NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 9975, 12 November 1895, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

The negro difficulty in the Southern States of America is reaching an acute point. The negro members of the South Carolina Constitutional Convention have appealed to the people of the North against the treatment they receive. Mr. Tillman lias answered in a letter to the New York World. His reply is half menace, half entreaty. Like Jefferson Davis at) the beginning of the War ol Secession, he only wants to bo let alone. "We will act a better part by the negro if let alone than can be possible with outside interference. 1 The negro is better understood, thinks Mr. Tillman, in South Carolina than in New York, and will be benefited rather than injured by being disfranchised and left at the political mercy of his old masters. The old masters have "a kindly feeling " fot him. This is but the echo of the plantation protests which were heard in slavery days against the anti slavory agitation. The Times' correspondent at New York says" Mr. Tillman's anxiety about interference cannot be very keen. There is still no sign of agitation in the North, or of the least disposition to intervene for the preservation of the constitutional rights of 700,000 black citizens of South Carolina. Nor will agitation in England or elsewhere in Europe benefit the blacks: it will probably injure them. The Radical outcry in England last year about the lynching of blacks in the United States was distinctly mischievous. Public opi nion and sentiment in tho North wert then, as now, with the negro in so far as he was or is oppressed. Bub the people of the North saw no way of interfering and they did and do cot care to be lectured about it by those at a distance, who were in no position to know tho whole truth, or to appreciate the difficulties which prevent action."

fsont revolt recalls many of the incidents P f t he la't Mflhomcdan rising:, which broke 3 t in 1562, lasted for some 17 years, and one time threatened to alienate perma"ontlv from the rule of the Chinese an "nor,nous part of their western dominions. ST is estimated to number from oi to 4 millions of adherents in China. colonel Mark S. 8011, V.U., who traversed the entire region from Peking to Kushgar in ISB7, says fclio Mahoinedans were still [eared at tho time of his visit; they were braver than the Chinese, who are demoralised by opium smoking, and, according to tiio missionaries, it was not unheard of for 500 Chinese to fleo at the sight of a single Jlaliomedan soldier. Tho present Tungan rebellion appears to have been encouraged by the disturbed condition of tho country it large, following on the demoralisation produced by the Japanese war. The Board cfWir in Peking acknowledge that the revolt is far more serious than they had supposed. Tho territorial army was originai v unable to quell tho rising, and j„ May last General Tung Fusiang was do.patched at tho head of an army of 25,000 men to Lanchau-fu, near to which place he succeeded in inflicting several defeats on the rebel?. The rebels, who include a largo proportion of tho malcontent Buddhists in their ranks, have risen in nuinbor up to naif a million of men. From every point of view it is clear that the Chinese Government have good cause for their reported alarm at tho progress of the insurrection. It i? not moro than live years since Colonel Pell declared that these provinces wore hfl I with so loose a grasp that they might •lip irom tho hold of China at any moment, and it seems possible thab the anticipation any meet with early fulfilment.

There does nob seem much hope of the pr.-iect for reunion of the churches receiving aid from tho Congregational body. At tse autumn assembly of the Congregational l'n;on of England and Wales, at Brighton, the Chairman (Rev. U. R. Thomas) referred to the subject. Ho said that recent utterances of the Archbishop of Canterbury and Cardinal Vaughan were anions the stubborn proofs that reunion, if it ever came, would not come yet. Here was the impossible claim, probably impossible toniostEnglishChurchmen,and utterly and absolutely and eternally impossible to l/ongregationalists, which he had heard from the eloquent; and honest lips of Cardinal Vatican, when addressing an immense audience in Bristol a few days a;o.-"The kernel of the question of the reunion of Christendom consists in tho admission of the Roman claim, that the Pope has received by Divine right authority to teach and govern the whole Church." And the claim of Archbishop Benson was sadly similar, change Canterbury for Rome, and the episcopate of the Anglican Church for the head of the Roman, and the parallel was almost exact. The address was frequently applauded, especially the references to reunion.

In New Zealand there are those who Dave come to the conclusion that the ordinary domestic servant requires protection from overwork in the form of half-holiday legislation, even though those primarily interested have made no such demands, but in some parts of South Africa she is evidently quite able to look after herself. We gather from the Johannesburg Times that the white domestic in that now papulous centre requires, like the navvy in tho mines, several Kaffirs to wait on her. She insists on having every evening to herself, and promptly gives notice if she is not granted the major portion of every Sunday in the year. She holds levees in her kitchen openly, and treats her many friends to the very best in the house, for no mistress in Johannesburg dares to lock the pantry or the cupboards. Bridget, of course, has no " followers" in the home sense; they are friends, ladies, and gentlemen, who earn high wages, and frequently own property of considerable value. The master of the house is expected to take off his hat to these genial visitors of his servants, to address them as Mr. and Mrs. So-and-so, and chat with them 011 perfectly equal terms on the state of "he sharemarket, the price of stands, and the last thing at tho Standard. As a matter of fact we are told, he does so, and is pleased when h» finds his complaisance is rewarded by seeing his domestic assume for a moment a more pleasant demeanour than usual!

The present unhappy state of the Ottoman Empire, and the prevalence of numerous disturbing rumours as to the probable action cf the Powers has caused a general decline on the London Stock Exchange. On the Paris Bourse the effect has been even more pronounced, and something like a panic has taken place; while in Vienna ths panic is said to be unequalled by any such crisis during tho last twenty-two years. Many Armenian towns are in ruins, the damage being set down at a quarter of a million, The French liovornmenb is taking a bold stand, demanding tho head of the Governor of l'urbckar, and instructing the squadron to hold the town of Alexandretta until the execution has taken place. Lord Salisbury's speech nt Guildhall has met with general approval. The Scotch express has been thrown off the rails in Huntingdonshire. Seven passengers were injured, including Mrs. MacUrcgor, a lady from Ballarat, whose sister was killed,