BRITISH & FOREIGN.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10960, 1 May 1907, Page 3

BRITISH & FOREIGN.

iPrelw dLssh.— By Telegraph.— Copyright.; LONDON, April 30. \The* War: Office states that there; will be only sixty : discharges weekly from tlie whole of the ordnance factories ut Woolwich. No minimum establishment, has yet been fixed. ' Mr Lloyd George banquets all the delegates to the Navigation Conference on Friday. Mr Deakin and Sir Joseph Ward lunched with the Duke aiid Duchess of I km"naught, dined with the Earl of Derby, and attended the Duchess of Sutherland's reception. I'lie destroyer Ghurka (33 knots) and one of five ocean-going vessels ordered by the Admiralty with a radius of action of 2000 miles at cruising speed, has 'been launched; Mr Bent y discussed the conversion of a loan with . tlie directors of the London and Westminster Bank. He" intimated that the Government intended to open an office for the inscription and management of Victorian stock and payment ot interest on South Australian lines, affording

greater} facilities, 'ihe Bank will continue JMd transact the Government's other bank. ing "business. : .

(Received May 1; 8.23 a.m.) Reuter's Uskub correspondent states that the Consul-General di Salonika said £1350 was Mr Abbott's ransom. The Turkish authorities refused to grant it. Sir Samuel Montagu has resigned membership of the London Chamber of Commerce owing to the tariff resolution. The Times, m a special article on tlie Imperial Conference and unity, emphasising that Britain already has a tariff, declares it is the minimum. that may. be demanded. The Government has declared the right of India and other Imperial dependencies to embody preference m their tariffs, and- secondly there is an undertaking by the Motherland to give preference on existing duties. The Government should recognise and rieconeider carefully Buch extension of isvenue duties as would enable every part of the Empire t$ benefit by the preference given. Bevozal Scottish Liberals strongly opposed the Small Landholders' 'Scotland) Bill. They Complained that compulsory leasing destroys responsible ownership, and cited the* action of the Scotland Cnamber of Agriculture, representing 8000 tenant farmers, m repudiating the measure. The debate on the second reading was' adjourned.

Mr Trevisa" Clarke, who has returned from Australia, saw Mr Bent, and spoke x hopefully of the mail stea'mor syndicates" prospects. Negotiations have _een suspended pending the reply to a telegram sent to Australia.

Major-General Sir Edward Roche Elles, military member of the Governor-General's Council of -India, and Captain Cottley, Director of Naval Intelligence, have been appointed military and nayal experts at the Hague Conference. Sir Edward Fry, one of the British' delegates to. the Peace Conference, hag- beer* created a ... Grand Cross or "fit. Michael.

The following colonial artists were among the exhibitors at the Royal Academy: Messrs Longstaff, Lambert, Bertram', Mackennel, Foi, Bunny, Burgess, Parker, and Quinn. : • General Botha, m reply to a deputation as to. the legislative treatment ot British Indians m tlie Transvaal, repudiated any intention of hurting the feelings of Indians m the colony. He promised to exert an influence to prevent such a result. Sir W. Lyne and Mr Hughes regard the .results of the Navigation Conference as —? eminently satisfactory. Sir W. Lyne says the decisions pave the way to legislation guaranteeing Australia a white man's country on sea and land. ' "v Mr Chamberlain is -.progressing, though his knee, still causes a slight limp. Other-wise-he is m good health. He walks with, two sticks short distances. The King and Queen of Denmark visit King Edward from the Bth to the 13th June. The Lord Chamberlain has withdrawn . his license for the opera "Mikado" m the provinces and London. This is assumed to be due to Prince -Fuskimi's visit and the Japanese alliance. ; CONSTANTINOPLE, April 30. Europeans of Salonika are indignant at tho Turkish refusal to find the inonqy for Mr Abbott's ransom. '„ ST. PETERSBURG, April 30. A stormy sitting of the Duma has been held. The Government asked for 459,000 recruiter, the Minister of War -remarking, "You' must give us the soldiers." He ' quoted the fundamental law, showing tliat tbe Gzar empowered the raising of six contingents, the same as m the previous "- year.,'. It is believed the fate of the Duma' hangs on' the result of the debate, which was adjourned.