The Old Country.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XX, Issue 6167, 24 January 1895, Page 4

The Old Country.

g-V (FEOM OUR EXGLISH COKBESPOXDBST.) Ej-f Los don, December 14. Sj The Conference on the question of >-light railwrys has been held, presided over by Mr Bryce, President of the Board *of Trade, and there were present—Mr ;■ ■" Mr Gardner, President of the Board of I Agriculture ; Mr Shaw Lefevre, President . of the Local Government Board ; Mr ' Bart. Parliamentary Secretary of the Board of Trade; and several other officials. :■ In opening the Conference, Mr Bryce allnded to the very severe depression of late years, with which no one could help feeling the deepest sympathy, and which * latterly had led "people to look for possible remedies to palliate the evils from which we were suffering. It had been suggested that among those remedies would be the ! opening up of more abundant-means of commnnication through our rural districts. Tn many foreign countries, notably Belgian!, Italy, arid France, there had been a large development of late years of communication through rural districts, made upon a cheap and simpler plan than that ■which had been applied to the trunk lines. Considering that it was not 50 years since most of our trunk lines had been constructed, comparatively little had been done in extending the facilities of locomotion to the less populous country districts. He believed that there was a real need for cheaper and more extended means of commnnication, and that the enterprise would pay if the lines could be made at a lower rate than at present. If the Board of Trade had reason to believe that public opinion was ready for a forward move in this matter, there would be on the part of that Department no want of earnestness or activity in promoting such an object. He suggested that it would be well to wind up the proceedings of the conference by appointing a committee, which should present the report to the Board of Trade about January, in order that, if thought necessary, legislative action could be taken in the nekt Session of Parliament. After a very important discussion upon the conditions upon which to construct and govern the railways and their connections with the great railways, the committee were appointed. There is no doubt that the colonists of Australasia and Canada welcome the report of Lord Jersey, which he has submitted to Her Majesty's Government upon the intercolonial conference held at Ottawa last June. The ex-Governor of New South Wales went to represent the Imperial Government at this assembly of Australasian, South African, and Canadian delegates with keen colonial sympathies. His career has brought him into closer touch with colonial than with British opinion, and it will be the duty of the Home Government to bear this in mind when deciding upon the past of the United Kingdom in this new movement. Colonial expansion is an excellent thing, but it cannot be purchased without due regard to the interests of the British tax-payer. Lord Jersey seems to have this in mind when speaking of the small practical help which Australasia has yet offered towards one of the main objects before the Conference. The proposals of the Conference naturally divide themselves into two classes of demands demands for greater freedom in intercolonial trade arrangements, and demands for support from the Imperial exchequer for intercolonial undertakings. Great Britain could not enter into a preferential trade arrangement with her protectionist colonies to the corresponding detriment of the great mass of her trade with the English-speaking people of the United States and the rest of the world. Free imports are the life of these islands, and we could not even if we would, dam up our foreign trade for the benefit of colonial producers. But there is every reason why the colonies should be given perfect fiscal freedom among themselves. It is natural that the colonies should ask for the removal of the few unintended hindrances in the way of such a thing as a treaty between Canada and Australasia. The demands of the Conference for imperial support to a fast mail service between England and Australia via Canada, and to a trans-Pacific cable have Lord Jersey's approval, and he dwells with emphasis upon their strategic aspect. All we would remark is, that it will be the duty of her Majesty's Ministers ro consider such proposals with a zealous regard for the interest of those whom they specially represent. If the colonies can provide a trans-Atlantic mail service equal to that now in existence they may fairly ask for a share of the poundage, and if they show their power to render service to the Admiralty on lines laid down in the case of other mail services, they should receive due consideration on that account also. By the death of Ferdinand de Lesseps, in his ninetieth year, a long and remarkable life has closed in the shadow of a tragic gloom. Rarely in our time has it fallen to the lot of any man to achieve such extraordinary fame and to sink in his last days into such calamity and oblivion. Apart from the minor incidents of a crowded life, M. de Lesseps will be chiefly remembered by three important events in his cireer. The first was his celebrated mission to Rome in 1849, when he was made the unconscious dupe of Louis Napoleon, then President of the French Republic. The second great event in the career of Ferdinand de Lesseps was the construction of the Suez Canal, a task the accomplishment of which has certainly effected vast commercial and political changes of which we have not yet seen the end. In England the project- was violently opposed by Lord Palmerston. who believed that it would be seriously detrimental to British interests, and consequently no British capital was at the time invested in the undertaking. It has certainly enabled us to enjoy much closer intercourse with India, Australia, and the Eastern Archipelago, but it has also diverted much trade from London to European ports, and it has compelled on our parts increased expenditure for naval forces in the Mediterranean. It was pre-eminently a " bis" undertaking and the world, always willing to worship success, at once bailed de Lesseps as one of the great men of the century, and such he remained in popular estimation until the collapse of his next great enterprise, which was the attempted construction of a canal across the Isthmus of Panama. This attempt brought misfortunes on France, and involved the last days of M. de Lesseps in bitter humiliation and the loss of fortune, which the Directors of the Suez Canal partly made up to him by settling on him a handsome pension, and have determined to pay the expenses of a grand fuueral in Paris. The death of Mr Alexander Ireland, formerly proprietor of the Manchester Examiner in its palmy days, has more than a local interest. Mr Ireland was devoted not only to political and social reform, but to literature. He was the friend of Leigh Hunt, of Carlyle, and of Emerson. It was mainly due to his energies that Emerson was induced to -lecture in England in the winter of 1847-18-18. an account of which the American thinker gives in his brilliant "English Traits." During that tour Mr Emerson stayed for some time at Mr Ireland's bouse at Manchester, and many distinguished jxsople met him there. . Sir Ireland published an interesting account of his recollections of Emerson, and also the " Bx>fc Lover's Enchiridion." Mr Ireland had for sonic years p sst lived in retirement in one »t" the "country districts in Cheshire, not far from Manchester. There are s M to !>•_> siting of th-> approach of the crinoline in the new evening dresses The .-kirt:- are im:;? -nsely wide, and horsehair and wire are already being, osed to set them out.

A scene of startling tragedy recently took place at Windsor Castle. A Council was held, at which several Cabinet Ministers were present, and Sir John Thompson, the Canadian Premier, attended to be sworn into the Privy Council. Sir John had travelled from Paddington by the special train in apparently good health and spirits. He was duly sworn in at the Council meeting, and sat down with the Ministers at the lunch provided by the Queen. Almost immediately he was seized with a fainting fit, and in a few minutes expired. The body was removed to the Clarence Tower. Sir John spoke on the spirit of kinship at the Royal Colonial Institute on Tuesday night. He was appointed Canadian Prime Minister in December, 1892, after a distinguished career as* judge and statesman in Nova Scotia. He sat as one of the British arbitrators on the Behring Sea Commission. Sir John leaves a wife and five children, none of whom were with him in England. He was not wealthy. The Queen, it may well be imagined, was much distressed at the event, which she has testified in many ways, and has addressed a letter to the widow. The body is to be removed to Canada on a man-of-war. The same day that the lamented Canadian Premier died so suddenly the Daily Chronicle contained the following :— *' Sir John Thompson, the Canadian Premier, made at the Royal Colonial Institute last night his first and probably his only public appearance during his present visit to England, and his reception was a cordial one. Sir John, as one of the foremost delegates at the Ottawa Conference, dwelt upon the spirit of kinship which he said is being awakened between colonists who once knew little and cared less for one another. The practical outcome of the conference was, he asserted, assured, and he was especially emphatic in his assurance that, come what may, Canada means to have her fast mail service with England as a link in the chain of all British communications with Australia by way of the Dominion." Should Lord Brassey, as is rumored, be given the Governorship of "Victoria, the selection will be as good a one as could be made under existing circumstances. Lord Hopetoun, with his personal popularity and his heavy spending of money from his own purse, has made the place practically impossible for any ordinary Governor. He has been spending at the rate of from L 15,000 to L 20.000 a year, and only a man in Lord Brassey's position could follow this up properly. The Gold Estates of Australia Co., Limited, is announced, with a capital of LIOO,OOO in LI shares. The prospectus states that the principal objects of the company are to negotiate the purchase (and re-sale to public companies) of valuable gold mining properties, especially upon the Coolgardie, Yilsarn, Murcbison, and other goldfields of Western Australia, where new discoveries are being made of mines of phenomenal richness hitherto unknown in tho annals of modern gold mining; to take over a concession granted by the Hampton Plains Estate, Limited, to the Australian Syndicate, Limited, to prospect over about 100,000 acres of its lands in the Coolgardie Goldfields district of Western Australia, which lands are free from the usual Government mining regulations; and to select claims upon payable goldbearing reefs, and acquire leases thereof One fourth of the net profits derived from miuing under such leases will belong to the Hampton Plains Estate, Limited, and three-fourths to this company; and to acquire the benefit of the options ot purchasing three properties of respectively 24 acres, 64 acres, and 104 acres. The Daily Chronicle says : "The judgment of the Marine Court sitting at Auckland, New Zealand, on the loss of steamship Wairarapa near Great Barrier Island during o fog on October 28th is eminently severe and wholesome. The Captain's certificate would have bgen suspended or taken away had he survived, but he was one of the 134 victims of his own negligence. It is almost incredible that in such waters the officers neglected to tatce bearings, and should have ignored a current the survivors admitted knowing all about. But it is still more deplorable to find that the boat-drill on board was a sham, and that no effort was made to rescue a raft seen drifting out to sea and never heard of again. Most of all is it disturbing to find that the British seamen did not uphold the credit of their order. We hear a great deal of the disadvantages of having Lascars instead of Britons on board ships in the Eastern trade ; but if there are many more cases like that of the Wairarapa, and it by no means stands alone of late years, the public will begin to think our sailors are not what their forefathers were. In this case it was left to the stewardess to set the men an example of heroism." Are we (says the London Daily Chronicle) at last to have a penny postage throughout the English-speaking world? The chief hindrance to the first step has been the fear of colonial objections to a Id rate from England while a higher local rate prevailed in the colonies. Mr Henniker Heaton declares, in an interview that this hindrance no longer exists ; that Australia has only to be asked, and she will welcome a Id rate from England, and adopt a 2d rate to England as a halfway house to the greater reduction. Canada is also quite willing, and the United States could come in, and we should soon have the whole Englishspeaking race within reach of the penny stamp. The Australian mail contracts are now expiring, and the Indian mail contracts are also about to be discussed. It only needs sympathetic handling and a frank co-operation with the colonies to give us this new bond of union with the rest of our race. Tt has been noted with regret in the City that the recent indications of returning commercial activity in Australia have died away, and that the staple product, wool, remains slack and heavy in price. Meanwhile there is some talk of the necessity for fresh Government loans, and during the last day or two the market has been discussing the prospect of changes in the Australian banking world. It was a matter of disappointment last year that some of the banks were not wound up, or at least amalgamated with stronger institutions. None of the reconstructed banks j are in a position to fear a run, since their deposits are locked up for various periods ; | but whilst some of the stronger institutions are already pay in 2 off deposits before maturity it is suspected that one or two of the banks may be under the necessity of asking their depositors to make fresh terms as regards interest through sheer inability to pay the rates agreed upon. The sixth and final series of sales for the year was brought to a conclusion at the Wool Exchange on Thursday. The better qualities sold readily at full rates, while an indifferent demand was experienced for low and faulty parcels. The total available for disposal during the series was 159,000 bales, of which 144,000 were auctioned and disposed of as follows : Sold to the home trade 60,000 bales, to the Continent 62,500 bales, to America 5,500 bales, withdrawn and carried forward 61,000 bales. Only about two-thirds of the available quantity have thus passed into consumers' hands, and these at in most cases a marked reduction, during the early days of the sale considerable difficulty beinjf occasionally experienced in eliciting bids at all for some classes of produce. The receipts on account of revenue L 52.763.949, against. L 50,620, lastyen r. The net expenditure amounting to L 58.995.473. against L 56,828,530.Emmisnition returns issued by Mr R. Giffen, of tht> TJ->at*l.of Trade, show that during the 11 months ending November 30th 217,312 persons* left the Unified Kingdom for places oat of Europe as

compared with 299,278 in the corresponding period of last year. The English numbered 95,614; the Scotch, 13,640; and the Irish, 41,093; the remainder being foreigners, or persons whose nationality had not been distinguished. Of the total the United States received 152,987 ; British North America 23,385 ; Aus'tralasia 10,441; and South Africa 15,660 ; the remainder going to other places. During last month 16,040 persons emigrated as against 12,839 in November, 1893. The English numbered 8,127 ; the Scotch 1,048 ; and the Irish 2,009 ; the remainder being foreigners. The Board of Trade returns issued on Friday show that the imports for November amounted to L 35,236,790, compared with L 35,801,961 in the corresponding month of last year, showing a decrease of L 565,171. The exports for November were L 18,083,087, against L 17,653,759 in November last year, being an increase of L 429,328. The imports for the 11 months ended the 30th of November amounted to L 375,435,238, compared with L 368,330,171 in the corresponding period of last year, showing an increase of L 7,105,067. The exports for the 11 months of this year were L 198,693,654, against L 201,227.172, or a decrease of L 2,533,518.