LATE CABLE NEWS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1617, 25 February 1903, Page 33

LATE CABLE NEWS.

LONDON, February 22. Mr William E. H. Lucky, P.C., the Conservative member for Dublin University, lias accepted tlio Ln.in.ein Kuudreds. - XI,o Russian and Persian Customs tariff in reality governs the whole of Persia’s trade. * It favours Russian imports and exports. Britain’s trade is crushingly handicapped. For instance, the duties on Manchester piece goods, which arc imported to the value of two millions sterling, have been increased by four per cent. Those on Indian tea, which is almost a monopoly, have been increased by Uo per cent. r , . Tho duties on Persian exports to Jiritain havo also been largely augmented. All tho Powers have recommended to the Sultan tho appointment of an In-spector-General of Macedonian vilayets for a. term of five years. Groat Britain’s proposal for a Gover-nor-General appointed by the Powers was considered too radical for the Porte. Mr (’. T. Ritchie, Chancellor of the Exchequer, replying to a coalminers donut at ion, denied that t no coal tax injuriously affected' the owners or colliers. Wages had been higher and employment better than in 1000. r j.hoio was no prospect or repeair.ig the tax. LONDON, February 23. A committee of tno Labour Representatives’ Conference now being hem at Newcastle lias resolved to ask afnliated societies to contribute a. penny per member yearly in order to provide funds to pay labour mourners sitting in the House of Commons £2OO per annum and 25 per cent, of them election ex mm scs. „ , Sir James Mackay, a mem nor or the Calcutta firm of McKinnon. Mackenzie and Co., and lately Special Commissioner in China c-n commercial questions, addressing the Chamber of Shipping, advocated retaliation on foreign countries excluding British vessels from entering the portal trade. Ho instanced the unjust treatment of British vessels touching at Honolulu. Tho Hon B. 11. Wise, Attorney-Gen-eral 0 f New South Wales, in an interview said the recent discussion as Mo tho solvency of New South Wales v\as merely tho outcome of a faiuasuc dream. Tho State’s borrowings recently had been large, owmg to the purchase of wharf frontages, amounting to four millions, which had already returned a not profit after providing for a sinking fund. , • , nr A real asset m Australia, said xvxi wua wes rbe Parliaments’ unlimited power of taxation. Australians we re the lio-litcst taxed people m uio v.u1.., and they scorned repadial ion. The charges of extravagance againsu the federal" Government were umciuncl-f-cl The Commonwealth was really too parsimonious; and the salaries paid bv it were lower than those paid by t.io < *t't-'tos Federation had increased the Kow South Wales revenue by over a million—a very useful addition The Commission apponntd b> tlm Lords of the Admiralty recommend the construction, at a cost of six am a ■half millions, of a harbour on the eastern side of Gibraltar. News lias been received that a largo force of Abyssimans lias started from the Webbo Shebcili district against the Mullah in Somaliland. Tim expedition is accompanied by Colonel Ttcchtord and Major Cobbe. Cholera is rife m the Mullahs army. , Bulgaria’s compliance with the cl mands of tlio Powers .is partly at«.ridated to disagreement between Bu-.g i. i.r and Servia as to the latter’s slian of the profits of a Macedonian rising. CONSTANTINOPLE, February y.>The proposed Austrc-Russiyu rmorins in the Balkans have been submit .ea to the "V izier. _ , . , They deal exclusively with administration, the equitable collection and application of taxation, and do not raise Imperial, racial or sectarian quesThe Sultan has thanked King -Ferdinand for arresting members ot tJie Macedonian Committees _ BERLIN, February 23. The Kaiser’s declaration of his belief in Biblical teaching in his recent letter to Admiral Hollmann has caused a profound sensation throughout Germany. The Conservative press considers that the Kaiser holds the essentials ox the Protestant faith. The Liberal new spapers are satisfied that he upholds the freedom of scholarly research and speculation, while maintaining orthodox teaching for the people. A leading German newspaper publishes an article, supposed to he inspired by the Kaiser, employing his comparative table of the British and German navies, which is designed to impress Germans with the futility of abusing England with clenched fists, while she is so vastly superior in naval strength. PARIS, February 22. The libel action by M. Cattani, the banker (at -whose instance the famous safe was opened), against the Humberts,

was dismissed, the Court ho Wing that tlie charge of usury brought against him was made in good faith. M. Lattain was condemned to pay the costs of the ease. Madame Humberts confidence, and her audacity in <?nd attacks on the Government, particularly on M. Valle, Minister of Justice, arc creating intense public interest in France. WASHINGTON, February 21. Tho House of Representatives has adopted a Bill providing for the construcing of three battleships, a- cruiser and three training-slips, also for doublng tho number of cadets at Annapolis, adding 3000 men to the navy and 550 to tho marine corps. Tho House oi Representatives has adopted the report of a conference committee on a bill inflicting tho death penalty for murdering tho President, tim Vice-President or ambassadors, the death penalty on aiders or abettors or such murders, and death or ten years’ imprisonment for attempts on tho lives of these personages. Drastic punishments are ads;) mUiCtcd for pleaching anarchism. WASHINGTON. February 23. President P. cose volt, in a speech while laying the foundation stone of tlio -Army College at Washington, said now that America was a World power, with responsibilities in the Occident and Orient, she must possess an army of the very highest efficiency. President Roosevelt has signed the Bill introduced by Senator Elkins (West Virginia) to make the anti-trust laws applicable to railroads. NEW YORK, February 20. Tho Clifton Hotel, at Cedar Rapids, in tho State of lowa, has been destroyed by fire.

Twenty persons were killed and forty injured. NEW YORK, February 21. The fire was caused by the fusion of electric wires in the basement of the hotel. Many of the victims were delegates attending a. Young Men’s Christian Association Conference. The vessels captured from 7 «Cigzuc!a are to bo transferred back to that countiy on Monday. An American gunboat is carrying the necessary V enezuelan officers and men to Port of Spain, Trinidad, to man Hem. President Castro is uneasy lest the revolutionists should avail themselves of tho raising of the blockade to import arms and ammunition. OTTAWA, February 21. Canada has protested to tlio Imperial Government against the appointment of Senators Turner and Lodge as representatives cf America in the Alaskan arbitration proceedings. Tho protest is made on the ground that tney arc not impartial jurists according to tho terms of the treaty. MELBOFRNE, February 22. Sir J. G. Ward, wlio arrived from New Zealand to-day, was welcomed by a. representative of Sir Edmund Barton and by Mr Drake, the federal Post* ma.ster-General . SYDNEY. February 21. Ah Kin 1 1 as been found guilty of manslaughter for stabbing a boy at Waterloo, and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment. Tho prisoner -was annoyed by boys pelting him with stones, and stabbed one of them named Pugsley© severing an artery. The bey died in a few minutes. SYDNEY, February 23. There have been 20/ cases of typhoid fever at Coonamble. Another death has occurred. Numerous cases are reported in other country towns. PERTH, February 21. Tho barque Galooig, timber-laden, lias been totally wrecked on a reef near Cossack, on the north coast, during a heavy gale. The crew are safe. [This probably refers to the Norwegian barque Solveig, of 574 tons, which recently left Bunbury for Cossack.]