THE OLD COUNTRY.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLII, Issue 7, 17 February 1909, Page 6

THE OLD COUNTRY.

The Indian 71 million 31 per eent. loan at 97 has been over subscribed. The Admiralty is forming a reserve of operators for wireless telegraphy. A man named Beekert has been arrested on a charge of having embezzled £lOOO. The London and Paris Exchange Company has been ordered to be compulsorily wound up. King Edward has given a hundred guineas to the Salvation Army for work amongst the poor. Another thousand men have, in response to the “Daily Mail’s” appeal, joined the territorial army. Orders for new ships aggregating 30,000 tons have been placed with Clyde builders. Full time lias been resumed in some of the yards. Lloyd’s silver medal for bravery’ at sea has been conferred on Captain Ranson of the steamer Baltic, in connection with rescues from the wrecked liner Republic. The engagement is announced of Lord Dalmeny, the eldest son of the Earl of Rosebery, to Dorothy, the daughter of Lord Henry Grosvenor. The trustees of the late Mr James Dick, guttapercha manufacturer, have allocated £BO,OOO to the Royal Infirmary of Glasgow, besides £250,000 to Glasgow charities. Hafeld, one of the Russian workmen who ran amok between Tottenham and Walthamstow’, and who was wounded by a shot from a constable’s revolver, has succumbed to his injuries. The Archbishop of Canterbury has ordered a Kentish vicar not to refuse communion to a married couple, on the ground that the woman had been innocently divorced from her husband. Mr Shipley, a solicitor, has bequeathed £100,900 to various charitable organisations in Newcastle, besides 2500 pictures, including many old masters, and £30,000 for the enlargement of the art gallery. A conference of the Radical Trade Union Co-operative Associations at Buxton Hall unanimously adopted a resolution urging the taxation of land values. Several members of the House of Commons who were present suggested a penny’ in the £ on the capital values. Speaking at Plymouth, Mr J. A. Pease, chief Liberal Whip, declared that a general election would come before many months. The issue would be the abolition of the House of Lords’ veto. He recommended a referendum whenever the Lords and Commons were in conflict. Field-Marshal Sir Evelyn Wood last week unveiled, in the crypt of St. Paul’s ( athedral, Maekennal’s marble bust of William Howard Russell, the famous Crimean war correspondent, surmounting an inscribed tablet. The subscriptions for the memorial totalled £5OO. "The Times,” discussing the Budget prospects, strongly hints that the Government may’, in order to avoid the reimposition of the sugar duty, agree to a naval loan, which, besides substantially, relieving the taxpayer, will offer the collateral advantage of establishing certainty abroad regarding our future naval strength. After the fire in the Chancellory at Santiago, a body was found in the ruins. T|i« remains were identified as those of a man mimed Porter, who, it is supposed, hind absconded from London. He bail been slabbed previously. z .

Admiral Lord Charles Beresford vaf cates eoHimand of the Channel Fleet oil March 24, when the ships o» the King Edward VII. class will be formed into the second division of Admiral Sir W. Bf. May’s fleet, under the command of ViceAdmiral Sir A. Berkeley Milne. The "Times” describes Mr. Bertranf Maekennal’s bust of William Howard Russell, the famous war correspondent, as one of the few thoroughly satisfactory works which St. Paul’s erypt contains. It adds that sculptors generally recognise that Mr. Mackennal is one of the men most likely to further the advance made by sculpture in England during the past twenty years. For the Workless. The Church Socialists’ League held a demonstration on Sunday in Trafalgar Square, the speakers including, besides several clergymen. Dr. Cl i fiord, president of the Baptist World Alliance, and a number of other Nonconformist ministers. Resolutions were passed urging the Government to take immediate steps to compel Mr. John Burns, President of the Local Government Board, to distribute the money voted for the relief of the unemployed, and also demanding that Parliament make the question of work or maintenance with training the first business of the session. A Sadden Termination. A man named Duncan Mclntyre Johnson, who had a stun of £3OO in his possession. was arrested while on his honeymoon trip aboard the White Star liner Suevic, which arrived at Plymouth front Melbourne on Saturday on a warrant accusing him of forging a telegram by means of which he obtained £lOO, with intent to defraud the firm of Younghusband and Row, Melbourne. Advertising the Army. Extraordinary methods to catch territorials are being adopted in London. Regiments are arranging special marches to attract recruits, and in London mayors are delivering ten minutes’ speeches in the music halls. An anonymous donor offers prizes from £lOO downwards , for the largest number of recruits brought to the; colours. Lord ; Esher is arranging an Olympic > athletiei gathering, which will take place on Salisbury Plain during Hie territorials’ encampment. ■ — • . r Possesses a Record. - Hafeld, one of the Russian workmen who ran amok between Tottenham and Walthamstow, and who was wounded a shot from a constable’s revolver, is recovering in hospital. He has since been recognised as one of the assailants in the Glasgow bank outrage. , A Modest Hero. John Burns, the heroic Marconi operator of the Republic, was the recipient of an address at the Guildhall. Burns declared that he had done nothing more than his duty, while the real hero of the Republic collision was an engine hand, who, up to his neck in water, saved all aboard by opening the steam escape valve. The White Star liner Republic was run down by the emigrant steamer Florida', and, in response to ethergrams, the Baltic; arrived on the scene and all the passengers were saved. After she was taken in tow by the Baltic, the Republic suddenly) flung her bow in the air and sank stein first. Soon after the collision, and in spite of the practical destruction of the deck-house of the Republic, John Burns, of Peterborough, England, the Marconi' operator, stuck to his post and transmitted the messages which saved those on board. The roof and sides of the deckhouse threatened to fall at any moment, but though it involved great peril Burns remained on the ship until the last. Tattersall, the operator on board the' Baltic,' was on duty for 56 hours, sending cheering, messages to the Republic and communicating with the stations on shore. , Linking Up Pacific Islands* j The Pacific Radio Telegraph . (lompanjf,; with a capital of £so,ooo, has been gistered. The objects are to provide in-ter-counnunieation ( between the Paciflij Island s, Australia and New , Zealand. „

Survival of Erae. i'he Irish National Convention now •Itting in Dublin, against Mr Joi Dillon’s strong view, carried a resiution by a large majority recommendin that ilie Irish language should be nde a compulsory subject in the curricuim of the new university. feks Making It a Sacred Cam. Lady Trances Balfour and MrsFawcett are appealing to women to a find a service at Westminster Abbey tointercede for the success of the cause f women’s suffrage during the coming ‘ssion of Parliament. A glimpse at the progress of wnen’s suffrage abroad is afforded by Mi Ida Harper, who attended the IntermionaT Women’s Suffrage Congress, whit was held in Amsterdam in 1908 Sli said in a recent article: ‘‘That Sweder Norway. Iceland, and Denmark havegiven the municipal franchise to women The Netherlands will probably give i scon after the next elections. Every psiblc justification seems to exist for aying that the women of the Netherlam will be enfranchised within the ne; five years. Judging from present indictions, it will not be five years before thenunicipal franchise now possessed by te women of Denmark and Sweden wilbe extended to include the parliamental-vote. Those of Norway and Finland noi have the complete suffrage and are eligile for election to parliament.” British Navy. .die “Daily Mail" reports thi the ’Admiralty’s programme of five imroved Dreadnoughts, or a sixth accordig to the progress of German constructi«, has been accepted. It involves an ineased expenditure of between three an four millions. The "Mail" also states that the l will lie no naval loan, as stated |r the “Times.” The Money Market. Rio Janeiro is issuing in Lotion a million 5 per cent loan at 92.- Anther million is also being issued on thetontinent. The City of Pretoria is issuing: million 4 per cent loan at 95, of wlih the Transvaal Government takes halftts an investment for savings bank and pisions funds. Tinned Meat for the Any. Referring to the War Office piling a contract for tinned meat with a (licago firm, the newspapers state that tls was due to the colonial packers’ inabity to supply the quantity and quality roared. The representatives of the coloniapackers state that they had not tended owing to their objection to the repla?ment clause. The War Office, however, itends shortly to invite tenders for the apply of half-ahnillion pounds of tinnci meat for delivery in autumn. risk Parliamentary Pan. A private meeting of the Irish 'arliamentary party in Dublin was bd for the purpose of electing officers. Mr Guinell was forcibly ejected or insisting, on the submission and esmination of the accounts. Afterwards 1 complained to an interviewer that tine had been an unauthorised distribution)! the party’s money, one set using the finis to attack and Undermine another setif the same party. Mr. Redmond was re-ected leader. ’ Australia Wants Peopli An address has been presented I Lord Northcote, late Governor-General i Australia, at the Guildhall, in aeknvlcdginent of his pervices to the Empire Subsequently, at a luncheon gen in Exeter, Lord Northcote, in responing to the toast of his health, said hehoped and believed the authorities of Altralia would do their utmost to make t# land readily accessible to British entrants having energy and go. It waS of primary importance I split up the cultivated lands as the fststep towards developing the other indstries. There was no demand in Austria for clerks,' and nb large demand forpeople desirous Of establishing shops. One' reason why he desired entrants to proceed to the colonics insteui of to

'America was that if Australia had a population of twenty-five millions, and she could carry mat and double without any difficulty, the nation’s voice would be all the more potent in the nations’ councils. Another reason was that if Australia, Canada, and South Africa and the other possessions were strong enough to undertake their own defence, the burden of the British taxpayer would diminish. Finally, he favoured such emigration because the voice and influence of AngloSaxonism stood for peaceful conquests in commerce and supremacy in life and business. Tall Talk. Mr. A. Ure, M.P., speaking at Cockermouth, said a severe struggle with the Lords was about to begin. By a single clause in a single Act, the Liberals would end the Lords’ claims instantly and restore the inalienable rights of the people’s representatives. Mr. A. McKenna (First Lord of flip Admiralty) and Mr. L. V. Harcourt (First Commissioner of Works), are also threatening the Lords on the lines of the late Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman’s resolution. Mandate for. Home Rule. The National Directory of the United Irish League has re-elected Mr John Redmond as president. The annual report of the League declared that, the activity of the branches was never more manifest or the tone or spirit more satisfactory. Owing to Inquiries and representation made by the organisation, 2000 tenants had been restored by Lord Londonderry. “The next general election,” the report proceeded, “will be one of the most critical since the Unionist party was formed, because the Liberals, if returned, will say that they have a mandate for Home Rule." Frozen Meat Interests. It is understood that the Board of Trade intends to include a special representative of the Frozen Meat Trade Association on the new Port of London Board. . ’ » The managing board of the association suggests Sir Thomas Borthwick. Bible in Schools. Mr Walter Runciman (President of the Board of Education) said, in the course of a speech at Dewsbury on the education question, that Australia had obliterated the name of the Deity from the works of Shakespeare and Milton. Such a procedure, he contended, would not be tolerated in England, and any Government attempting to exetuao the Bible from schools deserved to tie well thrashed at the polls. Defence of the Empire, Mr R. B. Haldane (Secretary of State for War), speaking at the Ritz Hotel, after emphasising the opinion of the expert general staff that continuity of policy was essential, argued that the Territorials were a practical force, destined to place the country on a sound basis of defence. “We are,” he added, “in negotiation with the dominions over seas, with a view to the creation and constitution of an army of the Empire, and not of the Motherland merely.” Mr. Haldane concluded by announcing that a third thousand had been added to the London Territorials in response to the “Daily- Mail” appeal. French Tariff and the Entente. British Chambers of Commerce have been greatly stirred lately at the prospect of losing a large proportion of trade under the projected French tariff revision. Protests were made to the French Government, it being declared that the changes were likely to damage the entente. It is now announced that the French Government has decided to oppose n number of the proposals embodied in the Customs Committee’s Bill, on the ground that they are calculated to unfavourably affect France’s relations with foreign Powers. The committee contend that the bill represents only a million sterling surcharge upon foreign trade,' compared with two million surcharge on French trade under foreign tariffs.