INTERCOLONIAL,

Otago Witness, Issue 1488, 22 May 1880, Page 9

INTERCOLONIAL,

(Reutee's Special.) Melbourne, May 13th.

The debate on the address in reply to the Governor's speech commenced last night in the Assembly. Sir John O'Shanasay severely criticised tho action of the Government in delaying the meeting of Parliament, and condemned Mr Service's reform scheme and the repeal of Mr Longmore's land regulations. He concluded by saying that he refused to be identified with the Ministry.

Sir Andrew Clark is unable to accept the Agent-generalahip of Victoria in London.

Sailed : s.s. Tararua, for the _ Bluff. She had been detained to tranship passengers ex Orient. The Hon. Mr Service in the Assembly stated that the influx of Chinese waa aa undesirable question to discuss, not merely on Colonial but on national grounds. He would make a statement regarding the subject later on. The Mauritius sugar market remains unchanged and inactive. Exchange on Colonies, 16 per cent. ; freights, 25s to 30s.

May 14th.

The Hon. Mr Service says no further steps will be taken in regard to the missing ship Knowsley Hall, aa the bottle found at Portland proves the story to be & complete hoax.

May 15fch. The agricultural statistics show that the wheat crops in Victoria have yielded 13£ bushels per acre. The quantity produced shows an increase of 50 per cout.

The Argus, in a leader in to-day's issue, comments upon the gravity of the political situation in Victoria, and declares that Mr Service's task is one of extreme difficulty. The speech of Sir John O'Shanassy in the Assembly on Tuesday, which, waa adverse to the Government, is much discussed. The Hon. Neil Black is dead.

May 17th.

The Secretary of State for the Colonies telegraphs to the Governor that there waa no passenger or seaman aboard the Knowsley Hall of the name of Webster when she sailed from England. It ia therefore now conclusively proved that the letter found in the bottle at Portland was a hoax.

At a speculative sal© of 4000 cases Hennessy's brandy, holdera were unwilling to operate except at higher prices. Melboubne, May 18th. In the Legislative Assembly the debate on the Address still continues.

It is stated that a match has been arranged between Trickett and Hanlan for the sculling championship of the world, to come off in October next in London.

Sydney, May 13th. The railway paymaster haa been bailed up near Walcha and robbed of LBO. Tho police are in pursuit of the robbers. May 14th.

The accounts of the steamer Strathleven, which conveyed the first shipment of meat to England, show that the vessel lost £15 by her trip.

In the Legislative Assembly laat night the new Electoral Bill was under discussion. The clause providing that candidates for the Assembly should deposit £50 waa rejected on a division.

Henneasy'a brandy, case, 34s 9d to 358 ; bulk, quarters, 10s 6d to lla 6d ; kerosene (Diamond), la 2d per gallon ; Devoe's, la B|d ; Patna rice, scarce ; oats, Is 9d per bushel ; New Zealand oats, 2a per 401b ; maize, 2s 3d to 2s 6dL per 601b ; Sugar Co.'s No. 1 pieces, £34 per ton; candles (D.R.J.'s), 6|d to 8d per lb. Sydney, May 18 th. Arrived : Rotomahana, s.s., from New Zealand. A labour schooner from Noumea has been wrecked on Saumerz reef. The captain and four of the crew in a boat have been picked up. They state ' that four more, including the Government agent and 99 Kanakas, were left on the reef without provisions. A steamer has started from Eockhampton to rescue them. It is now four days ' since the wreck took place. Adelaide, May 14th. Adelaide wheat, 4s 4d to 4a 5d per bushel ; flour, £10 5s per ton. » The following c.ible messages appear la Sydney papers to hand by the a.*. Wakatipu, at Wellington :—: — London, May 6th. Owing to the state of the weather, and also the foreign political outlook and uncer« tain harvest prospects, the improvement ia trade which existed in February has gradually waned, and trade is not likely to rally till the harveßt. Iron and sfcetsl have fallen nearly 30 per cent. May 7th. A telegram to the Daily Newb »«j -c«o that Bavaria supports the Hamburg protest against the inclusion of ths latter in the German Zollverein. It is believed that the German Reichstag will reject the proposal. May Bth. There is Increasing exoitement in Hamburg in reference to the proposal to include the city in the Zollverein. The Daily News states that a coolness has arisen between Prussia and Bavaria on the subject;. Sir O. Cunliffe will represent the Royal Commission at the Melbourne Exhibition. The Commission will give £2000 worth of fine arts if Melbourne will return Home free the Sydney collection after the Melbourne Exhibition is over. _ A powerful syndicate has offered to con* struct a railway connecting the Queensland lines with Port Darwin, on condition that they receive a land grant of 8000 acres per mile. The Hon. Thomas M 'll wraith has made a contract with the British India Company for the conveyance of mails and emigrants from London to Queensland] It is to be a through servioe, calling at Suez, Colombo, ' aiad Batavia. The first steamer 1b to start in October. . May lObh. It ia conclusively proved that the Indian Government only intormed the Cabinet of a deficit in revenue when the elections in England had been nearly concluded. The Albanians have declared themselves independent. May 11th. The Turkish troops have joined the Albanians. The Daily Telegraph states that!

Russia proposes to Italy to intervene on behalf of Albania. # The Standard states that it is intended to Bend a financial commission to inquire into the Etats of ladia'a finance.

(Evening News Special.)

London, May 6th.

The appeal to the Lord Justices of Appeal as to whether the Judge who sentenced the Claimant had power to make the two sentences consecutive has been heard and adjourned. The strike of the ironworkers is subsiding.

May 7th.

The Dake of Connaught met with a rather painful accident while out for a drive. His carriage was upset and the occupants were thrown out. He was considerably bruised about the face, arms, aud legs, but no bones were broken. The statement made by Mr Gladstone in an electioneering speech, that the Emperor of Austria had expressed his anxi ty that the English electors would vote for the Conservative party, has created a consiperable amount of ducussi ,n in the Austrian Press and in official circles The Emperor is understood to have attached no importance whatever to the reported utterance ; but through the representations of Sir Henry Elliott;, the Eng'hh ambassador at Vienna, the British Government has been conmunicated with on tho subjtc 1 :. In reply a frank explanation has been sent by the English Government io tbe Coutt of Vienna repudiating the complexion put on Mr Gladstone's electioneering utterances. Miss Marian Evans, the novelist, known George Eliot, has been married, and is now Mrs Cross.

May Bth.

Sir Bartle Frere, in opening the Cape Parliament, announced that among measure s to be submitted during the session was a bill providing for a conference of delegates from the various Sonth African provinces to con sider the question of provincial confederation. The finishing work at the St. Gothard tunnel has been temporarily interrupted by a oasaalty. A considerable portion of the tunnel has collapsed, leaving m»ny thousand tons of earth to be cleared away before the conoluMon of the operations can be carried on. No loss of life is reported. The fall iB attributed to insufficient timbering. The United States House of Represents tives h*ve decided to reduce the ad valorem duties on imported wool to 45 per cent. Heli, the Turkish fanatic who assassinated the Russian attache, Colonel Oommeroff, at Stamboul, has b en executed. Cape of Good Hope

The steamship Ameiioa, belonging to the Union Steamship Company, has foundered. The orew aod passengers escaped in boats. Three British men-of-war bombarded and burned the town of Bathanga, in Africa, as a punishment for outrages committed by native inhabitants.