OUR HOME LETTER.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 7056, 26 September 1884, Page 3

OUR HOME LETTER.

(FKOil OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

London, August 14. Thß frozen-meafc trade continues to suffer from want of combined management at this end, and prices are ruling low. This has been rendered worse not only by the large number who remove at this time from London, but by the intense heat of the weather, which has well testadthe keeping qualities of the frozen meat. Supplies have bean coming in far too fast, and it has been found impossible to clear off so fast as to let tha market revive. Mr John Eoberts qf Murray, Roberts, and Co., is still in London, intending to return to the Colony in the middle of October. In conjunction with the Hon. Mathew Holmes, who has been for a considerable period staying "in London, Mr Davidson, of the New Zealand and Australian Land Company, and Mr Alfred H. Miles, who is a director of the Wellington Meat Preserving Company, he has been devoting himself unwearyingly to searching into the causes operating against the preater success of the frozen-meat trade. This inquiry haa been no mere delectation work, as the party has traced every stage in the progress from the mutton leaving the ship's side till it reaches the consumer. I believe a very valuable report will be the result of this inquiry, Mr Roberts having been in communication with all the Frozen Meat Companies in New Zaaland before leaving, and acting in this matter sis their representative. I believe the result will show the imperative necessity of combined action, and esnecially at this side in order to prevent the common interests being sacrificed by the indiscriminate throwing of cargoes of mutton on the market. It is felt that there must be a central agency which, if not regulating the distribution of all the meat arriving, might at least regulate the minor imports and work in harmony with the bigger firms. Whatever steps may be taken something must ba done, as the present haphazard system, or no system, is suicidal. As an illustration of the unexpected little contretemps that may occur, there was a large portion of the frozen cargo of the Lady Jocelyn which was sold immediately on arrival, but as one of the. conditions on which meat had been shipped was that the consignees, might have 130 long days for the removal of cargo after arrival in dock, and one consignee had determined to take the benefit of the privilege and declined to remove his mutton, the cargo sold was imprisoned and the market lost. If the inquiries and recommendations of Messrs Roberts, Holmes, Davidson and Miles lead to method and syatem in the conduct of this new enterprise, it would very promptly enter on a new career. Mr John Studholme and Mr George Clifford are also continuing their efforts in the same direction. One proposal which was received with favour was the opening of refrigerating chambers in tha vaults under the Canon street railway-station, and to draw supplies of meat from that as a centra instead of from the docks. A stimulushaabeen given in this direction by the fact that the refrigerating works at the Docks are not working satisfactorily, which has been a further cause of determining consignees to hurry in clearing off their supplies. The meat from the Lady Jocelyn has not turned out well, being mildewed, the cheep also being alleged to have been of inferior quality. The carcasses from the Wellington are turning out in good condition, but there is a good deal of confusion in getting out the cargo owing to the way in which it had been stowed. The cargo of the Potosi, fram Melbourne, has baen put on the market, and on Tuesday last realised only from 4|d to 4|d per Ib. i _ MISCELLANEOUS. The third beries of wool sales opened on the 12th inst. with a catalogue of 5679 baleß, of which 3567 were from New Zealand. There was a largo attendance of Home and Foreign buyers, and the market opened stronger for crossbred wools, which iv some cases sold a half-penny a pound above the close of the last series, the long interval, nearly nine weeks, since the close of the last auctions, having given opportunity for tho consumption of previous stocks.

It appeaw that an effort will be made to turn to practical account the visit to Btgland of Tawbiao and his suite. The knowledge of the possession by the Natives of 15,000 000 acres of land ha 3 excited a philanthropic desire to benefit them, and a project for colonisation on a gigantic scale is in the wind. Big names are they of those who lend it their approval, the intention being that the scheme should be a • judicious blend of philanthropy and £ a. d." It wa3 anticipated, when two years ago the electric-lighting craze was at its height, that there would be a dreadful collapse. Some of the revelations now coming to light are curious. In tho case of one of those companies, tho Consolidated Telephone Construction and Maintenance Company, a committee of investigation was appointed by the shareholders. The report has appeared, and has produced a profound impression. Attention was called to the fact that Sir Julius Vogel, ona of the then directors, had been awarded 3330 share?, while ha appeared to have applied for only 10C0. A committee was appointed to continue the inquiries and to take legal action if deemed necessary, and the proceedings have excited very considerable attention.

The Thames Valley and Rotorua Railway Company had invited applications for £100 000 5 per cent, debentures at £95 and £100 debenture, receivable till August 5. I regret to leain that the invitation was not very successful, it being known some of the conditions attaching to the securities were such a 9 not to have met the requirements of the London market. It is hoped, however, that such modifications can be made as will meet the case, and good hopes are entertained that the required amount will be forthcoming.

Dr A. Lesson has just published the fourth and concluding volume of his great woik on the origin of the Polynesian race. He combats the generally-accepted idea that Polynesia has been peopled by Asiatic or Malayan Colonies His curious theory is that the Polynesians are true Maories, and that the centre of the creation of the Maori race was in the South Island of New Zealand. That the emigration was eastward, and that the various characteristics now seen are mere modifications caused by residence in equatorial climes. He comes to the conclusion that the Samoans came from Tonga, and the Tongans from New Zealand. It is a pity that so little value was set in tho Colonies on the International Forestry Exhibition now being held at Edinburgh. No countries on the earth might have presented a better show than the Australasian Colonies, and New Zealand herself might have come out with distinction. New Zealand is represented, it is true, by a few—very few—specimens, but as for the other Colonies, they are virtually unrepresented.

It is officially announced that the International Exhibition at Antwerp, to be held next year, will be wholly an undertaking of the Belgian Government, and will be under the immediate patronage of his Majesty the King of the Belgians; the President will be the Count of Flanders, and the Vice-president will be tho Miniater of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce.

I learn that the Postmaster-general (Mr Fawcatt) is'very anxious that the polonies should have adequate representation at the Conference for the regulation of the affairs of the Postal Union, which is to be held at Lisbon in October. _ There is something more than mere formality in the term adequate, inasmuch as questions which will require ability and tact for their discussion will be submitted, and the English postal authorities require practical aid in maintaining the viewa which they hold. The expressed intention of certain members of the Union of removing the power allowed for surcharge on ocean postages, and otherwise modifying the regulation of ocean carriage of ittails, has caused some anxiety to the English postal authorities, hence the desire to be sustained at tlio Conference by real, and not merely ornamental, representatives of the Australasian Colonies. ' ■ '

There appears to be a considerable revival in emigration to New Zealand, the direct steamers leaving in every case full ships. The Doric, laid on to Bail on the 28th, is already full of firafand second saloon passengers ; her total cargo capacity being taken up. By the Doric tha Agent-general sends a considerable number of single women as Government emigrants. The Ruapehu, the next vessel on the berth, is filling up rapidly, She leaves on September 25, and will be followed by the new steamer of the Company, the Kaikoras, on October 24.

Tho new London New Zealand journal, the Anglo New-Zealander, lookß well and flourishing. The second number is out, and contains a large number of very commendatory notices 1 f its first appearanco, extracts from various journals scattered over the British Islands. The second number, like tha first, contains a mass of items of interest to colonists both at Home and at the Antipodes, and it is generally felt by colonists at Home that its appearance in London will prove of great benefit to wew Zealand. :

This ia verily the age of exhibitions. The of ono leads to the suggestion of another, and the trouble soon will be in the rush and competition. The Health Exhibition has followed on the Fisheries Exhibition, and has been no less a success, and now apart from a great World's Fair, to bo held next year in Belgium, preparations are proceeding for hold-

i»g two exhibitions in London in 1886. lv cue of these the Colonies will have a special interest, :t being an exhibition of products and manufactures of her Majesty's Indian and Colonial Dominions, and having been taken in , hand by tho Prince of Wales, it promises to | eclipse everything which haa yet appeared as a means of presenting to the public mind the rapid growth and development of the dependencies of England. A Royal Commission will have charge of the wholo proceedings, and on that Commission the agents-general, as well as a general array of Colonial dignitaries, will be enrolled. This, of course, implies encouragement of a practical kind from the Colonial Governments ; but as this will be only in the nature of guarantees, and as these exhibitions are now uniformly paying concerns, the liability will in all probability be nil. But the Colonial Exhibition runs the risk of itself being somewhat overshadowed by the American Exhibition which is to be held in London at the same time. That enterprise has been taken in hand on the scale and with the elan characteristic of our trans-Atlantic cousins, and being backed up with tha wealth and freehanded liberality thrown into everything that tends to promote the glory of the great Republic, promises to be wholly uniquo. Not only will it be an exposition of the manufactures and products of the States, but the commercial and social life of its cities and rural districts will be represented to the Hie. There will be the fac-similie of a Wall street countinghouse, with every dnparfcnieut in full and real operation; and warehouses, shops, and banks, as well as tho privacy of domestic life as known in-America, with all the details incidental to the family history, will be dramatically represented. When Araoricans undertake an enterprise they generally mjike it to differ from anything that has preceded it, if it is of the character to challenge public attention, and if half the promise held out is realised in tho performance, the American Exhibition will be one of the wonders of the age. These who have a kindly recollection of the late Chief Justice of New Zealand, Sir George Arney, will ba pleased to hear that, a stainedglass window to his memory is being placed in Salisbury Cathedral, of which town the late Chief Justice was a native.

Probably there h no occasional visitor to New Zealand better known than Mr R. S. Smythe, tho inimitable agent in introducing specialties to the public in the form of lecturers ct hoc genus omne. Air Smythe has just arrived by way of Marseilles, having come home by the Messageries Maritimes, and having escaped tha "Microbes," is now in London, prepared to negotiate another venture. His primary object is Mr G. A. Sala; but it is not yet quite arranged whether his trip to the Colonies under the conduct of Mr Smythe wiU'eventuate. It is generally undflrstood that Mr Sala intends leaving for the Antipodes in January ; but I am in a position to know that the matter is still in suspense. Me Arthur H. Miles, well known in Wellington in connection with the firm of Murray, Roberts, and Co., has just become a partner of that fiun in their Wellington and Napier houses. With him will be associated as a partner in the same branches Mr A. C. Lang, who is connected with the London firm of Sanderson and Murray. Mr Miles, who has been in London for the past two months, leaves again for the Colony by the Doric' on August 28.

The Hon. John Martin, of Wellington, accompanied by his son and two daughters ; also the Hon. M. S. Peter, will return to the Colony by the same trip of the Doric. _ Mr Burton, of the Colonial Bank of New Zealand, who has been going in energetically to take all the enjoyment he can out of his holiday, has returned to London after doing the British Islands. He is at present Btaying in the Isle'of Wight. He leaves for New Zealand by the P. and O. steamer of September 11. *

Mr Allan M'Donald, late member for East Coast, in oblivion of all the political turmoil at the Antipodes, is calmly and philosophically dreaming the happy hours away among his native heather in tha North of Scotland. He returns to London next week.

Mr Robert Wilson, of Dunedin, has been away in ths country nearly all the time since his arrival. He has been travelling in Scotland, and is at present in Ireland, from which he returns to London next week. . _Mr Stannus Jones, formerly of Auckland, is still travelling, a pursuit to which he is understood to have devoted himself for the remainder of 'his days. He is at present on the Continent—at Oetend, I believe, whence he goes next month to Paris for the season intending to winter at Bianitz. Mr Owen P. Jones, formerly of Auckland and of the Lyttelton Dock, has just left for Canada and the Rocky Mountains in company with the Minister of Financo of Canada and the Royal Society. He returns here towards the end of October, and goes ont again to New Zaaland about the end of the year. Sir John Hall leaves for New Zealand from Liverpool on the 21st inst., going to Montreal, and by Niagara and Chicago to San Francisco, leaving there by the September mail. It is probable that he will A>e joined at Chicago by Mr A. G. Horfcon, who purposes returning at that data to the Colony. Tawhiao and his chiefs are making inquiries about return passage to the Colony It is their intention, I believe, to go out by one of the direct steamers, and not by America, as was originally intended. Their movements and sight-EoeiDg are still chronicled regularly in the daily papers, but tha general interest felt in them and thoir proceedings is somewhat suffering from having been so long drawn out The Agents-general are taking holiday Sir J. D. Bell is at- Scarborough, Sir A. Blyth (of South Australia) is in Norway, Sir Saul bamuel (of New South Wales) is at Bournemouth. Mr Murray Smith will not; leave till next week, and Mr Hemant, the acting Agentgeneral for Queensland, is awaiting the arrival of bis succesFor, Mr Garrick. In the list of degrees just conferred at the .Edinburgh University, I see the names of three New Zsalandera who have taken the degrees of Bachelor cf Medicine and Master in Surgery— namely, Mr Thomas Watt Bel], Mr Arthur Ohallmor Purchas, and Mr William Johnstone Will.