AUSTRALIAN SUMMARY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2202, 14 May 1896, Page 23

AUSTRALIAN SUMMARY.

Btdnbt, May 3.

The decease of the aged statesman, Sir Henry Parkes, snapped a link connecting the history of the past 50 yean. A feeling of universal sorrow pervaded the community when the intelligence spread on Monday morning that he was sleeping his last sleep at Keailworth. Always a lonely man, devoting his leisure to books, Sir H. Parkes was seldom seen since his withdrawal from public life. Politioal friends, foes alike, combined to express regret at the removal of one who wielded great power for a long period. The prenß was practically unanimous in eulogiums of the deceased's career, one exoeption being the Melbourne Age. Thivt jonrnal's Protectionist faith would not permit it to see any good work from the hands of the great apostle of Freetrado. Any legislation Sir H. Parke3 was reapoiseible for was, according to the Age, merely a reflex of some Victorian statute or other. The3e comments, however, have abiut the sauia effect on Sir H. Parkes dead as on Parkes alive. The deceased's latter days were strangely reminiscent of his boyhood's struggles against poverty. At 11 he wan working for his living, not infrequently suffering the sharp pangs of hunger ; at 82 ho found his po*itioa one in which he hardly knew how to get the nucsssarießn u csssarieß of life, and this after years of labour for his country. Sir H Parkes's political success mainly rested j on tho power he had of investing any idea which commended itsalf to him with a fascination that the bulk of his hearers found it hard j to withstand. Ho had all the imagination buL- wit-bout the technical skill to reducs his conceptions to practice His advecacy of a Uuiied Australia is a case iv point. He displayed the ideal in glowing colours, and compelled attention that could not have bcea ] attracted by all the acute reasonings on the subject put together. To men of more logjcally^balanced minds, however, was left the task of clearing the track. That Sir Heu/y Pnrfces poaeesaed great vanity is true ; bat he also had a great genius of managing men avccuinpauying it. The enmifcy which exioted between Sir H. Parkes and Mr Reid wa^ happily ended before the former's death. The Premier waß away at Broken Hill when the news ©f the death reached him, but he ordered everything to be done to carry out the funeral in a liberal manner. Speaking at Btoken Hill, Mr Reid said that every one who studied the remarkable career of the deceased statesman admitted no man filled so Urge a place in public life in Australia. His services in the earlier days of the country,- when many bitter struggles had to bs fought to gain the blessings of a freo Constitution, were of a most distinguished character. ' He was gifted by an intellect such as ia rarely J possessed by his fellow men. Hi's miud was full of sound progressive Liberal views and patriotism of the highest kind. His ser vicis form n large part of the htetory of this land. All through Australasia, over whose unity he wa§ so srdent, so ceaseless, and so able an advocate, there is only one fe*ling — that of profound regret at his death and unstinted admiration of his life. No one perhaps of lvte years had boon in a position of greater anUgoniira than himself ; but these were only mere fleeting un«abstatitial clouda which p&aa away, leaving behind them the unsullied glory of a long illustrious career, devoted in the main to tho cause of colonial progress. Sir H. Parkes had 12 children by hia first mfc, six of whom died before him. By the second wife there are six young children. There is n strong feeling that in houour to fche man wh<j hud done so much to give free .education fco the children of the oolouy the State should see the fatherless ones' suitably educated. The deca&sed was buried beside his firot wife. Two distinguichfd visitors with missions arrived duricg th« week. Mv Lowles, a member of tha. House of CKraimona, has come in the interest* of bhe United Empire Trade League to so-j wh*t he can do to inculcate interest in its objccWi and organisation in the direction of stimulating inter-British trade upsn a preferential basis. He believes if preferential tride waa guaranteed to England by the colonies there would be no obj«cti<m to the imposition of » duty on foreign wheat ooraing to England, provided the mother country could obtain supplies from the colonies ; and that would be a valuable quid pr» quo to Australia. Preference ?n tho Homo markets might also be given to Australian wines aud butter. He is aluo favourable to a suggestion that hog been made for the reliof of tho congestion of the labour market in the old country by the British Government selecting from the unemployed suitable me« as emigrants toAut, trali* aud assisting them t-oconiennd settle upou t he land, also providing them with menus of subsUtjirce for, say, tha first 12 uouthe. Our own unemployed and labour org&nis&tiocß will probsbly have something to cay about the latter sobeme. Our second visitor is Major-general French, j who comes to look after the local army for the next three years'. General French is already favourably known in the colonies, having been commander ra Queensland some time ago. A*ked whether there was much probability of »n attack being made on the colonies, Major-genwral French replied : " Candidly I do not, though I ia nowise want to be thought to advocate the neglect of defences on that score. Oa the contrary, only by keeping th« defences thoroughly efficient can we prevent an attack." The Governor in viiiting the Clarence river dhtriot met with a somewhat romantic experience. Dining at a wayside inn, the cuiane attracted mere than passing attention, chiefly owing to the way in which so ma omelettes were cooked. Inquiries elici v ed tho fact that an old man who went by the name of Count was responsible. Viicount Hampden in the course of conversntion discovered that the count was a brother of Prince Bnthjany, a Hungarian noble, the cook's title being Count Dions Carlo Cassimir Bathyany. For long years he has been exiled through taking part in a political agitation. He expreised himself happy when he had plenty to do ; otherwise, he said, though the time passed, memory lingers. , May 10. Now thftt the days of black gunpowder are numbered, the colonies, and Victoria particularly, have been inquiring as to the cost of establishing a cordite factory in the Utter colony. Thore was a wide divergence batween what the local authorities estimated the cost of such a factory and what the English advisers arrived at. In this colony the contract with the Melbourne Pewder Factorj expires in 1900, when the Govt-rmperit requite to make further arrangements. An offer cotneg to hand from the Norm*! Powder Syndicate of London, in which, if the Government agree to take a fair share of ammunition, they are prepared to lay down a plant to supply the whole of the colo: i ith a smokeless powder which io said to h : j &a advantage over cordite, in that it does not explode except by ignition, and is practically damp- proof. Apropos of war material, some relics of the etirring times in the New Zealand war turned up at Newcastle last week iv the shape of two ca&aoa, wbjoh played an important put ia that

i strife. These hiatorio gunj had been placed in position, »nd appropriately enough, by the president of a bowling club, Lieutenantcommander Gardiner. Tha fire aboard the Ellen Reada callu to mind the fact that since 1880 to the end of 1895, 24 coal-laden foreign-bound ships from Newcastle were lost or missing, "resulting in the loss of 4-50 lives. Viewed in the. light of the frequent discovery of heated cargoes during the pa3t month or so, it is not too much to surmise that the crews perished by that dread enemy fire, or perhaps by a more merciful explosion. The subject calls for the closest scientific investigation. Mr W. J. Lowles, M.P., has finished his tour of Au&tralia on bshalf of the United Empire I Leaguo, and has turned his steps homewards." j Whether he has accomplished that for which he came out i« problematical. In the colonies business men have loug recognised the value of a reciprocal trade between the different paita of tho Empire, bat nothing loss than the termination of international tro»t ; e« could give effect to the aspirations of the Empire League. Such a step present* grave difficulties. Mr Lowles practically threw no light as to how these obstacles were •to bo satisfactorily overcome. We have been treated to figures galore, showing up in a tempting manner what British requirement* a r e worth, and how the colonies would profit if they could get a preference over foreign competition ; bat unkss Mr Lowles oan persuade the British Government to abrogate existing treaties these tempting grapes are likely to remain very secure. Smith, Ellis, Holrnan, and Wooldridge, conviebed of the Daily Post conspiracy, have gained their liberty. ' An appeal was made to the Fall Court, on the ground that the jadge coul^ only allow the prisoners to make a statement or to giv« evidence, but could not do both. The Full Ci'urfe reversed the judgment, holding that acoueed could both make a statement and give evidence oa their own behalf. Melbourne, May 3. The Government have appointed a Royal Commission to inqniro into the quettion of assisting the Mildtsra settlors in the way ef renovating the pumpiog machinery and irrigation 'channels. The chief engineer estimated fchi\i; two-fifths of the water pumped is lost owin^ to the bad condition of the chunuels, and £40,000 ia requited to pub these in proper order. Under the scb the Chafieye were held responsible for the repairs, but in their present financial position they are not likely to carry out fche reconstruction of the channels, and this duty therefore devolves on the water trusts, which are also unprovided with funds. If tha settlement is not to collapse the Government will have to take the work in hand. They will be gnid«d by the report of the CommisMon. The liquidators' report shows that the amount due by shareholders v £290,000 odd, all of which has been called up, but littlo realised of tho amount^ G Chaffey ia liable for £159,000 and W B. Chaffey f<ir £7700. The Australasian, dUcuscing the advantages to breeders by the adoption of the totalisator in Adelaide and New Zealand, regrets its poi>aib!e abolition in the latter colony, expressing the opinion that racing will deteriorate). Mr Sfce^d, Sir George Clifford, Captain Russell, and other good men would soon quit the game, and, worse than all, large Soudm&sters may have to relinquish breeding. This would be a serious thing for New Zealand. The colony is celebrated throughout the world for her thoroughbred horses. Carbins, Trenton, Sir Modred, and Maxim, which had been Uvkeu to England and America at prices far beyond colonial value, were all reared in New Zeal an 1. As | things stand now, sluctmastera in that colony are dependent upon the fcotalisitor. May 10. The sensation of the wpek was the poisoning of four children named Wiffen by moons of candy with which arsenic was incorporated. How the candy found its way into the house — ose of fche ( childreu having picked it off the kitchen table — is baffl'ng the policy. The children have recovered, although one is still in a serious condition. This ia apparently the second attempt made to poison the same family. In the previous instanoe a packet of cocoa found j its way into the house, and it was supposed to have contained poison. Yet another thoroughbred will proceed to England. MrUuam, sister to M.ilvolio, has been sold for 1000 guineas to go to England. The daughter of Malua leaves to-day, and m*y probably race in the old country before going to the Bf/ud. A conference is likely to be held here of all the cycling leagues te take steps to bring about federation and the imparting of a uniform character. The Sangsfcer Baard still hold on their way, fiudiog fanlfc with various steamers. . One of the latest to come under observation was tfae bay steadier Osone. Thu vessel, which carries a large number of passengers down the b*y, was alleged to have her hall pl»tes so thin that a keresoue tin was of quite respectable thickness compared with them ; and that a m«n engaged on repairs oa board that boat had simply pushed his ohiiel through th« pl*tei. Countel alleged that had a sen. come aboard she would Janr« opeaed up like a basket. One surveyor et&tad thftt the vessal was constrncted in the 1 fliimicefc manner possible. It was useless to report the fact to the Marine Board, baoause the board were constituted of ownera, who therefore eowght to protect their own interests. The board are now engaged taking rebutting evidence. Adelaide, May 3. The president of the Women's Temperance Union has communicated to the press her views on wemtm'n influence at the ballot box on the oosasion of first wielding the privilege. S4ya the lady :—": — " Viwvred from the standpoint of social reformers, the elections were a decided gain. Must of the now members were more favourable to temper*noe aud purity of legislation than their predecessors, and in two districts the change marked a new era in this respect. While women did not feel called upon publicly to denounoe any candidate they could not approve of, they made careful inquiry as to characters as well as to politioal j views, and voted for those whom they believed to be good. Tbus they had in some cases to vote against men with whose political views they were in accord, which cost no little selfdenial. Mr M'Phersun, leader of the Labour party, was also gratified at the result. The party gained two scats. With the assistance of Labour, Blininterialists and Independents will form a strong Liberal party. Yet another expedition to Central Australia is on the tapis. A party, consisting of about five men and 20 camels, has been despatched under the auspioes of the local branch of the Royal Geographical Society. The party is under the leadership of Wells, of the Elder expedition, and will finish the work of the latter party. Baron Yon Mualler obtained pernaiwioa for the new party to search for traces of the lost Leichhswdb. May 10. Amongst other things, the Agricultural Conference affiimed the necessity of assisting the producer over his difficulties caused by the delay in getting his returns. This is to ba done by direct advances by l fche State on the f.o.b. valae, or by facilitating obtaining such advanoes

by the issue of negotiable cerfcifloateg ; that th« London experts of the various colonies should consult together as to the best system of distribution, The conference wiH nex v < meet ia Syduey, when the experts will furnish reports. Pbbth, M?.y 10. The Government oontemplnts imprwvirjg the telegraphic service by importing oflktrd from England. It is said that the Agent-general will despatch 10 by every m*il staamer unt.l the sarvico Is thoroughly manned. The idea of briuging men from Home is that the Morse code, which is in use in England, ooincides with the Weatralian systain ; they have theraforo less to learn ttwn operators from tho other colonies. Niagara, near Moiiaied.Ja a mining town* ship which is likely to come into unsavoury notoriety if better pol'oe protection is not provided. At times mobs of roaghs take possession of the town, and Judge Lynch UicA to afsert himself a few nights ago. Ia a mi 1 in a barmaid was struck with a bottle. A number of infuriated men captured the au&ilant, put a rope round his neob, but the treeless west; failed to provide a suitable place to fix the rope, so they proceeded to kiok him to d«ath. The nun'd life was only saved through him feigning death.