CURRENT TOPICS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCVII, Issue 11231, 31 March 1897, Page 5

CURRENT TOPICS.

* Senor Canovas, the Spanish Premier, has doubtless resolved to make a virtue of necessity and bring to a close a struggle -whose pro-

*ND OP THE WAR IN CUBA.

longation can only result in further losses •with no prospect of pacification. By the middle of March, the rain and heat in Cuba are usually so severe as to put a stop to all operations in the field, and therefore the Premier shows wisdom in announcing that the campaign is to be brought to a dose. The probabilities are that there will be a compromise effected between the measure of local self-government offered by Spain and the demands of the Cuban insurgents. The Queen Regent of Spain recently signed the decree embodying the proposed Cuban reforms, which include the establishment of a Cuban Assembly, the majority of the members of which will be elected by popular vote, and extensive reforms of provincial and municipal organisation. The good offices of the United States were invoked by the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, and he was'referred to Mr Taylor the American Minister at Madrid. Mr Taylor held that the reforms offered were ■worthless, and he counselled that Spain should grant full local government, with economic reforms, to Cuba. The demands of the insurgents were: The recall of General Weyler; the restriction of the power of Q overnors-General; the election of municipalities by popular vote j a new postal System; internal taxes to be spent within reasonable limits in Cuba; an abatement of the tariff and of taxes, especially those on flour, and freer commerce with the United States, and an increase in the number of Cuban members of the Spanish Cortes. These terms were to be embodied in a treaty guaranteed by the United States. The insurgents declared their willingness to negotiate with Marshal Martinez Campos, General Calleja or General Pando, but not with the “ Butcher,” whose latest threat was that he would pacify the island, though he had to kill every man, woman and child in it. This threat was in consequence of the declared policy of the Government “to conquer first and reform afterwards.” The partial successes gained by General Weyler of late will . probably be accepted as equivalent to conquest, and if the Cubans will. accept reasonable terms short of absolute independence Spanish pride and American trading. interests may yet be satisfied without a war between the two countries.

Mr Laurior, the now Premier of Canada, describes himself as “a Liberal of the English school,” and his policy, so far as it has been disclosed, admirably

CANADA’S RELATIONS WITH England and the united STATES,

answers to the description. In. pursuance of the realisation of his ideas, he lately set himself to the elimination of the protective element from the Canadian lariff, so as to make the Customs

duties purely revenue imposts. The object of the Ministry was also to conciliate the United States, which has for thirty years past waged a tariff war against Canada. The Hon A. G. Jones, a member of the Laurier Cabinet, stated when in England a few months ago that Canada’s import and export trade was about equally divided between England and the United States, and it was desirable to remove the friction that existed iu the relations of the Dominion with the Republic. “We believe,” he said, “that a reciprocity treaty might be made to embrace freedom of trade, not only in natural products, but also in certain manufactured articles which do not now reach Canada from Great Britain. When we discussed this matter in Canada, we found a very long list of such articles.” The arrangements, he added, must be without discrimination against British goods, as Liberal opinion in Canada would utterly reject any such idea. The result of investigations carried on since then by the Laurier Cabinet was the discovery that the leading importers and manufacturers and all the farmers favoured a readjustment of the tariffs on protectionist lines. A conference was to be held between representatives of the Dominion and United States Governments at Washington, with a view to obtaining reciprocity for certain articles of export and import, and the arrangement then concluded was to he embodied in the Tariff Bill to he submitted to Parliament at the end of March. The news now to hand shows that agreement has been found impossible. The Tariff Bill gives exceptionally favourable treatment to Great Britain, and so far from reciprocal relations being established with the United States, retaliatory measures are proposed. This is probably due to the attitude of the Protection Party in the States, which would resist any arrangement that appeared to imperil the fruits of its recent victory.

While in New Zealand we have many expert and enthusiastic horticulturists, it is unfortunately a fact

GARDENING IN NEW ZEALAND.

that the cultivation of vegetables and fruit for the table and of flowers for the adornment of the home is neglected by a large majority of our smaller farmers and settlers, who, above all others, should make a feature of their gardens and orchards, with the addition of some useful poultry and a hive or two, of bees. Many of them made a beginning, as the derelict gardens and orchards which surround a number of dwellings on our farms and in our villages bear witness, but the beginning was not a good one, for the simple reason, in most cases, that it was undertaken without any practical knowledge of the work. In some instances, nothing whatever was known about gardening; in others Old Country methods were followed, and in almost all the result was failure and discouragement. Gardening in New Zealand is not the same thing as gardening in England or Ireland or Scotland. The conditions are different, and the methods must be changed to suit them; and the handbooks and experience which were useful guides in other climes are often of very little use here. A “ Handbook of Gardening in New Zealand ” is needed by the tyro who wishes to grow for his household the wholesome vegetables and fruit which form too small a part of. the colonial dietary. Such a guide, of which Mr M. Murphy, secretary of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association, himself a practical and experienced amateur gardener, is the author, was published a few years ago, and was so useful and so much appreciated that two editions were quickly sold. A third edition, which has been delayed by the recent great increase in Mr Murphy’s duties, is now issued. It treats in simple and easily understood language of the whole "series of gardening operations the selection and preparation of the ground, the methods of planting and cultivation, the best varieties of vegetables, flowers and fruits, the management of orchards, poultry and bees, and the work which requires to be done in each month of the year; in fact, of everything that is of interest to beginners and to the more experienced horticulturist. The work supplies a colonial need, and should be in the hands of every cultivator who desires to derive pleasure or profit from his operations.

English newspapers have rather tardily discovered that, in the Isle of Man, the electoral franchise is independent of sex distinc-

WOMAN VOTERS IN . MAN.

tion, being based upon a qualification of £4- ownership or occupation of property. The World, in a punning allusion to “ the Parliament of Man,” found in the fact an augury of the success of the woman’s franchise movement in England. To triumph o'er her sax’s baa Woman is surely fated. Since even in the Isle of Man She’s been e-Manx-ipated! About eight weeks ago there was a general election to the House of Keys in Man, when the women did not exactly exercise what is called a “ moral vote.” In fact, like many of the women of New Zealand, they voted for beer. The House of Keys was dissolved over the question of the renewal of an Act under which boarding-house-keepers were permitted to supply drink to their customers from their own cellars, and without having to purchase it at the nearest public-house. The victory rested with the moderates, as thirteen out of the twentyfour members of the new House are favourable to a renewal of the expired Act. In bringing about this result the women voters of tho island had a considerable share. In fact, many of the women keep boarding - houses, and they backed their own interests at the polls “ just like the men.” The women of the little island were in two parties on this question, again just like tho men. The rural districts, where no boarding-houses are kept, were mainly with the Temperance Party; the towns, and especially Douglas, voted more or less straight for the extended licensing law. The polling ought to dispel some delusions entertained by English opponents of the franchise. to the effect that “the women would not vote,” that they “ would vote all the one way,” and that the women’s vote would be " faddish ” and its effect “ incalculable.” The women of Man voted in as large a proportion as the men (they also canvassed vigorously, by the way); they were divided in their counsels ; and in the residt “ nothing was changed.” There are only so many thousand voters tho more, and the island has the satisfaction of knowing that its franchise rests on a logical basis.