BRITISH AND FOREIGN. LONDON, September 25.

Otago Witness, Issue 2690, 4 October 1905, Page 26

BRITISH AND FOREIGN. LONDON, September 25.

• Queen Alexandra sent a message warmly ;ondoling with the widow, and paying a kigh' tribute to Dr Barnardo's work among London's poor children. v „ The Daily News, in a leading article beaded " A New Gibraltar,"- commenting Dn' the Singapore naval base, sets against the Government's world policy of expansion and fortification the humane ideal of' arbitratioa and a reduction of armament.

September 26.

Sir Wilfrid Laurier *has asked ..Lord iLansdowne "to arrange for Canada becoming a party _ to _the Anglo- Japanese Treaty of -1895 in order to" secure tha minimum tariff now benefiting- American products. •'■".'■ - v Helen -Jerome, an Australian, failing to obtain the "Pope's opihioa, on '"Australian Socialism, Dr Hagan, Vice-rector of the Irish College at Home, wrote to her as j follows: — "In the long run the' question] is not far removed from a doctrinal one. Bo far as I can judge, the social programme approved by Cardinal Moran is no more real Socialism as we understand the term here, than Catholicism is Pagan- j ism. It is simply what we know as Chris- J tian democracy, which his Holiness Leo Km, the present Pope, has warmly approved." -. The commercial men of Hull Qiave invited the Agents-general to inspect the 'docks on October 10, and to examine the exceptional facilities that Hull possesses for the development of direct trade with

Mr Augustine Birrell, K.C., speaking at Bristol in the Liberal interest, said that ths time was not ripe for an appeal to Great Britain to grant Irish Home Rule. The Irish representatives" must show the English and Scotch people bit by bit that tha Irish were well qualified to govern themselves. This, however, could only be done administratively and gradually in the iourse of a few years. The Times states that -an AustroDhinese bank, with a, capital of a million sterling, is forming, with headquarters at Vienna and branches in China. It will be on. similar fines to the Deutsch-Asiatische Bank at Berlin, and will probably serve as a satellite later on to the furtherance 9f German commercial and political interSeptember 27. Hie report of the Bank of Australia

shows deposits amounting to £16,286,330 ; cash securities, £6,765,732; and bills, £15,055,970. The body of Mary Modey, Bookkeeper, aged 22 years, gagged with a veil and shockingly mutilated by a train, was dis.covered in the Merstham tunnel. There were marks of violence on the arm, wrist, and other parts of the body, and fingermarks along the grimy walls of the tunnel suggested that she had clutched at the ,wall in trying to save herself when ejected from a train from London. Her assailant has not been discovered. The mystery recalls the case of Lafroy murdering Gold in a train, in the Merstham tunnel in IQO.I -

The freedom of the City of London has been unanimously conferred on General Booth.

Russia has ordered 60,000 tons of steam coal from Cardiff for the earliest possible delivery. Owing to the rise in the price oT pig iron, the Scotch steel masters have raised the price of all manufactures 10s per ton.

Mr Hadfield, in his presidential addresw .before the Iron and Steel Institute (Sheffield), said that a wave of prosperity was in store for both employer and employed.

September 28.

The Daily Mail states that a flying force has left Pretoria for the Basuto border. Basutoland is disturbed. A sort of holy war is being preached, more particularly against the Beers.

Canterbtuy has inaugurated a scheme for training women teachers in theology.

Mr Wyndham, M.P., speaking at Dover, justified the work of the session. Without the Aliens and th,e Unemployed Bills it would have been but waste paper, and have invited foreigners to become a burden on the State.

CaxJtain Ernest Gaunt, a Victorian, has been appointed to the cruiser Cambrian, commissioned for Australia.

September 29.

King Edward receives at Buckingham Palace the members of the Paris Municipality, who will be tne London County Council's guests in October. September 30. Lord and Lady 'Minto will sail for India on. November 3. Lord Curzon will receive the Prince of Wales on his arrival on his visit to India. Replying to a long cablegram describing Mr Jellicoe's interview given to the New Zealand Times and published in the Liverpool Post, Mr Coghlan (Agent-general for New South Wales) complains of Mr Jellicoe's I vague generalities, and especially corrects

misstatements about capital being driven from Victoria by the operation of the compulsory Arbitration Act. Mr Coghlan challenges Mr Jellicoe to give the name of one person belonging to the British race who, not being a criminal or mentally or physically infirm, was refused admission to Australia during 1904.

October 1.

The Loch Vennachar's owners consider that the vessel is not wrecked but dismasted, and they are hopeful that she will yet be found.

The London Observer states that the Admiralty has decided to make Dover a first class naval base, with a fortress completely protected from torpedo attacks. When the base is completed the reserve divisions now at Chatham and Portsmouth will be , permanently stationed at Dover.

Lord Brassey has offered to erect in Italy, at his own expense, a large number of , wooden cottages of English make for the sufferers through the recent earthquake. The Italian Government has grateiully accepted tlie offer. The New Zealand Shipping Company's report for the year ended June 30 shows a profit of £54,466. A dividend of 5 per cent, was declared, and £13,106 is carried forward.

A movement is afoot in Liverpool to erect spinning mills at a cost of a million and a-half, in order to recover portion of the trade the ship canal has diverted to Manchester.

October 2.

H.M.S. Natal, the most powerful cruiser in the world, has been launched at Messrs Vickers, Sons, and Maxim's yards at Barrow. Mr Vickers hinted that cruisers of that type would in future be merged into battleships. PARIS, September 26. The Minister of Agriculture, a^a banquet at Thonon-les-Bains, in referring to the recent Franco-German crisis, said all danger had been averted, but in order to work in peace France required a strong and sincerely Republican army.

BERLIN, September 25. M. De Witte will be the chief Russian delegate at The Hague Convention. He arrived her© on his way home from America, and received an ovation. Subsequently he had an interview with Baron Richthofen, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

iSeptember 26. M. De Witte had an hour's 'interview with Prince Bulow.

September 30. The German battleship Hanover has been, launched at Wilhelmghavea»

ROME, September 28. Italy has accepted the Czar's invitation to The. Hague Conference. ST. PETERSBURG, September 25. *M. De Witte's organ implies that Russia's policy in the near East is to play Germany against England, and to await results. Each is represented as being anxious to secure a weapon against the other.

September 27.

The Czar's invitation to hold a Peace ' Conference at the Hague has been, communicated to the Powers. The Czar announces that the conference will deal chiefly with serious questions occurring during the recent war, which it is essential to settle at the earliest opportunity.

Ruesia has ordered a large cruiser from the Vickers-Maxim Works and another from France.

September 28. M? De Witte had a cordial interview with ,the Kaiser. M. De Witte, on his return here, was accorded a great ovation. September 29. General SEoessel, the defender of Port Arthur, is suffering from paralysis in the side.

CONSTANTINOPLE, September 27.

The Powers, in a note, have requested the Porte to issue the instructions enabling the controllers in Salonika (as cabled on the 4th inst.) to begin their functions immediately.

September 30.

Acting on information given by Armenian prisoners, the police at Pera, a suburb of Constantinople, discovered 651b of dynamite in the Austria -Hungarian Hospital. An Armenian hall porter has been arrested. Twelve bombs were discovered in the Hotel Pera, which is kept by a German lady, employing Armenian servants. WASHINGTON, October 2. President Roosevelt on his return here received a remarkable ovation. NEW YORK, September 26. Baron Komura traverses Canada on his homeward journey.

September 27.

Baron Komura, when interviewed before starting homewards, said that Japan, as a result of the War, secured a wellrecognised position in the Far East. There would be no break in. the continuity of Japan's foreign policy, and she would adhere to a peaceful expansion of commerce and industry.

September 28.

The evidence at the official inquiry has shown that Vice-president Hyde and others used ike, Equitable Life Insurance Com-

pany' 6 funds to pay their calls on railwaystocks, the Equitable not receiving any; interest on the money thus advanced, though the company received the profits on its own similar, but simultaneous, investments. Other and more startling allegations are suggested. September 29. The Convention of Insurance Commissioners of New Hampshire recommends legislative restriction on elapses of securities wheiein insurance companies may invest. October 2. A woman living at Cambridge (Illinois) killed her seven children with an axe and then laid the bodies on a bed soaked with oil and set fire to them. She afterwards cut b,er own throat and jumped into the flames. Her husband committed suicide later. Mr J. A. Dowie, of Zion City, became paralysed while recruiting his health in "Mexico. He has chosen his successor, whose naaie will not be divulged till after his death. .. , ; SAN FRANCISCO, September 30. The.- steamer Alameda, when starting from here for Honolulu, went ashore in a bay, settling down. Launches removed the passengers. CAPETOWN, September 27. The Chinese on the Rand received .'. £316,074 in wages from January to June. [ They remitted £15,744 to their relatives I and spent the balance in clothing and luxuries. September 29. The Cape Argus publishes further interviews with the Boers who were recently engaged as transport assistants m Damaraland. They declare that the Germans suspended a native chief by his wrists for 1 three days and fliree nights and kept him in a foodless and waterless condition. Then they hanged him. They compelled the inhabitants of the Angrapequena district to witness the execution. September 30. A Cyclone ploughed through the centra of Malinesbury (Cape Colony), razing a hundred houses to the ground. Six persons were killed and many, injured. PRETORIA, September 26. j The Transvaal Government has ap1 pointed a Commission to inquire into the safety of miners in the travelling shafts. BOMBAY, September 29. i As a protest against the partition ofBengal, 500 Hindoos swore in Kalighat Temple to boycott all foreign goods. October 1. Lord Curzon was banqueted at Simla.. He stated that frontier wars from 1894 to 1899 had cost four and a-half millions, compared with a quarter of a million spent in the last seven years. Lord Curzon leaves India on November 18. PEKING, September 29. China, since the conclusion of the peace, • has peremptorily refused Germany's fresh demands for mining and railway concessions in Slian-tung. HONGKONG, September 27. A typhoon at Manila killed 10 Filipinos. Thousands are homeless. September 28. The typhoon at Manila was the worst experienced for years. A gunboat was sunk, and the infantry quarters at Manila were destroyed. September 3o Eleven Americans and 24 natives were drowned as a result of the foundering of an old gunboat at Manila during a typhoon. Fifteen natives were drowned at Sarsogon. The damage to the hemp plantations is estimated at a million dollars. TOKIO, September 28. 1 The next Japanese Budget will providefor the maintenance of commercial agents in India, South America, and Australia.