OUR ENGLISH LETTER.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 859, 17 August 1888, Page 22

OUR ENGLISH LETTER.

(FROM OUR. OWN CORRESPONDENT. )

A SERIOUS DISASTER. London, June 29.

A serious disaster has been inflicted on Europe generally, almost more than on Germany in particular, by the really tragic death of the long-suffering Emperor. There is no need to enter into details of the final scenes which are fully and elaborately described by all the journals ; suffice it to say that no man ever died a more heroic death, and no body of physicians ever fought the last enemy moie assiduously or with greater success than did the eminent men who for months have been constant attendants in the side room. To Sir Morell Mackenzie belong undoubtedly the chief honours, and none can assess the immense value to Europe that has res ilted from the three months’ reign of Frederick 111. The post mortem examination confirmed the theory of cancer, and showed the case to have been all along far worse than the most pessimistic could

have imagined. It would, perhaps, be too much to say that peace has been buried with the dead Kaiser, but it is quite certain that the views of the present monarch differ on almost all subjects toto coelo from those of his father. The present man is a dark horse, and may he said—at any rate is believed to be—rather the successor of /Frederick the Great than of either 'William tlie First or Frederick the Third. The address which was issued to the army almost before the breath was out of his father's body is supposed to have been written by the Emperor himself, and has a very strong flavour of war about it. It is true the subsequent proclamation to the nation at large is more peaceful, and it is possible its moderate tone may have been inspired by the adverse comments-which his first attempt evoked. What everybody is asking is how long Prince Bismarck will continue to exercise a paramount influence over this young ruler. The Chancellor and his colleagues in the last great war are now old men. They have seen and tasted tlie horrors of war, and are not likely, now more than formerly to rush headlong into bloodshed. But how long will their master consent to be lead by them ? He is 1 energetic, extremely selfwilled, and adored by the Army. Will the temptation of wielding the power which has been placed in his hands be too much for him ? Will he be able long to resist the prospect of emulating his great ancestor in the field, and refrain from increasing the German Empire at the expense of one of his three neighbours ? ; ~

This much at least is tolerably clear : There can be no war this year, aud, as far as France is concerned, there is every probability she will not court disaster next year, if only to secure the success of the great exhibition which is to commemorate the principal event in her eventful history. Mr Stead, the editor of the Pall Mall Gazette, is strangely enough making a kind of progress through Europe, and reporting to his paper his opinions on the situation, as gathered from the leading men of the European capitals. He is now in Russia, and his letters are so very Slavonic that one might imagine it to be true, as some people declare, that he and his journal are in Russian pay. Certainly, nothing adverse to the Muscovite ever appears in the pages of the Pall Mall. Russia’ is a land of sweetness and light, and the Czar never does wrong, unless England (who is always in the. wrong, according to this editor) drives him to it. However, apart from these idiosyncracies Mr Stead’s letters are interesting and clever, though prejudicial. What he thinks is this, that the only danger to Europe lies in Hungary, The five millions of Maygars are the chief intellectual power in Austria ; they hate Russia to a man, because'she thwarted them in 1849, and they fancy they see their way to egging on a contest between Austria and Russia, and playing on the military instincts of the German Emperor to induce him to throw in his lot with the former. I give you this as the opinion of an able man, but the'forecast bears every trace of Russian inspiration. As to France, Mr Stead believes; from interviews he has held with leading statesmen, that, excepting always General Boulanger, they do not as a class believe in the “Revanche.” They hold stoutly to the singular opinion that by tlie operation of purely natural causes the German Empire will be disintegrated, and that Alsace and Lorraine will return to the tricolor without any effort on their part. Evidently this opinion is based on the idea that France is better able than Germany to "withstand the long and continuous strain which these gigantic armaments entail on a suffering democracy. Referring once again to tlie lamented. Emperor, the highest praise that can be accorded him is that he was a man in advance of his age. He was too liberal for the mass of his fellow countrymen, too humanitarian perhaps for the warlike entourage of his court, aud a good deal too constitutional for the statesmen who served him. Hence his apparent unpopularity and the vindictiveness with which he was assailed b> the various clques of theologians who inherited the Judenhetze, to which he was unbendingly opposed.

BIMETALLISM. The report of the Commission appointed to consider the difficult question of the demonetisation of silver has not yet appeared, and is being anxiously sought for. There are not wanting signs that the monometallists are getting uneasy.. I heard a story the other day of the editor of a certain morning paper who absolutely refused to discuss the problem with a gentleman who approached him on the subject with leanings toward a dpuble standard. - When the advocates of any cause are above argument a surrender is quite on the carpet. The more, however, the question is looked into, the more one feels that only specially trained minds of the type of the late John Stuart Mill and the present Mr Goschen are fit to grapple with so thorny a matter. However, I must say the signs of the times make a return to -bimetallism a possibility. At the East India Association recently a paper was read advocating.a gold standard for India instead of a silver one, hut the writer admitted that if bimetallism could be adopted it would be the proper solution of the present very serious difficulty. The adoption of a' gold standard in India would of course necessitate a large increase in the visible supply of that metal, and it is not certain yet if that increase would be forthcoming. Writing of this •matter leads me to remark that so far the mines opened by Mr Pritchard Morgan

in Wales are apparently*‘a decided success. Out of 130(1 tous recently crushed, an average yield of 3oz per fon Avas obtained ; specially picked samples showed as much as 12oz. The. shoot seems widening out, too, the deeper the mines go. It was 40ft in April, and is noAV, as much as 70ft. ——— . DULL TIMES. Politically and socially Ave seem stagnant—so much so that it Avas a positive relief when Ave read in the papers that Mr John Morley Avas about to propose a vote of Avant of confidence in the Government. The Opposition has been moved thereto by one or two encouraging by elections (Avhich are the most misleading things imaginable), and are enraged at the imprisonment of -Mr John Dillon, M.P., for having taken an active part in the Plan of Campaign.' It really is unnecessary to dwell on the subject much, as all the old stock arguments Avere talked out on both sides with no further result than a decisive majority of- 93 for Minis-" ters. At present it certainly does not look healthy for the Opposition, but the constituencies.are so fjckle that there is no foretelling the result of a general election. Why, with their present strong following, Government should court a reverse and upset the existing order of things, it passes understanding to imagine; but dissolution is certainly in the air, especially since the Local Government Bill has received such a serious lopping at the hands of the. temperance reformers. We have had a lively debate on the interminable question of the Channel tunnel, Avhich was chiefly remarkable for an extraordinary “ volte . fa,ee ” on the part of that astutest-=of change artistes, the right honorable gentleman the member for Midlothian. , In 1883, when Mr Gladstone Avas in office; his Government officially opposed the scheme, and it was throAvn out ; in 1888 it is again officially opposed, and, as the division snoAved, throAvn out by a large majority ; but this time the right hon. gentleman unofficially supports the measure, and, in a certainly very interesting speech, roundly abuses all Avho do not see the matter as he does. It is very significant of the altered condition of Continental politics, and, consequently, of public opinion, that, from 1860 to 1880, nobody dreamt of objecting, and both Conservative and Liberal Prime Ministers alike gave their consent; but about that time arose Lord Wolseley and the military authorities, who suddenly discovered that our insular security would disappear, and that we should be at the mercy of a French corps d’armee (not very creditable this to our fighting capacities) at almost any moment. Since this portentous danger manifested itself, there has been a regular panic, and public opinion has become absurdly reactionary. However, Sir Ed. Watkin, the projector, is bent on succeeding, and will continue, as he has done for years past, to bring his plans before the House until he has educated the people up to the mark. The fact is, these great tunnels are now quite the rage; few engineering operations are better understood, and there is scarcely a doubt that the Channel funnel would be a success unless a geological fault is met with, and there is no reasonable prospect of this. It is tolerably safe to predict that this great boring will be effected, and that a hundred years hence our children’s children will marvel at the timidity of their ancestors. One word to the wise, however: If the scheme ever does float financially and politically, don t put any hard-earned savings in it, for it will never pay commercially. OUR SUMMER SEASON. In this country the summer season at any rate has only just commenced, though we are now in the middle, or rather the end, of June. Perhaps the unfortunate inhabitants of these islands ought to be pretty well inured to changes and uncertainties by this time, and after two such summers as 1886 and 1887 we might have anticipated a change ; but anyhow we scarcely expected to be shivering by the fireside a week before midsummer day, but so it was. Cold easterly and northeasterly winds continued to blow day after day, and only on the 24th did the weather break into sunshine and heat. This has iioav been succeeded by violent thunderstorms and great oppression. Things in consequence are looking ugly for agriculture. The hay crop is deficient for want of rain, and now the time has come for gathering it the storms bid fair to wash it away. It is the fashion for old people to be continually telling us that everything is changed for the worse; it has ahvays been so. As we knoAV very well from the gentle satires of Horner, our Nestors are always with us. But as to the weather having gone from bad to worse, it is pure delusion. Numberless quotations from old authors can be cited to the contrary, and some one has unearthed passages from two writers referring to the unprecedented year of 1694, of which it is recorded that “it was very wet and wonderfully cold, like - winter, that the 10th of July many did sit by the fire,” also it is recorded how in this same year it did rain nearly every dayAn the months of May, June, and July. This explains a curious passage in the “ Midsummer s Ni<dit Dream ” (which is supposed to have been brought out soon after this time) where reference is made to the folds stand empty in the drowned field, and, again, “ hoary-headed frosts fall in the fresh lap of the crimson rose.” The price of wheat remains about Avhat it was last year, but barley and oats have gone up somewhat. Hay will certainly

be dear, but there is an immense crop this year in Russia ; that Avill compensate for deficiencies elseAvhere. It is reported that a great revival of trade is taking place, in the Czar’s dominions, the effect of Avhich will be felt everyAvhere, and if war is averted there is some reason to think Ave shall see a great expansion of business during the next twelve months everyAvhere! It is noticeable that, according to the Board of Trade returns, British and colonial shippin" increased very materially . last year, getting on in fact for half a million of tons, the total tonnage for the British Empire amounting to over nine millions. It is extraordinary lioav American shipping has declined, and slioavs but little sigus of animation'; nearly all other countries except our OAvn remained more or less stationary. Our yards built 377,000 tons last year, of Avhich 70,000 Avere sold to foreigners. The Fanama Canal loan is not looking very bright. The shares have fallen considerably, and it is much to be feared that NeAV Zealanders, Avill have to Avait some time before they can make use of that route. The Avhole thing threatens to be a gigantic failure.

MISCELLANEOUS. Chess players Avill be sorry to hear of the sudden death of Herr Zukertorb. The doctor was engaged in an important tournament that has been progressing for some days in London, and seemed to have recovered quite the old form Avhich entitled him to carry all before him in 1883. He was sitting at a game in one of the Strand restaurants a feAV evenings ago, when he suddenly fainted, and had to be taken to a hospital. He died, hoAvever,' in a feAV hours, and the cause of death is stated to have been cerebral hemorrhage. Though he defeated Steinitz in 1883, he Avas thoroughly Avorsted in a subsequent set-to Avith thac master, and is not noAV considered his equal, though he has long occupied second place with Blackburne. Another sad departure to the spirit world, in Avhich he Avas so much interested, has been that of Mr EdAvard Gurney, joint secretary Avith Mr Myers of the Psychical Society and the author of many articles dealing Avith the phenomena of apparitions that have appeared/ during the last few years in the Nineteenth Century Magazine. Mr Gurney, it seems, suffered terribly from sleeplessness and neuralgia, and incautiously took an overdose of chloroform or chloral. He Avas an able man, and attained a good position at Cambridge, AA’here he was a Folloav of Trinity. It is to be hoped some one Avill be found to continue the interesting studies he has made so peculiarly his own.

Your readers must not be alarmed at accounts you have probably received by cable of a terrible disaster to an emigrant ship witnessed by the Drummond Castle mail steamer off the coast of South Africa on a tempestuous night in June last. According to the story as first received, it was supposed that an emigrant vessel, en route for New Zealand or Australia, had foundered under frightful circumstances, with all hands, the passengers presumably being battened down —at least, this was the theory based largely on the heartrending shrieks Avhich were said to have been heard at the moment the ill-fated vessel disappeared in a vortex. Inquiries at Lloyd’s, however, fail to support this theory, and it is now believed that the ship Avas either a wellfound merchantman heavily laden, or else a coolie vessel bound for Demerara. Either of the latter suppositions are of course bad and terrible enough, especially under the awful circumstances of the case ; but to ourselves, as Englishmen, the loss of an emigrant ship has a peculiar horror, and it is an enormous relief to knoAV that the greatest possible doubt of this having happened may be entertained on very good authority. But may we reasonably demand that the precautions Avhich science has provided in the case of the great ocean going steamers, and Avhich renders a journey in one of them as safe as a journey on land, should be extended in a modified form to all vessels. Why should the lives of rich and wealthy people be so carefully protected and those of the humbler creatures be left to the sport of chance ? Precautions as great as those employed in providing for the safety of a first-class express train are adopted in the case of every excursion train (though it used not to be so), for the simple reason that a disaster entails pecuniary retribution on the shareholders. Cannot the same precautions be brought to bear on shipowners ? Postcript.—The latest intelligence announces the practical failure of the Panama canal lottery loan, and scarcely half therequired capital is said to havebeen offered, nor can this be wondered at when it is remembered that over L 71,000,000 nominally has been subscribed, representing in cash.only about 46 \ millions, on which alone an annual interest of millions has to be paid. Had it been subscribed, the present addition to capital would have been nearly 29 millions, bringing up the nomial outlay to over 100 millions. Obviously we are about to Avitness a huge financial collapse, and New Zealand must wait many a long day before she can send goods by this route. Better by far depend on a line of steamers to Esquimalt, and thence by the CanadianPacific Railway.