THE OLD COUNTRY.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XL, Issue 14, 4 April 1908, Page 10

THE OLD COUNTRY.

“The Standard” states that Mr. As h quith’s estimated surplus amounts to £4,000,000. The New Zealand Shipping Company lias declared a dividend at the rate of five p.er cent. . ( !f; Already 400 colonial entries liawe been received for the “Daily Mail” ands Empire cups for rifle shooting. . t .uirfe The Hon. Joseph Chamberlain’s health is improving. " He now takes short walks,' arid receives - visitors.- 4m; <1 'A Civil List pension amounting to £l2O has been awarded to Dr. Half-Ed- , wprds as “ a martyr to' the uSe 'bf'Xrays.” ■ • - .- .' ■ c >. The. Bank of Australasia has ejected Mr. Alfred Lyttelton ' (ex-Colonial Secre- . tary) a director in the place of. Mr 1 . W. R. Macarthu-r. The condition of Sir Henry CampbellBannerman, who is suffering from heart trouble and dropsy, is giving rise to much anxiety? .A It is estimated -that the estate of the late • Mrs. Rylands, of will ' bent-fit the Exehoquer by depth . dutips to - ‘the extent of-£650,000. ■ ... t The Duke of Devonshire has justidied ■ at Cannes at the age of 75. Heai-h' was due to heart-failure, and the cud pf-the aged l statesman was somewhat sudden. Major-General Babiogton, ex-oommand-•ant; of Hie New Zealand appointed't>6 >the command .ot <the.,(x>wland Mounted Brigade of the territorial force. x

1 The Housing of Workers (Ireland) Bill has been read a second tithe in the House of Commons without discussion. The measure provides a loan of five millions to local authorities to erect 25,000 dwellings. The Franco-British Exhibition is backward, and the opening will probably be after all postponed till May 10th. The delay in finishing the Australian building is preventing the arrangement of the exhibits. M. Fallieres has finally notified his intention of visiting London in the last week in May. This date will probably be found that to which the opening of the Franco-English Exhibition has been postponed. The death is announced of Sir Auckland Colvin, in his 70th year. The deceased occupied various important posts in India and in Egypt, retiring from the service in 1892. He was the author of several works on India and Egypt. The Chief Secretary for Ireland (Mr. Augustine Birrell), speaking in the House of Commons, defended his refusal to allow the Union Jack to be hoisted over the Irish national schools on the ground that no political symbol was permitted. The Hon. John Burns is not a pessimist. He told a meeting at Battersea the other day that the Government would pass all its legislative programme “during the next three sessions during which it was intended to remain in office.” ’ ■ The Home Secretary (Mr. Herbert Gladstone), in receiving a deputation from Miners’ Federation on March 23, stated that the Government meant to energetically press tlie. second reading of the Miners Eight Hours Bill before Easter. , “The Daily Express” states that the steamer Adriatic left New York yesterday with 3000 tons of hops for -London, chiefly from the Pacific Coast. Owing to the glut owners are glad to accept a price much below the cost Of production. Mr. Keir Hardie, M.P.,. speaking, at Plymouth, said Labour rule in Australia had won golden opinions. He considered New Zealand an ideal State, and next to New Zealand he thought South Australia the best field for emigration. Mr. J. Keir Hardie, in an interview, said he considered! that colonial. loyqlty was "meretyc’o’ri- the ' surface. ’ The sentiment of Empire aroused no enthusiasm. Tariff - reform would never tighten, the bonds/because -the colonials were wilting to take all and sacrifice nothing. In the House of Commons, Mr.‘ Sydney Buxton (Postmaster-General), in reply to Mr.’C. G. Hay, said that there was no objection’under the Treasury regulation to a political association being formed in " the Post Office, provided' it was not connected with a parent association outside. - . Mr. Lloyd George (President of the Board of Trade) presided over a meeting to promote an inter national league of Commercial Travellers’ Associations. I>ord Strathcona, the Australian representative and .the Frgjjeh, .German, and other delegates heartily supported the movement. . .. , In the House'of. Lords .the Earl of Crewe (Lord-President of the ..Council.) in moving the second reading : of the Scottish Land Values Bill, repudia,ted the land theories of Henry -George. , The ; bill was read a second tij|}g I: iinqpp,c>se|l, with a view to introducing in committee. Git <■> The personalty of the late Mrs. John Rylands, who has left. a large. sum of money to the John Ryland^,Library at Mancliester, established under the will of her late husband, and containing nip’riy rare books and has been valued for probate at. no less than £3,448,692. .’ ' " A fresh application made on behalf of the -French Government at the Bpiy-fltreet Police Court to secure; the, release frojn a'London bank of the envelope .containing the recipe for the inanufWtnre ~of diamonds was refused as M. Lemoine,who is charged with fraud, in this connection, strenuously objected.) ~:i 1( , ,4. •; A very serious fite oceurfOd rtt Drury Lane Theatre on March 25th.'’-:-; By the timely dropping of the safety curtain the outbreak was confined to the stage, but the Wis Vrfd ’nevertheless very l>eavy. Much scenery and other property' was deMtroyAT - ? h’n-‘<lfhc damage is estimated at* £75,00R.'l ,I,J ' *’ ' ■The.Vfqw; .ita^Joan' 1 The debenture holders had converted inder 15 per cent of the whole amount

of the stock. The underwriters take the balance. The London and Westminster Bank considers- that the smallness of the conversion was due to the recent ’failure of the'Grand Trunk Pacific Railway 4 per cent loan at 945. . Mr. G. N. Barnes, M.P., general secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, in a speech in London, said that the engineers in the North-east had wrongly'advised the rejection of terms, inasmuch' as arbitration would have yielded better results than a strike fought on a falling market. The vote had weakened the influence of the trades unions.

Improvln gtlie Port of London.

I'he Directors of the India Docks recommend the proprietors to accept the offer of the President of the Board of Trade’ (Mr. Lloyd-George) to purchase them as part of the Government scheme for tlie Port of London. Mr. Lloyd-George, has • informed Captain Collins, representing the Australian Commonwealth in London, that when a proper statutory authority had been constituted, then would be the time for the colonies to make representations with regard to the provision of ample eold storage. Mr. Taverner (Agent-General for Victoria) has congratulated Mr. LloydGeorge on having secured a key to the Port of London problem, which was a great step towards the proper handling and inspection of Australian produce.

Tramway Finance.

Messrs. Peats and Pixley, the . leading, chartered accountants, after an independent audit of the -London County. Council's tram-ways, represent that the methods of keeping the accounts liave been unsound. The displacement of horse- by elec-trio traction,- the report continues, has caused a loss of one >lllll ton sterling; The -application of £203,592 of the earnings of the horse sys'tem to relieve rates was unjustifiable, and ought to have been applied to riieet'To's’shS.'

ADishonest Detective!

Arthur “Brooks, a detective employed by the London and North-Western Railway CdnfpSny,’ who was found in -possession of 31 skeleton keys, a jemmy, and a file for altering keys, has been sentenced to three years for several robberies on the line between Llandudno and Wolverhampton. The Court ordered the company to pay' £6OO, the value of the jewels lost on that-section. Brooks was wont to travel in the same carriage of , the train as the owners of jewels. Five porters and a clerk have also now been arrested for robberies at Euston. Ove.r £350 yyorth of stolen goods has been recovered, .

The Political Pendulum.

The by-eleetion for the Peckham divis-of-Camberwell,- rendered necessary by the death of Mr. Charles Goddard Clarke (Liberal), caused the greatest excitement for ninny'years, be The result was as follows.— Mr)' Gdteh'bj Unionist and TariffReformat-) h 1 ... . •„ 4970 Mr. Gautrey (Liberal) 4476 •Unionist, majority.. . 494 WhiU Mr'. ! Gi><irge Goulding’s (fiscal reform) rfesOhitfofl' hr • connection ■ with wds before the House of Commons, the news of tlie Peekham result was 'i-feceived and its reception laised roar after roar of cheers from the Unjtnrist liencires; UnWnistM stood" up, excitedly waving hats aWd -hdridkeYehlefs • ‘and’ shouting, “Resign : yb'ti'will'be unemployed directly.” The debate was ultimately adjdUriiek}'. " ' M *• I ■ At hint general election Mr.- Q. G. Clarke won the Peckhnwi seat for the Liberals Iby tire heavy majority of 2339. !' , M

Licensing; Reform.

.I'l '< — .1 A nui’i meeting held in Queen'# Hal), under the auspjqes of the United Kingdom Alliance, was jnarked by uproarious proceedings, numerous opponents of ths

Licensing Bill and suffragists being ejected. • Mr.. Lloyd.-Georgc (President of the Board of Trade) urged his hearers to examine the situation in the lurid light afforded by the “spirit” lamp of the Peekham by-election. The Government was not the least daunted, and was ready to stake its existence on its stand between the liquor traffic and the homes it desolated. The Peckham result, he went on, was more than a political defeat. It was a social portent, showing the demoralisation the liquor traffic had wrought. Unless Great Britain’s virility was sufficiently strong to throw off this hypocrisy, the nation was fated to the squalid doom of the drunkard. If the Government, continued Mr. Lloyd-George, knew they would be expelled from power a fortnight hence’when the division bell came they would rather fall, and on that fall stand up and begin the fight again, for they were only beginning, and must see it through. Concluding, lie said that he recognised the Archbishop of Canterbury’s noble attitude. The Church ought to unite on this question. If the great Church which was the official guardian of the people’s moral interests took the lead, every Nonconformist Would follow-.

Eight Hoars’ Bill for Miners.

The Home vSecretary (Mr. Gladstone), in replying to a deputation of representatives of the iron and steel, shipping, and cotton industries, and other users of coal, declared that the Miners’ Eight Hours Bill wouTd provide an additional half hour above what would be allowed by a rigid bank to bank Eight Hours Bill. Th e best experts, the Home Secretary cojitjnucd, would exaniine the economic side of the measure with a view to reaching. for a reasonable basis. The bill was open to amendment. The Government would. pass no. measure which in their honest judgment they thought would do harm to the. permanent Qr other industries of the country. Sir Hugh-8011,, in. thanking Mr. Gladstone, declared that his speech did not allay-thek-anxiety, ... .... .

A War . C-liest for Britain.

'Lecturing on. the necessity of - a-, war chest in Great- Britain or a greatly-in-, creased; gold reserve, Sir Robert Giffen (ex-president of the Statistical Society, and one of the greatest living experts on national finance), urged the possibility of some great war breaking down the whole system of international credit. Sir Robert emphasised the fact that the banking . position was one of real danger, for against liabilities exceeding £100,000,000 the available reserves at most did not exceed £50.000,000. He; suggested that the Government should take such measures with its own banking arrangements as to utilise the special relations with the Bank of England to enable the Bank to add to its normal reserves in times of peace.

EngliJis Unemployed and Paupers.

The report of the Tariff Reform COlll- - shows that comparing the German trade union membership of 1,435,000 with the British of 639,000, the percentage; of German unemployed was 23.5, while the average for the whole year was only 11.2. The British percentages were ■61.10 and- 4-1.5 respectively. The indoor paupers of England and Wales MUmbered in January 8000 more than; in 1907, and 40,000 .beyond the average of the decade, and the outdoor paupers (jOQO more in January and 28,000 more, than the average of the deeade. Tpe- a-nnouneoment of the closing of a large steel works for several months, owing t 6 the Scarcity of orders, has caused consternation at Barrdw-in-Ftir-neSs. ■; r -