BRITISH AND FOREIGN. LONDON, December 10.

Otago Witness, Issue 2805, 18 December 1907, Page 26

BRITISH AND FOREIGN. LONDON, December 10.

In the case of the New Zealand Shipping Company v. Stephens (Surveyor of Taxes) the. Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal against Mr Justice Bray's decision, upholding the Income Tax Commissioner's right to assess the company. Stock to the value of £60,000 in the Great Northern railway changed hands at a single deal, in view, of the * .pooling arrangements that that company has made with the "Great Central Railway . Company. ■ I .The Army Council, after.considering the ' report of the Committee of Inquiry, finds , that Lieutenant Woods is inefficient as a, regimental officer, and that his retention ' .;« the service was not in the interest of I the army. The council acquits his superior | brother-officers of being actuated by pre- ' judice or bias, but thinks that 'some pressure was wrongly brought to bear, to induce Woods to resign from the regiment. Mr Edwin Waterhouse has completed his special commercial audit into the works department of the London County Council. -He reports that the department, from a commercial standpoint, indicates sound and careful management, and that efficient and accurate records of all transactions have'been kept. The divorced wife of Colonel Atherton sued Captain Hon. John Reginald YardeBuller, the former co-respondent in the divorce proceedings, for breach of promise. The case was settled on the basis of the defendant admitting the breach and paying the costs. The promise was made while plaintiff was a married woman. December 11. Lord Carrington, President of the Board of Agriculture, speaking in London, recognised the unfair burden of rates on agricultural land. These constituted a legitimate grievance on the part of the English farmer. With a view to ultimately dealing with local taxation on broad lines, the Government intended to introduce a .Valuation BUI in 1908. December 12. The Kaiser, before sailing, declared that he had greatly enjoyed his visit to Eng- i land, and he hoped to repeat it. He ■ returns home improved in health. The Orient Company is inviting shipbuilders to tender for the construction of five new linera. Negotiations are progressing for the amalgamation of Sir T. Lipton's Maypole Dairy Company and the International Tea and Home and Colonial Stores, with a present combined capital of five and a-quarter millions sterling. The combination, includes between 4500 and 5000 shops |n Great Britain. The grocery amalgamation is denied. The Master of the Rolls, in a case that Came before him, held that, while not bound to refuse payment of a cheque on greceipt of an unautbenticated telegram Esking it not to pay, a bank might reasonEbly postpone honouring the cheque until Inquiries had been made, Miss Rita Broadfoot, a typiste, was found w|tb her. skull fractured in. her employer's office at Glasgow. . The safe frfd been robbed. Several authenticated radium cancer fcures dating from 1905 have been made ' Qt the hospital for diseases of the skin, \ Blackfriarsj London. December 13.^ j At a meeting of shareholders in. Mees'rs j ,W. and A. Macarthur and Co. (Ltd.) it ' .was decided to wind up voluntarily and t>& cell Hhe ■waj:«l*©«&© business to- a. n-ew company, also to appoint Mr A. F. j Whinney (chartered accountant) liquidator, j

A scarlatina serum has been discovered by Professor Marppman, of Leipzig, which gives marvellous cures in nearly every case. Great Britain and France have signed a Convention mutually •to assist in the recovery of succession duties and to prevent revenue frauds. | Many parts of England are flooded, and great damage has been done by the heavy rains. December 14. , The Daily Express emphasises the fact that Mr Lloyd-George is obtaining preferential reduction in favour of British States, and adds, that it is Australia's turn to ask what Freetraders will give in return for these and similar boons. The paper states that the Commonwealth Parliament has only two possible- replies: Preference, or nothing. December 15. The Thomas Laweon, a 5000-ton petroleum boat, capsized while^ riding at anchor off the Scilly Islands. Sixteen of the crew were drowned and three saved. December Id. Mr Haldane, in unveiling King Edward's statue at the University College School at Hampstead, said that the King's interest was hereditary. Had Prince Albert lived to realise his intentions the progress of education, would have been accelerated by a decade. PARIS, December 11. A new torpedo, an Italian invention, which was about to be tested at Toulon, has disappeared from the arsenal. December 12. Burglars stole pictures worth £12,000 from the museum at Amiens. > December 13. The National Congress of the French Council of State, which interprets the law, has decided that municipalities must provide religious instruction for those school children whose parents desire it. BERLIN, December 11. ■ Rupert, son of Prince Ludwig, Regent of Bavaria, has resigned his membership of the German Navy -League as & protest against the league's persistent agitation against foreign Powers. The Renewal of Commercial Relations with Great Britain Bill has passed the I Reichstag. I The , father of Count Erasmus Erbach placed his son in a lunatic asylum at "Adlweiler for marrying a washerwoman's daughter. The latter planned a perilous escape, which was effected by means of a rope. The couple then travelled to Switzerland, where they propose to remarry. - December 12. After discussing in conference at Cologne the recent Papal anti-Modernist encyclical, a majority of the bishops, headed by Dr Kopp (Archb:shop of Breslau), maintained that the Vatican must be given to understand that it must first take soundings in Germany before issuing an encyclical affecting Germany. December 13. The Prussian Government has largely modified the proposed expropriation of Polish, lands, in West Prussia and Posen, and the Diet is now asked to vote 273,000,000 marks for the purpose instead of 400,000,000 marks. December 15. The Budget Committee of the Prussian Diet has accepted the Government's modified bill for the Germanisation of Poland. ROME, December 11. The Chamber of Deputies Commission, by 5 votes to "4, affirmed the complete legality of Nasi's arrest. December 12. The assailant of the Marquis Cito, who was captured by brigands near Naples, has been arrested at Rome,.

ST. PETERSBURG, December 11. The Russian Budget shows a deficit of £19,500,000. ' General Dukmasoff will preside at the court-martial to be held in St. Petersburg for trying Generals Stoessel, TReuss^ Fock, ; and Smirnoff on a charge of illegally and i dishonourably surrendering Port Arthur. One hundred and fifty witnesses will be examined, including Admiral Wirren and General Gregorovitch. December 12. Twelve Anarchists at Sebastopol murdered and robbed the senior magistrate and his wife. • I - - December 13. | .General Kaulbars has been summoned to St. Petersburg to explain, the defeat at | Mukden. General Rennenkampf has suc1 ceeded him as Governor of Odessa. CONSTANTINOPLE, December 15. Two thousand Montenegrins crossed the . Turkish frontier and massacred the < in- ' habitants of two Albanian villages near Gusinjo. NEW YORK, December 10. Dalziell Brown (manager), Dartnett (director), and Walker (president of the California Safe Deposit Trust Cempany) have been arrested on a charge of embezzlement. December 13. Mrs Nicholas Longworth has undergone a successful operation for appendicitis. December 15. It is stated in Hampton Roads that those employed on Admiral Evans's battleships will not be allowed to accompany the fleet to the Pacific, all the men having been dismissed and the squadron crammed with ammunition. SAN FRANCISCO, December 13. The Japanese and Korean Exclusion League at San Francisco is seeking to secure 1,000,000 signatures to a petition to Congress asking for the exclusion of Asiatics. OTTAWA, December 11. The police at Toronto are protecting several business men from the Black Hand Society. Attempts have been made to blackmail them by threats of murder. December 13. In connection with the celebration o| the tercentenary of Champlain's landing at Quebec, King Edward has subscribed 100 guineas towards Lord Grey's movement for the purchase of the battlefields round Quebec, including the Plains of Abraham, with, a view of converting them into a public park. December 15. There is exceptionally mild weather in North-west Canada, and many farmers have already finished ploughing. CAPETOWN, December 10. A Cape Colony 4 per cent, loan of £1,000,000, with a 10 years' currency, was over-subscribed. All applicants will receive 60 per cent, of their applications. PRETORIA, December 12. Mr Botha, the Premier, has acquiesced in 2000 Chinese now on the Rand being engaged in the extension of the Begnalla railway, instead of being repatriated. ♦