ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES

Southland Times, Issue 17609, 25 March 1914, Page 7

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES

CJFTom Our Own Correspondent.) LOXDO.N. Keb. HI. TARA.VAKI OIL FIX A XC if. A remarkable circular has been issued to shareholders in the Taranaki Oil Weils. It is proposed to make an issue of preference shares, but this cannot Ikdone until two meetings have been convened, and in the words of the circular ‘some months must elapse before tipproceeds of tiie notation will be available in Xew Zealand." In tiie meantime. the company is urgently in need of £IO.OOO. ami the suggestion is made that each holder of twenty or more shares shall advance to lie- company a sum of not less than lo per cent of the face value of lits holding. Sueh loans would bear interest at lo per cent, ami lie repayable on or before December hi. As security it is proposed to execute in favour of trustees a mortgage or charge upon the refining plant and buildings, which cost over £:iS,oi.H». and are insured for £-a.ooo. The refinery is said lo lie in steady working order and capable of dealing with lO.Oi• I) gallons of crude oil per day. Unfortunately, however, it would appear that this quantity is not forthcoming. At the- same lime there is justification for adopting a hopeful attitude in this respect. The company's producing wells continue to yield steadily, though lo what extent the directors do not say, and a well which lias just bu-n brought in cm a neighbouring properly is producing USoii gallons of oil a day, while the Taranaki's own tot ary bore is expected to reach oil in a fortnight. It should • be pointed out that the company's refinery is the only on-- in tin- island, so that tiie outputs of other undertakings ire brought to it for treatment. The trouble is that it was erected before the ndustry was ready for it. lord mfrrav and m argon is. Mr Leo Maxse. the editor and proprietor of the -National Review, who may be said to have first giv-n tongue to the Alarconi scandals, continues to pursue the political gentlemen implicated therein implacably. It will be recalled that Mr Alaxse originally drew alt-mtUm to the persistent and circumstantial rumours which associated nn-mlc-rs of the Gi.ivcrmin-iit with certain gambles in Marconi shares, and that the Ministers indicated asserted that Dame Rumour was a lying jade of the first water, nr words to that effect, and talked glibly ttiijut " lying tongues." "wicked cars," and “ baseless slanders." Wc know today that Dane- Rumour's talk was certainly not "all moonshine" I that in fact Ministers had not only speculated in American Marcotiis. but had been given a favoured position in the market, and had taken part in a sccrcl arrangement e-- "pool" whereby the shares w--r>- inflated much beyond their face op their real value before they were olTi-n-d to the public. Ministers got a tip from a cont r.-p-t-u- : upon that lip th-y bought shares on :: | favoured basis before tin- paldic c.ail.l | buy them ; the public wi-r-- lb u given j tiie same information, and I- iu r n'c*"!y ; for the shares enabled lie- Alioho rs i<* I sell out at a v ery handsom- [••■ oh;. S-: hj I transactions were regarded a - disc:- -oil- j aide by Hie Stock Kxcitan- ■'. ■ s rt ; e-- , which considered the case anl c ii.-ov--:' i and punished the jobbers concerned. Ard j 'e.i-.-i- transactions i-onci-rin-d a company whose directors were engaged in negotiating a contract with Ho- (bivcrnment of v. i:;. • I j Uiese Ministers were members. It was conduct .such as this that Mr Maxse was instrumental in exposing. He did it at c-onsid.-ral.de risk of ruinous libel suits, for what could be more libellous if it were not true than to say That these- three Ministers. Si.v Rufus Isaacs i now Lut'd Readiugi. Mr Lloyd fit-urge, and tin:- Master of Klihank I now Lord Aiurrayi secretly profited by a tip from a Government i-oiitracior V Vet tills had been said not one- but a hundred times, in nnpri vili-g- d places, and none of these gentlemen have taken action, though we were told at the time that they Were only too anxious to Ingiven the chant--.- to do so. Mr Maxse is now giving Lord .Murray, tiie late Chief Whip of the Libera! Party, another opportunity of bringing him to book. He has addressed a long letter to the Morning Post which is chb-lly concerned with his lordship's transactions in American Marcotiis. not only with his own moot y hut with flunks belonging to the Libi-ml Party, of which he was then custodian. According to Mr Maxse. the late Chief Whip not only plunged on his own account ; In- plunged for jfis parly, and in- bought for his part" a' terms much less favourable than he bought for hiniscll'. For himself rushed in on April I i and bought at i_- : on April lx he bought for his party at As. However. Lord Murray's sin was not m putting himsetf before his party. Where ii e s!Tin°ii was in placing himself and his party morally in an interested position with regard to a sloe!: which was bound to be affected by tic- fate of a Government contract then being negotiated. The late Chief AVhip said nothing as to these transaction-, private and public, .when, the matter was being discussed in Parliament. 7t is said that lo- was in Kngbmd for I wo months when ihe Select Committee was sitting lo enquire into the Marconi s«-andals, although Ms colleague. Mr Samuel, had promised that "members of tlif* Government will lie most ready to appear before it." and that " every . part of this transaction will come under j tiie searchlight of examination." The- j late Chief Whip sain nothing, ami when j at hist the Committee called for li is pro- j sence it was found that lie had gone to Flokota. and he declined tin invitation ‘ from the Committee to return. There he staved til! all was over his two colleagues bad to make their penitential appearance in the House of Commons a ini submit to tin- ceremonial scourging of Ihe Opposition. But Lord Murray • scaped all that. Now In- lias returned, and has told some of his friends that he is going to make a statement in IlkHouse of Lords on Ho- matter of his dealings in Marconis. But Mr Maxse wants something more than that. He demands that the House of Lords shall institute a judicial enquiry into bis lordship s cas“. not only as regards tiie Marconi va-t of It. but Into- certain serious allegations which Mr Maxse make-' with regard to Lot d Murray's handling of the puriy funds and his relations with Mr i'l'illl'-l'. tinbroker who -purchased tin- Party Mar- « .-onis He demands also an enquiry '■ Into the sources of tip- vast sums with < which Mi« tab- Chief Whir> so froclv i 1

speculated on his party's behalf. Mr Maxse does not hesitate to suggest that these funds were, partly at least, payment for honours. On the whole Mr Maxse makes out a very fjowl ease for the appointment of a Select Committee of the House of Lords lo enquire into Lord Murray's doings as 1 Chief Whip, and as custodian of his I party’s funds. 1 TIIK SWFDISH CRISIS, Though there appears to be no real . foundation for the report circulated • [early this week of the abdication of King . tiustav of Swollen, matters political in . Sweden at the present juncture are in . sueh a state that his Majesty may find r it expedient to pass over the reins to ; ids son and heir. The present crisis ; has arisen to a great extent out of the ; King's attitude on (he subject of the ■ re-organisation of the naval and military 1 services. in seeking for an explanation • of tiie situation the point lo remember ; is that both Hie Liberal and tiiic Conservative party in Sweden arc in favour ■ of the rc-organisatiou of the naval and military services. When the Staaf Ministry came into power in 1011 one of their first acts was lo consider the whole question of defence, and a Commission representing all three patties (Liberals. Conservatives. and Social Democrats) ■ was appointed to go into the matter in dotal I. This Commission has not yet reported, and in his speech just before Christinas the Prime Minister stated, not the findings of the Commission, but the immediate intentions of his own Governinent. (hi tiie vexed question of lengthening the term of service of the infantry (from eight months to twelve, with the inclusion of rigorous winter training), the Premier admitted tiie necessity of the change, but declined to propose it till tiie electors had been consulted, as they mast in any ease be in the autumn of PHI. It was this attitude that aroused the antagonism of the Conservatives, and they appeared to have received uncompromising support from the Throne in King Custav's speech made a few days ago. in which he informed a large deputation of peasants that " he did not share the view that tiie question of military service should not be settled now." As a result of Ids Majesty's unsatisfactory reply to tb.e Cabinet's expostulations against the tone of Ids speech the Stain' .Ministry has resigned, and Baron Louis d*- (leer, himself till lately a member of the Liberal Party, has *beon railed on to form a Oovernnient. The probable course of events is not easy to predict, nor is the altitude of tin- peasants quite intelligible, as they are usually by no means identified as a class with the Conservative Party. It must be- remembered, however, that the peasants' deputation was followed by a big Labour demonstration in favour of an actual decrease m armaments. Should [tc.ron de deer attempt lo form a Ministry without dissolution he will I to win over more titan fifty Liberals or Soeinlists lout of a total of 16-11. and that is i-ar.iiy conceivable. If. on the j other ha:;,l. he should elect to go to the ' i-a:i. ry ' will probably lie heavily de-jf-::tr :n;:' •i ■ polls. In lhal ease the i King -; I'r-i-hn would biTom'e one of jgr a! :n s - mi-lit. and In- might well j .!::■! i - en-. ■■ n : nl to abdicate in favour i !' -T PC.-'KS KKTTLK. ! Iv, von Purest. M.P.. who has achieved i..i .- Id- r.iMe notoriety by Ids support of x t r.'-rm-l y Padieal methods of " I.and Keform" in the (Ud Country and by ids attacks on great Knglish landowners like Lord Derby, is the subject of a series of piquant articles now being published by the London Kxpress. Accepting tin- statements made therein, it occurs to the casual reader that the Huron might well take to heart lae scriptural Dint concerning I in- mote anti tiie beam, and might with advantage lo his tenants and employees in Moravia devote some of tiie time lie is giving to his campaign against the " H-tidal tyranny' of KnglamVs noble landowners to instituting reforms on Ids own estate. The Kxpress articles, which are alleged lo be the outcome of investigations "on tinspot." state that the Huron, possessing a vast estate in Moravia, occupies tin- position towards it of a usually absent landlord. Two great castles on Ids estate are kept imtenanted ami practiealiv unused. Theri* are huge gamepreserves. including a doer park of Ihioh aeres. In tin- employ of the estate tln-re are some ".do permanent workers, and in tin- time of the beetroot harvest these tire ad lied to by ll'lh indentured workers from Hungary. There tire also at other times some casual workers engaged. Wages for permanent employees range from lid to 'As ;M petday. and harvest hands gel from Xd to Is 1 Oil a day. "In every case there is part payment in kind, so that tiie actual money received can be counted in pence." Since it seems that this Moravian estate did not conn- into the complete control of Huron de Forest. M.P.. until January. ltd:'., it having been held for it ini by trustees, it is possible lhal this ardent laud reformer is only awaiting an opportunity when lie can he spared from his pressing tusks in Kngland to yn abroad and apply in Moravia all the principles of the u lira-Radical agricultural policy that lie advocates so warmly here. it would, however, have .given Baron de forest a somewhat better standing as a Laud Reformer in the eyes of Knglish people if lie hail been able to stand before them as one who had applied Ids land reform Sauce to tiie Hungarian landowning goose cro advocating its application to the British gander of the same variety. -