BRITISH AND FOREIGN. LONDON, March 5.

Otago Witness, Issue 2402, 15 March 1900, Page 13

BRITISH AND FOREIGN. LONDON, March 5.

A British Cotton and Wool-dyers' Association has been floated, with a capital of £3,000,000. The firms in she association lepresent 80 per cent, of the entire trade. The Prince of Wales will not attend the opening of the Paris Exhibition. Owing to the pressure of public affairs, the Queen has abandoned her intention to visit Bordighiera, in the Riviera. March 6. The mobilisation of a powerful British reserve fleet has commenced at Torbay, Devonshire, south coast of England. I The Departmental Committee report , to the House of Commons Committee that a scheme for pensioning the deserving poor at the age of 65 would cost 10 and ■ a-quarter millions in 1901, and 50 per cent, more in 1921. I It is estimated that an all-British Pacific cable will cost £1,400,000. Lord Pauncefote, British Ambassador at Washington, has been reappointed for another year. | Marcn 7. It is probable that Messrs Deakin and Barton, the Federal delegates, will be examined at the Bar of the House of Commons in connection with the Commonwealth Bill. The Budget proposals did not in any way affect the Stock Exchange. Consols

rose 15s when it was known that there would not be a fresh issue. March 8. The Board of Trade of Montreal is sending to the congress of chambers of commerce, to be held in London, resolutions in favour of moderate special ad valorem duties on foreign imports leviable uniformly throughout the British Empire, the revenue %o raised to be \ised for joint Imperial purposes. Representatives of colonial trade in England are agitating in regard to the tax on brokerage contracts. The London Chamber of Commerce will make an inquiry into the scope of the tax. There have been many dealings in the new war loan security at a premium of 1 to 1£ per cent. It is believed that it will be issued to-morrow at a fixed price of £98 or £98 10s, to bear interest at the rate of 2| per cent. The war loan has been dubbed " Khaki," and is quoted at 1-| to 2 per cent. i March 9. j Sir A. Clarke, the . Victorian Agentgeneral, is arranging with the other Agents- j general to reopen the agitation in favour j of the investment of trust funds in colo- | nial stocks. j Mr E. Blanc, the well-known owner, ' bought the racehorse Flying Fox for 37,500g5. The Prince of Wales "held a l^vee at St. James's. All . the Agents-general were presented immediately after the Foreign Ambassadors. Mr W. P. Reeves was unavoidably prevented from attending. The Rev. Francis James Chava'sse, rector of St. Peter Lebailay and principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, has been appointed Bishop of Liverpool. \ Fifty, not sixty, thousand men will mobilise on the Salisbury Plains. March 10. j The war loan has been issued at 98-£, ! bond or inscribed stock, with interest at ' 2% per cent., redeemable at par in 1910. j A deposit of 3 per cent, must accompany | applications. The list closes on the 15th. ' In the House of Commons, Sir M. ' Hicks-Beach stated that the stamp duty on brokers' contracts applies to sales of all i descriptions of produce through a broker, but not between principals. j The Appeal Court has reversed the decision given hy Mr Justice Woraer last ' year justifying the Merrhyr Tydvil Board of Guardians in granting temporary relief to Welsh colliers on strike. The Appeal I Court held that if workmen were able to ' get wages to support themselves they were not entitled to poor law relief. Professor Hughes, electrician, has bequeathed £400,000 to the London Hospital. j * ' March 11. The war loan was a huge success. The , Bank of England was besieged by applicants. One American firm applied for 10 millions sterling. There are large dealings on the Stock Exchange. The loan is , quoted 2| premium. Belfast and other Irish cities invite the Queen to visit them. The Dublin Corporation have decided to receive the Queen and present an address. i The Unionists acknowledge the taste and moderation displayed by the Nationalists over the visit of the Queen. The British warships Terrible and Powerful have been ordered to China. Obituary : Mr Edward Phelps, formerly American Minister in London. A review of troops by the Queen in the private grounds of Buckingham Palace attracted vast crowds of people, stretching away to Paddington. PARIS, March 5. | The anti-British crusade in France has been publicly deprecated by M. Delcasse and M. Ribot, while M. Deschanel has warned the .French people that their conduct is childish. It was imprudent to harass and insult a strong nation like Great Britain. March 9. The celebrated Comedie Francaise, Paris, was burned during a gigantic fire. Some of the pictures were saved. A hostile demonstration was made against

the British Consulate at Bordeaux. , Subsequently the Prefect of the Gironde. and the Mayor of Bordeaux apologised to the consul.

M. Delcasse bos apologised to Sir E. Monson for the Bordeaux consulate incident.

Mine. Henriot, a talented actress, while rehearsing, was suffocated in the Comedie Francaise. The fire occurred an hour before the matinee performance.

BERLIN, March 11

Importers at Hamburg and Bremen are indignant at the action of the Reichstag -n widening the scope of the Inspection of Meat Bill introduced by the Government. The widening was made in view of impeding the imports of meats, thus aiding the sale of meat raised in Germany. America, threatens to take retaliatory measures. WASHINGTON, March 7. The Naval Committee of the United States Senate favour the construction of a Government cable from San Francisco to Honolulu, the cable to be ultimately extended, via the Philippines, to Hongkong.