ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXII, Issue II, 9 January 1904, Page 53

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

LONDON, November 20. Now that the King in Council has signified his consent to a contract of matrimony between Princess Alice of Albany and Prince Alexander of Teek, the requirements of thei Royal Marriage Act are satisfied, and the young couple are publicly betrothed as well as privately engaged. Prinecss Alice is a typical English maid, fair and pink,, and fresh as a rosebud. By the forethought of her mother, the Princess has been trained in English traditions and fitted for an English home, and all her tastes are for the life of an English country, house. Prince Alexander, called in his family “Algy,” is less conspicuously English in appearance, in complexion, and features resembling his father, the late Duke of Teck; but he shares the Princess’s love of England, and is a keen soldier and an all-round sportsman. "This is for me almost a melancholy, occasion,” said Mr. Chamberlain on Wednesday afternoon, when the AgentsGeneral of the Colonies assembled at the central office to bid farewell to the ex-Colonial Secrc'cry. Lord Strathcona, on behalf of the ts-General had expressed the admiration felt by the colonies for the man who had done more than any other to promote Imperial unity, and the development of the Empire. ‘No ordinary expression oof regret/’ said the veteran High Commissioner, “at the severance of your connection with the colonial department, would give an adequate idea of the feelings and sentiments which are entertained in the colonies which we represent.” And, indeed, Mr. Chamberlain’s most uncompromising opponents on the fiscal question join with his friends and supporters in recognising his services to the Empire. “His ministerial career,” says the “Standard,” “has left an ineffaceable impression upon the peoples of the Empire. Whatever the future may have in store, there can be no question as t 0 the value and importance of Mr. Chamberlain’s tenure of the colonial office. No one of his predecessors had done so much to promote Imperial unity, and to develop the Imperial idea.” The “Times,” as might be expected is even warmer in its praise. “Mr. Chamberlain,” it' says “has enriched us all. He has clothed dry bones with flesh, and has brought a fascinating but somewhat shadowy aspiration into the sphere of practical politics. He has done that great work by faith, by imagination, by enthusiasm, and by untiring labour, while others were deriding the whole conception as chimerical, or wistfully contemplating obstacles that seemed insuperable’. That is Mr. Chamberlain’s splendid distinction among the men of his day.” A law suit in which New Zealand legatees were concerned was decided last Friday by Lord Kyllachy at the Glasgow Court of Session. Mrs Margaret Dickie or Seed, widow, innkeeper, at Menstrie, who died on 3rd March, 1901, left a trust deed, by which’ she made certain bequests and disposed

nf the residue in three parts, devising one part to her sister at Bridge of Allan, and the other to the children of her brother William Dickie, New Zealand; while she directed that the income of the remaining third should go to another, Mrs Lidias Dickie, or M'Leod, Causewayhead, Stirling. To her trustees she gave power to advance the whole or any portion of the capital to Mrs M'Leod, and after her - death the fee of everything that remained was to go to the grandchildren of the beneficiary. The deed so far was drawn up by Mrs Seed’s agent. When it was sent to her for signature she added a holograph codicil by which she made certain other bequests to relatives and others. She said: “I desire that money shall be invested to give Mrs M'Leod 10/ weekly during her lifetime,” and also a small cottage. Further, she said: "I desire my nephews and nieces in New Zealand to get £50.” The question raised in the action was whether these bequests in the codicil were in addition to or in substitution of the share of the residue previously disponed to the beneficiaries. Mrs M'Leod claimed that the legacy in the codicil was in addition to the other provisions in her favour. Lord Kyllachy has sustained Mrs M'Leod’s claim, holding that, after deducting the legacy for the relatives in New Zealand, she was entitled along with them to a third share of the residue.

The Council of the Australasian Chamber of Commerce in its annual report refers at length to the question Of remounts. They open with an expression of indebtedness to the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce for a letter received from Messrs Krernnso And Madden who, out of their exten-

ive experience in the supply of remounts for South Africa and India, made several suggestions as to the breeding, buying and shipping of Army remounts which, if adopted, would in their opinion prevent a recurrence of the dissatisfaction expressed by the military authorities with some of the shipments of Australasian horses during the South Africa war. A copy of Messrs Krerouse and Madden’s letter was forwarded to the War Office, whom in reply, stated that it was known in that office that the Australian colonies produced a very good class of horse, which is used extensively in India, but the great distance between the United Kingdom and Australia precluded the latter country from being looked upon as a constant source of supply for horses for Home use- The arrangements for the purchase of horses for use in India were all made by the Indian Government, and would so continue. It was further stated that there was no intention on the part of the War Office to form remount breeding establishments in Australia or elsewhere.

At the annual meeting of the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company last ■Wednesday the chairman. Sir J. Wolf Barry, referred at length to what he termed “the keen and unfair competition ’’which the company is experiencing at the hands of the British, Canadian, and Australasian Governments for the Australasian traffic. The falling-off in receipts from the Company’s Australasian traffic for the half-year ending 30th June last, as compared with the corresponding period of 1902, was £31,000. There had also been a substantial increase in working expenses, and the

bulk of this, like the decrease in revenue, waa due to the competition of the Pacific cable. “While seriously injuring the company’s interests. the Pacific Cable,” eaid Sir John, “had not benefited the British or Australasian public, or even its promoters. The rates charged by the Pacific route between Australia and Great Britain were no lower than those agreed to be charged by the Eastern companies in connection with the new cable via tho Cape. It was true the Pacific cable transmitted traffic between Australasia and America at a lower rate than formerly, as the route was much shorter than via Europe. As a consequence, the chief, indeed one might say almost the only, benefit accrued to the United States, as the traffic with Canada wan very small. According to a recentlypublished official return, there would be a deficit on the working of th? Pacific line for the current year of nearly £lOO,OOO, which would have to be borne by the taxpayers of this country, among whom the shareholders were numbered, and the taxpayers of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. This went to prove that the Australasian traffic was insufficient to support all the existing cables, and that the Pacific cable rvas not reeded for the traffic requirements. Indeed, the cable connections with Australasia w-ere far in excess of any traffic likely to be developed for some years to come.”

Mr W. Emery Stark, who recently visited New Zealand, sang a small song in praise of the colony in the “Morning Post” this week. He spent three and a-half months in Maoriland last winter, and now says that “it is impossible to express in adequate langu-

age its many and varied attractions- Ta the invalid, or semi-invalid, the colony offers oue of the healthiest climates in the world, without any extremes of heat or cold, a pure b~a ing air with clear bright sunlight day after day. The islands, being so narrow, are always subject to tile delightful sea breeze, no matter from what quarter the wind may oome. Tlie scenery comprises a com-

bination of the grandest and moat beautiful kind in the world. In the Middle Island there are the West Coast Sounds, similar to the Norwegian fiords, only more lovely. . . . Speaking of the facilities for visitors, Mr Stark writes: “The hotel accommodation in the colony is exceedingly good on the whole. The hotels in the large towns are excellent, quite equal to the best of your English hotels ”

Mr Stark’s eulogies have brought forth a remonstrance from a person who prefers to conceal his identity under the nom de plume of “An Absentee.” This worthy is in full agreement with Mr Stark as to the “healthy climate,” “sea breezes” and grand scenery of New Zealand, but he takes exception to your recent visitor’s laudation of the hotels of the colony. He says: “As for the hotel accommodation being ‘equal to the best of our English hotels,’ I can only say that I left New Zealand about the time Mr Stark appears to have arrived, and then the acoommodation was of a kind that a healthy young man ought not to object to; but to allow an invalid to go to New Zealand under the impression that cleanliness, civility, good cooking, or good acoommodation is to be found in a New Zealand hotel is, unless a marvellous change has taken place during the last 18 months, neither more nor less than absolute cruelty.”