OUR ENGLISH LETTER.

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 7377, 17 January 1885, Page 3

OUR ENGLISH LETTER.

{mow our. own couiuwposnmfT.) the poLmavn situation. London, December 3. Once ugaiu it ha* been ibmonstrated that ° compromise ” is the soul of English politics. The threatened revolution has turned out a bloodless affair, the House of Landlords has another lease of life, and Messrs Gladstone and Salisbury, instead of rending each other, have lulu down together lion and the lamb of the expected millennium. Certainly the events of the past few days have been remarkable, and may heieafter prove to be precedent f««r future settlements when a grave party issue threatens to convulse the nation. The result of the conferences which have taken place between the political leaders on both sides of the House disappoints th* more fiery spirits amongst the Tories and the Kadicals, but the country generally Is satisfied, for it gets what was (It-mvuded—an extended franchise and a good scheme of redistribution. The two Bills will now proceed pari pa«<* ft in the two Houses, and after they are passed an adjournment will lake place till February. Th« joint Bill is a sweeping measure. About 166 seats are liberated by whole or partial disfranchisement, while the total Dumber of members is raised from the timehonored 653 to 670. This Inst prop-nal, it is expected, will be st rl'*u-dy resisted ; but as the joint benches are agreed, it will probably be carried. London rr C*;ivea an accc-sion of 39 new inomb rs, which, with the 22 alroidy possessed, will make the metropolis an representatives 61 in all, by oo means an undue proportion, as, having regard to population, alone the numbers ought to bo about 80. The principle of minority voters will be done away with, but to m*k« up for this the number of one member boroughs will be increased ; thus in London there will be 22 wards or districts returning one member each. Generally it may he said that all places having over 15,000 population will be entitled to representation in one degree, those of 50.0C0 and up to 165,000 in two degrees ; above that limit the number of members allotted ia various ways according to size and importance of boroughs. Whilst many small boroughs are disfranchised and thrown in with the counties the total number of Irish members will when redistributed remain unaltered, but the Scottish are increased by twelve and the English by six. Possibly the merging of the boroughs and counties iu Ireland may help to mitigate the power of the Parnelllte faction. Notwithstanding the fact that the increase of one member constituencies meets iu Homo degree the question of minority representation, Mr L. Courtney, the Secretary to the Treasury, has felt it his duty to resign, as he and Mi Fawcett were both pledged in their own opinion on this point, Bith gentlemen had it seems some months ago agreed to resign if the existing system was interfered with. Mr Fawcett unfortunately did not live to c*rry out Ids intention, but Mr Courtney, though an unpopular officer will be missed us a man of solid and independent judgment.

THE NAVY

A.H I meutioued in a pro* ion a letter, there haa been « furious outcry nbnut our maritime supremacy, raised iu tho first instance by the Fall Mall G ■/, ;lte, an evening newspaper of giw. activity—the j lurnal in question may bo allowed a little crowing for its article* have resulted in •baking the stolidity of official optimism, and cuaipeUcd a statement in both Houses of what tho Governmuit intend to do. This after all is not very much, and what is to be done will bo spread over five years, unless a general election upsets the balance of power, and brings in a set of memben pledged to expenditure. Anyhow, it is now p. o posed to lay down foot new ironclads, between 10,(100 and 11,000 tons each, two torpedo rams of 3000 tons each, ten torpedo cruisers of 1400 tons, armed w-ith fi four-ton gnus ; 30 first-class torpedo boat*, and lastly five pro tectod cruisers of 5)00 tous each, armed with torpedoes and guns, and having a speed of at least 17 knots. These proposal* involve an expense of £0.100,000 ; armament, £1,600,000 ; and £825,000 additional _ u to he expended on protection of our coaling stations in distant wat<.r.4, Thus there will be on additional expenditure of five and a half millions to be spread over tbo next four or five years. It is a goad feature in tho scheme that some of this work will bo given out to private firms who are much more expeditious and economical than tbo managers of Her Majesty’s dockyards. The intentions of the Government are probably insufficient to meet tho needs of the hour, and to show how backthey really are, it may be mentioned that when, during tbc recent Frauco-Chinese difficulty, the defences of Hongkong wero found to be insufficient, the four guns necessary tu complete the armament of the port bad to be temporarily borrowed from ‘b° nf fly month. Sir T. Bratsey, in bis Ministerial —gnvceiDcnv*oi“oeTence/~wtffcv»r.w4,—«-r-'iK7- has done before, that we are far in excess of France (though this is, of course, denied by ex officio critics). According to Sir Thomas, tonnage is the great factor for comparison. By this teat in modem Teasels, wo have 36 of 210,430 tons, against 127,823 tons distributed amongst 19 French ships. Of tlie quasi obsolete class, the English list shows 16, with 150,550 tons, and the French 12, with 53,066 tons, or putting the two together, we have an advantage of 15 ships iu number, and 130,000 tons displacement. Even the official statement is sufficiently condemnatory when itia remembered that aboht 900,000,000 is probably under the value of the shipping annually entering or clearing the ports of the United Kingdom and dependencies, and that the margin in view of a combination even of any two naval powers against ua is not adequate for our defence. The question of men is of equal importance. The naval strength is now 2000 lower than in 1881, and it is well known that it is impossible to get trained men at a moment’s notice, and the reserves are not np to tho maik in quantity or quality. All this really comes of the servile attempts of the Government to economise, and appear before the country as the advocates of ’ retrenchment, but of all departments the naval is tbo last that should have been cur. tailed, THE BOUNTY SYSTEM. Prince Bismarck and Sir Julius Vogel seera to be of one mind about the bounty system. Tho former has induced the Reichstag to appoint a committee to consider a Bill for subsidising linos of steamers to Australasia and the Far East ; hence Sir Julius will be met half way, but if either or both succeed iu their efforts it will not, I opine, be without strong opposition. Bismarck’s replies to bis opponents are scarcely satisfactory. He argued that the tactics of the Opposition would be equally applicable to the promotion of every enterprise. But it is not usual in Europe at least to guarantee commercial ventures against failure. Such has not been the policy of the meu who have built up by alow and sure but courageous efforts the vast edifice of British trade. The nnrsliugs of a bounty-fed evstem must always be weakly, and when the clutches are perforce koocked away they seldom hove the stamina to resist the pushing of more vigorous competitors who ran ah ne from tho very first. The Indian Government is recognising this, and is how very chary in granting any guarantee to new lines in the Dependency, When.it is dune it is only - for special and orgeat reasons. The more the matter is examined into, the more evident it is that free trade presents the only sound basis on which a great commerce can bo ultimately successful. Even the Americans are begin ning to see this. In President Arthur’s report just presented to tho Senate, the writer laments the falling-off iu the mercantile marine; the fact |s the astute Americana have so protected their shipping that, as one paper puts It, the trade ha* died off like a hot house plant exposed to the frosts of winter. It is hoped hero that New Zealand will not depart from a policy which has brought prosperity to the Mother Country. POSTAL ARRANGEMENTS. Wo have been iu a considerable state of fog here as to the intentions of tho New Zealand Government re transmission of mails. Some time ago it was publicly announced that an Order in Council had been issued consequent on a vote in the House of Representa-' tivee.that ashillingrato would be imposed on all letters sent via Brindisi. It seemed incredible that such a tax would bo imposed, and on inquiry, both at the Post, Office and at tho Agent-General’s office, no one appeared able to understand the new arrangement or to believe it possible, and there appears to be a general impression that some mistake has been made. Now, however, it io announced that the New Zealand Shipping Company .will tranship fortnightly mails alternately with those via Ban Francisco, This, presumably, if the above order stands good, will supplement the embargo laid via Brindisi. Certainly postage to New Zealand is high enough already, and as the mails are yearly augmenting, a reduction instead of an mpreaeo of rates* might reasonably be looked for. There is no obvious reason why a 5d rate similar to that pbtaiaieg with India might not be adopted for all the Australasian colonies. If am glad to notice an improvement of late in the delivery of newspapers. 15 At one time it was a toae up whether they ever cams to hand at ail, and, when they did, were often lorn and dirty.

THE FEDERATION QUESTION. | Sir John M-if; loiml.i, Mi« Canadian Premier, h*« ju.i Wn ei.twlM.ie.l »t a Wquet by th. imml.cfa «l the Kiuijifn Ohih ..nil th. loading inuiubor* ut the O >Teriiinfcot and the Oppoaition. The ovation the veteran statesman received was proof of the cord'al feeling exist, iug with the dominion, and an acknowledge, ment of the success which has attended efforts at confederation. The contentment and prosperity which now reigns in Canada is eufficivut evidence of the value of united action, and as sur-h it is to be hoped that her example may beneficially influence the decision of Australia. It seems hardly credible that forty years ago Canada was in a state of semi-insurrection ; even fifteen years ago Lord WolaeJoy fir*t gained a reputation by crashing the iofcurrectloo cf Ri“l on tbe Ked River. At the banquet in question Boms remarks naturally were made on the subject of Imperial Federation, but whilst scouting all fantastic theories a general sentiment was visible in all the speeches that a more intimate union was advisable both for offence and defence, but that at present no adequate or workable proposal had been put before the public, and Lord Derby, speaking ns Colonial Secretary, remarked that ha believed tho problem would find its solution rather abroad than at homo ; in other wo»d*, be preferred waiting lor c denial procure before forming any definite opinion. The evident anxiety on the part of foreign nations to carry out schemes of annexation wherever practicable is daily more than evidunt, and hence it beomea highly desirable that the Foreign Office should be able to speak when necessary in the voice of a united | Empire, prepaid to stand and fall by its declaration. There is a great deal of tension between rival annexationists just at present, and a very little wiud would soon fan a serious flame. The outcry ab'.ut the navy ia sufficient evidence of a latent uueaiiiusa. Prince Bismarck does not dr-sire war for its own sake, and the congress now sitting at Btrlin on tho neutralisation of the Congo and Niger ia evidrnce of hia desire for amicable arrangements ; but ho is masterful, and when 1 eut on any particular object rath-r apt to ri-ie roughshod to hi* goul. Notwlthsla jding declarations to the con. trarv, the Government intec.d_-tn.J«-v-***"*J ,e table iu a davsTtfio Bill enabling the Australian colonies to federate. The opposition at Sydney will not retard the passing of the measure, which after all is only an enabling one, and will when pawed afford facilities to the various colonies to uuite as they please, and if they take action it is scarcely likely that New South Wales will stand sullenly aside. She would ultimately have to give way at a sacrifice of dignity and position. Ths draft Bill adopted at the Sydney Conference will be tho basis of the Government measures. It will not be considered until after the vaca« tions, viz., in February or March, Btfire concluding this paragraph, I should add that the Conference on Imperial Federation adjourned from July was resumed in the middle of November, and that Sic P. D, Bell, Sir S. Samuel, Sir J. Macdonald, and other gentlemen assembled under the presidency of Mr Forster, aud passed the following Important resolution:—“That a society be formed to be called ‘The Imperial Federation League ;* that tho object of the league be to secure by federation the p««maaenfc unity of the Empire ; that no twhomo of federation should interfere with th* existing rights of local Farliameutv a 9 regards local affairs ; that any pchemd of Imperial federation should combine on an able basis the resources of the Empire, for the maintenance of common interests, and adequately provide for an organised defence of common lights ; that the league use every constitutional moans to bring about the object for which it is formed, and Invite the support of men of all political parties ; that the membernhip of thelpiguebe open to any British subject who accepts the principle of the league, aud pays a yearly registration fee of one shilling ; that donations aud submriptions be invited fgr providing moans of conducting the business of the league, and that British subjects throughout the Empire be invited to become members and to form and organise branches of the league.”

ANOTHER DEVONSHIRE MYSTERY. The fair western country is getting an unenviable notoriety for startling crimes. Following on the strange and unexplained death of Mrs Shortlaud comes tho murder cf Miss Keyse, an old lady of seventy, formerly one of Her Majesty’s ladies in waiting. The unfortunate victim resided at the Glen, combe, near Torquay, and enjoyed a reputation as a woman of high Christian character and benevolence. One morning recently, the the household, consisting of three female servants and a young man, one John Lee, a footman, were roused by fiadiug the premises on fire, and on mddng search discovered the mistress of the bous« lying dead io the diningroom, her head battered in and her throat cut, Tho assassin had then evidently poured paraffin oil over the carpet, &c,and endeavored to create a conflagration in fcfiich traces of the crime would be extinguished. Suspicion points to Lee, the footman, as the muderer, and as such he has been committed lot trial by the coroner. Threats of vengeance against bis mistress for reducing his wages w*r* brought home to him, and it was proved tbit the oil with which the arson was attempted could only havo been obtained by access to tke room in which be was sleepingj moreover, a bloody knife was found in hia bedroom. It is supposed that Miss Keyse, who was in her nightdress, was induced for some reason U come downstairs in the night, when she was foully assaulted by the culprit. The evidence is, of course, purely circastantial, but if Lev ie guilty, hia crime is aggravated by the fact that be was employed by Miss Keys© to enable him to redeem a character which be had lost through larceny iu a previous situation, and for which he bad suffered imprisonment. His half-sister, who gave evidence to his threats, was one of the servants in the bouse. (To bo continued.)