ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

Evening Star, Issue 12899, 23 August 1906, Page 7

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

[From Oub Special Cokrestokdent.] LONDON, July 13. ""THE 'WEATHER" AT : THE CHRISTCHUROH EXHIBITION. A private view of the meteorological seotion of the exhibit arranged by the British Government for the Christchurch International Exhibition was held a day or two ago at the Meteorological Office, a large company assembling on'the invitation of the Dr. W. N. Shaw. .The exhibit occupies several rooms, and .-affords a very,complete idea of the worldwide character of the, work which is 'jb'eing carried on.' It is designed to illustrate the methods of organisation adopted by the Meteorological Office and the institutions associated with it, and to. represent the results obtained from the official. stations and by. co-operation with volunteer .observers, on land and on sea, v th6iUnited Kingdom, the colonies, and 'otheV'cbuntries. All sorts of meteorological instruments are shown, many of them self-registering, for use on board ship as well as ashore. The equipment. of a kite-flying , station, with the ingenious contrivances for obtaining observations in tho upper regions of the air, attracted rmuch attention ; so, also, did the organisation of the weather-forecasting and stormwarning branch, where visitors had the mysteries of cyclones arid anti-cyclones, .barometric gradients, and other difficult subjects explained to them. In addition to the instruments there were large numbers of maps, diagrams, and photographs, the most striking of the diagrams being, one which showed the average monthly •velocity of-the S.E. trade wind at St.. Helena, in the South Atlantic, and the average monthly rainfall in the southern counties of England; the two curves being practically parallel, the rainfall lagging about a month after the trade wind in the second half of the year. Is there any connection between the two phenomena? The results are fcertainly very sflggSstive. The activity of the office extends to all parts of the globe, many charts being exhibited giving the results of the recent Antarctic expeditions. The exhibit is divided into'five sections. The first illustrates the collection and discussion of observations from ships; of His Majesty's Navy and the;;mercantile marine. Complete sets are shown of the rnoteorologiciil. instruments '", with which the ships are, normally equipped, and the method of dealing with them and the data they yield are also illustrated, while monthly charts for various marine areas are shown giving details of the weather, wind, currents, surface temperature, and barometric pressure. The Second section is concerned with telegraphic reporting, forecasts, and storm warnings.: It includes a map of the world, showing the portions of the globe for which-daily Weather reports are issued, a. set of the instruments installed at a telegraphic reporting station, exhibits illustrating hoW the observations are dealt with at the stations and at the Meteorological Office, specimen charts showing the passage of cyclonic depressions across the British Isles, storm warnings, and an exhibit contributed by- tho director of the Meteorological Office at Toronto, illustrating the method of dealing with telegraphic weather intelligence in the Dominion of Canada. The third section is devoted to other British meteorological organisations, and illustrates the part played by voluntary stations in collecting meteorological data. Maps are shown giving the position of.,the stations that work in . connection with the Eoynl. Meteorological' the Scottish Meteorological Society, and the British Rainfall Organisation, together with forms, etc., explaining 1 how ttro-v Meteorological Office deals with climitological observations and results from lawm" This section also contains a number of diagrams exemplifying the application of statistical .methods';to Such questions as the relation, between the weather and the. crops of wheat and barley, over a number of years, the prevalence of thunderstorms over the British Ifi|eS,.arid the relations between London f6g>hd variation of temperature: in the last.case the diagram indicates that fog occurs with each d6vvnward surge of the nurhmum temperature in the autumn Hionths. Bir-Normafi Loekyer contributes the diagrain showing an average correspondence 6veY a. number of •: years between the rainfall in' England and the velocity of the S.E.- trade wind at. St. Helena; The fourth "section is devoted to the work 6f "stations of the first order," and. icomprises - specimens of the self-re Cording instruments, used at them, together- with many examples of the records obtained by,.their aid; while thr last seeti6h contains some apparatus for the is experimental;'lnvestigation of tb tippef air, and also-some of tho "result? obtained through international cooperation for the furtherance of- meteorological knowledge. '-.' .:..: ■ Z£: k- "'ALL MQ £ ROUTES, .J.-'' '■',;■:' Tb'n Congress of Chambers -.of.'Commerce of the Empire passed a resolution this week urging the Imperial Govern-

j mentto adopt such rates of postage on British newspapers and. periodicals as /will ! encourage the circulation of this class of i mail matter in all parte of the Empire* The mover-, Canadian, said :tbey were aware that this matter had been brought to the attention of the Home Government, who had expressed their sympathetic interest in it ; British emigrants to Canada, ! naturally wished to read the periodicals of | the Old Conntry. But apart from this-verv-j natural sentiment, the interests of; British trade were involved. American publicaj lions; filled • with advertisements, flooded ' Canada, and thereby created a demand for American instead of British : g00d5.... Mr Parkes, MIP., said that Mr Sydney Boxton, the: Postmaster-General, with whom he had had a conversation within the last few days, asked him to tell the delegates that he had the matter at heart, and hoped that before'long arrangement* would be made by which a considerable reduction could be effected on this class of postage. The resolution was carried unanimously. The Congress also passed resolutions emphasising the desirability of retaining within Imperial channels the cable service and mail services between various parts of the Empire. It was resolved, on the motion of a Canadian delegate, to urge the Imperial Government to devise means whereby cable and telegraph news to and from all parts of the British Empire should be furnished through entirely Imperial channels. Mr R. Wilson Smith (Mont-real) I moved—"That this Congress consider it of the utmost importance to the interests | of the Empire that tho United Kingdom and her colonies should adopt a policy under which lines of steamships will be scI cured and retained for—(1) the provision of, fast mail services Oft the several routes, j and (2) the development and control of trade between the colonies themselves." A I Toronto delegate seconded the resolution, and it was carried. ; THE BURDEN OF FREETRADE. The question of Preferential Trade within tho^Empire cropped up at the annual meeting of the British Empire League this week while the report of the Council was under discussion.

Coloned Denison (of Canada) made a vary spirited speech in favor of a change of fiscal policy in England. The present prosperous condition of Canada, he said, was due to the adoption of a sane policy. They might go through Canada from end to end now and they would hardly find a nativeborn Canadian who was a .Freetrader, and paupers were even more scarce.' The people were not prosperous in this country. At a speech in Aberdeen Mr Bryce declared that to place a shilling a quarter on wheat would be a terrible burden on the workmen of this country, while to the classes living on the verge of want, which he put at about 50 per cent, of the whole population, it would be a crushing burden, and that it meant reduced subsistence, frequent hunger, weakness of body, and susceptibility to disease. Colonel • Denison asked how could it be said that this was a prosperous nation when nearly a third of the population was so near want that an additional expenditure of 7d or 8d per head in the whole meant "reduced subsistence, frequent hunger, weakness of body, and susceptibility to disease"? In Protectionist countries like Canada and the United States he would guarantee that there Was not a man who did any work who was not easily able, and very few who did not, spend 7d or 8d every week on pleasure or amusements. In Canada there was no such thing as party politics with regard to Imperialism, and ho believed that if this question could be fought out on a square issue, and free from terminological inexactitudes, both political parties would bo united on it.—-(Cheers.) Mr J. G. Jenkins (Agent-General for South Australia) moved the election of the president, vice-presidents, hon. officers, council, and executive committee for the ensuing year. _ With regard to our trade reports, he said that, however creditable they might be to the British community, anyone who read them could not fail to notice that the increase in trade with Australia, at any rate, was more rapid on the part of foreign countries than On our part. That ought not to be. Australian merchants would sooner trade with the British Empire than with outside nations, but they had to meet competitors, and if they could buy in the foreign market at 10 pet cent, less than in the English, market, they were obliged, in ordeT to save themselves, their families. t and their business, to deal with the foreigner. . " UNEMPLOYED "IMMIGRANTS.

Mr John Bums, the President of the Local Government Board ? has issued his reply to a question regarding New Zealand put to him by Sir Charles Dilke. The member for the Forest of Dean asked Mr Burns "if ho will state how many adult males have recently been sent to New Zealand by unemployed committees receiving aid from rates or publio taxes, and how many sent elsewhere across the seas." The President of the Loctl Government Board replies: "Up to May 51 last the central (unemployed! body for London.had sent 550 adult males to the colonies—viz., 41 to New Zealand and 309 to Canada, The returns from the Distress .Committees outside tiondon show that up to March 31 last, they had sent 152 adult males to the colonies, all of whom went to Canada. The later figures have not yet been received."