NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13304, 10 October 1906, Page 6

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

THE WANDERING JEW. The semi-official Commercial and Financial Gazette of St. Petersburg gives the following information" concerning Jewish emigration:—"The Warsaw Information Bureau for Jewish emigrants has just published some 'interesting facts and figures, which make it evident that the numbc of Jewish emigrants is constantly increasing.' In 1899, for instance, 60,982 Jews emigrated from Russia; in 1900, 90,787; in 1901, ", 35,257; in 1902, 107,000 in 1903, 136,093; in 1904, 145,141 ; in 1905, 184,622; and in 1906, up to the present, 250,000. The emigrants go principally to the United States and to England, especially to London, also to Palestine, South Africa, and other countries. For .the most part they leave suddenly, abandoning their homes, knowing neither the language nor the conditions of the country to which they are going. Therefore, it is not astonishing that in very many cases they sink into terrible poverty." -' GERMAN SHIPPING INVASION. A remarkable shifting of sea power is taking place in the Mediterranean, states the American Consul-General at Marseilles, and the final adjustment of this, he adds, is awaited with interest and anxiety. Until a year ago the German flag was inconspicuous in the Mediterranean. German steamers to the United States and the Far East called at Italian ports only, principally for' passengers and emigrants. The only important concern then operating from Marseilles was the East African Company, with: ships going as far as Durban, Natal. Since then a complete change of policy has been adopted, with a consequent feeling of uneasiness among shipowners of other nations, and probably also of irritation in circles accustomed to regard as peculiarly their own that large volume of trade handled at Marseilles. The first visible sign of the German shipping invasion was the establishment of a weekly line of fine and fast North German Lloyd steamers between Marseilles and Alexandria. Next came the announcement of a semimonthly service, organised by the German Levant and North German Lloyd Companies between Marseilles, Constantinople, Batoum, and intermediate ports. The North German /Lloyd Company has arranged; to have its steamers from Australia call at Marseilles every month, thus duplicating present French and British services, and it seems a fair inference} although it is not an-

nounced, that the wine steamers will <•»]] at that >'. port on:.. their journey outward. \ ;.' Finally, the Hamburg-American Company announces a new monthly service from Mar. seilles '.to; the Persian Gulf. Complaint is voiced in France that this sudden .accession of interest on the part of German ship, owners in this part of the world is not explained by traffic requirements. It is scarcely to be presumed, adds the Consul, that old French and British companies, which have worked together fairly well in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas, will fail to answerthis challenge. ,