^l ' Peruvian' at New York. These Teasels have been placed in quarantine at Staten Island. Both were crowded with German emigrants. There were seventy-three deaths. English shipi now decline to admit anj German emigrants. Louisiana is suffering from Igreat floods and inundations. Otto Burstenbinder, tupposed shipper of the nitroglycerine that caused the death of ten persona at San Francisco, was put upon his trial, but discharged, as he had nothing to do with the shipment. A fire occurred in New York on the 21st of May, destroying 1,500,000 dollars worth of property. The fire broke out in the Academy of Music, corner of Fourteen thitreet. Half of Oil City, Pennsylvania, has been destroyed by fire — loss, half a million of dollars. A terrible tornado is reported at Rochester, New York State. The reconstruction measure is not yet disposed of in the Senate. The following items are from the JJ"ew York letter of the Panama Star and 'Serald, dated New York, June 11 : — The third section of the report of the Constitutional Amendment Committee which was adopted by the House, disfranchising all persons in the Southern States who engaged in the rebellion, until the year

1870, has been struck out, and^a clause substitute!), which declares all such persons who were foimeily officers of the United States, :or of any .H;ite, judiciaty or executive, ineligible to cffi<:e in aDy State or under the Genital Government. The report of the so-called "Reconstruction" Committee has also been published in regard to the present condition of the Southern States. It is very long and very bitter in its tone, and seems to aim at breaking up the Union, in :tead of restoring it. It declares that ttie Southern States forfeiied all their rights by the rebellion ; that, under the management of President Johnson, all their doings have been outrageous and preposterous ; that disloyalty against Union white men and negroes still prevail* in these States ; that their people are in no proper frame of mind to have restored to them the rights they have lost ; that they are only anxious to send their representatives to Congress that they may seize the Government, and overthrow all that has been accomplished by the war; and fiually, that the Southern States must be kept out of the Union until the most ample safeguard! and securities have been exacted of them for the future. A proposition has been introduced into the House to adjourn sine dit on the 2Sth of the present month, and in the Senate on the 15th of July. It is lo be hoped, for the good of the country, that the first proposition will be adopted, for the longer that this Congress remains in session, so bitter and unforgiving are the feelings of its Radical majority towards the South, must the day of the restoration of the Union, and peace and kindly feeling between the people of the North and South, be put off. The Secretary of the Treasury, in answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives, has stated that he sold duriug the month of May, in Wallstreet, nearly thirty six millions of dollars in gold at prices ranging from 130J to 1314. This was done to keep the price of gold from going beyond 130, and: probably would have done so had it not been for the reception of the news of the financial panic in Europe, which caused gold to jump to 140. The Secretary has been roughly handled by^the press for disposing of so large a sum. On the Ist instant, however, the amount of gold remaining in the Treasury was fifty millions, which it ample and sufficient for all the purposes of the Government. The following are additional items of English news, date June 1 : — The steamships ' Great Eastern,' ( Medway,'and 'Albany,' with the British war steamer 'Terrible,' are expected to start about the 30th of June in order to commence to lay down the Atlantic cable. The 'Medway* has been employed, as the whole of the cable cannot be stowed in the ' Great Eastern.' . The cholera had entirely disappeared from Liverpool. Financial affairs in England were making steady progress for the better, and confidence was generally returning to all business circles. The pressure for discount at the Sank wai diminishing, although it was still extremely large, and the rate remained at 10 per ceut. The rumours of assistance from the Bank of Trance, with its immense accumulation of specie, to the Bank of Englau 1, were not authentic. The •London Times says such a step in the height of the crisis might have proved beneficial, but it is now ennecessary. The funds and securities generally exhibited decided firmness, and prices liud advanced all round. H. J..Guthover a d Son, of London, principally engaged in the metal trade, had suspended ; liabilities nearly £300,000 ; assets believed to be ample. The news from the States of Central America is satisfactory. There are reports of peace and progress. The following are additional Oalifornian items : — The Geuessee Flouring Mills in San Francisco were destroyed by me on the morning of the 27th May ; loss, 30,t00dols. The Stockton Independenthus discoursed on the prospects of the crops througkout the State for the present season :-»-From our ex changes we learn that the crops throughout tU State the present year will be immense. In th lower countries, ani paiticularly in Santa_ Clara, th ceieals are remarkably thrifty, and the coming harves will be one of the most abundant ever known in tha rich agricultural section of the Stite. In some of the northern counties an enormous growth of gras« and grain is reported ; while in San Joaquin. Valley grain was probably never in such a flourishing condition. In Fresno and Tulare counties the grain crop was more extensive than ever before ; and much of the arable land along the Tuolumne and Stanislaus rivers will yield very large crops of barley. Farmers in Merced, Stanislaus, and Fresno counties have given more than usual attention to grain raising this season, and from all we can learn, their prospects of a large yield are exceedingly cheering. We have dates from British Columbia to the Ist May, but there is nothing important.