NEWS BY CABLE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3489, 25 January 1921, Page 40

NEWS BY CABLE.

SENATOR MILLEN’S MISSION. Senator Millen (the commonwealth representative on the League of Nations) declines either to confirm or deny the cabled press reports from Australia stating that he will be acting-prime Minister during Mr Hughes’s absence. It is understood that Senator Millen's financial negotiations are progressing satisfactorily. Ihe Commonwealth loan is practically assured. The Commonwealth’s floating debt to the Imperial Government, amounting to £46,000,000, will probably be refunded, subject to the combined annual Interest and sinking fund being arranged for. BRITISH MANUFACTURERS. Mr Nugent, a director of the Federation of British Industries, in an interview, said that British exporters were severely hit by the fact that they cannot get thenexports to, Australia financed. Unless something is done to rectify matters it may mean ruin to certain manufacturers. The present difficulties do not encourage British manufacturers to spend time and money trying to trade with Australia. CRIMINAL APPEAL CASE. The two men Field and Gray, who were sentenced to death for the murder of a girl at Eastbourne in August last, made sensational efforts to escape with their lives in an appeal against their sentence by accusing each other of the crime. In Id declared that Gray confessed that he stunned the girl, and, he understood, buried her alive. Gray denied Ineld s story, alleging that Field admitted he himself killed the girl because she smacked his face. 1 he appeal was dismissed. THE CUXHAVEN INCIDENT. Naval Commander Heineke, who commanded the fortress of Cuxliaven, Germany, when the Allied officers were recently insulted there, and whoso dismissal was demanded by tile Inter-Allied Naval Commission, Las been promoted to the rank of captain. It is semi-officiaiiy stated that the investigation proved that Heineke was not in any way to blame. UNION OF THE CHURCHES. The religious correspondent of The 'Times, ; n referring to the Lambeth appeal, declared that reunion is in peril, tile Nonconformists's response falling short of the desire of the conference. lit that connection it is greatly feared that the result will be to set back re-union for a decade, despite the unifying influence of the war. D’Annunzio was tendered a farewell b\ the Provisional Government at Fittine. -lie is going to a village near Paris in search of solitude and repose. His departure led to scenes of extraordinary emotion. People knelt in homage along the flower-strewn route. Similar scenes occurred at ali the railway stations to 1 Bologna. \ section of the town troops at Inane revolted against the Provisional Government, T hey seized Gene,al Diaz s barracks and fired rifles and threw bombs upon the local troops and the populace, wounding many. The troops restored order. GENERAL ITEMS. The Appeal by the Prince of Wales for the Boy Scouts realised £20,276. The Persian Cabinet has resigned for the third time. Its resignation has been acC< A*" Papal encyclical invites the Christian world to solemnise the seventh century of lit. Francis of Assisi. Reports from Smyrna make it appear that the recent Greek victories have been greatly exaggerated. Lady Victor Puget, formerly Olive May, a Gaiety girl has secured a divorce on the ground of her husband s misconduct. The Paris Municipal Council proposes a poll tax of £4 on all foreigners entering Paris, to be renewable by the payment of £1 quarterly. , . , , , The death is announced of I lelct-marshal Misliitch, of Serbia. There is national mourning for the hero of the 1912-1913 wars. The elections for the Siberian Constitutional Convention resulted in the _ Communists and non-Communists securing 22 seats each. The gifts and souvenirs presented to the Prince of Wales during his recent tour will shortly be exhibited at the Imperial Institute. They include hundreds of illuminated addresses. Senator Phelan has introduced a resolution empowering the President to impose an embargo on the exportation of oil to any country in the world. Traces on the snow above Gignod towards the St. Bernard Hospice showed that men on skis had murdered three wealthy Italians from Acsta. The passes are being searched for the assassins. The Hon. A. IT. Illingworth, Postmastergeneral, in reply to a deputation, confirmed the expectation that after January the Peninsular and Orient Company would provide a fortnightly service to Australia, and occasional extra sailings at intervals. Ten persons were killed and 40 injured at Castell-a-Mare, near Naples, owing to the revolt of the populace against the Bolshevist municipality, the members of which fired oil the crowd. Many of the councillors were arrested. The Danish Employers’ Association has issued a statement showing that the wages of all workers have increased on an average 289 per cent, since 1894, while the cost of living in the same period increased by 168 per cent. A train carrying a quantity of benzine between f.uga and Novgorod, Russia, caught lire and exploded. The wreckage burned fiercely. Sixty-eight passengers were killed. The < ’olonial Office contemplates a confluence of representatives of the whole of the dominions regarding emigration for the purpose of formulating a policy to ensure co-operation. It is officially suggested that the conference lie held early in February. The Prince of Wales addressed a meeting at Drury Lane Theatre, which enthusiastically launched “Warriors’ Day,” a scheme under which every entertainment house in the United Kingdom will give a matinee on March 31 in aid of Ear! Haig’s fund for unemployed ex-service men. A wail of protest has arisen in Japan with the announcement that the National Budget requires 562.000,000 yen, half of which is for the army and navy. The Cabinet, in submitting the Bill to the Diet, states that it is the lowest sum consistent

with the efficiency of the national defence. The Danish Profiteering Committee decided that the Danish chocolate factories should be collectively fined one million kroner for charging an excessive price for chocolates. The factories agreed to pay the fine to avert prosecution.