ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 12307, 23 September 1904, Page 3

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES

[FUOM OtJTt SfKCTAL C’or.IIBSrOHDEST.] LONDON, August 12. Mr Chamberlain's suggested “Imperial Council” is “off." as Mr Balfour has declined to entertain tho idea. He announced his decision, in (lie House last Tuesday m a manner that first raised the hopes of Mir Howard Vincent, and then dashed those hojtes to the ground. Sir Howard had askid if tho Prime Minister would consider the advisability of calling an Imperial Conference to examine thoroughly into the fiscal situation of the British Empire. Mr Balfour replied : ‘‘The House in aware that twice in the course of the last, few years there were conferences in this country representing the sdf-gnverning colonics. In my opinion that has lieen one of the grentost additions fo the machinery. - of Empire ever made, and I hope that these conferences will I>e 1 >e frequently repeated. But Ido not pro pose to take, any steps on the subject to which my hon. friend refers." Sir Howard tnnk hack, anl the Opposition roared. When tho laugh had been thoroughly enjoyed Sir Howard asked, in a chastene i voice: “Will my right hon. friend hear the question in mind?" Even that small request was not answered. Nothing more ludicrous has ever firm seen in the Tlnme for a long time than Sir Howard’s hope and confident expectation rising and growing in intensity np to a certain point and then collapsing suddenly. Mr C. M'Arthur also asked Mr Balfour if he would consider the advhabiiity of inrtituting an inquiry by Royal Commission nr other suitable tribunal, upon which colonial representatives might lx' placed, as to the fiscal or other measures which might he needful to enable the United Kingdom ami the colonies to co-operate for the defence of Imperial trade, and for (ho promotion of freer trades within the Empire. Ho pointed out that his question differed from that of Sir Howard Vincent, for it suggested a Royal Commission. Mr Balfour: ‘‘Yes: it is true that mv hon. friend’s question has a substantial difference, but both refer to some mode in which we mac dl.-euss witii our colonies subjects of common interest, and that really is the es.-entril point." ‘TRUTH’ ON THE MOKAU ROMANCE.

Mr Labcwclierc has a five-column article in tho current number of ‘Truth’ on the Mokan romance, “ one of the most extraordinary stories that are to he fonnd in all the records of the Law Courts.” Tho terms of the sett lenient, in Mr Lahonehe.re's opinion, do not represent a till] measure of justice, hut arc so fir satisfactory that they secure to Mr Jones the restonif'on of the property for which lie had been fiL'liting so Ion". “f cniiorelnia.to Mr Jones,” be continues, “on tlm a;ndninriit of the result for which he has tailored and suffered so lonj. [ respectfully congratulate Mr Justice BigIkiiii on having worked mJ a. satisfactory solution of an entanglement which has occupied at d fferent I’m"'-nearly half the Judges on th-o Bunch, and which at times has soeincd almost 100 complicated to he over unravel led. I congratulate his counsel, of whom -Mr Lawson Walton in particular has shown the keenest personal interest in the ease, and has twice fought Mr Jones’s natide successfully before (he CouiL And, lastly. I con gra tula to myself cm having contributed in s-ome small way to the result. Mr Joshua Jones? is [rood enough to tel] me tii.it if it had not been for ‘ Truth ’ he would never have won the battle. As a mere man I am bound to tell him that he has a great many other good and able friends who have riven him quite as much help as I have. As i journalist, I feel equally bound to record that ‘Truth’ has at any rate done something, for journalists are unhappily compelled for business reasons to blow their trumpets on their own account, occasionall v."

After giving a resume of the plot of this extraordinary romance of real life, the editor of ‘Truth’ goes on to jioint out that Mr Jones gets no compensation for all the years of trouble and suffering he has had to endure. “ For eleven years,” says Air Labouchcrc, ‘‘he has been deprived of the enjoyment of a property, the annual value pf which, when its great mineral and other resources are developed, must certainly be measured in thousands of pounds. (He” had refused an offer of £160,000 for the coal on the property alone before he first came to London.) lie has lost not merely eleven years of this income, but eleven years of life, eleven most precious years, for when he come to London he was a man over fifty years of age. Ho lias spent those eleven years in tho roost pitiable circumstances, exiled from his country, separated from his wife and children, often in acute poverty, subjected often to cruel indignity, suffering incessantly the torture of hopo deferred, fighting single-handed against all the resources of wealth and social influence, with old age ever drawing nearer, and health and strength failing. Tho machinery of the law has ground many a younger man to death or driven him to insanity in less time, Ao pecuniary compensation could adequately repay him for all that he has lost and suffered He gets nothing.” SMITH FIELD MARK I T TOLLS. The London Corporation, I hear, are by no means .satisfied with the income derived from the. tolls at Smithfield .Market, and are proposing, it seems, to swell their revenue by introducing a, new by-law' which they have devised with a view to making the 1 Market a more profitable venture. Smithfield to-day, though one of the centres of the frozen meat trade, rcallv has a verv small percentage of the 'meat passed through it. On this a small toil is levied. But for every carcass that materialises in Smithfield thousands are sold there which never go near the Market, and the Corporation, I understand, are desirous of taxing br toll not only the meat that actually passes through the Market, but also the meat that is sold within the precincts of the Corporation's buildings at Smithfield. To this end they have framed a new by-law hv which they can levy toll on any goods'sold in (he Market, whether such*goods arc, actually delivered from the Market or not. The by-law includes in its provision a penalty apparently by which any [Kwson arranging a bargain in the Market and attempting to oin c can raulcted in a penalty of £lO. It is, of course, beyond belief that snch a nv-law would be sanctioned by the Board of Trade, it would mean if X anti Y met by chance in the market and there arranged “a deal” for. say. 1,000 sheep, which were even then still on the water the Corporation could claim milage on the weight of the meat thus sold, oven if it rere delivered a conple of months hence r-x ship, into the buyers’ own vans, or’ by barge to one of the cold stores. Naturally, the frozen meat traders arc up in arms against the proposed by-law, and 1 understand strong representations arc being made to the Board of Trade with a view to putting a .spoke in the Corporation’s wheel. 1 have not yet seen the by-law as framed by the Cm potation, and my information n,s to its scape is by no means complete, but fhc fact that the frozen meat interests have appealed to the Agente-General to use their influence, to get the by-law rejected hv the authorities is a sufficient guarantee that its working would be in some measure prejudicial to the trade. A POSTAL COLOR S’CHLML,

Even body will agree with the premise pf Mr P. H. Humphreys, of London, that in view of the enormous circulation of letters throughout the world everything possible should be done to facilitate the°work of the sorting departments of tho various post offices; hut I hardly think the suggestions he makes for facilitating the work .of sorting will commend themselves to postal Mi 1 Humphreys litis a “color jjeheme ‘ m view. lie suggests that the, cotor of tho envelope should indicate the rnain route to he follower!. For example, violet might indicate Northern Europe and Northern Asia ; blue, the Northern Atlantic routes; green. Australia anti Now Zealand ; yellow, Egypt, India, (Lina, and Japan ; orange. West and South Africa; red, the West Indies and South America; ■white, Central and Southern Europe. In place of colored envelopes, colored and gummed labels, he says, might be used for private correspondente, if found to be more convenient “Tho use of these colored envelopes, he says, ‘should, of course, nor be compulsory; their value would lie in facilitating the sorting of tlio letters and the saving of lime this implies, and the public should, on that account. be encouraged to use them.'’ If Mr Humphreys f. scheme were adopted

f fancy it would be a ease of “ confusion wor.-c confounded.” To distinguish between yellow and orange or blits and violet in these days of a hundred and one gradations of shade in etch color would be a •natter of grave difficulty in tho varying lights under which sorters have to work, and the. preseu'to of “ patchwork” envelopes of a myriad hues would inevitably produce disastrous results on the vision and mental faculties of men working against time. 1 am sure post office sorters will agree with me that the itesl way of facilitating their work is to address envelopes in a legible hand and leave the rest to them. A PRIVY COUNCIL JUDGMENT.

The care of Hoslop v. the Minister of Mines (New Zealand) was decided this week hv the Judicial Committee of the Privy Conned, before whom the appeal had been r-arred. It was an appeal from a judgment of ihe Court of Appeal of New Zealand of •I tine 29. 1993. allowing an appeal bronght by the present respondent from a. judgment of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, dis-mh-'tng a motion to set aside a txqiy of a claim for compensation made by the present appellant and filed by him iu the Supreme (’curt. The claim was for compensation lei- lands injuriously affected by reason of part of tho 1 nangalma River being declared ,i watercourse into which mining debris and waste water might be discharged.

Mr At quit hj, K.C.. and Mr C. P. Sker-rc-tt. iof the New Zealand Bar) were, counsel tor the appellant: Mr Haldane, K.C.. Mr 1-. H. D. Beil (of the New Zealand Bar), ■nui Mr George R. Northcotc for the respondent.

Hie judgment was of a technical character, the care tuniing upon the construction c.f

some sections of the New Zealand Mining Act, 1898. which incorporated part 3 of the New Zealand Public Works Act, 1894, and tbe second and (bird schedules thereto. Tim appellant. Mr Ileship, claimed compensation under tin; Mining Act for lands injuriously affected, and having, as he said, had no notice that his claim was not admitted. lie treated it as undisputed, and obtained judgment for the sum claimed—viz., £s92—under the provisions of the Public Works Act. The Government contended that notice was given him that his claim was not admitted, and that it ought >o have Ixen adjudicated upon, its provided by (he Mining Act. and that the judgment obtained ought to be set aside. Chief Justice Flout had decided in favor of Mr Heslop. but the Court of Appeal had taken a different v:ew. Hence the present appeal. After going into various legal aspects of the case the Privy Council Committee expressed iho opinion that it was clear from section Zoo of the M-ning Act that every claim for compensation in respect to a proclamation made under section 109 must, if not settled by agreement, be determined by a. Judge or magistrate, as directed by section 255. and could not be treated as undisputed under section 44 of the Public Works Act, even if no notice disputing it was served. The incorporation by section 232 of the machinery of the Public Works Act was controlled by being expressly made subject to all the provisions of the Mining Act. 'h'h® words at the end of the section showed this, although the words at the beginning were limited to the preceding sections. Thiel aims for compensation referred to in sect.ons 252 and 255. when made in respect to proclamations authorising the pollution of rivers, were the claims specially required to be made by the Mining Act, and not those claims which were only required to be made by the Public Works Act; and even if both were necessary, the summary procedure authorised by section 44 of that Act wag quite inconsistent with section 253 of the Mining Act. Them Lordships could not think that this section merely altered the' Court which under sections 49-54 of the Public Works Act was to decide disputed claims. The language of section 235 was too wide and explicit to be so limited. I heir Lordships would therefore humbly advise His Majesty- to dismiss this appeal, and the appellant must pay the costs. PRIZE STUDS FOR THE C'OI ONY. By (he Tonga riro this week the Agent-Gt-rmral's Department shipped ton head of cattle to the • order of (he New Zealand i lovernment. The stock was purchased, at the request of the Premier, by Mr J. M. Johnston, of Palmerston North, who is on a visit to this country. Orders were entrusted to him to purchase five Dexters and five Kerrys—two hulls and three heifers of each class—and these have been secured. The Dexters are from the herds of the Duchess of Devonshire; of Mr R. Tait Robertson, La Mancha, Malahtde County, Dublin : and of Dr Boyd, of County Antrim ; the Kerries being from the Duke of Leinster’s and Mr Robertson's herds. The majority of there cattle are large prizewinners at the Royal Agricultural Society's show, the Royal Dublin, and other shows. It i s thought that this strain will be of material assistance to the small farmer. The animals, which are booked for Wellington. have been carefully selected from the best milking herds. RAMIE VERSUS COTTON.

Mr D. KilwanL-Padelyffe, who had sufficient faith in the fibre ramie to start mills for its manufacture into cloth, etc., at Staines, has been writing to the Home Press beseeching agriculturists, spinners, and manufacturers to combine for the production and manufacture of ramie, and so do awav with the possibilities of cotton crises. He pooh-poohs the idea that there are any special difficulties in the way of growing ranuc. It is, he says, easily grown, and. once established, lasts many years. Mr Radctytfe therefore thinks ”it is a, duty that all who are interested in this splendid textile should undertake to make it known that there is nothing that cannot be overcome. and that the adoption of ramie would be of vast impoitance to the Umpire, bringing vast wealth to the agricultural as well as the manufacturing economy, not °ply of the United Kingdom, but tire colonies.'’ Any number of manufacturers, he alleges, would work ramie if supplies could be assured. He suggests, therefore, that our Boards of Agriculture and Ohamliers of Commerce should interest themselves in ramie, experiment with it. and encourage all colonics to grow it.”