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New Zealand Mail, Issue 1509, 31 January 1901, Page 62

The Secretary of War communicated to Congress a cablegram from the Philippine Commission indicating a grave crisis in the monetary affairs of the archipelago. The stock of silver in the islands is rapidly diminishing, and it .appears impossible to continue :the ratio of 2 to 1 established and maintained arbitrarily. Mexican money is being drained away to India, making it difficult for disbursing officers to transact business. The Philippine Commission has prepared a Municipal Government Bill similar in many respects to General McArthur’s order relative to municipal governments, and authorising elections. The most notable feature is the establishment of land taxations, and; doing away with the head tax, and taxation on people's occupations. A feature new to the Philippines is the prevision that the land tax is to be expended where it is collected. The manner of holding elections and the duties of officers are prescribed. After spending the greater part of the week considering the Hay-Pauncefoie treaty, the United States Senate finally, on December 20th, passed that convention in its amended form. The first amendment adds the words “which te •hereby superseded 5 ’ after “Clayton-Bul-wer treaty*’ ‘ the original. The second ahaettdmehb struck’ out the article iff the treaty, which reads* as follows: The high contracting parties will, upon the* exchange of ratifications of this convention bring it to the notice of the'other Powers, and ask .them to adhere bo it.” It is yet unknown whether England, will accept the treaty in its amended form'.; hence the fate of the measure ’ authorising the. canal is still , very much in doubt. The paragraph declaring for the abrogation of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty has been rather ill received by the English press, and a declaration has been heard in several quarters to the effect* that the United States appear to be most ungrateful.