ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9179, 8 October 1888, Page 6

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

[from our own correspondent.] London, August 24. The Lords of the Committee of Council for Agriculture have been engaged in the distribution of a sum of £5000 granted by the Government in aid of agricultural and dairy schools. The fact will perhaps be of some interest in the colony, inasmuch as it is understood that the New Zealand Government Is likely to be called upon to make a similar grant. Sir Francis Bell is still in Germany. A few days ago he was at Bonn; thence he went on to Magdeburg, and he has now proceeded to the Hartz Mountains to inspect the Apt Railway. Mr. Henniker Heaton conscientiously returned to town, to be present at the close of the Parliamentary session, and fired a few parting shot 3 at the Postmaster-General, but left again immediately for the Engadine. The hon. member has been very unwell of late, and :s said to have lost greatly in weight. Whether he has decreased in influence as well as weight is not stated. Mr. Goschen, in a speech delivered at Stockton, immediately before the close of the session, made an allusion to the Imperial Defence Bill in connection with the general colonial policy of the Government. He said, " At no previous time have the colonies been more sensible that they have the Government and the people of this country with them. I believe at no period of our history has the bond been closer than it exists now. There have been times when the actual bonds were tighter, and the chain was stronger, but the sympathy which is now rising up in this country lor the colonies is responded to by a rising feeling of lovalty in the colonies, and further efforts are being made by the colonies to assist in Imperial defence." The Champion Gold and Silver Mines Company, Limited, of New Zealand, is being floated en the London market. It is formed to work five cold and silver mines at Tui Creek, in the Te Aroha district. Mr. H. 0. Forbes, the newly-appointed director of the Canterbury Museum, has been elected an honorary member of the Tyneside Geographical Society. In the course of a speech made during a religious function at Monasterevan, in Ireland, a few days ago Cardinal Moran, speaking of Australia, said, "Thanks to the prudence and wisdom that have guided our statesmen in modern times in colonial administration, we enjoy legislative independence, we make our own laws, justice is administered impartially, and the blessings of liberty are widespread among our people. Thus 'it is that, for us the standard of the Imperial rule is the symbol of peace. It is the shield of our strength and the a?gis of our liberties." Last Monday 1363 tons of meat, consisting of beef, mutton, and rabbit, which had been brought to London from New Zealand in the Arawa and the Tongariro. were seized by the sanitarv authorities of the port of London and ordered to be destroyed as being unfit for human food. Captain W. Hume, late of the second battalion of the Black Watch, has been appointed by the New Zealand Government to »e an inspecting officer of the New Zealand militia, with the designation of Assistant-Adjutant-General and the rank of LieutenantColonel. The Hon. Robert Campbell is still on the Continent, in Germany, but it is thought he will be back in London shortly. Chiefly through the instrumentality of Mr. Arnold Forster, the adopted son of the late Mr. W. E. Forster, the Agent-General for Victoria has succeeded in collecting a very fine exhibit of school apparatus, books, models, etc , illustrative of the School Board svstem in operation in this country. It includes a complete model of one of the Board schools, and is sure to be interesting to educationalists in Australia. The expenses of collecting this exhibit have been cheerfully borne by two societies connected with education, but the cost of shipment will be defrayed by the Victorian Government. It has been arranged that, after the termination of Mr. John Dillon's term of incarceration in durance vile he shall take a voyage to Australia. He will be accompanied by Mr. T. D. Sullivan, editor of the Nation, and Sir Thomas Esmonde, M.P. Some time ago I mentioned that the Belgian Government had arranged for a conference at Brussels of the representatives of the Great Powers and the British colonies, to endeavour to agree upon the establishment of a bureau which should collect and disseminate information respecting the Customs tariffs and other matters of commercial interest throughout the globe. It was thought that this bureau might be established and maintained for the sum of 100,000 francs annually, and it was proposed that this sum should be contributed by the countries which came into the arrangement, in proportion varying according to the amount of their trade. The Conference has duly met, and been attended by the Agents-General, but its discussions have not enabled it to arrive at any definite conclusion. The idea itself is approved of, but there is a divergence of opinion as to the best means of carrying it out. It has, therefore, been decided to adjourn for six months, and to meet again about January or February, by which time Baron Lambermont, President of the Conference, hopes to have drawn up a fresh proposal, embodying the opinions expressed by the majority of the delegates during the recent discussions. Our own Foreign Office is at present engaged in ascertaining the views of the Colonial Governments and of France, Germany, Austria, and Italy as to the course they would desire to see adopted in the matter. Inquiry at the Colonial Office reveals the fact that" nothing is known there concerning the reported desire of Lord Carrington to resign the Governorship of New South Wales at the end of the present year, and the rumour is disbelieved. There has been a little flutter in the New Zealand Antimony Company's shares during the last few days owing to news received from the colony as to the further gold discoveries at Endeavour Inlet. This is supplemented by private letters speaking in the highest terms of the value of the discovery. The shares have been dealt in at a good premium, and the arrival of fresh samples of auriferous quartz by the lonic is anxiously awaited. The Bishops of Dunedin and Nelson are up in the North at a gathering at Lincoln. At the Colonial Conference last year, a memorandum was produced from Sir Julius Vogel setting out the suggestion that a powerful syndicate might be organised to purchase the interests controlled by the Eastern Extension Company, and thus remove the main opposition to the construction of the Pacific cable. This scheme has now been revived, and negotiations are proceeding between certain gentlemen representing the embryonic syndicate and the leading officials of the Eastern Company. The latter are believed to be quite willing to accept the otter, always supposing that it is a sufficiently good one. Sir Juiius Vogel's mission to Europe is supposed to have some connection witli this scheme, though he does not admit it. it will be disappointing to those colonists who were hoping to develop an Australasian timber trade with England to learn that Mr. James Lawric, of New South Wales, who has come here on a mission of this description, finds the obstacles thrown in his way are such that he is greatly disheartened as to his chances of success.