NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XXXI, Issue 22, 17 April 1872, Page 5

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

William Fowler, M.P. for Cambridge, addressed his constituents on February 15. He dwelt at Borne length on the Alabama American claims. He said that England should not bluster, nor should she submit to be bullied. He believed that the country to a man had made up its mind that if these American cousins wanted money they would have to come and fake it. In the House of Commons on February 16, the Ballot bill passed its second reading by a vote of 109 to 51. The Corporation of Liverpool propose to buy the tramways now in operation or building in that city. The subject of the Treaty of Washington and the claims of the American Government for indirect olaims was again introduced in the House of Commons on February 7, and gave rise to an exciting discussion. Mr. Osborne, member for Waterford City, addressed the House at length, and, in the course of his remarks, said that the Alabama question was the most momentous the country had been called to pass upon within a century. He compared America to State lawyers, with novices, "who represented England. He said the latter had been completely outwirted by said lawyers, who had planned that the English might escape with the payment of a few millions sterling. The American Commissioners had served their country well, and had achieved a triumph. He said the trouble lay at home. The Government had armies which could not march, and ships which were unseaworthy, and now they had a treaty which they could not stand upon. Mr. Otway, formerly Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, blamed the Government for all the trouble which had been wrought throughout. He thought, however, that the American Government would recede from its extreme demands, but thiit in case it did not, England, having admitted the principle of indirect claims, must be prepared to meet tbe enormous demands of the United States. Mr. Gladstone and several other members defended the action of the Commissioners aud of the G-overninent, and said they hoped that the American claims for indirect damages would be withdrawn. Earl Granville's despatch contains no threats of withdrawal from arbitration and makes neither a demand nor a proposal. It simply calls attention in temperate language to the meaning that England attaches to the terms. Gladstone's speeches are widely criticised as mischievous aud maliciously irritating, and it is believed that several members of the Cabinet strongly disapprove of their passionate language. The Cabinet and people are unanimous for

abandoning arbitration unless the American claims are modified. There is no intention to offer an affront to America. The situation is regarded in the highest English and American quarters as extremely grave, but not hopeless. The excitement over the Alabama claims, on February Bth, was unabated. The speeches in Parliament serve to keep the public mind agitated. There is much anxiety as to the manner in which the Cabinet at Washington will receive the representations of the British Government. On 'Change business for the moment is demoralized. The market for American securities opened flat, with a marked decline on all quotations. United States bonds fell to 62 and 68, and recovered a fraction; but the others continue falling off from one-half to three-fourths from the prices of last night. The market remains inactive, and in American railway shares there has been no transactions to-day. The general uneasiness is reflected in the quotations of consols, which declined from one-quarter to three-eighths since last evening. Another despatch, of the Bame date, says: — " The press, although moderate, find fault with Mr. Gladstone for defending the treaty, and maintains that Parliament is unanimously in ! favour of the rejection of the American demands." Sir Charles Dilke addressed his constituents in Chelsea on February 19. The meeting was crowded, and at the outset was slightly disorderly. Ample provision, however, had been taken against trouble. A platform had been erected so high that it could not be scaled, Beats nailed to the floor, and police on hand in order to preserve order. Sir Charles delivered a long and powerful speech. He protested against the effort to suppress the free discussion of the monarchical system. He attacked the monarchy because of the evils it engendered. Never did the rich less understand the wants of the poor, and should they continue to ignore them, graver results would follow. He warned his opponents to beware ; they might press the people too far. Alluding to the relations of England and the United States, he attributed the present state of ill-feeling to the ignorance which prevailed in aristocratic circles. At the close of his address, the orator received an ovation of cheers. Sir Henry Hoare, the colleague of Sir Charles in Parliament, spoke in defence of the Crown. He | was frequently interrupted by the audience. I The boiler of a factory in St. Helen's, Lancashire, exploded on February 19, wounding and j killing many persons. The London Telegraph says that the Treaty of Washington, as interpreted by the Americans, is one of unconditional surrender ; such as is extended at the point of the sword. This is the plain natural manly ground for rejecting as intolerably absurd the American construction. England is unanimous in rejecting the Treaty in its American sense. No section of the people is in favour of acceding to the demands of the United States. The marriage of the Marquis of Bute to tUe daughter of Lord Edward G. Howard is announced to take place shortly. The English Press Directory gives the number of journals in Great Britain at 1,456. Five hundred pounds weight of gunpowder were seized in Cork on February 20 by the authorities. | The yacht Enchantress was to be sent by the Admiralty to India to receive Earl Mayo's remains and convey them to England. A rumour prevailed that Baron Hatherby will soon retire from the Lord Chancellorship of Great Britain, and will be succeeded by the Eight Hon. Lord Eomilly. The Bishop of Jamaica died afc Torquay on February 24-th. It is officially announced at Berlin that an apothecary from Posen, a Pole, was arrested on February 21, on suspicion of contemplating the assassination of Bismarck. The man is a fanatic Catholic, and was formerly in the Papal Zouaves. He intended to take the life of the Prince on his arrival. A pistol was found on the prisoner. It is reported that Bismarck proposes to issue invitations to the European powers for an International Congress, the object of which will be to establish a system of cheap aud uniform rates of postage and to facilitate -the transmission and exchange of mails. Several bishops of the Eoman Catholic Church are urging the Pope to hold an Ecumenical Council at Trent, in the Tyrol. The Austrian Government does not, however, seem disposed to grant the permission asked by his Holiness for tlio assembling of the Council within its dominion. Should the Pope be successful in his application, he will not. attend the sessions of the Council in person, but will remain in Eorne and be represented by a Cardinal. On February 24th, the police authorities of Leipsie issued a proclamation against the Internationalists, declaring that the organization is aiming at a social Democratic Eepublic, to give the working men political power. In the French National Assembly on February 24th, the bill increasing the powers of the Government over the Press, which has been made a Cabinet question, was opposed by about 308 members of the Assembly and favoured by 285. It had been the subject of passionate debate in the different Bureaux of Government. Gambetta defended the bill. Jules Simon favoured the measures, and had announced his intention to resign if the bill was rejected. De Larcy, Minister of Public Works, opposed the projected law, and voted against the Government. The mail steamer from the Cape of Good Hope arrived at London on the 22nd February. Encouraging reports from the diamond fields continued to reach Capetown. Diamonds were selling at auction at a decline of twenty-five per cent, on the prices reported by the previous steamer. G-ood order has been restored among tbe miners. Several persons who were prominent iv lynching operations had been arrested and j punished. The G-erman Government has notified to the French Minister of Finance that it will accept the anticipatory payment of 400,000,000 francs of the war indemnity, with a discount of five pev

cent., and Pouyer Quertier will immediately pay the amount, thereby saving twenty million francs. A panic took place at the Berlin Stock Exchange on the day the news was received from London of the construction placed by Great Britain on the Treaty of Washington. American stocks could not be sold at all. In the House of Commons on February 26, Mr. G-ladstone, replying to an enquiry made by Mr. Cochrane, admitted that the G-overnment had exchanged communications with foreign governments in regard to the International Society. Diplomatic authorities in Paris are confident that England will finally admit the competency of the G-eneva Board of Arbitration to consider the Indirect Claims. It is anticipated that the American reply will be quiet aud as concilatory as Earl Granville's notes. An ex-Prefect of the Department of the Eure has been tried for misappropriating 200,000 francs contributed by Lancashire operatives for the relief of France after the war. It is rumoured that the Prussian Ambassador at Paris is negotiating with the French G-overn-ment for the return of Polish emigrants. The Assembly has rejected the bill the object of which was to commit the Chamber to a movement for the payment of the war indemnity by voluntary subscriptions. During the debate Minister Le Franc showed that the subscriptions were insufficient. | The JPatrie asserts thai the mission of Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia, now in Home, is to bring about an alliance between Germany, Austria, and Italy. A Euasian spy was detected at Lemberg, in Austrian Poland, sketching the fortifications, and was condemned to a year's imprisonment. A late letter has the following from Eussia :—: — " The latest and most astounding political news is that Eussia, in order to outflank the Austrian policy in Gallacia, intends to try one more experiment with the Poles. She proposes to conciliate them by allowing them a certain amount of national representation and independence. This may seem even stranger thau fiction, but there is truth in it. The present Emperor, not unlike Alexander, has a touch of the romantic, and after having crushed with an iron heel the unfortunate Poles, so that they are unable to rise by their own strength, may now think of extending to them a lifting hand, making them his friends. His motive may be seasoned somewhat with political ambition. An influential party in Eussia much desires such reconciliation in the interest of Panslavism, which in Austria is now a question of life or death to the Constitution. In case Austria were to decide on giving the Gallicians autonomy, it would reaot upon Eussian Poland and become a serious difficulty to the St. Petersburg Cabinet. Much as the world imagines Poland lies bleeding at the feet of the Czar, there is nevertheless a possibility that political combinations may partly restore this unfortunate nation. The worst trouble is that the Poles have always been extravagant in their demands, and that even to-day they consider their boundaries as embracing even Dantzic and Odessa.