GENERAL SUMMARY.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 129, 21 November 1885, Page 3

GENERAL SUMMARY.

London, 24th Oct. The English Farmers' Alliance adopted a resolution" stating that to avert tfce ruin of the farmers the landowners must forthwith reduce the rents, and that the Government must formulate a measure which will prevent the rais- 1 ing of rents on the improvements of tenants Mrs. Weldon, who recently completed six months' imprisonment for libelling Riviere, manager of Covent Garden Theatre, has again been com mitted to trial on a similar charge made by the same complainant. She accused him of stealing documents belonging to her. AMI will be introduced into the next Parliament placing low-class stock exchanges, better known as " bucket shops," outside .the pale of the law. Kuss Winans, a millionaire Balf-i-morean, owning a large area of land in •Scotland, and whose peisecution of the peasantry has made him hated, is in trouble. He undertook to prevent excise officers from searching his extensive deer forests for illicit stills, and this defiance of the crown officials led "a pary of excisemen to assemble and patrol the forests in every direction.

The Anglo Turkish Agreement. A New York "Herald's" special from Constantinople, October 10, says JSir Henry Drummond Wolffs mission lias been crowned with success. His understanding with the Porte on Egyptian affairs is complete, and an imperial- decree will shortly be issued sanctioning the arrangement, the principal points of which are as follows : — Turkey appoints six commissioners, two for finance, two for military organization, and two for general administration ; England will appoint a similar number. When the labours of these men are completed, and Egyptian affairs placed on a satisfactory footing, British occupation will cease. The Glasgow Presbytery voted, on October 12th, in favour of disestablishment and disendowment. Lord Salisbury has officially announced that Parliament will be dissolved on November 17th. The race for the Czarewich Stakes was run on Oct. 12th. Twenty-two horses started. It was won by the three-year old filly Plaisanterie, Xenia . second, Postscript third. Plaisanterie, j the winner, was bred in France. j John Ruskin, in reply to an appeal i ill favor of the study of female models, says that an artist can do much better without them. The English Government has presented a note to the Spanish Government, demanding reparation for an insult to the British Consulate at Havana. A fire broke out in Aldersgate Street on the morning of Oct. Bth, in the Charter House Buildings, within a stone's throw of the celebrated Carthusian Retreat for Pensioners. The Charter House was almost totally destroyed. Damage, The Right Hon. George J. Goschen (Liberal), Member of Parliament for Ripon, speaking at Edinburgh on the evening of Oct. 7th, said that he was opposed to free education. He would not vote for the disestablishment of the Scottish Chuich, unless the proposition was a Government measure. If the Liberals, were returned to power they would be justified in appealing to the Tories for help to fight Parnell. A new crusade is threatened in Lon don against the employment of female models in artists' studies.

British Politics. Late ilispatches say that Prime Minister Salisbury has got the Tory party in good trim for the campaign, while Gladstone has net succeeded in unifying the Liberals to the extent expected. He proposed to work through -a campaign committee of twelve gentlemen, three to be elected from each four representative Liberal Clubs in London, in order that all shades of Liberal opinion might be represented. This operated well for a time, but a different state of affairs soon developed. Such a number of provincial candidates have absolutely refused to abide by the decision of the committee that the trouble became serious, and a second committee, composed of Lord Hartington, Joseph Chamberlain, Hon. Samuel Morley, and Sir Henry James was appointed to adjust' difficulties growing out of refusals to abide by the decision of the larger General Committee. Notwithstanding this, numbers of candidates refuse to accept the Committee's decisions, and persist in their candidature. • Cardinal Manning has written to the Dublin "Review" showing how Catholics ought to vote in the coming election. He defends Parliament and the Constitution, even though oppressing Catholicism, praises Liberalism, and urges Catholics to place the religious question foremost. Cardinal Newman also made an address on the 16ta in London, m which he said the Protestant Church of England was the great bulwark of that country ogainst atheism. -He wished all success, to those defending the Church, and said that he and his friends would join in

defending it. These utterances are considered the most . extraordinary of the campaign. The Tory' political agents throughout the country generally report a more favourable prospect for their party. They do not predict a victory ; but their assurance is that in no event can the Liberals win by large majorities.

Churchill and Chamberlain. The N.Y. "Post" London telegram of October 20th says : Greek joined Greek in the electoral campaign last night. All political England is ringing with the echoes of their blows. Chamberlain addressed a political association at Birmingham, and Churchill spoke at iiing's Lynn. Chamberlain referred to , i hurchill as " the author of that extraordinary rigmarole, his electoral address — a penny novelist and an ignorant schoolboy." Churchill charged Chamberlain with interested motives, with being intensely dishonest and flagrantly immoral, and said his Radical suggestions were utterly hopeless and utterly absurd ; thafc they had no more chance of success than a project for colonizing the moon. Seven hundred Birmingham workmen marched to Chamberlain's residence on the 20th. The chief of police learning their intention and feiring violence, sent a large force of police by a shorter route, and when the procession arrived at the house they found it surrounded with policemen. A deputation of three of the unemployed was admitted to see Mr Chamberlain. They Hatly accused him of making a combination with the wealthier classes to alienate sympathy from the suffering poor for his own personal y.nd political aggrandizement. The men returned to their place of meeting, howling against the Liberal leader.

Lord Salisbury's AddressThe Premier spoke at the National Conservative Conference at Newport on October 7th. He thanked the Conservative Union for exposing the true nature of the gaudy promises of the seductive programme of the Liberals. He urged his hearers to continue their efforts in behalf of Conservatism, which, he said, was growing and had a glorious future, and then proceeded to enunciate the policy of the Conservative party. Referring to the disturbances in the Balkans, the Premier said : " It is no part of the duty of British statesmen to interfere in the affairs of Eastern Roumelia. The treaty of Berlin has not been frustrated nor has the San Stefano treaty been restored. The policy of the Government is to uphold the Turkish Empire, and whenever it is possible to do so, genuinely and healthily, to uphold, cherish and fosterstrong, self-sustained nationalities that have an important bearing on the future of Europe. For the present I have hopes that the powers will confine the disturbance within the limits of the Roumelian territory. Russian influence would have checked the political growth of Roumelia if the latter country had united with Bulgaria in 1876." He favored great changes in the present measures for local selfgovernment. To decentralize authority in London was an indispensable part of the new Government's policy. People having wealth should bear the burden of the expenses of the country, and not alone those having houses and lands. The Premier, in answering the question as to what extent local government authority should be extended to Ireland, said : "An extension might give more facility to the majority to do justice to the minority. Conservative traditions," he said, " were clear." He regarded the integrity of the empire above all other political constitutions. He favored the imperial federation movement, but his plans in regard to the matter have not yet been tangibly fixed. The Premier believed in the closer union of England and her colonies, with the view of proving the real strength of the nation in European councils, and said it was one of the most important questions of the future. He favored the measure for cheapening and simplifying the sale and transfer of lands. He stated that the Government had received returns showing that general crime in Ireland had decreased. Boycotting was amenable to the ordinary law, which would be sternly enforced. Thirty-five prosecutions, he said, had already been started. Extending selfgovernment to Ireland, he declared, is an open question, but it is desirable, as far as possible, to give Ireland the same benefits as are enjoyed by the rest of the United Kingdom.

The Irish Situation. A Convention of the Land League at Wicklow, on October sth, unanimously selected William James Corbet, present member of Parliament for Wicklow, and Garrett Byrne. Parnell, speaking at the open-air meeting after the Convention, said Home Rule would stop all disloyal proceedings and outrages and thirst for disunion. The Irish, he claimed, would then become like their countrymen in the British colonies, loyal citizens and props to the Constitution. The " Daily News " blames Parnell for not denouncing boycotting, but admits that his speech otherwise was fair and moderate. It is possible, the " News" says, the tone with which he spoke was as much Churchill's as Parnell's. The "Telegraph" said Parnell had almost a regal court at, Wicklow amid the frantic adulations of . his followers, when he successfully inaugurated the first of the series of conventions," " What we

witnessed at "Wicltlow," - it' continues, " is a conspiracy to paralyse'^ the Pai> liament of Great Britain in order that the Irish House, of Commons may tax British products and maintain a host of police volunteers in armed menace of British peace and security." The " Times" says it is impossible to disguise or palter with the fact that the Government of Ireland has passed on, and is rapidly parsing out of the hands of Her Majesty's Ministers." The London "Post" (Government organ), writing on the same theme, says, bluntly, " independence of Ireland, as shadowed forth by Parnell, will never be granted by the British Parliament, and it would be a cruel kindness for any Government in this country to abstain from saying so in the firmest and most unequivocal terms." John O'Connor, speaking in Cork on October Bth, said many candidates were coming forward in the interest of Parnell, expecting they would be paid out of the fund now being raised in America for Irish members of Parliament ; but they would be disappointed. Only those called on special occasions and men of transcendent ability would be compensated. Richard Lalor and Arthur O'Connor have been named as Parnell ite candidates for Queen's County. At a recent funeral in Macroom County Cork, a boycotted relative of the deceased joined the procession with His family, whereupon the priests and mourners withdrew. The obsequies were finally pei formed by three Catholic priests who weie unattended. At the Armagh Court of Sessions on the 19th, John Howard Parnell, of New York, a brother of Charles Stewart Parnell, sued several of his tenants for nonpayment of lents for seven years. The magistrate remarked that the defendants had evidently obeyed Chas. S. Parnell's injunctions instead of the plaintiff's. A verdict in favour of the plaintiff was rendered in each case. Pyne, the Parnellite candidate for Waterford, is to be prosecuted for a seditious speech made at Clonmel. The tenant farmers at Westport met on the 18th and passed resolutions demanding that the Government introduce in Parliament a bill similar to the American Homestead Law. A powerful committee composed of Lords Bandon and Castletown, and other prominent gentlemen, has been formed in London to assist people of every class in Ireland who have been boycotted, and to advance funds to persons at»d corporations willing to oppose boycotting. At the same time a syndicate in Liverpool has offered to start a fleet of packets in opposition to the Cork 'Steam Packet Company to cairy cattle from Cork to England for the Nationalists. The Nationalists of Cavan have selected Joseph G. Biggar and Thomas O'Hanlon as their parliamentary candidates. The "difficult" districts of Ireland engaged the attention of a conference of the Parnellite leaders on the 20th, at Dublin. Thomas Sexton was named for Londonderry, Wm H. K. Redmond for Feimanagh, John Francis Small for Down, Timothy M. Healy for the northern division of Monaghan, Wm. OBrien and Timothy Harrington for Tyrone, and Arthur O'Connor for the northern division of Antrim. The Nationalists have decided to contest every Irish Parliamentary seat except twelve. The Roman Catholic bishops of Ireland have passed resolutions condemning acts of violence and intimidation, and warning their respective flocks that in indulging in such acts they are certain to bring the anger of God upon the evil-doers and their families, besides disgrace upon the Irish people in the eyes of the civilized world. The cattle-men have refused to ship on the boats of the Cork Steamship Company,' because the managers permitted the carrying of boycotted goods. The landlords, learning of this, sent a deputation to the Company, and informed its officials that they would start an opposition line if the Company refused to carry boycotted cattle. A Landlords' Defence Union against boycotting has been formed at Cork, and boycotted persons poured in demands for assistance. Drovers were shipping cattle to Bristol via Waterford. At a meeting of the cattlemen in Cork, on October 14, O'Cconnor read a telegram from New York dealers in hides, saying they would not purchase goods carried by the Cork P.aclvet Company. The attempt to boycott the steamship people failed, however, and this fact has spurred the Loyalists to increased energy in their fight against the Nationalists, and they intend to contest every Parliamentary seat in Ireland at the coming election. It is denied that Mr. Parnell has been~converted to Catholicism. The Dungarvon branch of the Irish National League has notified the masters of fox-hounds that hunting in Ireland must be stopped. Trouble had occurred on the Duke of Devonshire's estate in Callow, County Waterford, in connection with the eviction of certain tenants. The tenants and their friends . made a determined resistance, and attacked the police with stones. A sheriff's posse finally dispersed the mob s at the point of -the bayonet. The district'is"black:flagged." ,A. body of ; moonlighters raided a farm,* from which the .tenant had been evicted/ in the" p,punty Kerry, .oruOct. I Oth. They^, sjii} tKeVcare,takWs^ears. and cropped hie hair. . ' , f

j } SeveraV prominent Nationalists l mi ,' Ireland and America have written! t James Stephens, now in exile, at, $rusX sels, -urging, Kirn to contest a seathi'the f British Parliament. Stephens is un- 1, f decided. ' " ! I 3 Parnell talks confidently of carrying . every Parliamentary seat in Ireland in r 3 the interests of the v Nationalists, except ' one division in Dublin and ten in h 3 Ulster, where the Orange Tories are I j too strong for him. These seats the - Nationalists will make no struggle for. < Parnell and John L)easy will offer I ( | themselves for re-election for the city ' . of Cork. Mr Claney, editor of- the « "Nation," and Sir Thomas Henry \ Grattan Esrnonde have been nominated for Dublin city. The latter gentle- L man's mother was a grand-daughter of \ the Right Hon. Henry Grattan, who k brought forward in 1782 the famous Bill of Eights, asserting the right of 1^ Ireland to self-government. •

Boycotting Mrs O'ConncH- d The widow of Morgan O'Connell, Daniel O'Connell's nephew, residing at n Kildysart, has been interviewed in p regard to t.he attitude of the neighbours and peasantry toward her. " I v have seventy tenants," she said, " and A six of them hold leases. The rents are a absurdly moderate, and many of them a are in arrears. Maurice Walsh, president of the local league, is a yearly a tenant on my land, and now owes two tl and' a half years' rent. The tenants v demand a reduction of 25 per cent. 1 si am willing to reduce rents 15 per cent, u and no more. My duty as the guam- n dian of my only boy, John, prevents, n my giving more, even if I were so c inclined. I have many retainers, most of whom are aged and totally upable h to provide for themselves. Formerly v I bought everything at local shops; <x but the tyranny of the league now I compels me to go or send to Limerick, 20 miles away, for everything I need, h Local tradesmen refuse to sell anything, a even bread, to myself, my servants, and d my dependents. Even the priests have joined the tyrants. It is untrue the t police are protecting me. I protect ( myself. Some of my labourers have been coerced into desertion, but others a remain, and are now saving my crops. They have not been molested." A d Dublin dispatch of the sth says a ( notice was posted the day before at Mrs. O'Oonnell's gates ordeiing the a members of the league to shun her at I mass, and not sit in the same gallery with her. Mrs. O'Connell attended I mass, and was the sole occupant of the gallery. Mrs. O'Connell is a lady of c great intellectual attainments, and she £ herself atten^ to the education of her ( son. She is also au authoress, having written a popular memoir of her a father. She is known far and wide i for her broad humanity and generosity, v She faces her dangers straight, and t drives and walks in Kildysart and i vicinity without guards and apparently a without fear. The agitation is expand- c ing, but is peacefully conducted in compaiison with previous movements in ] that neighbourhood. The New York 1 " Herald's " Dublin special of the sth, i however, says the point is reached where maids and women of boycotted men's families are beaten and insulted, their hair cut off, and the like. A later despatch, October Bth, says Mrs O'Connell had beaten her enemies £ and emerged from the boycotting con- f test victoriously. Several of the ten- I ants backed down in the face of sheriff's sales and heavy costs, and paid up ! on the terms offeied — Walsh, the ! leader of the opposition, among the * number. There will be no more boy- . cotting of the resolute Mrs O'Connell. 1 The Irish Government is making the most determined efforts to check, \ through the operation of ordinary laws, y this pernicious system. > The licences ' of publichouse keepers have been revoked in a great many instances, and • so offensive has boycotting become that ( the authorities have determined to . revive the "White Boy Act." On the ; 1 7th, 200 respectable citizens of Strad- ] bally, County Queens, were arrested for boycotting. They were all con- ; victed, but ' elected to go to prison rather than furnish bail. The magistrate hesitated to commit them, and , finally gave them a fortnight in which to consider 'the matter.

Obsequies of the Earl of fchafte bury The funeral of the departed nobleman took place in London, Octobet' 8. Religious ■ services over the remains were conducted at Westminster Abbey. Hundreds of poor people stood outside in the drenching rain during the entire ceremony, being unable to get inside the sacred edifice, so dense was the crowd which had gathered to pay their last mark of respect to the philanthropist. Large numbers of shoeblacks, with crape bands on their arms, and many other boys who have been benefited by the departed Earl, stood in line with the elite in the Abbey. The services were very impressive.

- A Scene in Westminster Abbey. The " New York Herald's " London I special dispatch of October 14, says :—: — T Yesterday, being the feast of Edward ) the Confessor, was especially observed 3 by the worshippers of the Catholic I church of St. Edward. At high mass i Cardinal Manning officiated, and the - sermon was the consideration' of the 3 probabilities of the refcurn^of the Eng- ' liah nation i;o,the R.C. faith., In.furtheri ance of this' objecfc r in vthe p6s§ibleac- :- i complishm'ent of c fe HisJ.E?n)rience . "gin d !^qth er; iiistin^Ciis iHed datfiojjes^ . are, 3 .confident ' beli^yers, ' |, 'Ipilgrini'ag^Fas brgajaised t6 the khritie of 'the Confessor.

afc .^estininster Abbey; to solicit -his j i^te,rcea,sion, for .the conversion ofr,En'glaricL At the direction, of 'the; Carding; th t o appearance of a demonstration was ,avoided f as much as possible, but » the stidden ; inrqad of a,band;of devotee's,-indulging-in adoration at. the tomb * of the historic saint and king, excited curiosity. The vergers and the authorities of tne Abbey did not interfere, with the devotions of' the strangers. At last the crowd retired in good order. The question of the propriety of the proceedings was immediately taken into consideration by the Dean and Chapter.

Personal Mention. Cornelius Walford, the distinguished English author and publisher, is dead, Sept. 28, aged 58. Alderman John Staples, F.S.A., was elected Lord Mayor of London, Sept. 29. The Earl of Shaftesbury died in London, Oct. 1, aged 84. Ruskin's illness is said to be acute mania, and at last reports, he was completely out of his mind. Sir Charles Dilke and Mrs Pattison were married at Chelsea, Oct. 3. Col. Armstrong, a broker, gave the bride away, and Joseph Chamberlain acted as groomsman. The Duke of Newcastle, according to a London dispatch of Oct. 3, had joined the Roman Catholic Church. His conversion took place some time ago, it is said, but the avowal was postponed until the young Duke had attained his majority. The conversion has caused much annoyance in Established Church circles; Prince Jerome Napoleon (Plon-Plon) has started on a voyage round the world; and the Compte do Baidi is also about to undertake a voyage from Paris to America in his steam yacht. Charles Phillippe' Koben, the welluown French physician and scientist, nd a member of uij&French Senate, ied in Paris, Oct. 5, aged 64. M. Roustau, formerly French Minister at Washington, has been appointed Governor at Tunis. The celebrated bandit Jique has been shot in Santiago de Cuba. Mr Donagh, of Aimagh, gave £25,000 to the Church of Ireland on Oct. 13, also perpetual annuity of £600. John Pender, of London, ha" resigned as a director of the Americn Western Union Telegraph Company. Thomas Davidson, the well-known English scientist, died on October 16th. Hubert Herkimer, R.A., has been elected successor to John Buskin in the Slade Professorship of Fine Arts at Oxford. Mrs Langtry, ex-professional beauty and actress, has been sued for household expenses incurred while living with her husband. Her defence is that be alone is responsible. Langtry is now, living very quietly at Belfast, on an annuity allowed him by bis wife on condition that he keeps away from her. The Duke of Abercorn and the .Right Rev. James Russell Woodford, 0.D., Bishop of Ely, were reported seriously ill on October 18th.