AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5663, 7 September 1896, Page 4

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

SUMMARY OP THE WEEK. [Per Press Association.] SYDNEY, Sept. 6. TROUBLE AT A SYNOD. ■A little skeleton' peeped out of the Anglican cupboard at the annual Synod. Although the door was promptly shut, enough -was shown to indicate _ how the workers in the vineyard sometimes love one another or the reverse. When the Grubb evangelical wave swept over the colonies a few years ago, one of its -Tesults was the preaching barrister, Field, now a well-known figure in Sydney streets. Mr Field gave ■up his profession to go into the highways and byways. His method of work, though earnest, did not commend itself to certain High Churchmen. Mr Field, who was a licensed lay reader, was accused of waylaying church-goers and inviting them to his mission. The Primate was asked whether he had power to hold such a mission without the permission or the. incumbents of parishes, and the questioner wound up by asking the Primate to remove so grave a scandal as that caused by Mr Field's action. On the morning on which the questions were to be asked, Mr Field appeared within the bar of the House and commenced distributing documents. The Primate was struck speechless at such temerity, and before he had recovered Mr Field had practically accomplished his task. The Primate told Mr Field that he was inside the bar. The latter said that he knew it, but he was merely circulating a petition for a hearing before the matter was decided. He then withdrew. When the questions were called the questioner withdrew them amidst loud cries of " drowning the question."- The Primate and clergy breathed freely when what promised to be a scandal to the cloth came to an end. Next day Mr Field gave the reasons of the opposition to him to a pressman. It came, he said, from those whose ritual and self - exalting priestly assumptions put Christ down in a secondary place. The paramount need of the Church of England was that there should be power to remove summarily a guilty clergyman. At present the Primate had no such power. LABOUR LEGISLATION. The Factories Bill, after it had undergone recommittal and slight amendment, passed its third reading. The Assembly considered the amendments in the Coal-mines Bill made by the Council. That body increased the hours for adult labour from eight to ten, and the Labour members were wrathful. The Government was anxious not to jeopardise the Bill, which has long been needed, by too strong insistence, and suggested nine hours as a compromise. Our members have a pretty conceit of throwing about playful adjectives at one another, with more or less display of ferocity, and before the compromise was adopted, the Government threatening to abandon the Bill if any other course were taken, certain honourable members were indicated by such epithets as "baboon," "liar," "skunk "and "blackguard," and sarcastic references were made to local preachers and intoxicated teetotallers. " DANGEROUS TIMBER. The large demand which has recently sprung up for furniture made of New South Wales timbers, red and black bean,, has led to a peculiar discovery. At a meeting of the Furniture Trades Society, it was stated that, men, after working, these timbers for a few : days, contracted a virulent influenza, accompanied by violent fits of vomiting and bleeding at the nose. If they cut themselves blood poisoning was almost certain to follow. The more seasoned the wood is, the more dangerous it is to handle. The attention of the Colonial Secretary was called to the matter, and he forwarded samples of the timber to the Board of' Health. It is believed that the wood contains an injurious acid. THE LAW REGARDING COMPANIES. Mr Justice Holroyd, in delivering the judgment of the full "Court in the Morrison v. New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company appeal case, said that the Court was asked to say that an English Act imposed a new law on the colonies in derogation of the legislative powers possessed by colonies enjoyingself -government. They dissented entirely from the assumption on whiph the appellant's argument was based, that because the Imperial Parliament had power to legislate for the colonies, it must be presumed that the power was intended to be exercised whenever words were used which might be construed one way or the other. The law of companies was not an exception to the rule that, as regarded local affairs in respect to which Victoria had power to legislate for itself, it stood, relatively to the United Kingdom, in the exact position of a foreign country. It could never have been supposed that the Companies Acts passed by the Imperial Parliament for the United Kingdom were intended to govern colonial courts, least of all the courts of self-governing colonies. BRISBANE. Sept. 6. A BANKING INQUIRY. As parliamentary investigations of banking concerns are fashionable, this colony does not want to be thought old-fashioned, and has appointed a parliamentary committee to inquire into the state of the Queensland National Bank. The personnel of the Commission did not please the Radical section of the House, who affected to see in the fact that two members of the Commission were directly and indirectly interested in shares of the bank, though not exceeding i>loo liability, a blow at the independence of the inquiry. The Labour " Party is anxious for a more searching inquiry than the one which took place 1 some time back, and which was characterised as a mere bookv inquiry. /A desire .was manifested that the Auditor-General should be on the Commission. The Premier said that that gentleman had declined, and the Government could not order him to act, but Parliament could meet the wishes of members, and he therefore tabled a motion that the Auditor should be added. The Press unanimously fell foul of the Government about the composition of the. Committee. One journal considers that while much has been gained by the addition of ' the Auditor, more "would have been gained if one or two financial experts from other colonies were obtained. It characterises Sir H. M. Nelson's defence of the choice of commissioners as mere trifling and fencing with the subject. Another paper says: — "Disguise it as they please, the consent of the Government to place the Auditor on the Commission is an admission that, as it now stands, it is not trusted by the public. Is it a fact that names have been removed from the shareholders' list since July last, and is it true that one of these names has been placed on the Commission ? The public will wish tc know how the transaction of removing the names has been effected. One almosi trembles to think what will be the consequenco should it become known that th( changes were not only made, but thai possibly they were made with the fill knowledge of the Government, who there upon proceeded to appoint the presen' Commission."