LONDON NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1851, 17 August 1893, Page 3

LONDON NOTES.

A tremendous hullabaloo has been raised in the City over the action of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company iv deducting from the interest paid to'tbeir debenture- holders the taxation levied on the company by the New Zealand Government. The prevalent feeling is very plainly but accurately voiced by "Money" iv an article headed "New Zealand's Bad Faith," which, after remarking on New Zealand's progress and bright prcspects,-goes on to say :—": — " It may be questioned, however, whether Englishmen will not prefer to lend money to New South Wales or Victoria rather than to the more prosperous sister colony. Investors do not admire bad faith, and it is with bad faith that New Zealand may be chaiged. She has not defaulted upon her national debt — her - statesmen are far too clever to commit tbat blunder; but, all the same, her treatment of English capitalists is disgraceful. We refer to the Wellington and Manawatu railway scandal." " Money " then states the facts accurately enough, and proceeds : — '♦ If this is honesty, we &hould like to know. where dishonesty comes iv. Plainly, New Zealand should be told that she will bu regarded as a financial pariah un'U Buch time as the obnoxious tax on debentures is removed."

Next a writer, signing himself "N. 8.," in The Times contends that the action of the company amounts to confiscating a portion of the capital lent byjho d benturc-luiUtars. He abscttrt that owing to this " penny wise and pound foolish conduct " in future loans will cost the colony 20 times as much as they can possibly save by this plucking of their creditors. Other letters have followed, and the feeling is intensely bitter. It is mingled with a touch of apprehension, for the lenders fear this movement is but the' thin end of a wedge which will soon split off a large part of the interest covenanted to be paid to them on the colonial investments. "The Government stock will come next," is the universal cry, and the mischief done to the colony's credit in London is enormous.

THE -WELLINGTON LOiN.

An illustration of this was promptly furnished. When the Wellington City Drainage Loan was announced Now Zealand was in high favour, and the loan was warmly recommended by the Investors' Guardian and other papers. The journal mentioned declared that the security would bear the most searching investigation, and that as a 4£ per cent, investment it would be difficult to find anything more worthy of consideration than this loan. It added that •' New Zealand has again and again proved her financial vigour, and never more so than during the recent Australian crisis"; aDd concluded by declaring that New Zealand, was "one of the moßt flourishing of tho British colonies."

- But then came the action of the Manawatu Company, and a panic set in. The question was at once raised whether the new debentures would be liable to similar treatment. This was set at rest by a prompt and lucid letter from Mr Mewburn, the London manager of the Union Bank of Australia, who published an official communication from the New Zealand Government, plainly declaring that the taxation was not intended to touch securities of this class, and an explicit guarantee of indemnity on the part of the Wellington corporation might have removed all doubts.' Still, the feeling of distrust had been created, and still remained. People could not forget that the Manawatu debentures had once been 'deemed equally safe, and ytt now they were taxed. The Wellington Gas .Company was also quoted as another bad example, and so the feeling grew until serious uneasiness was entertained as to the fate of the loaD. Fortunately the plethora of money seeking investment was so great that a 4£ per cent, investment was eagerly caught at by many, and thus the entire lo«n was subscribed, but at no very brilliant price. Last Tuesday, at lpm., the tenders were opened at the Union Bank office, only a few persons being proseut. The tenders were found to amount to £305,600, at an average price of £99 10s 2d, the prices ranging from the minimum, £99, to £101 12s 6d. * In all the circumstances I suppose everybody may be congratulated. Nevertheless the price would have been much higher but for the scare set up by the Manawatu Company. One eminent financier in tie city a6suted me to-day that but for this feeling of uneasiness the loan would have realised at least 102, and perhaps 102^ — the difference in the price the Wellington ratepayers have to pay for. the action of. the Manawatu Railway v and Wellington Gas Companies. It is the immediate price, but whether the whole price or not will be ascertained next time a loan is sought in London. The position is considered by 'all competent judges to be a very serioue one in the extent to which the colony's credit and good faith are affected, and it behoves those who have it in their power to put matters on a better footing to lose no time in doing bo.

THE SETTLEMENT SCHEMES.

Nothing iB yefc definitely settled as to the settlement schemes in connection with the Bank of New Zealand Estates Company, but I understand that the New Zealand Colonisation Company will probably be registered to-morrow, and a beginning of settlement will be made on the Carnarvon block, near the Manchester settlement in the Wellington- provincial district, whore 7000 acres will be cut up into suitable blocks foi- settlement.

In the first instance it is proposed that the capital of the new company shall be little more than nominal, as all idea of making a, direct profit out of the undertaking is disclaimed ; but should the enterprise prove successful it is

possible that debentures may be floated so as to enable the company to buy the laud out and out for cash, and difpose of it to the settlers on very favourable terms of deferred payment. One thing insisted upon will be that the settlers shall possess a sufficient amount of workiog capital, without which the echeme would be in danger of failure. Reduced f ares also will be charged for the passage out, and every possible assistance will be given to the new settlers at starting. The Carnarvon block, which has been selected for the first start, formerly belonged to Mr Larkworthy. Should the planß work out favourably, other blocks in Waikato, Canterbury, and Otago will be similarly dealt with.

THE GREAT DROUGHT.

From New Zealand settlement to English agriculture is an easy stage. Nor are the subjects incongruous. It is highly probable that one powerlul factor in stimulating New Zealand settlement will prove to have been the extraordinary and unprecedented drought, which still continues, and which has proved- the last drop in the bitter cup of ruin to many a struggling British farmer. Weeks ago the Daily News remarked that the time had then loDg gone by for characterising the drought as merely unprecedented. Yet it has continued ever since. It has become phenomenal. Four monthsMarch, April, May, and June— have virtually passed without any appreciable rainfall. Daring the past 10 days the drought has been aggravated by severe heat — 88deg in the shade, — and tho absence of moisture is beginning seriously to affect not merely vegetation, but also the sources of all water supply.

London seems fairly safe for the present, though stringent precautions are being taken against waste ; but some of the couutry places are already in diro straits. In Buckinghamshire a few days ago I found water selling at one place at 3d per bucket, but on higher ground I learned that the price was 9d per bucket.

The Thames is very low, but I had a look at the New River Head the other day, and the famous Amwell Springs (which Sir Hugh Myddelton brought to London by his canal) seem flowing as freely as ever. The deep wells too— now very numerous— still yield abundantly. But there must be a limitation to this, unless rain soon comes. Some of the weatherwise predicted that the " turn of days " — in more accurate phraseology, the solstice — would bring a change. Yet the longest day has come and gone, and we are as dry as ever. True, the barometer is falling, and a few drops of rain fell last night. But that is all. I do not think the wheat crops have suffered nearly so badly as others. The wheat was sown in the autumn, and had the benefit of a wet winter — after it had obtained a good start. It really does not look at all ill in some places. I spent last Sunday in Suffolk, and there saw some capital crops, not only -of wheat, but also of oats and barley. But in Essex and some other more southern counties the crops will be generally light. The hay and the stock feed are the most serious matters. Practically there is no hay crop at all. Anxious inquiries are being made as to the likelihood of New Zealand supplying some -hay, I learn than one great firm of carriers has sent out an agent to Australia and New Zealand with a credit of £30.000, and with orders to bny up all the hay and fodder he can get hold of at a price. Those holders in New Zealand who are willing to sell should be prepared to supply it in compressed, form, so as to reduce bulk and save cost of carriage.

NOLO EPISCOPAEI,

I had a chat the other day with the Rev. A. F. W. Ingram, who has been freely mentioned as the probable successor to Bishop Hadfield in the Wellington diocese. Mr Ingram was described in New Zealand papers as being "of the Church House." This is an error. It is true he is in one sense of a Church House, but the institution meant is not that which is technically known as the "Church House"—namely, that established as a memorial of the Royal Jubilee, which latter is still in a somewhat inchoate state.

Mr Ingram is the spiritual director and general manager of the institution correctly Btyled the Oxford House, at Bethnal Green. The " House" itselfis a large Gothic building of red brick, standing right in the centre of the poor and densely populated Bethnal Green district, for which people's palaces and other recreative schemes are continually being provided. Its function is that of a nucleus of church work. It has been established wholly by the University of Oxford. Under the able and earnest direction of Mr Ingram numbers of Oxford men work most devotedly and wholly gratuitously among these thousands of poor people, endeavouring both to brighten their dreary lives with pleasant and rational recreation, and to lead them gradually aud by agreeable paths to a sense of higher things and to a more Christian existence. With this object church clubs have been "dumped down all over the place," as Mr Ingram colloquially put it, and in these clubs all sorts of recreations are provided, as well as suitable means of mental and educational improvement. That a noble and most beneficent work is being done by the Oxford House, no one who has visited it can for a moment doubt, nor could he feel for one instant uncertain whether its directions had been entrusted to the right hands. Mr Ingram is quite young— only 35 years of age, but he has in him the stuff of which leaders of men are made. He is one of those who seem born leaders and organieers. Slightly above middle height, with a keen, dark, cleav-cut, clean-shaven face, and a singularly pleasant and genial manner, Mr Ingrain impresses you from the first as tho very man for the head of such an institution as that which he manages so skilfully and judiciously. He aud his "young men" live together in comfortable, semi-monastic style — monastic only in the sense that they all live in association ia a building devoted to a mainly religious object, for th«re are no vowa of continence or

special dress, or any of the old hampering monastic conditions, which so effectually separated and sequestrated the monk of yore from his fellow creatures. Now these young Oxford fellows aDd their chief meet at several short daily services at the well spread table of the house, and in consultation when necessary, but thore is no monastic gloom, or rigour, or "goody-goody ism." They all chat genially abeut the current events of the day— about politics, boating, cricket, and other passing subjects of interest, during the progress of their meals, and then they separate multivious in pursuit of their common object, the elevation and Christianising of the dense masses of poorer London. "Yes, it is quite tme," said Mr Ingram, " that 1 have been sounded as to my willingness to accept tho Wt lliDgton Bishopric. Of course no formal offer was made, or could have been made to me in the circumstances. But I have been communicated with informally ou the subject. I also talked the matter over with Bishop Abraham (Bishop Hadfield's predecessor) at Lichfield last week and with Bishop Julius, of Chriatchurch, who lunched with me here and I received a most ink-resting letter about it from the Rev. A. Towgood, of Marton, in the Wellington diocese. All were very kind and encouraging. "But," continued Mr iDgram, "I cannot bring myself to entertain the idea of leaving my work here. I feel tbat I have a mission here and a most important one. I have a great work entrusted to mo in tho care of this institution and in tho effort to benefit those poor souls in this crowded and squalid district all round. I do find that I can be of service here, and having 'put my hand to the plough,' I cannot think that I ought to draw back and leave this work, which I have voluntarily undertaken. It might not prove easy to find another man who would be willing to take up my work here, and who would be quite suited to its requirements. On the other hand, I might not prove suited to tfie position of a New Zealand bishop. I think the new bishop should be a somewhat older man than I am, say 10 years older. He ought to have experience to fall back upon as a guide if necessary. But you say a young and energetic man is needed in the Wellington diocese ; well I know just the man for it. Indeed, I mentioned his name to Bishop Abraham, who fully agreed with me that he would be most suitable. He is the Rev. R. S. Hassard, of Holy Trinity, Dalston. He is a few years older than myself, and possesses every qualification for the post." On my suggesting that the special qualifications which had rendered Mr Ingram's management of the Oxford Home so successful were exactly those which were supremely needed in the new bishop in organising capacity and the faculty of efficiently directing institutions and of "getting on well" with subordinates, Mr Ingram shook his head and replied "That may be so, but you see I have a work here already. Ido not think any reasons could be shown strong enough to convince me that I should be right in abandoning a sphere in which I have found I can be really useful, and which possibly another man might find less congenial, to enter upon another field demanding special qualifications which I might or might not prove to possess. No, my work is here. I do not say that it is absolutely impossible that I should leave it, for one haa no right to Bay that. But I do say that I cannot see any possibility of arguments being used which will convince me that 1 should be acting rightly in giving up the Oxford House." And bo we parted, I with the feeling that the New Zealand church will miss the chance of a valuable acquisition to her working power in the colony if the Rev. A. J. W. Ingram is not the next Bishop of Wellington, of which I must confess I see little hope. Mr Jngram's manner was even more decided than his words He feels he is at hia post now arid there he means to stay. But New Zealand thu3 loses an admirable bishop. Of Mr Hassard, whose name I have myself mentioned in this connection, I may have something more to say next week.

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES,

Mr Bendix Hallenstein, of Dunedin, who is so well and widely known in New Zealand mercantile circles, arrived in London a few days ago, and is staying at the Hotel Metropole. Mr Halleufctein in conversation with me yesterday, remarktd that he bad predicted, in a letter to the"New Zealand Herald, exactly what had come to pass in the shape of the Australian crisis, and also the revival of prosperity in New Zealand and the high prices now commanded by New Zealand Government debentures. An able letter from him on the Australian troubles, arguing that Australia is altogether overbanked, will appear in a leading financial paper this week.

Mr J. B. Russell, of Auckland, who r< cently underwent so grave a surgical operation continues to make most favourablo and satisfactory progress towards convalescence. General regret will be caused by the news that Mrs J. E. Nathan, of Wellington, died on her way to England, whither the was proceeding with her husband, on the recommendation of her medical adviser, Dr- Grace, who regarded her case as one .for a specialist to deal with. It was known that a severe operation would be necessary, and all preparation had been made in London in readiness for Mrs Nathan's expected arrival. The services of an eminent surgeon had been retained, nurses, and suitable rooms had been engaged, and all were ready, 1 but her death occurred on the passage between Teneriffeand Plymouth. The remains of the deceased lady were brought on to London and were interred yesterday at the Willesden Cemetery. Among those present I noticed Mr Louis Nathan, formerly of Auckland, and Sir Julius Vogel. The Bishop of Christchurch and Mrs Julius leave England by the Ruahine next Tuesday on their return to New Zealand. Both are looking remarkably well, and the Bishop's health

seems to have benefited great'y by his visit to the mother country, aud by his residence in the charming riverside aubui b uf Richmond Mr and Mrs Mackerline, of Auckland, who have been residing in England during the past year and a-half, intend returning next month to New Zealand, after a pleasant visit. The first part of Professor Newton's great Dictionary of Birds has just appeared. The work will be completed in four parts. The present one contains much interesting information about New Zealand, the avifauna of which seems to have special charms for ornithologists. The author acknowledges m the preface the valuable assistance he has received from Sir Walter Buller, F.R.S., and there are numerous quotations from that gentleman's writings. The learned professor i 3 very hard on New Zealand for its misguided efforts in the way of " acclimatisation. ,He fays that the New Zealand avifauna "had features of interest unsurpassed by any others. It -was indted long before these features were appreciated, and then by/but few ornithologies, yet no sooner was their value reepgnised than it was found that nearly all of thfcir possessions were rapidly expiring, and the destruction of the original avifauna of this important colony, so thriving and so intellectual, is being attended by circumstances of extraordinary atrocity." He refers to the introduction by the Government of polecats and ferrets, stoats and weasels, in the vain attempt to suppress the rabbit nuisance, points oub how utterly destructive those bloodthirsty beasts will be to all the native birds, and adds:— "Were these indigenous forms of an ordinary kind, their extirpation might be regarded with some degree of indifference ; but unfortunately mai>y of them are extraordinary forms, the relics of perhaps the oldest fauna now living. Opportunities for learning the lessons they teach have been but scant, and they are vanishing before our eyes ere that lesson can be learnt."

I understand that the Agent-general ia sending out to the Government a special report on the New Zealand courb at the Imperial Institute, and explaining what is necessary to make it of permanent value to the colony. It is a general opinion here that having achieved first position, New Zealand^ ought to maintain it, for. there could not possibly be a better or more attractive mode of advertising that colony in thia country. The tens of thousands who visit the galleries come away with a high opinion of New Zealand and its boundless natural resources. It' would take many columns of newspaper advertisements for many mornings in succession and at a ruinous cost to produce the same result. So that on the mere ground of economy it is urged that the Imperial Inst tute has claims to a generous support The public interest in the institute still keeps up, and the attendance is large except on •♦ Fellows'" days, which are exclusive, and in consequence only thinly attended. The authorities are considering the advisability of making a change in this respect. New objects of interest are being continually added to the sample collections in the New Zealand court, the latest additions being the Hon. B. Mitchelson's kauri gum collection, which has just arrived from Auckland. Mr Perceval has arranged to get a series of largo photographs taken to illustrate the principal features in the New Zealand court at the Imperial Institute. These will be forwarded to the Government, and will enable Ministers to realise how well the colony haa been served on this occasion.

Among late arrivals in London from New Zealand are Mr James Smith, the eminent Dunedin barrister, and Mr Drysdale, of Port Chalmers. , I hear the latter gentleman is now on a visit to Scotland.

The 20s shares in the Crown Mine, Karangahake, New Zealand, are quoted to-day at 37s 6d in Glasgow. At the Royal Agricultural Society's Show, held at Westminster last Tuesday, many different kiads of New Zealand flowers, frozen in ice, were shown by Mr E. Herbert Fison, of Stoke House, Ipswich. The cylinders containing callistemon and leptospermum were in excellent order, but the clematis had faded greatly, and the ferns and dracEena cylinders were obscured with opaque ice. These exhibits were all frozen at Auckland, New Zealand, eight months ago. The display excited a good deal of public interest. The New Zealand Shipping Company appears as defendant in two cases set down ia the law lists— Allen v. New Zealand Shipping Company, and Green v. same. I learn, however, that both are of minor importance, one being a suit to set aside a charter party, and the other an action brought by a stewardess for compensation on account of dismissal. Neither case possesses any general or special interest. No sign appeared of the New Zealand fire brigades in last week's Fire Tournament. Up to its close they had not reported themselves, so I presume they are not coming at all. Did they ever intend to come ? Some say not.