ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10306, 13 March 1895, Page 2

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

Mr Seddon's remarks f.bout Lord Kosebery's " indiscretion " have excited much amusement in Lotidoc, and th&t not by any means at the expanse of the Now Zealand l Jreraier, who is regarded all round as having distinctly gob tha beat; of ib in the present instance. Tho Pall Mall C-iaz.atfce after observing tkat "Lord Kosebery's incli'sc?etion3comahorau3urelytoroo3t, thoughas thay fly far it takes a littlo time for them all to get back to tUeir perch," goea on ta say, "the Prime Minister of New Zealand has been talking very plainly to the Prirna Minister of the United Kingdom, and Alexander the Coppersmith has got che better or Alexander tho Great." And the St. ■James.i Gazette thinks "Lord Rosebary may consider himself sat upon." Whether all -tiiis will render Mr Seddon any more a

'persona grata when tho next Birthday and New Year honours list comes to be considered in quite another matter. According to the Belfast News Letter " New Zealand is tho only colony which offers a fair opening to mechanics and other skilled workmen lust now. Messrs Oassftll and Co. are about to bring out another new work on New Zealand. It is to be called, I hear, "Pioturcsque New Zealand." The preface has been written by Sir Westby Perceval, who tolls mo it is likely to nrovo a very attractive work. , All the colonial Agents-general have bison , requested by the Lord Chancellor to meet him \ on an early cu.y to discuau tha position and working and prospßcts of the Imperial Institute. ■ Lord Herechcll specially intimates that the i officers of the institution will not be present at ' this conference. I don't fancy th.it Sir Il'. Abel and Sir Somers Vino qnita rolinh this proceeding. But it is time something was done. Ah an illustration of the active interest which is taken at present in tho qu&fitiou of Londou's paving wood of the future, I may mention that Mr James Freyberg, the New Zealand timber expert, was invited to rend a paper on the , subject before the London Society of Art'!. Mr . l'rcybsrg would gladly have do so, having an immense mass of iust.ruci.iva and interesting - information available, but unfortunately ha was very reluctantly compelled to decline, owing to ! illness largely brought on by overwork. ; Mr J. A. Mason, who has just reached Lon- j don from Dunedin, is making a stay at Wood- j ford, in Essex. : " New Zealand may fairly be described as a | land flowiDg with milk and teeming with i mutton, aud both these of excellent quality." i So says the Leeds Mercury, which adds that "an to tha New Zealand mutton, a large number of English families are counting it cheap at 6d and even 7d because of its fine quality." But it thinks there is too " liberal" ' a margin between these prices and the 2d recoived by the New Zealaud producer. So there is, no doubt! The long vexed question has been how to reduce it. " The New Zealand telephone service, which is entirely ' manned' by women, has " (says the Morning) "tho reputation of bsing the best in the world." A high compliment to feminine New Zealand.

A great fuss is being made about a statement which has found publication that the Bank of New Zealand has invested £150,000 in Now Zealand consols, and that this money has been deposited by the Treasurer to the credit of a new Government account in the Colonial Bank. The Financial Times quotes the Otago Daily Times and Wellington Post, and expresses a fear that "the end is not yet" of whatiU terms the " financial jugglery" of the New Zealand Government.

It is stated by the Standard that the Colonial Treasurer of New Zealand is now on his way to London, but no information as to Mr Ward's actual departure has as yet been received at the Agency-general, though an early visit i 3 expected. Tha general opinion in the City is that such a visit will be a very good thing both for Mr Ward and for the colony, as he will be able to sea and hear for himself much that will ba useful and instructive, if not wholly agreeable. A letter on " New Zealand Finance " appears in a recent iasue of The Times. The writer, who signs himself "Finance," contends that the receipts both from land sales and from (inking fund accretiona ought to be eliminated, and, having done so, ho insists that there is really a deficit of £17,000 instead of a half million surplus.

" The erpariments going on in Maoriland are " (tbe St. James Gazette thinks) " most diverting, and New Zealand deserves the thanks of the whole world for so kindly testing advanced woman for us—Mrs Yates being that test." " If " (it adds) " New Zealand does no more than prove that women as voters and candidates do not effest the sudden complete moral revolution they themselves foretell, it will have done a useful bit of work."

One of the moat doleful jeremiads over New Zealand affairs that I have seen for a long time appears in the Morning of tha day before yesterday. Its text in the alleged "borrowing of £150,000 by the Government from the Bank of New Ze&lind. It anticipates that the Colonial Treasurer will be proved to ba about half a million out in hi 3 figures, but it remarks: " There would be nothing particularly surprising in sucl a fact; the most surprising thing would be 1o find that a oingle forecast coming from that quarter had been realised." IS asserts-thit " the finances of the colony are in a deplorably bad wny," and " wer3 probably never in a worse plight than at the present moment"; also that " the wretched landowners aro mostly bankrupt, or very near it."

Mi' Joshua Jones, of Mokau fame, seams likely ta be ere long a personage of considerable note in legal London. I mentioned in a former letter how the Pall Mall Gazette came in for a £5 fico for commenting on his case prematurely, and how The Times published a report of the proceedings nearly a column long. Of the new duvelopments of the case it is hardly safe to say much atpresont. Mr Jones informs me _he has instituted criminal proceedings, against certain perssns for perjury and conspiracy, while he is bringing civil actions against those through whose dealings he was made (improperly, as ho alleges) bankrupt. Certainly he showed ma a letter from one of bis principal opponents offering to give up the property about which all the fuss has been, and also other documents supporting his ntatemants. But the case is too entirely sub judice to be a safe subject of comment as yet, especially as he talks of bringing Homo one gentleman of eminence to answer a criminal charge.

Tha report of the Union Bank of Australia for the half-yearly meeting, to be held next Monday, is brief- and cautious. The directors state that "as the depression in the colonies, alluded to iv previous reports, still continues, they have again made largo reserves for doubtful dependencies." They propose a dividend of 6 per cent, and parry forward £14,420. Some disappointment is expressed at the amount of the dividend, but it is generally recognised that caution is wisdom, especially in these days of uncertainty as to colonial finance generally.

Keuter's cable message announcing a probabla "deficit" (which I take to mean shortcoming) in tho New Zealand revenue for the current year has caused some uneasiness, and people are wondering what the Treasurer will do, as he can hardly again collect the land tax twice over in one year.

It is impossible_ to avoid perceiving that a very uneasy and distrustful feeling prevails in the City with reference to New Zealand, in strong and unpleasant contrast to the high favour and confidence with which that colony was regarded last year when th 3 Australian crisis left it apparently unscathed.

The chief features of last night's Burns's Fcstii-al at the Albert Hall were colonial in character. In the first place Amy Sfcenvin scored a tremendous success with her song " Within a mile o' Bdinbro' toon," and wasi recalled six times. Desperate efforts were made to obtain a repetition, but this was against the rnles, and Madame Amy Sherwin stood firm, ultimately refusing to come forward again. The result was a scene, and tbe concert waa very nearly ending ia an uproar, Ivan Mackay, the tenor, came on, but the audience would not hear him, so he departed without singing his Bong at all. Then the clioru3 came, ana at last by shf er forca of lungs raana gee! ta

"sing down" the uproarious crowd, who only scorod the loss of Kackay's song by their greediness, and he is ons of the best of the rising tenors.

A second feature was tb.3 remarkable success of Mr Mandeno Jackson, announced as "tha New Zealand tenor." In " Mary of Argyll" he displayed a very fine and rich, robust tanor voice, and much merit in stylo and method. His power proved adequate even for the Albert

Hall, and he had a splendid reception, both his songs being vociferously applauded, aud thßy would assuredly have beea encored had the rules permitted it. I should cay that Mr

Mandeno Jacltson has a very satisfactory future before him in London if he will stick closely to study. There are a few points needing improvement, but his voice ought to be a fortune lo him if he uses it and his time judiciously.

Messrs Condy, whose disinfectant fluid is bo largely used in the colonies, have issued a very handy little book explaining the numerous ways in which this valuable disinfectant can be made

serviceable for veterinary purposes, and showing its benefit as a remedy for many of the ailments of domestic animals and peis generally, including even cage birds and goldiish.