THE Otago Daily Times. "Inveniam viam aut faciam," [Established November 15, 1861.] DUNEDIN, THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 1866.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23222, 21 June 1937, Page 3

THE Otago Daily Times. " Inveniam viam aut faciam," [Established November 15, 1861.] DUNEDIN, THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 1866.

SEVENTY-ONE YEARS AGO

Had the news from Europe been confined to that received through the medium of the public journals there would have been little in it to excite serious alarm. The English papers up to the 26th of April contained rumors of war between Austria and Prussia, and, as a matter of course, there was much anxiety as to the turn that events would take. There is so much risk, when once hostilities begin between two powerful nations that other countries may become involved in the quarrel, that any warlike demonstrations necessarily lead to bewildering speculations as to where they will end. But the journals contain nothing that could be determinate. All that could be said up to the date of the departure of the mail steamer was, that the quarrel had a very awkward appearance, but that it had not reached a point that rendered a peaceful solution impossible. Unfortunately the telegraphic news by the AngloIndian Line is of a more unfavorable complexion. War had not broken out, but the near certainty of it had produced mischief so widely spread as to indicate how intimately the welfare of each country is bound up with that of the rest of the world, and that no nation can suffer alone. The telegraphic notices increase in interest day by day, as danger becomes greater. On the Bth of May, we are told the Austrian Army was placed on a war footing. On the 9th, " Discount was nine per cent, at the Bank of England ; a financial panic had occurred in Great Britain, Overend and Gurney, Sir Morton Peto, and the Mercantile Credit Association, are represented to have stopped payment, and if that be true, it hardly needed to be added " other large failures are imminent.' On the 10th, Greville and Co. transmitted a private telegram to a house in Colombo, stating that a large house had failed in London, whose liabilities were said to amount .o £15.000.000—0f course alluding to Overend and Gurney; and on the 12th May it was announced that the Government had authorised "the suspension of the Bank Charter Act." . . .

A deputation from the Taieri District, consisting of Messrs Shand, W. Shand, Jas. Allen and Milne, and who were also accompanied by Messrs Vogel, Driver, and Douglas of Douglas, Alderson and Co., waited on the Superintendent yesterday, for the purpose of urging on His Honor the necessity of resuming assisted Immigration on a large scale. It was stated that the farmers found themselves seriously crippled by the difficulty of obtaining labor, and in a lengthened conversation that ensued it was admitted, without question, that to the laboring man Otago offers a most tempting field for Immigration. His Honor stated he was not in a position to do anything without the consent of the Council. W was urged that it would be worth calling the Council together purposely ; but His Honor said he could express no opinion on such a proposal without consulting* the Executive. It was also suggested that German Immigrants in number might be obtained. Some of the large shipping houses in Germany being willing to supply them, and take ten years' debentures for the passage money; His Honor promised to communicate with some of the German houses mentioned by the mail which was leaving by the Albion. Various other suggestions were thrown out. and after a lengthened interview the deputation retired, thanking His Honor for the courtesy he had displayed. The township of Lawrence has been declared a Municipality; the proclamation by the Superintendent appearing in yesterday's " Provincial Government Gazette." . .

The sales of rural land in Otago during the month of May realised LB9IB 12s 6d. The largest sales were in the Awamoko hundred, where ten purchasers took 2508 acres.