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New Zealand Tablet, Volume IX, Issue 452, 9 December 1881, Page 16

At a meeting of the English Farmers' Alliance lately held in London, the Land Bill for England, prepared by a special committee of the Alliance, was asserted to be a great improvement on the Irish Act, it being more simple. It will be remembered that one of the reasons given by Lord Derby for the imperfect working of the Irish Act was that tenants would be prevented from availing themselves of its provisions in many cases, owing to their fear of law costs. A WesleyA!* clergyman at New Plymouth, in his sermon the other day, ascribed the success of Mr. Bryce's diplomacy to the hon. gentleman's uprightness. It is a pity the hon. gentleman was not able to communicate some share in the quality in question to certain members of the forces under his command, and an account of whose exploits will be found in another column under the heading "High Jinks at Parihaka." However, as it was not diplomacy, but violence, that was called into play by Mr. Bryce at Parihaka, the Wesleyan clergyman alluded to may have been speaking of some other event in his career. The hon. gentleman's uprightness, in any case, was not very conspicuous in his treatment of the Maoris — unless it be an uprightness that tends to sntute the enemy under the fifth rib, with which also history makes us in some degree acquainted. The Speaker of the Legislative Council and several other prominent gentlemen took part the other day in '• sweeps " on the Hutt racecourse for the purpose of testing the Gaming and Lotteries Act. If the straining of points, also, in connection with the Licensing Act be continued as at present, it may, perhaps, be deemed necessary in the interests of freedom by some of our leading colonists to play with intoxication, for the sake of bringing the Act into discredit and obtaining a reasonable modification of its provisions. Something ia that direction certainly seems desirable. THE Hokianga river has been found navigable foi 24 miles by steamer, to the great advantage of settlement. Abchdeacon Dknison has condemned the revised version of the New Testament as an " abomination in the sight of God." It certainly is so if the excisions made by it are not justified ; but otherwise, except as to alterations in language and cadence, it is an undoubted improvement on the authorised version. Perhaps, however, between excision and mistranslation there may not be very much to choose. The Duke of Manchester's visit to the colonies has, as it might naturally have been expected, resulted in an attempt to prejudice the farming classes in England against coming here. His grace is evidently engaged in running down our agricultural prospects, in condemning the system of free selection, and in a defence, not of the pastoral interests which are worthy of all consideration, "but of the pastoral monopoly which is quite another thing. On the whole, leading Orangemen have not lately exhibited themselves as of exceptionally friendly disposition towards colonial settlement and progress. The Irish in London and Newcastle have prerented the Liberals from holding certain meetings, appointed to be held by them. A tunnel is about to be constructed under the Pyrenees for the purpose of establishing direct railway communication with France. Dablinoton and Co. are reported to have discovered a rich reef, traceable for a quarter of a mile and of an average width of 3ft., at the Serpentine. Naseby. It is announced that the Government are seriously contemplating the abolition of trial by jury in Ireland. Undisguised despotism, however, will not be wholly wanting ia advantages. Russia proposes to accept territory in Armenia instead of the Turkish war indemnity. This seems to be a step towards obtaining a command of the Euphrates valley with its possibilities of easy communication with India Mattees in Egypt do not yet appear to have wholly settled down. Mohammedan excitement seems to be extending there, as elsewhere, and there may be serious trouble before things are finally decided. A faaatic outburst of Islam might kindle a fire not only in the Bast but all through Europe.

Besides the question of Egypt, whose control by European powers M. Gambetta advocates, and that of North Africa generally, affairs in the Pacific tend towards requiring the interchange of explanations between France and England. The intention of the French to annex Harotonga is, for example, said to be contrary to the terms of the treaty made by the island in question with Great Britain. A boy of about sixteen years of age was fined at Christchnrch for drunkenness the other day. A smart shock of earthquake was felt at several places on both the east and west coast of the Middle Island on Monday morning. At Christ church a moulding was displaced on the summit of the cathedral spire, and the bells of the church were made to sound. The Irish National Convention, assembled at Chicago, have passed resolutions approving of a National Government, based on the will of the people, for Ireland, and of the non-payment of rents. A dispute concerning the navigation of the Danube is in propress between Austria and Roumania. Me Michael Boyton, an American citizen, who was one of the first gentlemen airested under the Coercion Act in Ireland, has "been released. On tee other hand, arrests are still numerous, and if some be released, it seems only for the purpose of making room in the prisons for others. Mb De Latjtour, speaking at Naseby the other night, declared that the land question had been " settled by an advertisement, which said the land would all be sold in March." This, or something else of the kind, we have little doubt, is the true state of the case. A public hall is about to be erected in Ashburton.'at a cost of £8000. The Christchurch Bench have refused to grant new applications for licenses, in consideration of local option coming shortly into force. There have been serious fires in Boston, resulting in the loss of property to the value of 500,000d015. Me J. C. Bbowkt reports that Sir GeoTge Grey has declared that he will never again become a member of any Government in New Zealand. If this be true, we can hardly regret it ; there is much that is valuable, much that is honourable, and to be remembered with admiration and gratitude in the political career of Sir George Grey, but our hopes for its future have for some time been clouded. Mr James Godso, a builder and contractor, well known in Dunedin and its neighbourhood, was drowned on Monday by losing his balance and falling into the water, in attempting to prevent the wind carrying away his hat while he was crossing the railway bridge at Pelichet Bay. A Chinaman was choked at Braidwood, N.S.W., while attempting to swallow cat's eyes as a cure for blindness. Tbe prescription, most probably, was given him by some fellow-countryman of repute for skill in medicine. We have heard of such an one who was remarkable for the wonders of relief in sickness he worked by means of monkey's gall. He was also a deft surgeon, and on the complaint of a certain matron that she suffered from head-aches, he proposed to effect her cure by the removal of about three inches of a vein from some portion of her forehead. On her demurring, he produced a friend, who testified that he himself had undergone the operation in question to his complete benefit. A man named Callander was suffocated on Sunday, by bad air in the new shaft of a coal mine at Saddle Hill. A miner named Duncan Buchanan shot himself at Naseby on Friday. Emigration from the United Kingdom to America is reported to be on the increase. New York is full of immigrants, among whom want of employment threatens to inflict hardship. A correspondent of the Lyttelton Times reports very favourably of things at the Lyell ; wages, he says, are 12s. a day and upwards, and the unemployed not known. The existence of new reefs is undoubted and their richness probable, fiome of the reefs being actually worked are paying highly :—": — " Look at the Welcome for example," he adds. " A gentleman told me that his wife, who holds 100 (£1) shares, received £35 as her last month's dividend. There is another small private company, which consists of four miners, who during the last twelve months have had three crushings. and have each time divided £1,200 amongst them." The pupils of the Marist Brothers have, we perceive, been distinguishing themselves both at Home and in the colonies. The students ©f St. Joseph's College, Dumfries, have come off most creditably at the musical examinations of Trinity College, London, which were conducted on June 17th in 224 centre 3of the United Kingdom, and the pass-list of which contains, amongst the names of those who took honours, as well as of those who obtained ordinary pass certificates, several belonging to students sent up by the institution in question. Referring to one of the students who obtained these certificates, a contemporary speaks as follows : — " In the Glasgow University Local examination, the result of whicb has been recently published, this last-named student (Master Wynn) scored 96 per cent, in mathematics (the highest but two), and is the only one of all who went in

for the university ' Local ' who passed in natural philosophy. The results of the last May examinations of the Science and Art Department, South Kensington, London, are not less flattering to the teachers and students. In the science class 26 students were presented for examination in magnetism and electrity, of whom not a single one failed and seven obtained certificates in the advanced stage. In the art class five btudents completed the second grade certificate, %£., have now passed in all the subjects required for that certificate — viz., freehand, perspective, practical geometry and model drawing." The Sydney Freeman's Journal again, of a recent date, mentions the marked success of the Marist Brothers' pupils in the Civil Service examinations of New South Wales. The Uhivers, whose editor was accused of having shunned Mr. Parnell on his visit to Paris, comes to the front in defence of Ireland as follows— we clip our extract from the limes: — " Ireland has still a reparation to obtain as regards her religious and civil liberties, especially on the education question. We hope she will obtain them. We partdculaily desire that Mr. Parnell, honoured by the confidence and gratitude of a Catholic nation, should constantly stigmatise with all his might the madmen and criminals whose exploits, exaggerated, and sometimes invented by the English Press, serve to dishonour the noble flag of Ireland. Our neighbours, who at Home set an example of all liberties working without intolerance or exception, are blind and deaf when Ireland is concerned, but they will not succeed in representing O'Connell's whole nation as a nation of thieves and assassins." The miners of Kumara are c ndeavouring to induce the Government to at once undertake the construction of the second Eapika dam, as their district is suffering from the want of water. The money for the work was voted last session. The programme of the H.A.C.B. Society's Fete, to be held on Boxing Day, in the Caledonian Society's Ground, Dunedin, promises a pleasant holiday. Prizes amounting to over £50 have been provided for, and the selection of sports offers every variety of athletic exercise. A good band will also be in attendance, and nothing has been left undone to cater for the amusement of visitors. A meeting of the Dunedin Catholic congregation was held in the Christian Brothers' school-room on Sunday to consider what steps should be taken to receive in a suitable manner his Lordship the Bishop of the Diocese on his return from Europe, which is now drawing near. The attendance was full ; Mr. F. Meenan occupying the chair. The meeting resulted in the appointment of a large committee, who were entrusted with the office of making all the arrangements for the purpose in question that should seem to them desirable. We regret that, as we are obliged to go to press before the committee have met, it la impossible for us to give any particulars respecting their decision in our present issue. The wife of the Resident Magistrate at Christchurch has received a letter threatening vengeance in case her husband does not refrain from sentencing offenders to floggings. The captain and four men of H.M.S. London have been killed in an unsuccessful encounter with Arab slavers off the coast of Zanzibar. Mr. Bryce on coming on the platform at an election meeting the other night in Wanganui was received with hisses and derisive cries. Is it thus, indeed, the patriotic people of New Zealand hail their victorious champion and reverence the laurel wreath that decks a warrior's brow ? — Proh pudor ! Te Whiti was more civil. Here Wilhelmj, the great violiuist, has been delighting the lovers of music in Dunedin for the past week or so. His playing is magnificent, and he is supported by an admirable company. Some misunderstanding having arisen in certain quarters as to the nature of the Association of the Children of Mary, we are requested to say that it is an exclusively religious, and by no means a benefit, society ; there is a small monthly contribution paid by each member, but merely sufficient to defray the expenses that necessarily arise in connection with the Society's own requirements. Any charitable works the Society undertakes from time to time are entirely voluntary. The subscription made at Invercargill through Messrs. Roche. Mullany, and Maher in aid of the Dominican Convent Building Fund, has so far amounted to £88 16a. 6d. In addition Mr. Maher has paid a second instalment of £5. Miss Mahony, Dunedin, has Bold arc-union tickets to the amount of £1 ss. The friends of the Laud League at Arrowtown have forwarded us a second instalment of their subscription, amounting to £11 4s. With relation to the approaching examinations of our Catholic schools, we would respectfully suggest that a reasonable attention should be paid to condensation in drawing out the various reports with which we may be favoured. We find that our readers object to reports of any great length, and, in consequence, they are to a large extent thrown aside unread, a face that prevents the excellent work done by the schools from becoming as widely known as it is desirable it should be.

At a sitting of the Otago Land Board on Wednesday the following applications were granted : That of Richard Maguire, for 45 acres Otara district ; that of J. C. Smith for 32 acres Glenomaru ; that of David Anderson for a defeired payment lease Otara district * those of Messrs John Watson and William Higgins for a dispensation from personal residence for three months on sections in the Silver Peak district ; that (by petition) of settlers at Otara for laying off a site for a village in their district ; that of Messrs Guthrie and Larnach for a saw mill license, over 150 acres, Glenomaru (by issue of a license for three years over area amended by Ranger at 7s per acre, yearly rent) ; that of Mr W. G. Carr to purchase under deferred payment a section at Waitahuna ; that of E. Stuart for a deferred payment rural license at Gimtnerburn"; .That of Hugh McLean for deferred payment pastoral license. Silver Peak ; that of Messrs A Campbell and E. Sinclair to remove guano from Green Island (at £2 for a year) ; that of the Knapdale Church Committee, Chattoa, for 10 acres at 30s per acre. The following were declined : The application of Daniel Hanlon for £63 improvements on a section in the Budle district (in this case Mr Connell asserted the claim to be equitable, and said he would apply to Government) ; that of Mrs Jane Falconer for a yearly lease of the island in the Waikouaiti River ; that of Mr J. McFarlane for license to occupy a section at Otara temporarily reserved for a lighthouse ; that of Mr A. C. Begg that 8000 acres of run No. 389, abandoned because of rabbits, be set up to auction at an early date. (This was declined in consequence of the run being leased to Mr Campbell until 1884.) In the following cases consideration was deferred : The application of Mr McLeod Orbell for a temporary license to occupy part of a section in the Silver Peak district under the Public Reserves Act ; that of Mr R. Campbell for the sale by auction of a section at Kurow subject to the amount expended by him on improvements ; that of Mr J. Mackley for land at New Haven township as a site for a store and powder magazine. The request of Messrs W. and J. Moore to have a road line recorded through the northern portion of section lA. block X., Waipori district was referred to the Chief Surveyor. Certificates of application for gold-mining leases were issued to P. Fahey and T. Webb, section 16, block II. ; and J. Ewing and M. Gannon, section 43, block 1., St. Bathans. Applications to purchase were recommended for the approval of the Governor on the part of William Strode, section 15, block VII., Waihemo ;E. C. Strode, section 16, block VII., do. ; W. Turnbull, sections 38 and 39, block 111., Blackstone ; G. Turabull, sections 25 and 28, block 111., do. The application of Mr. B. Clapcott for pastoral license over 10,000 acres between Dusky and Chalky Sounds, West Coast, was recommended for approval of Governor-in-Council, to be put up to auction. The application of Mr. W. Crowe to surrender run 418, Eyre Peak, was referred for consideration of Government.