LONDON.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXIII, Issue 9571, 14 December 1881, Page 2

LONDON.

November 30. The rumour that the Imperial Parliament would meet for the despatch of business on the 19th January has been officially contradicted, and it is announced that the next session will commence on Tuesday, February 7th. Prince Bismarck has delivered a speech in the Reichstag, in which he declared, in vehement terms, his antagonism to the national Liberals and Progressionists. The tenantry of many oi the large estates in the County of Limerick are persistently refusing to pay any rent to the land owners, in obedience to the manifesto issued by the Irish National Land League of the 18th of October. Seven electioneering agents and three publicans, who have been convicted of bribery in connection with the general election of 1880, have been sentenced to terms of imprisonment, varying from two to nine months, with hard labour. The American rubber works, Boston, have been destroyed by fire. The loss is estimated at 500,000 dollars. Notwithstanding the explanation offered by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, respecting the reasons which had induced him to appoint Mr Sendall Governor of Natal, a very bitter feeling of resentment continues to actuate the colonists, and a proposal that the landing of the newly-appointed Governor should be resisted is being seriously discussed. The French officials at Tunis have shot an Arab servant of Mr Read, the British Consul-General, who is a resident in that city. December 1. Questions have been asked in the Spanish Chamber of Deputies with reference to the British charter granted to the North Borneo Trading and Colonisation Company, -with -wlaieii. STessrs Alcock, Dent, and other prominent gentlemen, are interested. The company possesses powers similar to those conferred upon the old East India Company. The English papers have adversely criticised the action of the British Government in respect to this company. The States delegates, constituting a Tariff Convention, which have been sitting for some time in New York, have adopted a resolution expressing approval of the protectionist policy now in operation, and urging its continuance. The agitation for land reform in Scotland is assuming large proportions. A meeting of 83 delegates, representing 40,000 Aberdeenshire farmers, have drawn tip a Land Bill for Scotland, embodying some of the principles of the > Irish measure.

Mr Aitchison, Chief Commissioner of British Burmah, has been appointed Lieutenant- Governor of the Punjaub, in sxiccession to Mr Ever ton. The Irish National Convention at Chicago has adopted the policy of the Irish Land Leaguers, urging the tenants to refuse payment of rent. The Times, commenting on the prosspects of the proposed Victorian loan, compares Victoria with the other Australian colonies, and the comparison is to the disadvantage of Victoria. The Times regards Mr O'Loghlan's financial proposals as an open challenge, and thinks that to take the chance of extracting the colony from the consequences of Mr Berry' disastrous policy by the sale of land well entail a scandalous sacrifice. As a mark of hostility to the British Government, one of the imprisoned suspects has been elected Mayor of Drogheda. Fresh Agrarian outrages are reported, and further arrests have been made of persons accused of inciting the population to Boycott and refuse payment of rent. The will of the late Mr Pond, the well-known partner of the catering firm of Spiers and Pond, has been proved under £215,000. Mr Pond provides for his family, and makes handsome donations to his employes. It is understood that the objection on the part of the Natal people to the new Governor, Mr Sendall, arises from the jealousy of Cape Colony, Mr Sendall being the nominee of Sir H. Robinson, Governor of that colony. An anti-Jewish mob assailed Madame Sarah Bernhardt, at Odessa. She flung some',sham jewellery amongst the crowd, which incensed the rioters all the more. Eventually order was restored. The Mikado has published a decree providing for an elective Parliament for Japan for the year 1890. The Government of India have in contemplation a measure to supersede the duties on imported cotton. The I manufacturers are in favour of an income tax. General consternation prevailed in consequence, and an agitation has been commenced to induce the Executive not to carry out their intention. Mr Blame, Secretary of State, and head of the United States Cabinet, has forwarded his resignation to President Arthur, who has appointed Mr Freyhughusen his successor. In consequence of the P-ournanian Government having declined to agree to the regulation suggested by Austria for the control of the navigation of the Danube, diplomatic relations between the two countries have been suspended at the instance of the authorities at Vienna. The British Government have supplied the North Borneo Trading Company with fifteen 12-pounder guns. The Netherlands Government have suggested the advisability of a line of demarcation being agreed to between Holland and Great Britain, defining the respective territory claimed by each power in Borneo. An anonymous correspondent has communicated to the Earl of Crawford that the body of the late Earl was stolen from the mausoleum at Dunech, Aberdeenshire, in May last, The robbery was not discovered until last week, when an attempt was made by an accomplice to again disturb the vault. The woods upon the estate have been thoroughly searched, but without result. The British Cabinet, after considering the objection urged by the Natal colonists against the appointment of Mr Sendall as successor to Sir Evelyn "Wood, as Governer of that colony, have resolved to accept the offer of the Natal Council of an increase of salary to £2500 per annum, and on that condition they will recall Mr Sendall, and appoint a more experienced official to the vacant post. There is a great outcry in the English Press against the action of the Secretary of State for the Colonies in connection with this appointment.