ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9496, 27 April 1894, Page 6

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

[FROM OUR-OWN CORRESPONDENT.] . V .London, March 24. Considerable delay seems to have been caused in the Rimutaki's last - homeward passags, by the bad quality of the coal used, which is alleged to have made steam badly, and to compel the steamer to put into Santos specially for a fresh supply. Naturally the passengers were pleased to have an extra place of call, and Santos is "beautiful exceedingly." But it is a veritable fever-bed, where " Yellow Jack" has his happiest hunting ground, so nobody could be allowed ashore. It any lever germs lurked in the coals they must have been speedily cremated. The Rimutaka's passengers enjoyed also the not very common privilege of going through the incomparable Strait of Magellan, which for magnificence of scenery is hard to beat anywhere. ~,,,. At Rio the excitement was varied but not lessened. The passengers had the interesting experience ot being close alongside real war. The steamer had to pass between two forts that were actually cannonading each other. The combatants politely suspended operations to let the neutral pass into her coaling anchorage. After the vessel had come to her anchor there was a good deal of fun of an exciting but sanguinary kind. A hostile vessel close by was hit by several shots from the forts. The whistle of the shells and their crash as they struck the enemy's hull could be distinctly heard on board the Rimutaka. With the aid of field glasses another shot was seen to kill two men on board the Brazilian vessel in quite orthodox and workmanlike style. It was very bright and lively ! Yet on the whole I have reason to believe that the Rimutaka's passengers were not altogether sorry to quit that gay and festive scene. So far as I can learn the five days' lateness of the steamer did not make much difference to her passengers, but commercially it was especially unlucky. For the consequence was that her butter just lost the favourable market. Messrs. Coey and Co. say in their report :—" It is unfortunate the s.s. Rimutaka did not reach us three days earlier, before price of the Danish was lowered. As it is her butter has reached the market when prices are 4s per cwt. easier. The delivery of this shipment was effected very smartly, samples being on brokers' floors within a few hours of her docking." Rude and irreverent people are beginning to poke fun at New Zealand with reference to the numerous abortive attempts which have been made to fill that vacant biahopric. I saw a day or two ago a rather absurd dramatic version of the proceediiifi's. The writer had the idea that the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Durham do not bother about the selection except when they happen to meet at long intervals, and that they then propose casually to " try Smith" or "Jones;" that "Smith" doubts whether his " mission" is to give up £1200 or £1500 a year and all his English pleasures for a title and colonial exile, while " Jones " wonders why those bishops want to "shunt" him like that, and whether there is "something good stickiug out" for him at home which they would like allotted else where, and he says he is overwhelmed with the honour done him, but does not feel worthy of so high a post in the New Zealand Church's vineyard. I daresay all this is most unfair, but it shows what some people at any rate think and say about the extraordinary delay which has occurred. A very interesting gathering will take place early next month. A number of people will meet at the Church House by the invitation and under the presidency of Bishop Selwyn to bid farewell and God-speed to his successor in the Bishopric of Melanesia, the Rev. Cecil Wilson, who sails next month for New Zealand, where he is to be consecrated. The new bishop-dssignate, Bishop Selwyn himself, and the Rev. Dr. Codrington—long well-known in connection with the Islands mission, will speak on the occasion. The Rev. Thomas Flavell informs me for the benefit of his many New Zealand friends, especially in Canterbury, that his new address is 63, Hill Park Crescent, Mutley, Plymouth, and will no longer be 47, Angles Road, Streatham. Mrs. and Miss Flavell joined him at Plymouth last week, and the family have now quite settled down in their new home in the south-west. Mr. and Mrs. Kimbell, of Christchurch, who arrived by the Rimutaka, have'taken up their quarters for the present at 31, Manches-ter-street, Manchester Square, W. They are not leaving London just yet. A long and very interesting and wellwritten article on " The Timber ludustry of New Zealand" is published in the Nineteenth Annual Special Issue of the Timber Trades Journal, which is just out. it is well illustrated. The views include one of a giant kauri near Te Kopuru, on the Wairoa River, •and another of the Mangouui mill. A good description is given of each of the principal classes of "New Zealand timber, its special merit or demerit, its scope of usefulness, etc. There is also a readable sketch of the methods employed in connection with the timber industry in New Zealand. Altogether, the article ought to do good. Mr. Henry Wilson, of Hipperholme, writes to the Halifax Courier enthusiatsically about his recent visit to New Zealand. He was delighted with the scenery, especially that near Auckland, bnt not with the slow trains. Under the heading "Socialism in New Zealand," a correspondent of the Nottingham Guardian writes three whole columns of very interesting matter about your colony. [ He thinks there is a tendency to jobbery in i New Zealand politics, and that the excessive dearness of living is a detriment to many people of means who would settle in New Zealand and spend their money there were things cheaper. He highly praises the natural advantages of New Zealand, and the merits of its "generous-hearted people." But he does not like its Socialism, and foresees danger ahead. "If it were possible," he says, "as a wet sponge is wiped over a slate, to wipe out the whole of the State Socialism, which is the boast of the colony, New Zealand would be an infinitely pleasanter place to live in, and its future prosperity would not be an unsolved problem, but an assured fact." " Capitalists," according to the same writer, " especially small ones, will repent at leisure, if they are tempted to settle iu New Zealand ; farmers will do well, it they have capital." There seems some inconsistency here, but I quote verbatim. There is, he thinks, " too much law and too little liberty in INew Zealand," and to this he attributes much of the lawlessness which he asserts to be prevalent. He also declares that " If a New Zealauder contributes to the maintenance of his aged parents, he does so reluctantly and with an inward feeling that he is a kind of martyr. The want of reverence for old age is shown most strikingly by the children who have been born in the colony, but it is painfully obvious and general, and is manifested by an entire absence of courtesy and of consideration for the little foibles and infirmities incidental to advanced years." This is a trifle " rough" on " Young New Zealand," is it not? The writer does not understate his case, at any rate. He has a manifest " down " on secular education. It is remarked by the Morning Post that the emancipation of women is still proceeding rapidly in New Zealand, and that the example of that colony is likely to be followed. The same paper remarks that " the tide of population continues to flow steadily into New Zealand," but that "this influx is not an unmixed blessing, for the labour market is overstocked and the wages of farm hands have fallen as low as 12.'., (id and 15s a-week. Mr. J. W. Enys. of Enys, President-elect of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, formerly well-known as a resident in Canterbury, Mew Zealand, gave a lecture at Truro a few evenings back on The Geology of New Zealand. Mr. James Huddart's new mail service to Canada, Australia, and New Zealand is exciting much interest in Loudon and especially in Anglo-Colonial circles. All the leading papers refer to it at groat length. His plan is tersely summed up by the Times as follow : —"It is proposed that a steamship shall leave a port in Great Britain (not yet decided upon) with mails for Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and arriving at Halifax in winter and Quebec in summer, find a train waiting to take passengers and mails across Canada to Vancouver, from which point a steamer would be dispatched within an hour of the arrival of the train." The Atlantic service will be conducted, by steamers of 8000 to 10,000 tons, with ac average speed of 20 knots; the Pacific with 17-knot boats, of course of smaller size. It is quite understood that New Zealand's joining in the scheme will be conditional on a New Zealand port being called at, and this may prove a difficulty inasmuch as Queensland's claim is considered superior on the score of the convenience of the greater number. But all this is leftover for discussion at the Ottawa Conference. Mr. and Mrs. Heury Reynolds, who are passengers by the lonic, joined her at the Albert Docks on Thursday. Quite a number of Anglo-Colonial friends assembled at the Fenchurch-street terminus to bid them bon voyage. 1 noticed Captain Ashby, Mr. H. Gray, Mr. and Mrs. Steele, Messrs. Brett, Critchell, Montrose, S. Lowe, and others. They left by the Shaw-Savill special train for the docks at twenty minutes past ten a.m., and had a mild and pleasaut spring morning for their start. They are expected back iu Loudon before Christmas next. Mr. Reynolds' object iu paying this visit to New Zealand I have very fully explained in former letters. 1 regard his trip as fraught with the • greatest interest to the New Zealand dairy i industry. Mr. Reynolds has made a special and earnest study of ', the question in all its

branches and bearings, and I say unhesitat- > ingly that there is no living man who has a more thorough grasp of the matter, and who has devoted himself more thoroughly .to the furthering and development of this important j trade. If he can succeed in impressing uponthe New Zealand producers the conditions which are absolutely essential to success, and in persuading them not only to go in for radical reform in their method of production, packing, and iihipment,' but also to arrive at some systematic and methodical arrangement for the consignment of their produce, so that it may -no' longer be "slaughtered" as one authority justly put it—for tb? sake of clearing at whatever loss, as was so often the case last season, he will have conferred a national boon on the colony. And your dairy farmers may rely on it that unless they turn over a new leaf, learn to send butter of a higher and more uniform quality, with more regularity, and (in some cases) with better London arrangements they will ere long find themselves left; completely " out in the cold" by Victoria. That very remarkable body " the Society of Science, Letters, and Art of London, which has acquired some notoriety in New Zealand, through its rather free use of the names of certain well-known New Zealanders— ing that of His Excellency your worthy Governor— has issued a circular note which to most London-resident New Zealanders who received it came with some degree ot shock. It opened thus:—"We have this morning received a letter notifying the death of the Right Hon. the Earl of Glasgow who became a patron of this society in 1894." This was a little startling to some who have the pleasure of His Excellency's personal acquaintance. But it proceeded " The present Earl is not connected with the society," and it adds the following note :— "Our not having received notice of the death has probably caused the misunderstanding respecting the present Earl being a patron." Well ; no ! I should say that misunderstanding was due to the definite statement by the society that " the Earl of Glasgow " is one of its patrons. By the lonic are being forwarded to New Zealand for the Wellington Acclimatisation Society 32 prairie ducks. They are sent by Messrs. Matheson and Grant. I hear that the Imperial Institute is badly in need of funds for carrying on its operations. Now is the time for colonial supporters to show their zeal in a practical shape. The steamship John Williams, constructed for missionary work in the South Pacific, was dedicated last week, at Glasgow, by a short religious service. The Colonial Agents-General have been rather active during tho last week or two. One day Sir Westby Perceval, Sir S. Samuel, Sir A. Clarke, with Mr. R. Reid, attended a meeting convened by Sir J. Lubbock, the President of the City Branch of the Imperial Federation League. He has seut out a circular suggesting a re-oonstito.tion of the League on the basis of defence of common interests and commercial union based on free trade throughout the Empire. Lord Lome was present. He advocated a new League more in touch with the Colonial Governments. Sir C. Tupper proposed several resolutions which in reality were little more than dusty platitudes. Two which were absolutely harmless (it would be rude to say useless), were passed. The third, which proposed that all colonies should contribute toward the defence of the Empire, was withdrawn.

A special feature of the meeting was the way in which the Agents-General spoke up against any recognition of Imperial Federation on more binding lines than at present. Sir Westby Perceval did not appear to be so pronounced in his views us some of the others. I gathered that he would not object to a league which aimed chiefly at promoting colonial interests. Next day the Agents-General met at Sir C. Tupper's office, and, in conjunction with Mr. Reid and Sir T. Mcllwraith agreed to make a joint recommendation to Lord Ripon urging the desirableness of an Imperial subsidy being granted toward the Pacific mail and cable services, and of an Imperial Act being passed to exteud tho Act of 1873 enabling the Australian colonies and New Zealand to conclude reciprocal trade relations among themselves, by making it applicable to all the colonies. They think this can be done without necessarily renouncing the Belgian and Zollvereiu communal treaties, but this seems by no means clear. At the instance of the War Department, one of Messrs. J. and E. Hall's refrigerating machine?, on their patent carbomc anhydrato system, is being erected in a larje cold store for frozen meat at Gibraltar. The same firm fitted their plant on board the steamers Gothic and lonic. Apropos of the discussion still carried on in this country as to the secular school system being responsible for the increase of crime in Victoria, it is being pointed out that the educational system in New Zealand is also completely secular, but that in that colony crime is diminishing. 1 No doubt seems to be entertained in the city that Mr. Huddart will sucneed in financing his new scheme for the CamßClian and Australian mail service. It in thought he will have uo difficulty in raising this capital of two millions which he requires, a* he has a promise of £150,000 a year from Canada, out of which the interest as debentures to the amount of £1,500,000 will be guaranteed. He also has great hopes of securing a subsidy of £75,000 per annum from the English Imperial Government. He has shown a very smart and able man, and has succeeded in inspiring marked confidence on the part of i city men. This is a long step toward sueI cess.

A paper read by Mr. Cook before the Bankers' Institute, has created some sensation. It was upon the " Australian Banking Crisis." It is an ably written essay, but perhaps is a little too candid in its championship of the Commercial Bank of Sydney (of which Mr. Cook is the London manager), and in its reflections on the Commercial B»uk of Australia.

There is quite a rush of inward steamers just at the Easter holidays. The Tainui, Nairnshire, Maori King, and Himalaya are all on one another's hoe's for almost simultaneous discharge. The cousequence must be a glut in the butter market, for the consignments ex Valetta and Oniba are not ye* cleared, and there is much difficulty in selling, as the market is very flat, and a great "slump" is expected after the holidays. Prices have fallen considerably, choice factory butter realising only 104 a to 108s, and. "fancy" brands, 112s. Victorian has a decided preference over New Zealand for reasons explained in my recent; letters. The Agent-General has received a report written after enquiries had been made in France as to the prospects of introducing New Zealand mutton into that country. The report is by no means encouraging. It shows that the prospects are not at all favourable, so long as the meat has to be transhipped from London which renders it liable to the maximum tariff. If sent direct to France it would be subject only to the general tariff, and then would stand some chance.

At the last meeting; of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge an application from the Rev. W. Katterns for help towards the erection of a church at Waiti, Katikati, was received and considered. It was stated that the church was to cost the vast sum of £90! The society decided to offer a contribution of £10. An application from the Rev. W. Welsh for a grant in aid towards the building of a wooden church at Fraaertown, New Zealand, to cost £350, was also dealt with. It was resolved to offer a grant of £40. A grant of £150 has been voted by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge towards the expense of re-coppering the mission steamer Southern Cross. It has also been decided by the society to give £100 per annum for three years toward scholarships for training natives on Norfolk Island for holy orders under the Melauesiau Mission. <. An effort is being made to revive the Imperial Federation League under the new name of the " Britannic League." It has been arranged that Messrs. Turnbull, Martin and Co.'s steamer Nairnshire, on arrival, discharges at once iuto the refrigera.ting store at the docks, in accordance with the proposed new arrangement which I fully explained in a recent letter. This will be an experiment to test the working of the plan. Apparently the excessively low rates charged by the North German Lloyd's line for third-class passages to Australia and New Zealand have not been found to pay, for the company have just issued a notification that their third-class fares are to be increased by one guinea. The increased tariff comes into JSrce immediately. Some curiosity is felt in shipping circles as to the result of the new experiment by the Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company of carrying passengers as first class at second-class rates in the less attractive sleeping cabins but with all other class'privileges, and no nominally second-class passengers at all. It seems generally thought to be a good "move." The improvements in the lonic were much appreciated and admired by the numerous visitors who went to the Albert Docks to see her off on Thursday last.