ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

Evening Post, Volume LXVI, Issue 152, 24 December 1903, Page 2

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

» (FROM OUtt OWN COMDESrONDEKT.) LONDON, 13th November. A strange; and unaccountable mishap occurred «v the ttojii. »».ue.i x>«.a barge loud of bar-iron which had been consigned to the .coiony by the New Zea-i land Fanners' Co-operative Association, j The iron was to be' shippod in the s.s. l'ukeha, ' alongside of which steamer the barge was moored. By and .bye another vessel, the 8.8. Moravian, which was being moved from one- part of the dock to another, came close to the binge coiuuining tho iron, and lay there. All the time the Moravian's condenser pumps were working, and without being noticed by any one, the discharge watei gradually filled the biiigo so that it eventually sank. Operation* are now iv hand whereby -bargo and cargo are being raised. The latter will in all probability have to be i reconditioned before it will be of use again. A lcaru that a quantity of the oat cargo brought by the s.s. Rakaia" turned out to be damaged when the vessel reached London. The oats- which were discharged in Liverpool wero said to bo in excellent condition, but when the hold for London wns opened it was discovered that tho contents of the upper layer of sacks had sprouted until squio of tho sprouts were quite 6in in length. Several hundred sticks' were found in this condition. ' It is thought that tho Rnknia must have shippod some seas during the voyage, and that tho water found its way into that particular hold, where it evaporated after damaging tho oats in the manner stated. I made special enquiries as to whether it was likely 'the damngo could j have been caused after the Rakaia loft Liverpool, but the length of the sprouts was taken to be conclusive evidence against that possibility. I Cabled information from Toronto on Wednesday stated that Mr. Justice Britton had od Tuosday given a judgment over-ruling the contention of Anthony Stanley Howe's solicitor that insufficient evidence had been produced in Toronto to warrant his return to England. | The application for his release from custody was refused. Howe's solicitor is said to havo stated that he will not appeal in the case further. Inspector Soagcr, of Scotland Yard, who has been sent to Canada to take charge of the case, ronched Toronto this week, but the assent of tho Governor-General is still necessary before Rowe can be given into the custody of tho Inspector ; this matter is a purely formal one, but will roquiie a few days to complete. | In then* report the Directors of the Eastern Extension Australasia and China Telegraph Company state that for tho llalf year ended 30th June, 1903, tho gross, receipts amounted to £265,099 against £283,85t> for the corresponding half-year of 1902. The working expenses, I including £29,613 for maintenance of cables, absorbed £138,516, against £121,237 for tho corresponding period of last year, leaving a balance of £126,582. From 111 is is deducted £5955 for income tax and £11,771 for interest on debenture btock, etc., leaving £108,856 as the not profit for the half-year. After adding £37,180, brought forward from tho previous halfyoai'i there is an availably balance of £146,036. Two quarterly interim dividends of 1$ por cent, each, amounting to £75,000 iiavo been paid for tho half i year, leaving a balnnco of £71,036 to be carried forward. Tho capital account hns been increased during the past halfyear by a further issue of £53,192 of 4 per cent, mortgage debenture stock, mak1 ing the total issue up to 30th June last £588,938, Tho repairing steamer, Sherard Osborn, being no longer required in the Far East, has been sold to the Eastern Extension Company. j The Directors go on to state that tho ' Cominorcinl Pacific Company's cable betweon Sati Francisco and Honolulu has been extended to Manila, and an arrangement hns been conio to with that coini pony by which not only ia the United , States of America directly connected with tho Far East, but the Eastern Extension. Company h»s secured another alternative route to Europe. During the sittings of tho International Telegraph Conference, | recently hold ia London, it was arranged

— — ' " 'f " — that the tariffs for traffic with Japan, China, and Manila should be reduced its from the 15th July last. The agreement concluded with the Australian Federal Government for extending to Melbourne and Brisbane the privilege enjoyed by the company in other State capitals of Australia of dealing direct with the telegraphing public has been formally approved by the Federal House of Representatives ; but the Senate has deferred coming to a definite decision upon it, pending the .result of a conference* to be held between the interested Governments to consider what effect the agreement may 'have upon tho British Pacific cable and, other questions. . Meanwhile the tentative arrangement come to with the Federal Government by which tho company 'is allowed to work a special wire between and Melbourne, and to deal dhect with the public in the latter city, remains undisturbed. It is all very well to enthuse about the patriotic duty of the colonies to trade with the Mother Gauntry and give British manufacturers the preference in their orders, but I am afraid the latter will have to alter their "manners and customs" in more ways than in cultivating up-to-dateness if they really desire to retain colonists as customers. I find that for some time past when New Zealand has not been ordering steel rails for her' railways thei* liav.o almost invariably been in the case of the British tenderers a most curious inter-resemblance among the prices, one; however, usually being slightly but appreciably lower than the rest. Whether or not it w«re hoped that this flight lessness would win its ucceptance, I do not pretend to gay, but all the prices seemed so high that tendeis i were invited from abroad, and when they , arrived were found to be so much lower as to put the British competitors utterly out of court. If these foreign tendors had not been accepted, the effect would have been that the people, of New Zealand would' liavo had practically to pay a substantial bonus on every ton of rails, all of which would have gone into; the pockets of a combination of British ironmasters without any benefit accruing either to tho colony or the Mother Country. This is the sort of "try-on" which does not encourag* aad foster Imperial reciprocal trading. ' . Mr. A. H. Chaytor, dating his letter from the Oxford and Cambridge Club, wrote as follows to the Field last week : • "In a letter just received from my brother, Major D'Arcy Chaytor, from the Wairau district of Marlbocough, New Zealand, he saya that in netting for spawning fish recently a trout of 381b was caught, and was sent to tho Government Tourist Deportment in Wellington to stuff for exhibition. This river was stocked many years ago w*li English trout and also with American brown trout, and this great fish is probably one of tho latter species.' 1 To this letter, which appeared under the heading "A Monster New Zealand Trout," tho editor of the Field added tho following footnote: "We should be glad to have authentic measurements and description of thia 'record' trout from some scientific New Zealand source." Two whole , pages and three illustrations are devoted by the Syren to "The Port of Wellington," which the* Syren says "comprises the most picturesque harbour in New Zealand, a country abounding in some of the finest natural harbours and anchorages in the world." Tho writer continues: "The shipping trade connected with this port is bound to increase to an enormous extent in the course of tho next few years, and larger steamers, both for the passenger trade and the frozen meat industry, will have to be built to cope with the increased demand for tonnage." After describing the Wellington port appliances and the city and suburbs of Wellington, the Syren refers to the numerous important industries of WelI lington, wfaich, it says, "is fast becoming on important manufacturing city." The article proceeds: "It is in industries such .as these that Mr. Chamberlain's preferential tariff now being advocated will be most keenly felt. There is no doubt that Bucb. a tariff 'would bo of enormous benefit to the pastoralista and producers of this colony, although on the other hand it will be a serious drawback to the advancement of a young country if a reciprocal tariff ia enforoed on tli© import of American and German machinery, which is among the most important imports in a pastoral country such as New Zealand ; for besides the manufactories! nnd mills there »s a very large demand for agricultural maohinery of thin description, it being indispensable in the working of farms and estates. What the colony requires, however, is not exactly a preferential tariff, but a wider knowledge of the true ' excellence of her produce, and fair play on the English market." This leads to a eulogy of Mr. Seddon's meat-shop scheme.

I hear to-day from Messrs. Charles Balme and Cot that during the past fortnight the tendency of business in the manufacturing districts has not been satisfactory, and recently values for both merino and crossbred wool have weakened. Thia alteration in the position was reflected at the Antwerp sales of River Plate wools held last week, when prices for mennos ruled slightly below those current at the close of the London September auctions, and is confirmed by cable messages to hand from Australia and the River Plato reporting somewhat easier quotations. It is to be hoped, however, that during the sixth series of sales, which will open in London on the 24 Wi 'ngt., the smallness of the available supplies and the practical exhaustion of stocks in consumers' hands will tend to counteract tho adverse factors at present depressing the market, and that prices for both fine and coarse wools will show but little alteration from September closing rates. The gross arrivals for the new series now total 80,088 bales, including 30,563 bales from New Zealand ; of tho latter number some 500 have been forwarded direct to the Continent, Yorkshire, etc. For woolled sheepskins, Messrs. Balm© toll mo that the following dates have been arranged for next year's sales : — 21st January, 3rd March, 21et April, 2nd June, 14tb July, 25th August, 6th October, Ist December; and the first auction of woolled sheepskins for 1905 will be held on the 19th January. By tho Corinthic, which sails from London next week, the Agent-General is shipping to the colony a' considerable number of pheasants, duck, lapwing, and other birds, for tho purpose, of acclimatisation ia New Zealand.