ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13209, 16 February 1905, Page 2

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES

(FROM OUR OWN ' Correspondent.) ' LONDON, January 6.

New Zealand is just as rich in . itcaifh resorts and natural spas as in beauty spots, says tho Magazine 06 Commerce,. -which urges its daims-frohi'llie. health .viewpoint.. On tlio liigh," breezy central plateau of the North' Island, in' the', sunny: valleys, of the North Auckland I'eniusiila;'; on 1 the. ozonebreathing coasts of the south or inland by Haiiiiitff's U-ftrm..liiiitßfal'ftpfiiigs," where the. mountain air is ever pure, and fresh and' lung-strengtllciiing, or on the shores, of tho great Otago Idkes—everywhere-there,, is i;i tho pleasant eliiriatc health for. the; sick-and a bracing tonic for tlio " run-down." The worn and fagged business man who can afford Hid time aiid thb : liiodc«t expenditure of cash .necessary .for a run out to New Zealand ; and hack would certainly find' if .a:' profitable investment. .• ' • , ■~. Mr II; C. Cauieron leaves to-ihorron- for Liverpool .in order to superintend tlio'New Zealand exhibits tit' tlio Colonial Produce Inhibition, to take place in that busy city immediately. New Zealand will shbw" meat, dairy produeo, timbers, kauri guin; cereals,; and other products. I learn from South Wales and from the "West, of Englajid that a good-season for New Zealand produce is .expected to take place.. Strong representations,' however, arc being made that the- time taken in'tlie trip should be considerably , shortened.

All that The Times, ill its 'review of the year' 1904, can find to say about Australia and New Zealand is this:— "Tn Australia, where Lord Northeoto lias succeeded Lord Tennyson as Governor-general, we have seen the'interesting. but short-lived experiment of a Labour. Ministry, with Mi- Watson as Premier, and the formation- after his fall of ,a hybrid Cabinet u resided over liy Mr Reid %nd.; supported - by. the . Dcakinites.' Of greater importance than any political events ill the Commonwealth has been tho break-up of the long drought and the consequent revival of Australian prosperity, so far as Nature, can counteract the detrimental effects of past extravagance and of the distrust, created by novel experiments in social legislation. In New .Zealand' Mr Seddon's masterful personality'still, holds his majority together, and Lord Ranfnrly. after a very successful tenure of the offieo of Governor, Ims been. succeedcc] by Lord Plunket." ...

It is hnnouneod thafethe. Stock Exchange -Comniitteo has appointed Thursday, the 12th ' inst.. a special settling day in the shares of the Consolidated Goldficlds of New Zealimd —further issue of 17.378 share? of £1 each, fully paid, Nos. 225,000 to 242,378. —and has ordered the following to bo quoted in the official list:—Union Bank of Australia, £600,000 4 per cent, inscribed stoekj deposits, 1915, in lieu of the 4 • per eenf. inGcriheil stock deposits, 1905, now quoted. lii' their report 011 the timber market for the year 1904 Messrs I'oy, Morgan, and Co., ■of 104 and 105 Biahopsgato street Within, state tliat there has been a steady demand for kauri pine, although some difficulty has lieen experienced in obtaining the higher •prices necessitated by the increased cost of shipment. Supplies have 'been 'sufficient, but not excessive.

* Yosterday," says the Westminster ° Gazette, "saw the beginning of one more I experiment in tho Now Zealand sociological r and legislative laboratory. It was theopenII ing day nf Hie world's first State Fire * Insurance Department,. with its headquarters. I like those of every other New Zealand 1 Government department, in Wellington. 1 Stato life_ insurance has existed in New Zealand since 1870, and is a nronouncecf r success. One of the first things the traveller. s landing.in Wellington notices is the large - red brick building known as the' Government 1 Life Insurance Department. Compulsory - national insurance' is also not unknown". 3 Everybody is awaw that it is jn force both i in Germany and Switzerland, and Mr Seddon * has announced that he hopes to have it in t New Zealand; '.but no coiihtry hitherto seems to have had an entirely State-owned, > State-managed fire insurance office. . . . ' Already New Zealand has practically a State i bank, State-owned railways (with one exception), some State-owned coal mines, certain > hotels which are the property of tho State, . a. department of -State specially to look ; after its tourist resorts, a Stato Forestry > Department) a State Labour Department, a j State system of advances of land to intendj ing settlers, and now a State Life and a r State Fire Insurance Department." ) Satisliiction Is expressed by The • Times ] that. " Australia and New Zealand have [ been brought perceptibly nearer to the , average middle-class .Englishman by tho 1 visits of Australian cricketers to England . and of English cricketers to Australia. Ho l '{'"Is more, than he did before , these interchange!, began that the colonists . on. 1 the other side of the world are not | merely his own flesh and blood, children I of (i common;jiiothbi-, but men of like [ pdssibns and tastes himself, lovers 1 of his Ilaiionul sport, and able to hold their | own at it. Australia)! cricket has helped to' i knock nails into tho coffin- of that ' Little Lnglandisra l which 40 or 50 years hack 'i'oiild liiive cast the oolonies ndrift as a 1 useless encumbrance." Willi reference to tlie direct trade be- ' tween Australasian ports and Liverpool , and Cardiff, Messrs \Y. AYpdilol and (Jo., , in their, annual review of the frozen meat trade, say thitt the past year lias witnessed some further development, htit at. present this branch of tlie business labours under ; two somewhat serious disabilities,which must lie removed before it can be inaile of lmteh real value, They say: "Tn tlie first place I hi) vojiiye ns tit present ith aiiget! occupies, . cii average, a month longer than is desirable. This applies willi special force in connection with tile lalnlj trade, Which, until now, has furnished the great bulk of , tlie traffic between Australasia ami the West Coast of Englandj • Under existing conditions a January shipment from Now Zealand lo Liverpool or Cardiff is imt available for buyers' use any earlier than a Februai-y shipment frohi the saitie source via London* or than a March shipment froin the River Plate. Unusually , the. market value of February shipment of lam!) is at least id per lb iinder the value of January shipment; and, therefore,' its tlie cost, of railage from Loiidbn to either Cardiff or Liverpool is not liidre than £d per tb, while Hie risks of railway transit itro now cpiite nominal.-there is not much inducement to Cardiff and Liverpool buyers to mako purchases from Australia or Now Zealand for so-Killed 'direct' shipment. Further, by purchasing for delivery in London, provincial c.i.f. buyers always have the option of taking advantage of a stroiig market there, on arrival, or of railing the goods on fo their filial destination. The ■ second disability is rile right which shipowners cjaini, under existing bills of- lading to vail goods from any other port at which tlie vessel niay bo delivering cargo, to either Cardiff or Liverpool, instead of sending tho vessel round tb discharge direct into store at tlieSli I'.otts. Tlie clause in tile bill of lading which gives shipowners this right was to some extent sprung upon. West Coast buyers, and considerable friction arose in connection with Ihe execution of forward purchases, becausc shipowners in certain cases insisted upon exercising this, right." A hope is expressed that, wlie'ii noflr freight contracts are entered into, steps <will be taken by shippers to remove these handicaps', ns_ it is. quite unreasonable to expect that West Coast buyers will continue operating with any degree of readiness in lines of meat which may reach tlieni via another port, and which, in aiiy case, they cannot expect to handle until three iiidiitbs, on average, after shipment is made. Messrs William Simons and Co., of Renfrew, have just launched, complete with steam tin and ready, for work, a very powerful dredging vessel of their iatest- design. The boat is named .the .Mittihilttt,. mid sho has been built to'the order of the Agentgeneral for New Zealand. Besides being fitted with special set of buckets foldredging rocky ground', the vessel is fitted with a sand-Silction pump. The biickets as well as tho suction pipe are made to drklge to a depth of 40ft; The hopper is'arranged in such a manner that the dredging can be reliftcd froin tho hopper and discharged ■ oveiv the side by a special nntcnt arrangement- of the hitilders, <iud delivered aslioro through a long line of floating, pipe for land reclamation, or into barges moored 1 at the side of the dredger. Ordinary hinged doors are also fitted to tlie vessel's own hopper, so that the material can be deposited at sea when required. The machinery consists of two sets- of triplfiexpansion engines and two cylindrical toilers of 1601b working pressure, v THE ROXBURGH BAIIiWAY LINE. : TO Tltli sriitoft, Sill,—l read frith interest the letter of your . cot-respondent "A; H.' T," in. this morning's pntier respecting the ' Roxburgh railway lin6 ( but I failed.to uhdorstand his statement that ,the .jsis; miles" oxtensiort ffolli Henot to 'Edievale' means a'shortening of thfc distance by road from Roxburgh to Laivreiice of 12 miles; ' - Would your kindly.; explain?—l am, etc., Interested.