; ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES

Otago Witness, Issue 2860, 6 January 1909, Page 52

; ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES

1 (Fhom Ova. Own Correspondent.) LONDON, October 9. 2 There left London on Saturday on board \ the s.s. Ruapehu a large consignment of 2 Christmas presents for Lieutenant Shacklej ion and ttie members of his Antarctic t expedition Ihese presents consisted of 3 Christmas puddings and cakes, bottled , trims, crystallised fruits, tobacco, cigars, | cigarettes, books, and papers. All articles , ihat were of a perishable nature were f upeeially packed and seaJed in air-tight » tins. At Wellington, they will be trani, shipped to a coasting vessel for Lyttelton, the Nimrod will carry them tot the I headquarters of the expedition at Mac- , Murdo ."Sound. The present consignment is r the last that can be delivered this year. It was. preceded a fortnight ago by 1400 ] cases ot provisions and equipment, which . were despatched airect to Lytteiton from, ; Liverpool. It is understood m London tha*, ; provided the conditions are favourable, lieutenant Shackleton has already begun [ his das-h for the Sowth Pole. > Th© death of Sir George Livesey, the , great profit-sharing pioneer, took place at . his residence at Kaigate on Monday. He . had been ill about three weeks" and coti- . lined to his bed for a fortnight. Sir . George entered the service of the South . Metropolitan. Gas Company in 1848, because i «. director in. 1682, and chairman in 1885, . holding the latter position up to the time of his death. The great event of his life, [ as well as in the historj- of the company, was the strike which occurred in the winter of 1889-1890, when for some months a keen struggle took place for the control of the management of tha works between the cjireotors and the- men's union. It was Sir George Livesey who engineered the defence throughout the fight against the Gas Stokers' Union, and on the termination of the struggle a pubJic testimonial was presented to him. It was also due to his initiative that a profit-sharing scheme was ultimately accepted. In addition to their wages, the men have a share in the profits. Half the amount they thus receive they are expected to leave in the company J on deposit, but the majority either leave all the money on deposit or, with the half that they take out, uurchasa shares in the company. The amount so left on deposit and invested amounted in 1905 to about £300.000. Representation on the board was brought about by Sir George Livesey, and there are a.t present two representatives qf the men upon the beard. . The 6oheme has been found to work remarkably well, and no further trouble has arisen with the men. As a consequence of the appreciation of what Sir George did in defending the rights of his compaay, his opinion has since been frequently sought in labpuiv matters. 'Sne inauguration of the penny postage with the United States of America on the Ist inst. o».used a rapid rise in the number 'of letters despatched thither. Daring the previous week, when the charge of 2£d was in force, there were 47 bags sent to the United States from Lbndon and the suburbs. These contained 46,700 letters. Durinig the current week, with the old charge of 2£d and the reduced .postage rate during the latter part of the week, the ' bags numbered 65, with a total of 95,000 letters. The total number of bags for the United Kingdom during the previous week was 735, while in the current week the number of bags had grown to 848. In inanv quarters the information of a cheapened postal rate apparently has not become known, for on Saturday there were still a large number ot letters bearing the old postage rate of 2id. The visit of Lieutenant (she late \dniiral) Richard Moorman to New Zealand 80 years ago did not amount to much. Inspection of the log of H.M. sloop Pandora fehows that it was in 1828 (not in 1827) that she visited New Zealand. Leaving Port Jackson on January 5, 1828, sho , visited Hoba-rt and then came across to New Zealand. Making the land at CapeEgmont, she passed down the ooast.^ through Cook Strait, and up the East Cape. -After pas-ing East Cape on Feb- ! Mary 1, -^he spoke the whaler L\nx, bound; I for North Cape. The following day the Pandora anchored in the Thames Kiver, • where she lay for three days, with no recorded incident beyond the capture of a shark lift long. On the 6th she took oi: the pilot at the entrance to Bay of Islands, where she found the South Sea 1 trader Marianna at anchor. Commander J-ervoise i-5 very terse in his log entries, 1 and apparently nothing occurred at Korora1 reka. The Pandora sailed on the 9th for Sydney. The late Admiral Moorman doets not appear to have had a watch on the ""Succass. and the only midshipman mention ?d is Mr Murray. There is no record of the Pandora having been ashore at Swan ..River. The name Maori has b?r>n given to one of the new torpodo-Voaf destroyers under construction for the navy. , The Union Steamship Co. of New Zealand ha.s placed an order with Messrs William Doxlord and Son^. for a cargo steamer of 4CCO tons; the n<?\v ship is to be a selftrlniincr and selt-disschargsr. Referring to it tho Standard .-ays : — Now Zealand is coming to the front in a wonderful way as an enccurager of' de\elop:ucnt-> in mercantile marine an* in the improvement of communications. The State's keenness in maritime affair? is also strikingly evidenced by the bill to wcri'&io its n/\al suKidy from £40,00 j :o £100,000 annually, which has ju-t 'ot n r»ad a third time in the House of Representatives. In t^3 < cur^e of sectional work at tho Con^ri'Js of Kef rig crating Industries, at P.ii'is, on Wednesday, a resolution submitted by M.r Gilbert Anderson, the New Zealand official delegate, in favour of the adaption of a'i international standard for moat in-^ppction, wa.> accepted. The mcafeurp proposed is expected to have an important bearing- on tho introduction of colonial meat into Europe. A r>ror>c=al was albo adopted for the appoinln cut of an International Coininhee to iix units and <-ymbo!-5 for u^e in the I'efrigcrating industries. Emigration .fi cures for Ausrusr si ow some improvement upon these of one or two previous month.-*, but' the effective check upon emigration from tho United l£in.!?-dcm to Canada imposed by the restrictive regulations of tha Doininicn Government is still abundantly apparent. The rerurn of pas«enj?er traffic to countries outside Europe 3hows that British tia\€llerd to the

North American colonies -numbered 831$, as compared with, 15,296 in August last year. In the case of New Zealand and Australia, on the other hand, the total was 2973, an increase of 784 over the number for the corresponding month of last year ; and for the various South African colonies the departures totalled 2109, as against 1832 in August, 1907. For the eight | months to August 31 the departures of British subjects to these countries compare as follow with the same period of last year : — 1908 1907. British North America ... 61,863 122,508 Australia and N. Zealand 17,644 13,438 British South Africa . . 10,924- 11,926 The circular which the trades unions of Ne>vv Zaaland sent to England to make clear the true position of labour has received a smart little refutation in a letter to The Times from Mr F. James, of I Napier. Mr James writes: — "I understand that the Trades and Labour Council of <New Zealand have recently circularised I the press in the United Kingdom with the I professed object of setting forth the true j position of workers in this country, attempting to demonstrate that they are experi- ! encing at the present time a keen struggle [ for existence. That the situation is not • so acute as has been set forth may be gathered from a perusal of the notice in reference to proposed alterations to the Napier Working Men's Chub. The fact that a club, owned and supported by work- } ing - men in a town of some 9600 inhabitants, have decided on the erection ofnew club premises at a cost of £10,000 speaks i for itself." i The Edinburgh Evening News deals int J leaderette fashion, with Sir Joseph Ward's I speech in which he is reputed to have said : I — " New Zealand realised that she was unable to stand alone.- . . . The Home ( Government ought to realise " that they ! snared with us the development of the JKmpire. _ The Scottish paper proceeds i — "• Here is New Zealand setting up in. fine style to teach the Mother Country wisdom. In his Dominion Day speech Sir Joseph Ward expressed as gently as he could the patronage the colony nowadays extends to the -Mother Country. . . . Truly this is the chicken admitting the hen into partnership. Of course, the poor old hen needa sharp peeking from, its ottspring to teach it how to live. The colonists, accordingto Sir Joseph Ward, are practical 'men. Britain, because it will not do at once what the colonists tell us, is not " practical.' Mr Cnamberlain assiduously nursedl the colonies, and, lik-e som-e injudicious nurses who make too much of intant prodjgk\3,^ he spoiled them for the time being. New Zealand statesmen, ;t; t appears, possess a Chamberlain translation of the Scriptures which reads: "Parents, obey your children.' " A sailor and a tailor were the other day rewarded with three months' ,hard labour for preying on colonials. Some detectiveß saw the prisoners in Cornhill, and noticed them accosting gentlemen who appeared to be • colonials, and endeavouring-, to enter into conversation with them. Ultimately Hayes (the tailor) went up. to Mr J. W. Thompson, a shipping: agent, who had recently arrived in .London, and said : " Can you show me the way to tho new Colonial Office?" Mr Thompson replied : " No, I am » stranger ; but 1 think I have seen it in another street." They went into a neighbouring restaurant, and in the- course of conversation Hayes said he had just come from Kinuberley, and had brought over some ostrich eggs, which were being mounted at a shop in Lombard street, and he suggested that Air Thonupsonx should go with him to the shop to get the eggs. Hayes went into a shop, and after remaining a short time he came out, and, producing what purported to be a Bank of England note, said: "' They cannot change my note ; can- you change it?" Mr Thompson replied : " No, but here is half-a-crown." Hayes took the coin, remarking that he particularly wanted to get the ostrich eggs, \ and he went away. The detectives then came upon the scene, and Mr Thompson told them what had happened. The prisoners were arrested, and a "Bank of Engraving " note for £10 was found in the possession of Hayes. October 16. A fantastic comedy called " The New Zealander," based on Macaulay's phophecy, has been accepted in the United States for production by William A. Brady. The author is Caroline Bruce Patten, of Philadelphia. The New York Times describes Sir Joseph's Ward's speech predicting the cooperation of the United States and British ' fleets in the great struggle for the supremacy of the white races in the Pacific as "a beautiful picture — somewhat darkened, though, by the shadow of a certain treaty of alliance between (Jreat Britain and Japan, concluded with remarkable ineptitude, as many Americans and Englishmen thought, at the moment wh-en Ruteia and Japan were agreeing to a treaty of peace in Portsmouth, New Hampshire." At Marlborouijh street this week Richard Waltei- Mau«on, 31, a respectably dressed mivn, who refused to Kive his address or occupation, was charged on r-emand before Mr Denman with being a suspected person, and with attempting to obtain by , means of a trick £100 from Henry Bonny Allen Harris, an outfitter, of Pimlico. Mr Han-is said he wrote in reference to an advertisement for "a young man to take charge of a store abroad, and ha received a letter from the prisoner •requesting him to meet him at the Tndor Hotel. Oxford street. He went there, and saw the accused, who told him the situation was in New Zealand, where he had five or six stores wliicli had been left him by his father. He agreed to pay the witness's passage out, and suggested that he should sign an agreement for six months. The salary was to be £30 a month and 1 per cent, commission, providisd the witness gave him a gua-rantee in the shape of a cheque for £100. The prisoner pronds"sd to give him in return a cheque for £100 on a New Zealand bank plus the fare to New Zealand. On the evening of October 3 the witness, in company with * Detective-sergeant Prothero and Detective Broadhurst, went to the lounge of the Tudor Hotel, where he again saw the aocus3<J, who asked him, if he had got the cash. Apparently noticing Prothero, the prkonsr got behind

• pillar, and attempted to run away. He "was, however, stopped, and taken into custody. He was found to have in his possession a cheque-book containing 30 blank cheques on the Pietermaritzbmrg branch of the Bank of Africa, a '' Bank of Engraving" note for £50, and some keys. Mr Denman sgain remanded the prisoner, refusing bail. William West and Albert Faulkner, two well-known Rugby football players, were charged at Northampton on SatuTday wdth night poaching. Both had been liberated from Northampton Gaol a few days ago after serving sentences for brut-ally assaulting a New Zealand deJeigate to the recent High Court of Foresters meeting. West was sentenced to one month's hard labour. Faulkner had the benefit of^the doubt and was discharged. While in England Mr H. D. Vavasour purchased at the Royal Show the champion shearling Shropshire ram from the celebrated flock of Mrs Inge. He also secured two of the first prize pen of three ewe lambs at the same sale, and four ewe and one ram lamb from the Minton flock in Shropshire. Mr Vavasour purchased from Baron Rothschild, on behalf of Mr Charles Goulter, of Hawkesbury, Marlborough, an 18-months-old Jersey heifer, which has taken second prize in almost all the shows this year. He considers her the best heifer of her age that he has seen in England. She is in calf to an 18-months-old bull which has never been beaten. The heifer leaves for New Zealand by the Rimutaka. It is announced that Messrs Yarrow and Co., of Scotstoun, N. 8., "are constructing a shallow-draught steamer for service in the upper reaches of one of the rivers in New Zealand. The vessel will ■be propelled by twin ecrews working in stern tunnels. In the House of Commons yesterday Mr Lonsdale asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he was aware of the desire existing in the Dominion of New Zealand to assist in the problem of Imperial defence, and whether- the request of the New Zealand Government for a vessel for the purpose of training young New Zealanders for the navy would be acceded to. Mr M'Kenna replied : — " The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The New Zealand Government was informed last May that the Admiralty had no suitable vessel for transfer, but would be glad to give all possible assistance in the event of the New Zealand Government deciding to acquire one from the mercantile marine.' October 23. Like Mrs Winston Churchill, who, early in her career as the wife of a Cabinet Minister, is taking an active part in public life, Mrs Lloyd-George is cultivating a gift for oratory. At Ealing, where she la-id the foundation-stone of a new Welsh chapel, the wife of the Chancellor of the Exchequer delighted an audience composed largely of members of the Welsh colony in London, by delivering a speech in fluent Welsh. But Mrs Lloyd-George and Mrs "Winston Churchill are ' not the only wives of Cabinet Minister to appear as public speakers. Although she is a member of an old Tory family, Mrs Herbert Gladstone, who accompanied the Home Secretary to Bow street this week when he ga^ evidence in the suffragette case,' is one of the leading members of the Liberal Social Council, and she takes an active part in political work. Lady Crewe, Mrs Hareourt, end Mrs Sydney Buxton are all speakers on the council's platforms, and Airs Walter Runciman made her maiden speech at * gathering of the council. Mrs Asquith is the central figure of a circle ol intellectual brilliance; Mrs BiivMi is greatly interested in the organisation ot women's Liberal associations ; Lady Carrington takes a prominent part both in politics and society; and Lady Marjone Sinclair, who was trained to politics by her mother, th« Countess of Aberdeen, made her first public speech in her scnooiB 'Mr Tsquith stated in the House of Commons on Wednesda.3' the Government plan for relieving unemployment this winter. The points aro : -£300.000 (or £100 000 added to the £200,000 already given) as a grant to the Central Lneminoved Fund; restriction of no help undei the" Unemployed Act to recipients of pauper relief and to those who had had help in the past two years relaxed: 0000 men, unemployed married men where possible to be taken on for extra Christmas work by the post office: the War Office .to enlarire SDecial reserve to 24,000 men, who !Sf bSSH irom now to March (£200,000 to be spent thus); the Admiralty to push forward the shipbuilding programme by six weeks, spending £200,000 this year would not have, been spent till lat er 2100 men to be employed, at a cost of *W«w, on repairs which would not have been undertaken otherwise. The Labour party immediately welcomed the mo\e, but denounced the proposals as ' quite madeqU \t C the London Bankruptcy Court on Tuesday the public examination was held before Mr Register Linklater. of Mr Richard Trengrouse, who applied to ptoe upon accounts showing total liabilities £30,913, and a deficiency of £22,811. Under examination by Mr E. 8. G^rey (the official receiver), the debtor stated that for many years prior to last December he was a partner in the business of a provision importer and ajrent, carried on at Wellington Chambers. Lorw.-n Bridge. Since 190* lie had been interested in various pioeeesee for tho preservation <>f fcod. About April, 1907. he uifh oth«M^, sold « rsstc" l focd pre^ervotivo known a^ B'sla ire's patent, to 'Hie. Urn er.=al StorjhCompany, v. h'eh was forn.cJ ft.r the purpose with a capital of £100.000. Witnc--> reran ed 20,000 shares, and was appointed to the p CsC cf n-anaging dTvctor of t-hp company at a sa'.arv of £1000 a year. Ho had reached nc pait of the salary- but "h-il incurred liabilities on behalf of tho rompany, to wbVh. together with l<^--es on rhe partnership trading, he a-^iibcd hU m- ••- i\cr.c-\. The e"*aminatio!i w;^ conc'uJcd. ii ..^ ti'.der^tcod ihit the kj=e« o' Ah Ti^n-sjrou-e, w'tto i4li 41 well known in tLo A'.-tu.luu H\ r \ Now Zealand tiri'Je, aie luigL-jj o> :'ij? to frozen ldbbit trai,-- actions.

"'.Vje have to acknowledge receipt of Stone's ABC Gui^e for Jaiiuan, 1909.