OUR LONDON LETTER.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXV, Issue 7807, 13 March 1886, Page 6

OUR LONDON LETTER.

[FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.] London, Jan. 28. AN EMIGRATION BUREAU. A week last Saturday a deputation of noblemen and gentlemen, headed by the Marquis of Lome, waited upon Colonel Stanley and Lord Dunraven at the Colonial Office to urge the importance of the collec-; tion and dissemination by the Government of information respecting emigration to the Colonies. The idea of the deputation appeared to be that there should be a bureau charged with the duty of collecting this information, and that it should be circulated amongst the public by means of placards posted up outside the post offices, so that it should be possible to obtain information as to the capabilities, advantages, needs and climate of the different Colonies, bearing upon it the stamp of Government authenticity. As Lord Dunraven remarked, this was asking the Government to undertake a very delicate duty, for it would place the Government in an unpleasant position to have to say that emigration was not desirable to any particular Colony. At the same time he intimated —and in this he was supported by Colonel Stanley—that the Home Government would not be disinclined to afford facilities for the dissemination of accurate information respecting the Colonies, though they declined to make themselves responsible for its authenticity. The interview ended by Colonel Stanley promising to bring before the Treasury the desirability of allowing placards containing information to emigrants to .be placed outside post-offices. Lord Dunraven very prudently suggested that before the deputationists took arijjr further steps in

ithd matter 'they ihbuld obtain the advice; and concurrence; of;/the Agents-General thereupon. Should they act upon his lordship's advice, however, they are not likely to receive much encouragement from the accredited Colonial representatives in this country. The Agents-General have not in any wayibeen" consulted about the scheme, and their judgment is decidedly against its feasibility. They have no desire to make themselves responsible for continuous statements concerning the Colonies; what they want is to do their own work in their own way. Their existing agencies are amply sufficient to procure all the emigrants they care to send out, and they aire inclined to regard this emigration bureau scheme as the work of philanthropic busybodies. This feeling manifested itself at.a meeting of the British and Colonial Emigration Society held on Tuesday afternoon at the Mansion House, under the presidency of the Lord. Mayor. Some of the Agents- • General and Mr Froude were amongst those present. The latter gentleman moved a resolution in favour of an appeal to the public and to the Imperial and Colonial Governments for assistance to enable the Society to relieve the existing distress in various parts of the country by the promotion Of emigration. Everything was going on ■ very quietly, and smoothly until Sir Saul Samuel, the Agent-General of New South Wales, got up and remarked that what the Society seemed to be aiming at was sending out English paupers to the Colonies, an act r to which the Colonies would certainly object. He indicated pretty clearly that the Australian Colonies, at all events, would rather do their immigration work themselves, pointing out that during the past five" years:his own Government had sent out 27,000 emigrants from this country, and that last year they had sent out 2000 single women. Sir Charles Tupper, the High Commissioner for Canada, and Sir Charles Mills, AgentGeneral for the Cape, while apparently dissenting from, in reality supported Sir Saul's remarks, and Mr Garrick, AgentGeneral for Queensland,' gave them his hearty concurrence. His Colony, he declared, had, in a little over twenty years, spent £2,665,000 in sending out emigrants, and during the last five years the expenditure had been £1,139,000 as the cost of sending 67,000 people. The Colonies, therefore, he said, were absorbing as many emigrants as they had room for. "A FINE HOLT (OLD) ENGLISH GENTLEMAN." Through the generosity of the Hon J. Holt, of Sydney, Dr Bernardo, well-known for his exertions on behalf of destitute children, is giving a series of free hot meat dinners to different sections of the destitute poor of London at Dr Bernardo's Hall, the Edinburgh Castle, in the East End. A week last Tuesday, a dinner, consisting of hot roast beef, potatoes and pudding was given to about a thousand aged poor from lodging-houses and casual wards, all of them being over 55 years of age. To-day a similar hot meal has been given to about a thousand of the destitute blind, and, in addition to the meal, each guest was given Is .to pay for a guide and omnibus fare. To-day week, the ragamuffins, vagabonds, thieves, and tramps of London under 21 years of age will be gathered together from the streets and lodging-houses to enjoy Mr Holt's hospitality. Of these, however, Dr Bernardo thinks it prudent not to invite more than five hundred at a time. AUSTRALIAN SHIPPING AND THE CLYDE. Though the tonnage of shipping between the Clyde and the Antipodes during the last year has been the heaviest on record, it has, at the same time, been the least profitable to ship-owners. During the year 96 vessels, or about eight a month, were despatched from the Clyde to the Antipodes, having an aggregate tonnage of 117,564 tons, which is an increase of 41,305, or 55 per cent over the despatch in 1884; 15,411 tons over that of 1883, 57,961 tons over that of 1881, and fully five times as much as that despatched in 1871. Out of this- number ten vessels, representing 10,322 tons, sailed for New Zealand; but though this tonnage exceeded that of 1884 by 3102 tons, it is still 6207 tons under that of 1883, and not half that despatched in 1882. The largest increase during the past year has been in the vessels despatched to Sydney. This is in consequence of the large orders received in Scotland from the Colonies for cast iron pipes and other manufactured iron. Out of the ten vessels sent to New Zealand from the Clyde, nine were despatched by Messrs P. Henderson and Co. THE INDIAN ASD COLONIAL BXHIBITION. . Sir Francis Dillon Bell is showing considerable activity in pushing on with his arrangements for this Exhibition. Four shipments of goods have already arrived, and some of them are now placed in position. A large consignment of the splendid woods of New Zealand has been received per the lonic, and these have been handed over to Messrs Gillow, the well-known artistic decorators, to work up into ornamental cases for the exhibits. Sir Dillon Bell, in conjunction with Sir Charles Tupper, the High Commissioner for Canada, is arranging for an extensive exhibit of frozen meat, very much on the lines, though on a larger scale, of that which attracted so much attention at the Healtheries. Advantage will also be taken of the refrigerating arrangements in con- '• nection with the frozen meat to set on foot I and maintain an exhibition of fruit. _ For these purposes a separate engine will be erected and worked by gas, because Bteam power cannot be conveyed to the place where the market is to be opened. It is intended to retail the meat, and-it is expected that great quantities will be disposed of in this way. An amicable conference has been held between [Sir Philip Cunliffe Owen, Sir Dillon Bell, and Sir Charles Tupper, with reference to the division of the Canadian and New Zealand Courts, which adjoin. Messrs Gillow have charge of the decorations of both Courts, and it is expected that they will be fitted up in very much the same style, so that the ornamentation may harmonise. Sir Charles Tupper is pressing Sir Dillon Bell to consent to an Indian camp being erected inside the Botanical Reserve, over which New Zealand has control, but your AgentGeneral has not yet agreed to this. The High Commissioner for Canada also desires to utilise the ornamental water in the grounds for an exhibition of Indian canoes. It is a great pity that New Zealand did not make use of this sheet of water for an exhibition of Maori war canoes, which would have created a decided sensation. The idea did occur to Sir Francis Bell, but considerations of expense seem to have prevented him carrying it into effect. L.S.D. In the spring time we are told the young folks lightly turn to thoughts of love. In a similar way about that period of the year the thoughts of the Colonial Governments turn to cash and the means of obtaining the same out of the English money market, for at the beginning of a year the air is always full of loans and rumours of loans on the part of our kinsmen beyond the seas. To commence with faits accompli, the first thing to be noted is the extraordinary success achieved by, the Otago Harbour Board loan, tenders for which were opened about ten days ago. The amount required was £150,000, and for this 326 tenders were received amounting to a total of £765,700. The average price realised was a little over £lO7 Bs. Tenders at £lO7 8s will receive about 70 per cent of the amount applied for, and above that in full. Of tenders for over £IOOO there were four amounting t» £217,500, at £lO7 8s to £108; four amounting to £BB,OOO, at £lO6 15s 6d to £lO6 19s 6d; 33 amounting to £109,000, at £lO6 to £lO6 10s; 44 amounting to £138,500, at £lO5 to £lO5 19s 6d. The minimum was £lOl, and prices reached £IOB. One tender was for the whole

amount at £lO7 8s; one for £62,500, at the same price; and another for £50,000 at £lO6 15s 6d. The tenders were opened at the Colonial Bank of New Zealand. ' The business was managed by ; Mr George .Cowie; Managing Director of the Bank, by whom great despatch was shown, and the necessary accommodation made with great celerity. On the same day, Jan. 20, tenders for the, South Waimakariri (Canterbury) five per cent loan of £21,000 were opened at the Union Bank of Australia. The amount tendered was £51,200, at prices ranging from the minimum of £lO4 to £llO. This class of loan seems to be rather in favour in the English money market at the present time. If reports that are now current on the Exchange be- true, some very heavy Colonial borrowings are to be expected. The Victorian Government are the first in the field, with a request from the British investor of £1,500,000, being an instalment of the £8,000,000 loan recently authorised by Parliament. The conditions upon which it is offered are considered favourable.by the brokers, though, of course, there are some grumblers, and there seems every prospect of the loan going at £lO4 10s, or a premium of 2 or 2* upon the minimum price of issue. The New South Wales Government has been charged with the intention of borrowing £2,000,000, but Sir Saul Samuel has promptly denied the rumour. Queensland is supposed to be about to ask for a similar amount, and though the Agent-General of that Colony declares that he is unaware of any such intention, the belief has not been dissipated that something of the sort is in contemplation. South Australia has authority.to borrow about £1,300,000, but Sir Arthur Blyth is scarcely likely to operate before June. * In the Times of Tuesday, this week, there appears a letter from Sir Dillon Bell, denying a statement which had appeared in the leading journal to the effect that New Zealand would soon want a loan of a million and a half. Your Agent-General asserts that the only New Zealand loan at present authorised is the North Island Railway loan of one million, and that it is not certain whether this loan will be offered before the New Zealand Parliament meets in June. The impression abroad is that the true explanation of the rumour is that Sir Julius Vogel is contemplating an electioneering coup, and that he is probably withholding this loan in order to be able to have authority to float a very much larger' one at a later period, if the country approves of his intention to revive an active public works aud immigration policy. An extraordinary general meeting of the New Zealand Trust and Loan Company was held this week at the Company's offices in Cornhill. Sir Charles Clifford presided, and made the comforting declaration that, despite the great increase in the Property tax in New Zealand; despite the wave of trade depression which was passing over the whole world; despite the lower price of wheat and the sudden drop in wool, the New Zealand Trust and Loan Company would still pay its usual dividend of 20 per cent per annum. " Oh, let us be joyful I" PRODUCE MARKETS. The wool sales opened on Jan. 19, about 223,000 bales being available. Up to date 77,504 bales have been catalogued, and 9600 withdrawn. Only 5337 bales of New Zealand have been catalogued. Short, earthy tenders in the grease are Id per lb lower than at the elose of last series, and faulty scoured are £d cheaper. Good, sound shafty merino has been in active demand at fully late rates. Cross-breds are firm. A large proportion of the available supplies are faulty. The arrivals for the second series amount to 27,168 bales, 5047 being from New Zealand. The corn market is very quiet, and rather lower prices rule. No business is reported in Australian wheat for forward delivery. Supplies from New Zealand have lately been augmented, and quotations are lower. Australian wheat, ex granary, is quoted to-day at 363 to 375; New Zealand, long-berried, fine, 33s to 33s 6d; medium, 31s to 325; and inferior, 29s 6d to 30s 6d. Short-berried, fine, 31s 6d to 32s 6d; medium, 30s to 31s; and inferior, 29s to 80s. New Zealand flour, patent, 24s 6d to 25s 6d; and fine, 20s to 225. The Rangitikei and Rimutaka are the only New Zealand arrivals during the fortnight. Australasian mutton tallow, fine, is quoted at 26s to 26s 6d per cwt; medium, 24s 6d to 25s 3d. Beef, fine, 25s to 265; medium, 23s 6d to 24s 6d. The frozen meat trade is quiet, but prices for New Zealand have not fluctuated much. In the provinces there is a strong enquiry, and a distinct advanco in price has been established. The irawa's cargo, from Port Chalmers, has been cleared, except about 3400 carcases, at 4d to ssd for mutton and 5d to 5Jd for beef. The Tongariro's shipment, from Lyttelton, has been cleared at4dtos}d, and the beef has fetched 4d to Excepting 1600 carcases, the Aorangi's consignment has been sold at 4d to 5Jd for mutton; the lambs realised ssd to 7d, and the beef 4d to sd. About 9000 carcases ex lonic have been sold at 4|d to s}d for sheep and s£d to 7i for lambs. The first parcel ex Eimutaka was sold to-day at 5d per lb. Prime English mutton is selling at 4a to 4a 8d per Btone. MISCELLANEOUS. A valuable Oxford scholarship has just been secured by a late pupil of the Church of England Grammar School at Melbourne. Mr Charles Sibbald Currie, a young gentleman still in hi.B teens, is the successful candidate, having succeeded in obtaining the John Watson Scholarship of the annual value of £IOO, tenable for five years at Brasenose College. Mr Childers is still pursuing his electoral campaign for the southern division of Edinburgh, and has had to submit, with as good grace as he could, to the " heckling " which Scotch electors delight to bestow upon those who woo their suffrages. In the course of this process he was closely questioned about the pension he enjoys from the Imperial Government. Instead of answering in a manly way that he received a pension, and considered he deserved it, as every statesman who has served his country does deserve it if he has no other mode of livelihood, the right hon gentleman tried to get out of the difficulty by making it appear that, as the result of nearly a quarter of a century's service in Parliament, he received a pension of only; £llOO a year, while the late Lord Beaconsfield drew a pension of £2OOO a year for a little over a couple of years' service. But this unworthy endeavour to institute a comparison favourable to himself and unfavourable to Lord Beaconsfield was promptly exposed by a correspondent to one of the papers pointing out that, in addition to the eleven hundred which he received from the English Exchequer, Mr Childers was in receipt of nearly nine hundred a year from the! Government of Victoria, so that these twosums added together made up the usual £2OCO a year, which Ministers of the Crown are entitled to claim. There is therefore no difference in the matter of pensions, between Mr Childers and Lord Beaconsfield. Mr Childers' services of State to the Colony of Victoria were not of long duration, and he has regularly drawn his pension ever since, though there are in England at the present moment several ex-Colonial statesmen no better off as regards this world's goods than Mr Childers, and who have rendered, much longer and more important service to their respective Colonies than; he, who have had the disinterestedness to refuse pensions. The Eev J. Richards, M.A., curate of St Paul's, Truro, has been nominated to the incumbency of St Mark's, Remuera, Auckland.

The Rev T. Powell, F.L.S., who for upwards of 40 years has been identified with Samoa, delivered an interesting lecture last Monday week before the Victoria Institute

upon " A Samoan tradition of the Creation and the Deluge." Mr Powell pointed out many resemblances , between the Mosaic record of the Creation and the traditional myths of, the: Samoans, drawing the conclusion that the Samoan mythology must have been derived in some way from the Mosaic records. The lecturer dwelt upon it as a remarkable fact that from three independent Sources, namely, the Bible, the Assyrian inscriptions, and the Samoan traditions, we had similar accounts of the Creation, the Deluge, and the migration of Abraham.

Professor Posnett, accompanied by his brother, sailed for New Zealand in the lonic to-day. Mr Posnett's brother intends to set up sheep-f arming in your Colony. The Eev John Neale Dalton, formerly Governor to the young Princes, who was recently appointed to a Canonry at Windsor, has always been supposed to be waiting until he was comfortably settled in life before entering upon married Btate. The happy event of ; his life has, however, come off at last, and the rev gentleman has just been united in the bonds of holy wedlock to Miss Catherine Alicia Evan-Thomas. Canon Dalton is a staunch friend of the Colonies, and the author of a yery thoughtr ful brochure upon Imperial Federation, in which he suggests a scheme which he considers would meet some'of the graver difficulties surrounding that question. The Agents-General are arranging for an interview with Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with the aim of endeavouring to induce him to consent to the admission of Colonial wines up to 30 degrees alcoholic proof into this country at the shilling scale of duty. They are, however, not hopeful of success, thinking it in the highest degree improbable that the Chancellor of the Exchequer vill consent to impose a differential duty on Colonial wines. One would think that this ought not to be impossible in view of Lord Salisbury's recent declaration in favour of breaking down the Custom-house barriers between England and her Colonies. But it must" be remembered that almost in the same breath the noble Marquis indicated that the motion which would impel him to take such a step would be reciprocity on the part of the Colonies towards England. In this wine question, however, the Colonies want to get everything and give nothing, bo that their chances of success are not very great. Speaking of Colonial wines, I may mention that a few days ago a friend of mine was decoyed into drinking some Capo champagne, Baid to be of the very finest quality. My friend is a man of iron will and steadfast determination, bo, reckless of consequences, he put himself outside fully half a bottle of the mixture. The last time I saw him he said he thought he should never smile again. An exhibition of Australian, New Zealand, American and Canadian oil paintings and water colours is now on view at the Burlington Gallery, 27, Old Bond street. The exhibition is held under the patronage of Sir Saul Samuel, Agent-General for New South Wales, and has been visited, amongst others, by the Earls of Derby and Dunraven. Between twenty and thirty of the pictures have already been sold. The Australian and New Zealand works number about a hundred and twenty, and are by the following artists:—Messrs N. Chevalier, A. Strutt, C. E. Hern, E. W. Cook, W. Bennett, E. Eoper, C. W. Kennedy, A. W. Weedon, L. Buvelot, W. Strutt, C. Jones, H. J. Johnstone, C. Thornley, John Gully, Herbert Dicksee, J. White and G. Henrard. The indefatigable Mr Tallerman ia at it again. Yesterday, through his exertions, a conference composed principally of working men, representing the great manufactories of the metropolis, was held, under the presidency of Dr Eichardson, the wellknown hygienic physician, at the City and Colonial Club. To this conference Mr Tallerman propounded a scheme for equalising and facilitating the distribution of food, chiefly meat. He set forth that the present wholesale price of boiling joints of Home-grown meat was from 4d *to 5d per lb; flour and cereals, Id per lb ; and of potatoes, carrots, onions, and other vegetables, about Id for 31b, so, that a dinner consisting of a quarter of a pound of meat, a quarter of a pound of flour, and half a pound df vegetables, which would furnish a pound of solid food, ought not to cost more than twopence. The fact that such a dinner actually does cost considerably more than twopence, Mr Tallerman attributes to our faulty system of distribution.

It used to be said of Lord-Chancellor Brougham that if he had only known a little law, he would have known a little of everything. Lord Brougham is not the only lawyer who is less at home in the law than elsewhere. According to a good story in this week's World, Sir John Gorst, our present Solicitor-General, is better known in the political arena than in those circles where lawyers most do congregate. A few days ago, says your fashionable contemporary, Sir John Gorst had occasion to speak to his colleague. Sir Eichard Webster, the Attorney-General. He walked into the Court in which the latter was pleading, and sat down in the seat reserved for Queen's Council. He was not wearing a wig and gown, but ordinary attire, and his appearance attracted the attention of an over-zealous usher. Not being familiar with the features of the mighty Sir John, the usher thought he was some stranger who had sat down in the saired seats of the Q.C.'s by mistake, so he hurried forward, tapped Sir John on the shoulder, and politely requested himto " come out of that." Sir Eichard Webster, who was juet at that moment turning round to speak to the great Gorst, saw what was taking place, and in tones of horrified indignation exclaimed, " What in the world are you doing! This is the Solicitor-General." Sir John Gorst -was observed to blush very loudly, and try to look as if nothing had, happened. Dr Frank Ogston, M.D. and CM. of Aberdeen University, has been appointed; lecturer on Public Health and Medical > Jurisprudence to the Otago University.*. It; is supposed that the other lectureships will' be filled up in the Colony. Dr Ogston is 89 years of age, and is assistant professor of , Medical Logic and Medical Jurisprudence and lecturer on Practical Toxicology tin the University of Aberdeen. He is also, a corresponding member of the Boci4t4\ de Medecime Legale of France, and. "a" Fellow of the Obstetrical Society of, London. His -medical education fromi the first has been directed specially: towards medical jurisprudence, and since he took his degree he has been employed; on behalf of the Crown as referee and assessor in upwards of five hundred cases. Dr Ogston will set out for your Colony about the end of February. "■ ' An exhibition of the collection made by; Dr Finsch in the course of his explorations; in German New Guinea has just-been opened in Berlin. One of the most in- J teresting features of the exhibition is a collection *i twenty-two casts of different types of feature, which were actually taken direct from the faces of the natives.