EUROPE AND AMERICA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XLII, Issue 4321, 17 December 1874, Page 3

EUROPE AND AMERICA.

The following summary of news is extracted from The Times of Oct. 19 The Queen received at Balmoral the joyful intelligence of the safe delivery of the Duchess of Edinburgh. Her Majesty gave a dance to the servants on Thursday, in honour of the event. The latest bulletins report favourably of the progress of the Duchess and the Royal infant. Saturday bong the Duchess of Edinburgh’s birthday, the Empress of Bussia attended a special’ service at the Russian Church, and in the evening a dinner patty was given at Buckingham Palace, in honour of her Imperial Majesty. An official notice has been forwarded from the Colonial office, announcing the cession of the Fiji Islands to the British Crown. A rumour of the elevation to the peerage of Colonel Leigh, M.P. for East Cheshire, has been contradicted.

an is stated that Captain Sartorius will be granted the Victoria Cross for his services with the Ashantee Expedition. Sir J. W. Kaye, the Indian historiographer, has retired from the poet of Secretary to the Secret and Political Department of the India Office.

The entries of Frenchmen at Cambridge University this term amount to 634, a larger number than ever before attained. The noncollegiate students are only 15 as against 25 last year.

Mr C. S. Read, Secretary of the Local Government Board; in addressing a meeting of his constituents, said he was still of ppinioh that compensation for unexhausted improvements should he 1 granted td agricultural tenants. Mr Read, as did also Mr Lopes,' M.P., who spoke at Frome, dwelt upon the increased severity of Parliamentary duties.Speeches were also made by. Sir J. Lubbock, Lord Macduff, and Lord Eustace Cecil.

A general collection was made on Saturday among the working men of .(foe metropolis for the benefit of the hospitals and dispensaries, and it has been determined not to close the collection for a.fortnight. - “* In a sermon preached yesterday in St Edward’s Church, Westminster, Archbishop Manning referred to the “ persecution” of the Catholics in Germany, and declared his conviction that those who were pursuing that coarse were signing their own death warrants. . 1 j ‘ Dr Eoskell, ffoe Roman. Catholic Bishop of Nottingham, has resigned his episcopal offlie on account Of MvaUwd sige/and the Sev Dr Bagshawhas been appointed by the Pope to succeed him.

At Woolwich experiments have been made With the hot-air balloon intended for military purposes, but they were not very successful, the inflated balloon not having sufficient buoyancy to raise the required weight. At the GuildbaUj London,; on Friday, a butcher at Holloway was sent to prison for a month for haring sent to market unwholesome meat. < A butcher at Killsby, Northamp? tonshire, was fined £lO and costs for a similar offence.

A shoemaker, living at Lisson Grove, near the Regent’s Park, on Saturday attempted to murder a young woman to whom he was paying.his addresses, and whom he accused pf deceiving him. The woman’e wounds will,’it is feared, prove fatal. The widow of a waterman,, at Windsor, with seven children, committed suicide. The fact of having to apply for parochial relief had affected her mind.

Four fishermen have been drowned off Mull, owing to the capsizing of their boat during a sudden equall. The dispute between Lord Penryn and his numerous slate quarrymen is still unsettled, but it is hoped that the pending efforts at arrangement will shortly prove suocesful. It is reported that Mr John Marshall, son of the late Scotch Judge, Lord Curriehill, has been appointed a Judge of the Court of Session in place of the late Lord Benholme. At a meeting of Home Balers held at Limerick, under the presidency of Mr O’Sullivan, the Nationalists mastered in great force, and declared that they would have nothing to do with any movement that did hot contemplate separation of Ireland from the Government of England. The language employed was strong* and the altiqa. of the epfekere occasionally violent. Mr T. A. Purcell, Q.C., has been appointed Chairman of County Limerick, in place of the late Mr Leahy. ' 1 .

NEW ZEALAND AND POLYNESIA] . The following is extracted from the flototts/ 4 publication issued in London “ Mr.Yqgelj Prime Minister of New Zealand, has made a proposal remarkable for its boldness of conception, and to be productive of most important oonsequenoes to bis own colony as well as to the entire Empire. He proposes nothing less than the annexation of the islands of the Pacific to the Empire, and their bong placed tinder' the Government of New Zealand, which with them is to constitute the Dominion of the Pacific. The p|ropoeal is grand and ambitious, and we cannot see why it should not be successful, certainly aa a political, if not as a commercial enterprise. For some fame the idea of the annexation of the Pacific Islands has been mooted; and it is certainly difficult ;to imagine anything happening to them more likely to promote British interests. They cannot be left to themselves, to be preyed upon by kidnappers and maurauders of every :desoription. To have one or more of the great Powers occupying them will far from tend to promote either our interests or security in that quarter. To add to the Empire so many islands of extraordinary loveliness, luxuriance, and salubrity of climate, will be'to confer a great boon upon the British race, while it will he the very best thing that can happen to the natives, now that white men are beginning to swarm in the Pacific. Since English statesmen .bave lost the spirit which created the Colonial Empire, it was hopeless to expect that such a grand undertaking should have been promoted by the Imperial Government. A shoddy money-grubbing policy would have raised a howl against any colonising enterprise Involving any outlay not immediately promising to pay, tio matter how certain to do so ten years heqoe. The Govemmenfc-of Now Zealand, however, with a more Imperial spirit than that which has distinguished the Imperial Government, proposes."to' undertake this great national project.' It will be, to use the French phrase, responsible for order in the islands, the mpenffi Government incurring no liability except in the event of war with

great Ppner ;• and tfyen no really jextra naval forpa would 'be required, for with addition to ‘our present British possessions aa that quarter, of the globe n large a number fflS®JtoNb.would be indispensable. New Zealand knows better than any community in jthe Empire the difficulties of the undertaking; Jehe oan exactly estimate the dangers of native wars | and, though she has suffered so much 'from them, shots not terrified like our nervous I statesmen and politicians, whose faint-hearted ■policy with respect to Fiji finds expression 'm each warning as “Scmember the experience of New Zealand.” We hope New Guinea will be included in the scheme. Should it not, we have little doubt that some I of the Australian colonies, stimulated by the enterprise and Imperial spirit of New Zealand, and desiring to supply the lack of this country aud its Goyernmentin these particulars, will endeavour to secure for the Empire that nearest, and most important of all the unoccupied territories which lie upon its confines. One most satisfactory feature in Mr Yogol’s proposal is that it shows how completely the irritation produced in New Zealand by Earl Granville’s abrupt withdrawal of the Imperial troops has subsided. New Zealand does not merely desire to acquire the magnificent Dominion of the Pacific for herself, but for the Empire. Mr Vogel says: 11 New Zealand may earn for reluctant Great Britain, —without committing her to responsibilities she fears,—a grand Island Dominion; may in the meanwhile save the mother country much trouble and danger and risk—the danger and risk of expenditure, which weigh so much with the rulers of Great Britain; and when the result is secured and the commerce established, it may be recognised that New Zealand, the colony, has done a useful work for Great Britain, the Empire.” Who in the face of such splendid, irresistible evidence as this, and of numerous other conclusive proofs, will deny the spirit of the colonies, or dare to assert that they are not prepared to fulfil all their Imperial obligations and responsibilities P It surely will not be hard to devise some method of united Imperial action. We believe that colonial statesmanship would not prove unequal to the task. We have greater misgivings with respect to the politicians and statesmen of the mother country, with the insularity of their views, of which Mr Gladstone furnishes us with such a conspicuous example.

NEW WOOL EXCHANGE, LONDON, For some time past the growth of the woo: trade in London has been so marked that the want of increased accommodation and better arrangements for selling the staple has been much felt by members of the trade. This want is now extinguished by the opening of a handsome and commodious mart having entrances in Ooleman and Basinghall street, and, therefore, in the centre of the wool quarter of the City. The structure presents an imposing appearance outside, and within is replete with every convenience. The actual auction room is surmounted by a fine glass dome, and the seats are arranged in semicircular tiers, those in the area, numbering some 400, being numbered, and each one allotted to'a member of the trade. There is a gallery communicating with the area by staircases, and this is more for the use of “ outsiders,” if we may use such a term. Altogether ' the mart is capable of seating about 600, and of accommodating some 600 persons. Lavatories are in communication, and, in short, the arrangements are complete, and well, calculated to ensure comfort. In connection with the mart are numerous offices for the use of members of the wool fraternity, and where they may conduct their business. Tfiere are about 800 rooms available for offices, and these are light and airy, ventilation through the. whole building being carefully provided for, A new hotel is in course of erection, and will occupy a part of the site of the exchange.: It will be seen therefore that the London, wool brokers and merchants have in the new building every facility for conducting their trade, the importance Of which may be judged from the fact that the imports or raw wool into the United Kingdom now amount to twenty millions sterling per annum, and the exports of manufactured woollens to thirty millions.

FOREIGN AND COLONIAL. she..«leotidns for four vacant seWa. in the French Assembly were held yesterday, anil, as far as can be ascertained, the Republicans obtained majorities in three cases. In the Pas de Calais, however, the Bonapartist had a small majority, and a new election will become necessary. 1 The Prince of Wales has been upon a visit to Esolimont, the seat of the Duo de la Soohefouoauld-Bisacoia. Marshal MacMahon on Saturday paid a visit to to the Duo de Broglie at his country house, and there are rumours of the Duke’s speedy return to office, but they are not generally credited. An official returb of the revenue during the first nine months of the year has been published, and the results are upon the whole, satisfactory. The French authorities have commenced legal proceedings against betting agencies established in England and advertising in Paris papers. The Opinion Nationals states that the Duo Decazes has convinced the Spanish Ambassador that the complaints made against France in the recent note are unfounded.

The German Military Estimates for the next year will be larger by 16 million thalers than those of last year. , Count Arniru is kept closely confined, and it is believed that he will be tried upon a charge of high treason for divulging public documents, an imputation which he and his friends indignantly deny. A proposition for raising a Spanish loan in Berlin has failed. The Madrid Papers continue to report the submission of Carlist officers and men, but no action of importance has occurred recently, and the Carlist bands have captured Vega de Paz and destroyed a considerable portion of the Valencia and Tarragons Eailway. Marshal Bspartero is dangerously ill. King Victor Emmanuel leaves Turin to-day for Florence.

M. Thiers has left Florence and has gone to Pisa. The Austrian Government has again refused to allow the establishment of a Freemasons’ Lodge in Vienna. A severe shock of earthquake was felt in Malta on Saturday afternoon. The Democrats have been successful in Indiana, and have secured the nomination of a Senator. Brigham Young has been indicted for polygamy. , A fearful cyclone burst over Southern Bengal on Friday, causing immense damage and destroying the telegraphic oommunication. ■ Now comes another story about German intrigues for territory abroad (says the Alia California). Reports have accused Germany with haying made efforts to acquire one of Spain’s Wegt Indian Islands. But this has been almost indignantly denied by German officers of the Government, and by Spanish Ministers as well. Then there were reports of efforts made by Germany to get possession of a cluster of islands in the South Pacific. One of her men-of-war sailed into a port there and demanded a number of thousands of dollars for some real or assumed discourtesy or injury to German subjects., An American Oonsul hustled around, raised, the cash and paid it over, to avoid the chances of the i«land» being taken possession of by those newly-made (t sea-dogs, ’ And now we are told that Germany has been and is intriguing in Mexico for a foothold of territory there, and that the Germans propose for the favour to loan Mexico certain shekels as an induoemeat for the concession. We shall expect now to see a disclaimer on the part of the German officials for the Government. But if Germany does not know yet, she can at the proper time learn, and if she give the occasion, she most certainly will leam that Germany nor any other European nation need think for a moment of acquiring any of the territory of Mexico, either with or without the consent of Mexico. The United States does not want the territory of Mexico; perhaps may never desire it. We have certainly, at present, territory enough. But we want no European dynasties established on any of the soil of North America, and we are not going to allow it to be done. Nor do we believe that Germany, by any offer or promise, could induce any Government in Mexico to accede to, any such proposition. Tho Maximilian tragedy should serve as a warning to all sach aspirants.