SUMMARY FOR EUROPE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13206, 13 February 1905, Page 1 (Supplement)

SUMMARY FOR EUROPE.

POLITICAL AND GENERAL. Politically, the event of chief interest in the past three weeks has been the constitution of the Royal Commission which is to inquire into and report upon the administration of the land laws of the colony (The Commission possesses one unusual feature in that, with two or three exceptions, its members are unknown save in the localities to which they belong. Mam bers of Parliament have been excluded fr.nn it—to the general satisfaction of the public,—nor have members of Land Boards or of the public. service been included npon it. Two ox-officials, in the persons of Mr W. S. ifeid, formerly Solicitor-general of the colony, who was nominated in the Governor's warrant as chairman, and 'Mr James M'Kerrow, for many years Surveyorgeneral, were appointed to bring the weight of their knowledge and administrative experience to bear npon the deliberations of the Commission; but we regret to say that the state of Mr Eeid's health is such that it seems impossible that he can accept the office of commissioner. With the exception of Mr M'Kerrow and himself, and that also of Mr Paul, president of the Otago Trades and Labour Council, who is B linotype operator by trade, the commissioners are men more or less actively engaged in rural pursuits. The order of I reference of the Commission is exceedingly Svide, but the main point to which tlio evidence of the witnesses it will examine will bo directed will be that of the desirability or otherwise of conceding to Crown tenants their claim that they should be permitted to acquire the freeholds of the lands they occupy. This question the Government shelved last year by securing a resolution of the House of Representatives in favour of the appointment of the Commission; but Mr Massey, leader of the Opposition, whose view of the matter may be an extreme one, has expressed the opinion that the Commission will also make an attempt to evade the real point at issue, and that the Government seeks to employ it as a devico for shuflling out of the necessity for grappling with the question until after the general election which is to be held towards the close of the year. Borne curiosity has naturally been displayed respecting the leanings of the commissioners mi the tenure question, the conclusion that has Been most generally formed being that, if the Commission makes a' definite pronouncement, the previously-conceived notions of the members will produce a declaration in favour of the continuance of existing conditions, under which the freehold option is denied to Crown tenants. The first sitting of the Commission will be iield this week.

The entrance of tlie Government at the beginning of the year as a competitor in the lire insurance business of the colony lias resulted in (ho cutting of rates. The Slate office commenced operations by taking business upon the basis of a 10 percent, reduction of the underwriters' tariff, arrangements having been made with a Home corporation for reinsurance on those' terms. In the protection of the interests of the private companies operating in the colony a conference of insurance managers was held in Wellington towards the close Df last month, and, though secrecy lias been closely observed with respect to the details of the proceedings, it is known that the State competition has been met by a considerable reduction in rates, amounting to as much as 33 1-3 per cent-, in the ease of churches and good risks in dwellinghouses, with various other concessions to insurers. This is a somewhat heroic policy in view of the fact that New Zealand certainly does not preset a profitable field for tire insurance business, the averane annual losses for the past five years having amounted to £300,000; but it. must be remembered that, in these days of State socialistic movements in the colonies, the companies lwd not/only to consider tiro possible effect of State interference with their business in Is'ew Zealand, but also to take a wider view of the matter. What the Government will say under ine circumstances may be easily divined. Mr Seddon will assert that his object has been gained through the reduction in rates, and that, even though tlio State office should do no business at all, it will pay the colony to keep it open in order that the public may enjov the benefits of cheap insurance. But whether the community will agree that it I is a reasonable thing that it should exploit the insurance companies in this manner is another question. The annual meeting of the New Zealand Insurance Company, it may here he mentioned, was held at Auckland on the Bth inst. The profits for the past year totalled £96,519, of which £30,000 was appropriated to the payment of dividends, £40.000 was transferred to reserves, and £26,519 was carried forward. The Hon. N. T. George, who presided at the annual meeting, assured the shareholders that- the directors were closely watching developments in connection with the competition on the part of the State, and that they would not allow the colonial business, ■which they had bmin up in the. course of half a century, to be filched from them. \ The publication of the colony's accounts for the December quarter of the financial year enables us to suomit the following comparative statement of the receipts and expenditure of the revenue account (Consolidated Fund) for the nine months respectively of the current- and of the past financial year:— 1 1 '

Hie Government has severely curtailed its expenditure out of the Public Works Fund' pending the receipt of the million of money for. which a loan was successfully floated on- the London market two months ago. In the nine months the expenditure on public works totalled £722,820 only, as compared with an .expenditure of £1,010,334 in the corresponding period of the previous ywr. The sum of £357,196 was spent on railways as against £496,215, and the sum of £152,469 on roads as against £274,747. The Government. Advances to Settlers' Loan Account, it is of interest to mention, has been temporarily exhausted, . nothing remaining to its credit on the 31st December last. • The Premier has-been on a visit to a Settlement on the West- Coast of the South Island the residents of which have, from Iheir state of comparative isolation, become known as "the Lost Tribe." They consist of the survivors of a body of miners who, together with their wives and children, retired in the early days to the hills at I the hck of Lyell,, and for years had no.l

connection with the outside World, an occasional visit, to the' Lyell or Murchison districts being made only when stores were required. Returning from this settlement, he delivered an address at Murchison and announced what he called a' newgoldfields policy. "Nelson and Westland," he said, "had exported gold to the value of 26 millions sterling, or over one-third of the total production, while only the surface had been scratched. The gold in the drifts could not. have come from the skies, and must be traced to its source. Tlie local bodies had not the money to spend on prospecting, and individuals could not undertake to discover what was far below the surface. In Australia and other places rich finds had been'made at great depths, The Government must do more. The geologists must indicate where shafts or tunnels should be sunk or driven. They must be guided by geologists and assisted by science to make further discoveries." It has been pointed out, as a commentary upon this declaration, that while Mr Seddon proclaims the duty of the Government to prospect for gold in Westland l and to sink shafts, the Minister of Mines in Auckland pooh-poohs the idea of Government aid for Thames mining, and insists that it is the duty of private enterprise to test the deep levels. The annual meeting of the Westport Coal Company was held at Dunedin on the 6th inst. The amount earned forward into the year's account was £9158 and profits amounted to £52,323, making a total of £61,482 to be dealt with. Of this £42,000 was, on the directors' recommendation, allocated for distribution among the shareholders in dividend and bonus and £10,000 has been added to the reserves, which now amount to £33,000, the balance of £9482 being carried forward. The company is now carrying on its own shoulders its risk in respect of accidents for which it would bo liable under the Workers' Compensation and other Acts, and also its marine risks on coal shipments and part of its Are risks. If its policy in this matter may be, as it has been, questioned, the wisdom of the directors in strengthening its reserves must everywhere be admitted. Sir Henry Miller, chairman of directors, pointed out at the annual meeting that while the mines are a diminishing quantity, for in the course of years the supply of coal must cease, the result of- tlie • adoption of a system of paying annually to the reserve fund a specified sum for investment will be that a total amount equal to the.present paid-up capital will accumulate in 30 years' time. The calendar for {he criminal sittings of the Supreme Court which' were opened at Auckland and Wellington last week in each instance contained cases of distinct public interest. At Wellington, where Mr Justice Denniston presided over the sittings, James William Ellis, alias John M'Kenzie, was arraigned on the charge of haying murdered Leonard Eeeve Collinson,- at Te Awaite, on February 26, 1904. The trial occupied the greater part of last week, and was concluded on Saturday, with the result that the accused was convicted and sentenced to death. A murder case was also included in the Auckland calendar, a man named Wm. Murton being charged with the murder of Mrs Mary Dillon, who died at M'crrer under suspicious circumstances, but the Grand Jury ignored the indictment, The Grand Jury also returned no bill in the case of the charge of manslaughter against Dr J. O. Collins, senior medical officer of Auckland. Hospital., in connection with an operation performed upon Wallis White at the hospital on the 18th May last. The fortunate immunity which, on the whole, the colony enjoys from serious railway accidents was interrupted on tho 31st ult. by the occurrence near Oamani of an alarming mishap to the second express train from Dunedin to Christclmrch, the engine leaving the rails and taking'with it five of the carriages, and tearing up four or five chains of the track. Happily, however, the accident was not productive of any loss of life, or even of any injury to the passengers excepting in so far as they may have been shaken by the occurrence. The driver applied the brake very smartly when the locomotive left the track, hut the impetus on the rear cars thrust the front ones off tho line and through the railway fence on to a district road, and thus the telescoping of the cars, with serious results, was avoided. A departmental inquiry has been held concerning the circumstances of the derailment, but the result has not been divulged. The Compensation Court, under the presidency of Mr Justice Cooper, has been engaged at Blenheim since the Ist inst. in hearing the claim of Clifford Bras, against the Minister of Lands in connection with the resumption by the Crown of the bulk of'the Flaxbourne Fstate for settlement, purposes. The area to which the Minister's requisition has application -consists of 45,811 acres, made up, according to the Court's classification, as. follows:— First class laud, 12,540 acres; second class, 14,268 acres; third class, 18,801 acres; Waste land, .202 acres (including Lake Kitwater). The owners claim £320,000 as the value of the land taken and £15,000 for depreciation, loss on forced sale of stock," and minor items. The area retained b.v the owners comprises 1881 acres of first class land, 7575 acres of second class, and 1912 acres of third class. The inevitable result of the penny-wise-pound-foolish policy under which the temptation'afforded uy high prices led to heavy freezing and exportation for some years of ewe lambs was brought to light in the report of the past year's operations of the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company. The colony's stock has been seriously depleted, and the export trade in frozen meat has been sadly diminished through a shortage of fat sheep. There was a shrinkage of 36 per cent, in the year's freezing at.the Canterbury Company's works, and as a consequence of this a loss of £2567 was incurred on the operations. Sir George Clifford, chairman of directors of the company, expressed the opinion at the annual meeting that the public did not realise the difficulties which were accumulating upon every branch of the' pastoral industry through adherence to the vicious system under which there was a continuous freezing sf ewe lambs. Some activity is being displayed in connection with the movement for the creation if an independent Labour party in politics in the colony, the necessity for. which is said to "lie in the fact that a majority in Parliament is opposed not only te labour legislation, but also to the most'democratic principle in our land laws—namely,, the nationalisation of the land,'"—and in the lelief that this is due to'want of organisation on the part of the Labour party; Branches of the Political Labour League, is the organisation is called, have, been hrmed in Wellington; Dunedin, and-Christr :mirch, but some of the workers' unions mve dissociated themselves from the: movenent, on the ground that the • present jovernment party satisfies their needs. 'We have to record the death in the oast three weeks of Mi- John Ross, foi

somv years managing partner in - New Zealand in the firm of Sargood, Son,'and Ewen; Mr J. W. Uarnicoat, of Nelson, who saw stirring times in tile early history of the colony and occupied a seat in the 1/egislative Council from 1883 until 1902; and Mr John M'Neil, who was a member of the Otago Provincial Council in the days of its qxistence* and subsequently became first chairman of the Clutlia County Council and first Ulayor of Balclutha.

The annual session of the New Zealand University Senate has been held in Auckland, Sir Robert Stout (chancellor) presiding. The Senate resolved upon several alterations in the requirements for the degrees in the faculties which are already provided for in Vlie colony, and it also framed a dental course and a commercial course of study. Moreover, it resolved to ask Parliament such an extension of its charter as will enable it to confer degrees in Divinity and Philosophy. Attention is being directed at the present time to the fact' that the trade of the port of Otago is not being' increased in the same ratio as the trade of the other prin* cipal ports of the colony, and a conference of members of the Chamber of Commerce and the Harbour Hoard—whom representatives of the shipping and exporting interests will probably be asked to meet—Has been arranged in order that the position may be discussed with a view to the discovery, if possible, of an appropriate remedy.

His Excellency the Governor lias paid his first official visit to Invercargill and Oamaru. At the former town Lord Plunket laid the foundation stone of a. new town hall, and at Oamaru lie performed the ceremony of unveiling a, monument in memory of the volunteers from North Otago who gave their lives for the Empire in the South African war. His Excellency is now residing in Christchurch, where he has taken a house for several months.

The movement in favour of the amalgamation of the City of Dunedin with Hie suburban boroughs that surround it is gradually extending. A poll of the electors of South Dunedin on the 31st- ■ January resulted in the desirability of amalgamation being affirmed by a majority of .584 votes to 430, and the necessary steps are now being taken to secure the issue of the Governor's proclamation under which South Dunedin will, like Cavershum, henceforth form a ward of the city.

Receipts. 19034. • 1901-5. Ordinary revenue /£4,708,587 ...£4,862.655 Territorial revenue' 146.941 ... 162,960 ftcwipts in aid ... 74,991 ... £4,930.519 ... £5?025,626 Expenditure. 1903-4. 1904-5. Permanent votes ... £2,257,932 ... £2.276,459 Departmental votes 2,525,749 ... 2,7'04,070 £4,783,651 ...£4,980,529 {Transfer fo Public Works Fund ... 225,000 ... 200,000 £5,008,681 ,..£5,180,529