The Otago Daily Times. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE OTAGO GUARDIAN. MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 1879.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 5267, 6 January 1879, Page 2

The Otago Daily Times. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE OTAGO GUARDIAN. MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 1879.

There are many political subjects upon which it is next; to impossible to excite any interest beyond the most feeble, in the public mind, although it is selfevident that a proper understanding of them is of the utmost importance. The incidence of taxation may, however, be taken altogether out of this category. The old leaven of John Bull enters into the composition of every Colonist. Fiscal policies are discussed in circles high and low, every original thinker has his theories, and the men who do not think, assert. Upon certain principles all are agreed, namely, that taxation is at best a necessary evil, and that it should equitably fall upon those best able to bear the burthen, and who derive the greatest immediate and material advantage from that stable order of things which good government maintains. These two principles established, practical difficulties at once beset the political economist, the great problem being how to frame the incidence so that the people may be made to contribute fairly, in proportion to their means. No system has ever yet been devised that has succeeded in wholly effecting this, The best which the most sagacious statesmen have ever been able to do only approximates more or less nearly to the desired result. In most instances the exigencies of the Treasury prevent even the trial of crucial experiments. The Colonies where such experiments mio-ht have been possible found it convenient, upon their first constitution, to slip into the well-worn grooves of the State financiers of the mother country, .and indeed from the very nature of things, in their early yeara, numbered few advanced thinkers amongst their public men. New Zealand i-J fortunate so far that certain grave errors have been avoided, and the chimerical idea of fostering native industry by making every article of wearing and consumption dear has never up to this time been even openly advocated, much less become the subject of Parliamentary discussion. The taxation may not be altogether equit-. able, and we must admit that it is not, but if the shoe pinches here and there where it ought to be easy, it does not compress the foot so as to render walking a labour and a pain. If some 'of us have had to pay more than our fair share, at least industry is not ah;ickled and commerce handicapped by protective duties. The re-adjustment uf the incidence of taxation has, from the first, been a cardinal point in the policy of the present Ministry, aud how far they have as yet been abloto effect this is now a matter of history. The year 1878 will be a memorable one in this respect, in the political history of New Zealand. Recorded in its annals to the credit of the Grey Cabinet is the passing of the Land Tax Act, an instalment of a j ust, politic, and reasonable policy, which, without pressing unduly upon property, will enforce an equitable contribution to the revenue, thus affording relief in other quarters. The concurrent reduction of the tea and sugar duties affords such relief, and holds out hopes of future ameliorations in the same direction. '

The tables appended to the Financial Statement enable a very correct judgment to be formed as to the bearing of the present incidence of our direct and indirect taxation upon the various classes of the people, and we propose to discuss this, avoiding so far as possible a multiplicity of figures, technicalities, and the other thickets with which the subject is generally environed. During the year ending June 30th, 1878, there was raised by taxation for purposes of ordinary revenue •£1,424,029 —namely, £1,272,901 through the Customs, and £151,0.68 by stamp duties. The latter item, for our present purpose, we may dispose of by considering that it is to all Intents and purposes levied from property, and up to the end of 1878 waa the only direct tax which property paid to the Colonial exchequer. Let us see now how the million and a quarter of money raised by import duties was made up. Spirits and tobacco contributed in round numbers £520,000; tea and sugar, £210,000; goods, ad valorem and measurement, £400,000 —making a total of £1,130,000 paid upon articles which may be taken as being of universal uomminptiyn and use*, ot* if we concede the odd £130,000 as paid upon goods exclusively imported for the benefit of the wealthier classes, there was a clear million out of tho whole niil'ioo *•--- a quarter practically contributed' b y id* classes in the same proportion," not cf UiCSUiy or advantages, but of consumption ; sill instance of inequitable incidence almost in.sepiti'able from any ay a tun of indirect taxation. That this is a fact, real and .tangible, not a mere hypothesis, a Jittle consideration will, we think, satisfactorily demonstrate. An illustration will exactly show our meaning. .Suppose tlie case ,o£ three individuals, one deriving £()00 a year from land or other realised property, another, say a professional man, clearing a net income of. £600, and the third making £3 a week or £156 a year by the labour of his hands. Let us further assume that each., is a husband and father blessed with'the' very common average of six .olive branches. The three families ■will consume very much the same proportion .of dutiable articles, except in .such articles as silks and satins, which .pay according to value, and will con ; tribute, in fact, pretty equally towards one ,B}illio» of the Customs revenue,

if he unfairness of this is evident; and

has been', often pointed out.. The in*; come of. the professional man depends upon his own exertions, his health, and a variety of accidents. He-pays the same as his neighbour whose income, is assured, and.-could at any moment be capitalised; whilst more™unjustly still, the laboring man, living from hand to mouth upon a wage which scarcely enables him to do more than pay his way, contributes the same amount as the landowner,, the lawyer, or the doctor.

! During the current year the Colonial Treasurer estimated the " ordinary revenue to. be received from taxation at £1,490,000. The Customs he expected to yield £1,320,000, and stamps £170,000. The former will, however, be relieved to the extent of £58,000 by the operation of the new Customs tariff, which only affects the half-year ctonmencing January Ist j and for the same period the land tax is calculated to bring in £40,000 net, the whole expense of valuation falling upon the proceeds for this period. At a rough estimate, therefore, it may be assumed tbat during the twelve months, ending June 30th next, the owners of property, more or less, will directly contribute to ordinary revenue the stamp duties and the land tax, together amounting to £210,000 j and indirectly, imposts on articles of luxury, amounting probably to about one-tenth of the Whole Customs duties, in addition to their share, pari passu, with every consumer,, of. the remaining nine-tenths. In all, this amounts to £340,000 out of £1,400,000; r The proposals of Ministers for the initiation of direct- taxation have been severely criticised for stopping short at the land tax and not touching other descriptions of realised property or the incomes arising therefrom; but it must be borne in mind that an attempt to reach invested capital was made by the Companies Income Bill, a measure, the chief objection to which was tbat it was partial and did not go far enough. Next session, we have no doubt, similar proposals will be submitted, but in a different shape and embracing a much larger, field. TakiDg everything into consideration, it may. be taken for granted that the incidence of taxation in this Colony is gradually being shifted, so as to produce a more equitable balance, and that even now property does contribute to the revenue a proportion which, although not its full fair share, is not inconsiderable. The "golden mean" is indeed very difficult to obtain. Taxation must be based upon the principles to which we, at the commencement of this article, took occasion to allude,- namely, that every one should contribute according to his means, and somewhat in proportion to the benefits he receives • but at the same time care and prevision is absolutely requisite in the imposition of taxes that, .commerce should not be shackled, and that the progress of the chief interests of the country should not be interfered with. In all schemes for touching capital in use this danger has to be looked in the face and provided against, or the remedy may prove worse than the disease. The capitalists may withdraw money which, after all, it must be recollected, is chiefly employed in promoting industry and assisting progress, or, more probably in the case of New Zealand, would raise their terms upon those who require the use of it, the result being that the supposed relief from taxation would be illusory, and the persons who could the least afford it would practically have to pay taxes intended specially to reach the wealthy. It is a very popular cry, we are aware —" Tax the rich men who are deriving large incomes from the Colony"—and they should not indeed go scot free * bat the question of the system to be adopted for the purpose is one of very great complexity, and by no means to be disposed of in a few flowing paragraphs. We must "do our spiriting gently," or we shall frighten away capital tbat is as necessary to us as the very breath of life. In his speech upon the second reading of the Land Tax Bill, Mr Ballance dealt very sensibly with the subject, and we wish evory member of the Cabinet always did the same. We especially commend his concluding words to the consideration of our readers :—" I believe that our proposals regarding the readjustment of taxation will be favourably received by all classes, and that we shall find that our Customs returns will be materially affected by the proposed change. In our proposals we have been careful not to do anything which would interfere with the influx of. capital, nor to disturb the true relations of capital and labour, but to bring them still more closely together, and tb stimulate the industrial and commercial progress of the Colony." We believe any " bursting-up " policy to be unsound in principle and unwise in practice, but we regard it as in every way desirable that commerce and labour should gradually be relieved at the expense of property and capital * not, indeed, of the whole burden, but of such proportion as will bring* us more into accord with some rough standard of reason and equity, and we do not think anyone will regard it as monstrously unjust if realised wealth eventually bears one-half the cost of maintaining good order and government in the Colony, instead of perhaps one-fourth or one-fifth as at present.

Tiik railway traffic returns for the four weeks- ending Kith November, 1878, reveal some facts which are worthy of note, as indicating tho development of traffic, and also the degree of pressure on the rolling stock, which is experienced in even ordinary months, when no holidays apply any special stimulus. On the Christ-church-Dunedin Bection the increase in goods traffic, as compared with tho same four weokt* of the previous year, was from 36,853 tons in 1877 to 51,310 tons in 1878 ; and on, tho invercargill nection for sanio periods, from 4491 tons to 0416 t..ns. The former figures represent, in round numbers, a traffic of 13,000 tons weekly, and wo leave our readers to judge what it is to handle such a quantity with existing appliances. Of course a large proportion of this represents traffioon the port lines • but it all uses rolling stock, and requires spaco, sidings, and storage to carry it on effectively. As regards Dunedin we are lamentably deficient in these, and with th? opening of the Invercargill line, and the wool se_?°n, and the harvest, we anticipate there will ba gr'v-at difficulty in coping with all tho traffic. As regards passengers, the increase must also have been very threat, but the comparative returns of the number of passengers carried are illusory, as those for 1878 give return tickets and Saturday tickets in each instance as two, while in 1877 they were counted as one tickot. We give the figures for what they are worth. In 1877 the passenger traffic -on the Christohiji*ch-D.unedin aection for the four weeks, was 84.735, and in JB7B

.154,744. On the Invercargill section tho increase waa from 7275. in 1877, to 13,021 in 1878. Again, to summarise" the figures for this year, on the Christ-church-Dunedin lines the officials have had in an ordinary month, like OctoberNovember, to provide for 38,000 passengers a week, besides the goods traffic of 13,000 tons. Is it surprising that when, in addition, a crush of holiday traffic like that of last week comes upon themy the officials are unable to cope with it comfortably, or to afford the accommodation Twhich, reasonably '. or unreasonably, eyery holiday-maker expects..,, ; As ; ; regards revenue prospects, notwithstanding the f increase to which we have referred, the working account from the commencement of the financial year to , 16th Novembor. does not show results quite up to estimate.- For the twenty weeks here represented,,the receipts from all the lines have been £2^36,136. The estimate for the year was £710,000, the proper proportion of this sum for twenty weeks would have been £273,000. Tried by this standard, therefore, the returns are £37,000 short. But it mußt be remembered that the through line to Christchurch was only opened in September, and the through line to Invercargill, though now about ready, is not opened yet. There is no reason to doubt, therefore, that the remainder will be made up in the other thirty-two weeks of the year, if not exceeded.

A memorandum from the Telegraph Department informs us that the Port Darwin [line is interrupted north of Tennant's Creek.

Through communication by- .rail between Dunedin and Christchuroh ia now restored, the Rangitata Bridge being repaßsable.

All cricketing was put a stop to on Saturday by the heavy downpour of rain.

The usual monthly meeting of the Dunedin branch of the Otago Educational Institute, which should have been held on Saturday, was postponed on account of the holidays.

; Several typographical errors appeared in our leader of Saturday, the most ridiculous of which was the printing of the name of the authoress of the "Cry of the Children" as "Mr Berrett Browning," instead of Mrs Swrrett Browning, We apologise to the "manes" of that excellent lady.

January 15th or 16th will probably be the day fixed for the opening of the railway line from Balclutha to Clinton. It is a great pity the department could not have seen their way to start traffic over it before Christmas. During the holidays there have been large numbers of travellers daily who had to be content with the coaching accommodation provided, and as occasionally as many as 80 have been taken through, it.may be believed the passengers have suffered a good deal of crowding and inconvenience. ....

Out of a total duty of L 692 ss, collected at the Custom House on Saturday morning, L 248 4s 7d waa on tea and sugar.

Owing to the heavy rain on Saturday, the Caledonian sports were not continued. They will, however, be resumed to-day, when there will doubtless be a large concourse of spectators present.

At the Magistrates' Court, Port Chalmers, on Saturday, Norman Campbell and Auguste Olsen, Beamen of the brig Star of the Mersey, were charged with disobedience of lawful commands. The men pleaded guilty, and expressed their willingness to return to duty. As Capt, Hodgson did not object, the presiding Magis. trate, Mr W. Elder, ordered them to be, put on board the brig.

Tho children attending the Presbyterian Sunday School, Port Chalmers, were taken to the Friendly Societies' Grounds, at Sawyers' Bay, on Thursday last, and there passed the day in a delightful manner. About 100 adults were also present, and aided in making things com fortable for the little people.

Some more of those persons who disturbed the public peace on .New Year's morning were dealt with at the. Police Court on Saturday. One of the ringleaders, who was fortunately captured, was fined L 5, with the alternative of a month's imprisonment.

The .Key. Dr otuart Occupied tue pulpit of Knox Church yesterday. In the morning he preached au able sermon from the words, "Let this mind be in you which wa? in Christ Jesus," and in the evening he gave an interesting catechetical address to the children of the church, taking for his subject the "Meeting and Reconciliation of Esau and Jacob."

We understand that the wrestling match between the two champions, Tjaon and Thomas, will commence at 5 o'clock. This will enable all who take an interest iv the match to be present. The rest of the sports (mile race, Cornish and Devonshire wrestling, &o.) will commence at half-past 1 o'clock.

It was inantioned yesterday, at the Church of tho Christian Disciples, Great King street, that the collection in the church on the previous Sunday, for the Benevolent Institution, amounted to L 23.

Dr Stenhouse, while driving to Ravensbourne on Saturday in his buggy, met with a mishap which might have had a more unlucky termination than was the caße. Crossing from Union .street to Logan's Point, his horae took fright near the bridge, and backed right over the bank into the water. The groom jumped out, but the doctor himself got into the water with the buggy. Happily he was able to make a landing by swimming. Some of the men working at the quarries lent a hand to secure the buggy and horse, the latter of which was severely cut, and the buggy smashed.

Mr. I. N. Watt, R.M., attended at the Gaol on Saturday to formally commit Henry Lion Metz for trial at the Supreme Court, on the first oharge of forgery preferred against him— viz., that of forging a bill of exchange for L93l2r*.

Through the courtesy of Mr Downes, postmaster at Port Chalmers, we have been sup. plied with the following returns of the business transacted at that office during the year ending 31st December, 1878. In that period 320,356 letters, 2309 postal cards, 20,31!} books, and 237,009 newspapers were received at and despatched from the Post Office .at Port Chalmers,

The criminal sessions of the Supreme Court will commence this morning, at 10 o'clock.

The Bubject of Mr Charles Bright's lecture at the Princess Theatre last evening was " Reason and Authority/ The lecture, which waa a sequel to that of the previous week, was listened to by a large audience with the greatest attention,

In response to the invitation of tho Evangolical Alliance, for a week of prayer throughout the world, meetings will be hold in the hall of tho First Church every ovening thiß woek, excopt Saturday. A competent choir will lead the singing.

The usual evangelistic service at the Queen's Theatre last night waa well attended, many having to stand in tho passages. Mr West, of Wanganui, and Mr M. W. Green, evangelist, delivered appropriate addresses for the New Year. Mr 1). Wright presided, the service.of Bong being rendered by tho choir of the Abbo. ciation. Tho largo audience listened vory attentively to tho powerful discourses of the gontlomeu who addrosijod them.

Au advertisement in another column notiiios that a meeting of those interested in football will be held this evening at tho Shamrock Hotel, to consider proposals respecting a match with the English team.

At a meeting of tho Presbytery of Southland on tho lilst of Docembor, Professor Salmond'B proposals anout theological training having been discusaed, it was proposed, seconded, and carried unanimously—" That tho literary curriculum be preserved intact, nnd that tho Presbytery recommend action to be taken by the Synod in the direction of shortening tho theological curriculum."

The annual cattle show of tho Blueskin Agricultural aud Pastoral Association will be held at Blueskin on Friday next, tho 10th instant.

The time for the application of teachers to be examined for certificates under the Education Department of the Colony, has been extended from the Ist to the J.|Jt_ of the present month.

Mr W. D. Morrison, of Lawrence, presented his County honorarium to the Tuapeka Hospital; and Mr Oudaillo expended his in prizes lor the puWip schools, of the district,

A hospital bazaar, held at Cromwell on Boxing Day, realised the handsome sum of L3OO.

■ Messrs Kincaid, M'Queen, and Co., of Dunedin, purpose constructing for nse in connec-

tion with the Wetherstones cement claims a small battery of three stamps, which may be easily removed from place to place, for the purpose of testing the ground in tbe varioui claims. It will be worked by one horse.

Many different nationalities will before long be represented at Cabui (says an English paper), even if the English should not succeed ih* getting there. We know that a good many Russians have visited Cabul, and that some of them are staying. It is now announced that Mr James Gordon Bennett has left Paris for Afghanistan, proposing to travel, not by way of England and India, but by way of Russia and Cental Asia. Mr Bennett is said to be accompanied by M. Ivande Woestyh, who, it may be remembered, acted as correspondent for the Figaro, on the Russian side, during the early part of the Rußso : Turkish war, and who, in Afghanistan,, is to represent the New York Harald. Shere Ali will now, probably, see a Frenchman for the first time. The sight of an American will not, however, be altogether new to him; since, during the latter years of the reign of his father, Dost Mahomed, the Afghan regular army .was under the command of an American general. . General Harlow, the officer in question, was at one time a surgeon in the East India Company's army. He passed, however, from the service of the Company to that of Runjeet Singh, under whom he obtained a military command, and after a time quitted the army of Runjeet Singh for that of his bitterest enemy, Dost Mahomed. Shere Ali will, perhaps, mistake Mr Jamea Gordon Bennett for a warrior. He will scarcely know what to make of M. de Woestyn, who at one time was a warrior, but no«r contents himself with wielding the pen. , ; The failure of the. City of Glasgow Bank (says the JPall Mall Gazette) seems likely to act as a serious blow and great discouragement to the credit and status of the order of officers known in Presbyterian churches as elders. " Since the closing of the doors of the City of Glasgow Bank," says a Scotch paper, "elderdoin has suffered a terrible blow. It had ex. perienced in Glasgow many reverses, and haß survived them all, but it never experienced one like this"; and the writer then, carries his retrospect so far back as to find himself compelled to, lay before his readers the following very candid piece of history:—"Long ago it used to be a standing joke on the Royal Exchange of Glasgow to ask when a more than usually ugly bankruptcy occurred, 'In what kirk is the bankrupt on elder?' and though the question was. lightly put, it was almost invariably answered in deadly earnest that the bankrupt had been a burning and shining light in some West-end congregation, was a liberal

subscriber to all religious schemes, and always j ready to put his handa into the pockets of his creditors to assist church extension and missionary enterprises." This is bad enough, but thore is worse to come ; for the editor of this Scotch newspaper actually goes on to say, " We have heard of many business men, taught by sharp experience, whose first question about a new customer was not whether he had a balance at his bankers', but whether he was an elder, deacon, Sunday-school teacher, or liberal subscriber to new churches. If he was, these auspicious worldlings looked sharply after their goods, and kept piety on short credit." But not only is piety kept on short credit, but, if this native testimony is to be believed, piety is in imminent danger of getting no credit at all. " How can it be otherwise ?" says the writer. " We have been made bankrupt in religion aud morality aa well ■as in purse by the conduct of some of the very burning and zealous lay teachers among us. Succeeding the bright times of revivalism and evangelicalism, what a comment it is upon them! The eldership has become associated in men's minds with gigantic swindling and fraud, and with all that is mean and base in business,'' This Scotch commentator is right, and it is the more creditable to him that he condemns thus strcmgly the conduct of certain of his eouutrymen to their faces. The sterling qualities of the Scottish nation have been overclouded and overborne sadly too long by a deginerate Puritauia_r.-xuuuwiug—wnaf was once a real' and active moral force in the country; but even the failure of the City of Glasgow Bank is not too high a price to pay for some sensible abatement of the hypocritical Sabbatarianism and fierce intolerance which have of late prevailed in Scotland.

The death of a centenarian magistrate is announced from Ireland. Mr Henry Baldwin Foott,- of Carrigacnna Castle, County Cork, has died iv his 101 st year. Mr Foott was born on September 11th, 1778, two years after the declaration of American Independence. His father, who was a lieutenant-colonel of militia, commanded his regiment at the battle of Vinegar Hill in 1798, and Mr Foott himself used to relate that when a young man he was often in the Irish Parliament House on College Green listening to the debates. His hundredth birthday was celebrated with great rejoicing last September, and a congratulatory address was presented to him by his brother magis. trates, who also recorded in the books the tact of his having reached his hundredth year. His brother, Mr Edward Foott, J.P., of Gartmore, is now in his ninety-first year.

Mr W. G. Dorling, special correspondent of the London Sporting Life, arrived from England by the last mail (says tha Melbourne Argus), and, in addition to reporting the cricket matches played by Lord Harris's Eleven, will visit some of our principal studs during his stay, with a view of letting our friends in the Old Country know " what'u what" in Australia.

The Sydney Echo, referring to the futile attempts of the Victorian police to capture or shoot the Kelly gang of bushrangers, says :— "Such, villains must be fought, as much as possible, after their own methods. Yon Tempsky's Forest Eangers in the Maori war became tho terror of the rebels; but those who have seen them will bear ready testimony to their utter destitution of pipeclay. Untiringly, unflinchingly, relentlessly, never swerving, never faltering, they tracked their foes from fastness to fastness till thoy fairly hunted them down. . Wo imagine that a band of such men would speedily give an account of the four desperadoes who constitute the Kelly gang."

Under Professor Stuart's fostering care, mechanical science ia obtaining a chance of in" traduction to University life at Cambridge, A workshop has been erected, and stocked with tools and machines, so that instruction can now ba given in tli9 use of tools in metal and wood, and also vnrious instruments can be manufactured, Elementary practical classes will be started this term,

Tho Eastern unsettlement (says an English paper) threatens to create yet another nuisance —a now European language. The Albanians, iv assorting their nationality, claim that Albanian shall bo tho official language cf their country. The Albanians have two chifF language?, the Tusk and tho Guogh, and they cannot read thom'whon other people write them, bo thoy use Greek for written communication:*.

Mr Henry M. Collins, the general agent of Router's Telegram Company (Limited), hits assumed control of tho agency in Melbourne, in addition to the lmtniigoment of tho company's: bubiiieas generally in tho Australian Colonies. Mr Linden has beon temporarily transferred to Sydney.

l'u replying to an tuldreirß presented to him at tjueboc, upon tho ovo of his dwpavturo from Canada, Lord Dulloriii thus nxpre-iswl himself with reaped to hiri Miceeswoi' and tho Princess Louiiio :-—" You may well bo congratulated on tho happy ohoico which, has been nuulo in the poi-Bou of Lord Lome for tho future (JovernorGeuentl of Canada. It has boon my good fortune to bo connected all my lifo long with his family by ties of the closest personal friendship. Himself I have known, I may say, from his boyhood, and a mora conscientious, highmiudod, or better qualified Viceroy could not have been selected. As for your future Prinoess, it would not becomo me to enlarge upon her merits. She will be among you, taking all hearts by storm by the grace,'suavity, sweet simplicity of her manners, life, and conversation. Gentlemen, if ever there was a lady who in earliest years had formed a high ideal of what a noble lifo should be, if ever 'there was a human being who tried to make the most of opportunities within her reach, and tQ create for herself, in spite of every'possible trammel and i»j>Bdii»ent, a useful career and i

occasion of benefiting her fellow-creatures, it is the Princess Louise, whose unpretonding exertions in a hundred different directions to be of service to her country and generation, have already won for her an extiaordinary amount of popularity at home." In November, 1828 (says Galignani) the late DrGannal presented a paper to the Academy of Sciences relative to the artifical production of the diamond. It was referred to MM. Vunquelin aud Chevreuil, and nothing more was ever heard of it. The sons of the deceased doctor, in examining his papers, found a draft of the document, which they have now sent to the Academy. In making some experiments with the carburet of sulphur tbe idea occurred to the doctor that tho carbon might be separated from the combination in the state of crystals, To that effect he took a certain quantity of the carburet, poured on the top a little water, which floated, and then gently introduced some stick phosphorus. The latter dissolved immediately, and three separate layers were formed, the phosphorus at the bottom, the carburet of sulphur next, and the water at the top. After a time he observed that a sort of film was formed between the two latter, and that when it was exposed to sunlight it had all the" iridescence of the rainbow. After the experiment had been in progress for three months a sudden fall in .the temperature occurred, the water froze, the glass was split, and the contents lost. He recommenced his trials, but as each required six months to carry out, and the numerous accidents to which they were liable continually interfering with their final sucuess, he at last abandoned his effortsJ However, in the course of his operations he had been able to procure some minute crystals, which he submitted to an eminent jeweller who tested them by the microscope and other means, and decided that they had the true fire, water, and hardness of the diamond. -Moreover, on behig subjected to the blow pipe they, like that gem, left no ash. Although he discontinued his experiments, he concludes his memoir with the following words :—" I be. lieve that I can now announce that the greatest step is made towards the solution of the problem of making diamonds, in all respects similar to those nature has dissemina,ted in India and Brazil. The complement of that discovery will do honour to modern chemistry." The Adelaide Observer says with regard to the City of Glasgow Bank:—The most complex of the many complicated accounts which the investigators have had to unravel relates to the New Zealand and Australian Band Company. Nearly all the Directors of the Bank were on the Board of that Company, and large holders of its shares, which they had pledged to the Bank. In winding up their estates it will become the owner of L 219,000 of: preference stock, and L 912,000 of ordinary stock. The former pays 4 per cent, and the latter 3 per cent. They are both valued at 80, and give an aggregate of L 904,904. Shares in other companies are held, as security for bad debts to the value of L 126,000 j heritablesecurities, L 498.000; life policies, L 87.000; produce, L 72.000; shipping, L 38.000; and miscellaneous, LII.OOO. Some of the heritable securities are held by a very doubtful title, and some are of decidedly dubious value. The investigators express strong doubts about certain extensive properties at Rangoon and Karrachee. "In any case," they say, "we cannot declare that the title of the Bank to these securities is at all satisfactory." With regard to the shares in the New Zealand Land Company, many of the transfers are not completed. Against possible losses from these causes there may be contingent gains elsewhere, and the investigators' balance is regarded as showing the worst that the shareholders have, to apprehend. It is more than bad enough; the deficiency averaging L4OOO per shareholder, and fully L 60 0; per share in the hands of the public. "As more than half of the holders can pay little or nothing, the liability -on the substantial part of them is expected to be at least LICOO per share. If the eleotric light should really supersede gas (remarks the Pall Mall Gazette), the effect will be very great on some of our coal-yielding districts, more especially on those which are exceptionally rich in seams of gascoal,jiich-aa the j^ii,uon-iOTrOTocKwen~Be&Tnrin t^ie north." Tfif the most authentic estimate we have of the consumption of ooal—that published a few years ago in the "Mineral Statistics," by Mr Hunt—the quantity consumed in the manufacture of gas is set down as 6,560,000 tons yearly, and at that time our production of coal wa3 ab0ut.114,300,000 tons. It is certain that there has been a growth in the cdnsumption fully iv proportion with the growth of the total output, of coal, and there is, therefore, some basis for the belief that at the. present; time there is U3ed in gas manufacture over 7,600,000 tons of coal; and this consumption is of no small account even in a quantity such; a;, that to which our total output has now risen. By the carbonization of this coal there would be produced 76,000,000,000 cubic feet of gas; and though there is no authentic estimate of the actual production of gas in the kingdom, yet the amount stated will probably be under the mark.' The Prussian Masonic Lodges celebrated on the sth November the twenty-fifth anniversary of the initiation of the Crown Prince-of Germany, now Grand Master of the German Freemasons. The Tribune, of Berlin, states that, when the Crown Prince was presented for initiation in 1853 by hia father, then the Prince of Prussia (heir presumptive to the throne), there appeared in the Vossische Zeitung an article commenting on this event. The President of the Berlin police had the editor before him, and used all possible threats for the purpose of making, him name the author of the article. The editor said that he should first have the author's consent. On the following day he informed the President of Police that the Prince of Prussia was the author of the article. The story is characteristic enough of much that exists in Prussia. The farewell performances of Burton's Great Australian Circus on Saturday afternoon and evening were witnessed by very large attendances, and appeared to give the highest satisfaction. The company will appear at Milton to-night on their way to Invercargill. The Kelly and'Leon Minstrels changed their programme' for the third time on Saturday evening, and, as usual, were greeted with a very large house. The " Only Leon," as Fashionable Kate, added fresh laurels to those ho has already acquired in Dunedin, and was encored twice in succession. In response to the first encore he sang- a pleasiug medley of vocal goms, and to the second he gave a most amusing imitation of the German prima donna, Sißiioi'A Liud. Iv the sketch entitled "A Good Night's Reat," Japanese Tommy took the part of the monkey, and fairly convulsed the audionee with laughter. Mr Lester contributed a now versiou of " The Musical Party," being warmly applauded. The musical comedietta, " The Belies of the Kitchen," originally introduced into London by the celebrated Yokes Family, proved enjoyable in the extreme. It is oorUinly one of tho most laughable aud spark* ling pieces over put on the Dunodin boards, ftiul in the hands of jMossm Leon, Kolly, Courtright, Lester, and Siirriilgo ia made the most of. To-night tho same bill of .far.? will ba reproduced, ami as an additional attraction the winuer of the champion wrestling match at tho Caledonian sports-to day will bo presented on tho stage with «. sterling silver cup, the gift of Messrs lliscoeks and Hayman, the lessees anl managers.

Wo lmvo roeeiveil n. ot>py oi Jlr l.ratUliatv'd Slituo Report mill limst-irs' tinkle for .Liniiiirv.