S*fos of % Week.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIII, Issue 12, 10 July 1885, Page 11

News of the Week.

Friday. In the House of Representatives yesterday the following bills were introduced :— The Dunedin Cattle Market Beserve Leasing Bill (Mr Stewart), a bill to extend the Adulteration Prevention Act (Mr Levestam). The No-confident debate was continued. The Christchurch Gold-mining Company, which has been formed for the purpose of mining the quartz-reefs at Browning's Pass, near the head of the Wilberforce, a branch of the Rakaia River, has been successfully floated. The work of making a road from the flats to toe pass was commenced yesterday. The Native Land Court at Palmerston North on Wednesday awarded to the Crown 42,000 acres of the celebrated Mangatainoko block, in the Forty-mile Bush. The whole block is 60,000 acfes in extent, and the 42,000 shares awarded represents individual shares which the Government have bought. The block has been under negotiation since 1872, and it is magnificent land for settlement. It is affirmed that it has been positively decided to retain possession of the province of Dongola by British troops as far south as Aksheh. It is rumoured that the Salisbury Ministry have arranged terms with Russia. " ° The news of the rebellion of Isa Khan against the Governor of Khunduz, in Afghanistan, has Dot been confirmed. Satueday. In the House of Representatives yesterday, the following bills were introduced :— A bill to repeal "The Beetroot Sugar Act 1884 " (Mr. M. J. S. Mackenzie), the Auctioneer and Broker's Bill (Mr. Seddon.— Mr. Macandrew gave notice to move on Tuesday next— " That a respectful address be transmitted to his Excellency the Governor to the effect that he may be pleased to call the attention of her Majesty's Imperial Government to the necessity for a fresh marine survey of the coasts of New Zealand, and on a more minute scale than appears on tha chart at present ; also, that his Excellency be requested to inform the Imperial Government that this Colony will, if necessary, be prepared to place at the disposal of the Admiralty the services of the Hinemoa, Stella, and other suitable vessels." — The No-confidence debate was continued. The Christchurch Agricultural and Pastoral Association, in response to a request from the agents of the various sheep dips, have resolved to request the Government to exempt those preparations from duty, and also to afford all possible assistance to Dr. Haast in procuring specimens of grain and other agricultural products for the Indian and Colonial Exhibition to be held in London next year. The new German line of Colonial mail steamers will start from .Bremerhaven, but it is left optional whether they will call at Samoa. Brisbane has been included as a port of call. The Soudan contingent were formally disbanded at Sydney yesterday. The men in receiving their discharge were allowed two months pay. Lord Wolseley, who has for some time past been at Suakim. is returning to England. Monday. In the House of Representatives on Saturday the No-confidence debate terminated in the failure of Sir George Grey's amendment. The question was then put that the House go into Committee of Supply, and was carried on the voices. Work at the Otago Central Company's mine at Rough Ridge (says the Mount Ida Chronicle) is proceeding apace. There is now a change of country coming in the cross-cut, and water is " bleeding " freely from the face of the rock. The mine manager reports having go»e through a cross slide, which was the cause of the change. In about a week from date he expects to strike the reef. — Several parties are prospecting for new auriferous deposits at different points under the Government bead-race at the head of Ida Valley. The rush which took place to the Snowy River Ranges, New South Wales, owing to the reported discovery of gold proved a complete failure, as the anticipations of the prospectors have not been realised. A severe shock of earthquake occurred in Victoria on Friday. The shock was felt in Melbourne and in many of the country towns. It is announced that Sir Peter Lumsden, the British representative on the Afghan Frontier Delimitation Commission, has had the Grand Cross of the Bath conferred upon him. The Guards, who have been detained at Alexandria for some weeks past, have now left that place, and have proceeded to Limasol, in Cyprus. '< The cholera plague continues to rage in Spain with great violence. The number of capes reported throughout the country last week was 9000, of which 4000 had a fatal termination. Tuesday. The new coal company is about to commence work a short distance above the Brunner mine on the south bank of the Grey River, on ground belonging to the Westport Coal Company, and next them. Arrangements have been made for nine years' lease by Messrs. Kilgour and Wickes. The mine is only 120 chains above the end of the main railway line. They expect to get to work in two or three months. The polling for the Wakanui seat took place yesterday, and occasioned a good deal of excitement. The following is the result of the polling :— Mr. Joseph Ivess, 696 ; Mr. E. G. Wright, 520 ; majority for Mr. Ivess, 76. There was a scene of wild excitement in Ashburton last night. It was announced in our cablegrams yesterday that the rush in the Snowy River district had turned out a failure. From our exchanges we (Daily Times) glean the following particulars of the locality and the cause of the rush :— The precise locality of the ground s at Black Watch Creek, 15 miles from Mount Ellery and 46 miles

from Orbost. It appears that Messrs. Norman, Whitelaw/ and Boss McDonald have been. prospecting the ranges in that vicinity for some months with no great success, but at Black Watch Creek they came across some promising prospects. They assert positively that the ground has been tried for a distance of between three and four miles and that gold has been obtained in every hole. There is nothing, however, to warrant the rush that hat set in. The diggings were discovered about two months ago by Norman, Whitelaw and Ross M'Donnld. Ihey had washed up a small paddock, shallow sinking, 3ft to 6ft, getting coarse, shotty gold. One piece brought here weighs 2dwt 9gr and is of very good quality. The diggings are 46 miles from Orbost : the road is bad ; there is no feed for horses, but plenty of water The country is very cold and wet, and a perfect wilderness. Flour will be from £3 to £5 per bag, and all other stores in proportion. Everything must be brought by pack-horses. There is no house between Orbost and the scene of the rush. The prospectors got l£oz for six days' work for three men ; the six days' work was washed in three hours. The proposal has been made that the freedom of the Qity of Dublin should be conferred on Dr. X.- 1. O'Doherty, who is now visiting Ireland, in recognition of his services as a supporter of the Irish cause in the colonies. The Cabinet will probably adopt Lord Northbrook's suggestion that the Sultan of Turkey Bhould help in settling the Soudan question. \ Intelligence to hand from Cochin . China announces that the Anamite garrison at Hue attacked General Courcy, the French military commander of that province, but were repulsed with loss. It is expected thut the amount of the New South Wales loan which will probably be placed in the market shortly, will be five and a-half millions, Wednesday.. The Wellington correspondent of the Daily Times wires as follows :— A number of Government supporters anxious to keep them in office waited on the Premier to day to urge upon him the desirableness of dropping the proposed increase in the tariff.! lam informed that the Premier said the Cabinet had been sitting all day upon the question, and had agreed to remodel the tariff, striking out all items except those for revenue raising purposes. The coal duty would be abandoned, as would be the imposts upon cheap clothing. Toe Government were prepared to give way to a certain extent upon tea, but that matter was still under the consideration of the Cabinet. The reductions proposed to be made would give the same revenue' as last year. At a meeting of the Eodney County Council a resolution was passed to the effect that, until the Auckland Northern railway is constructed, the counties north of Auckland should have interest on the estimated cost, £1,500,000, banded over to them, and that the Government be requested to proceed with the construction of the line as soon as possible, the question of the route to be settled by a South Island commission. ' The position of the French forces in Madagascar is becoming serious. ° Mr. Bradlaugh Las been excluded from the House of Commons by a majority of 44. Russia is massing her troops at Sarakhs. Lord Salisbury stated that the next general election would probably take place on November 17. Further details with regard to the fighting in Anam show that the citadel at Hue was attacked by fully 30,000 Anamites, and a sanguinary conflict ensued before the natives were repulsed. The French casualties were 60 killed, while their opponens lost over 1200 men General Courcy has applied to the Government for reinforcements to be sent to him. Parliament re-assembled on Monday after its adjournment. In the House of Lords the Premier (Lord Salisbury) announced that her Majesty's Government would resume negotiations with Russia on the Afghan frontier question at the point to which they had been continued by Earl Granville (late Foreign Secretary), and would fulfil the promise made to the Ameer of Afghanistan that the retention of the Zulfikar Pass should be assured. Whatever settlement was arrived at between England and Russia, it was imperative to prompily and vigorously prepare for the protection of our Indian frontier, and more than that, to stretch somewhat beyond, in order to prevent the tide of war. breaking against it. Referring to the Egyptian question, Lord Salisbury stated that the matter was one which would require some settlement. Earl Carnarvon, the newly appointed' Lordlieutenant of Ireland, assured the House that during bis term of office he should endeavour firmly to administer the ordinary laws of the country, Thursday. The official entry of the newly-appointed Lord-lieutenant of Ireland (Earl Carnarvon) into Dublin took place on Tuesday. His Excelllency met with & most enthusiastic reception,, Later intelligence from Anam states that General Courcy, who is in command of the French troops, has arrested the Eegent of Anam. The French Government lave ratified the Egyptian Convention. Mr. Gladstone has endorsed the Afghan policy laid down by the the Marquis of Salisbury. The "Wellington-Manawatu Railway Company have received applications for more than the JSOO shares required to be subscribed for in the Colony in order to raise the requisite additional capital of £200,000 required for the completion of the line. Owing to the beavy and almost incessant rains during the past five days serious floods are reported in the North Canterbury district. Therailway lines in several places have been damaged, though not to a serious extent, and one approach to the Ashley bridge has been washed away. In the Legislature Council yesterday, the Hon. P. Buckley moved the second reading of the Babbit Nuisance Continuance Bill. He mentioned that the cost to the country last year for endeavouring to

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eradicate ,the rabbit pest was between £1300 and £1500. lv the House of Representatives, Mr. *Bruce mpved the second reading of the Seamen's Eepresentation Bill. He said he would ask the House to take the debate on the committal of the bill. Agreed to.r-Mr. Turn bull moved the second reading of the Bating Act Amendment Bill. He explained that the object of the bill was to exempt friendly societies from the Bating Act. Agreed to.— Mr. J. O. Buckland moved the second reading of the Impounding Act 1884 Amendment Bill. The object of the bill was to place the Provincial District of Otago on the same footing as the rest of the Colony. The Hon. B. Stout opposed the second reading. He did not think it wise to alter the law in the direction proposed by the bill. The motion for the second reading was carried on a division by 40 against 25.— Mr. Fisher moved the second reading of the Law Practitioners Act 1 882 Amendment Bill (No. 2). Agreed to. — Mr. Guinness moved the second reading of the Armed Constabulary Act 1867 Amendment Bill. He said the bill provided that the members of the police force and armed constabulary should exercise the right of voting at general elections. The motion for the second reading was carried on a division by 46 against 22.— Mr Guinness moved the Becond reading of the Miners' Rights Fee Seduction Bill. Agreed to. Mr. Guinness moved the second reading of the Coroners Juries Abolition Bill. : The Hon. J. A. Tole said it would be rather a sweeping change to abolish Coroners' juries altogether. He moved that the debate be adjourned. The amendment was carried on the voices.— Mr. Downie Stewart moved the second reading of the Evidence Further Amendment Bill, and briefly explained its provisions. Agreed to.— Mr. Garrick moved the second reading of the Distress Bill. Agreed to. In the committee of ways and means several of the proposed duties were negatived as follows :— Cornflour, farinaceous food, maizena, macaroni, prepared groats, sago, tapioca, and vermicelli, id per lb. Bacon and hams, 3d per lb. Canned beef and pork (salt), 4b the cwt. — Boots and shoes, per dozen pairs, provided no duty exceeds 15 per cent, ad valorem. Boots and shoes— men's, No. 6 and upwards, 17s 6d ; youths' Nos. 2to 5, 14s ; boys' Nos. 7 to 1, 8s 6d ; women's, No. 3 and upwards, lls ; girls' Nos. 7 to 10, 7s ; children's Nos. 4 to 6 and slippers, 3s ; women's " lasting " and " stiff " boots, 7s ; goloshes of all kinds, 3s 6d ; slippers, men's, women's, and children's, from No. 7 and upwards, 4s. Butter and cheese, 2d per lb. Candles, tallow, Id the lb or reputed package of that weight j candles, stearine, 2d ; candles, paraffin or. wax, 2£d ; candles, not otherwise enumerated, 2£d. Carpet bags, 2s per cent, ad valorem. The duty on tea was reduced from 6d to 4d a pound.

Whatever the sentimentalists might wish, it is a fact that England finds little sympathy this side of the Atlantic in her international quarrels. As between her and Russia, American opinion is decidedly on the aide of our life-long friend and against onr equally life-long enemy. If anything were needed to emphasize the distinction, the cowardly and clumsy tactics of England in trying to avoid a fight would suffice, for Americans despise a poltroon. As our esteemed contemporary, irife, the wittiest and best humorous paper ever published in America, puts it : " The fact of the matter is, that England finds herself in the position ot the man who, after fighting and licking all the small boya and women in the neighbourhood, is suddenly confronted with a man of his size, and patronizingly says, as he backs down, ' Fight you ? Oh, no ; I might hurt you.' Then everybody in the neighbourhood laughs at him, and all the small boys and women whom be has harassed ia the past come up and kick him. So it is with England, and ere long the ignominy of thiß back-down will be rendered more ignominious by the sounding thwacks of the small boy Afghans, Zulus, Boers, and Soudanese. It bad to come sooner or later, and the world cannot but rejoice that the greatest bull-dozer of the age has at last been unmasked." — Pilot. St. John's, N. F., May 18.— On Sunday another anti-Catholic demonstration occurred at Bay Boberts. The house of William Daley, a leading Catholic trader, was almost demolished by stones. Some of Capt. Hennebury's property waa thrown into the sea. Several Catholic boya and men were assaulted on their way to the chapel. The Saturday Review of April 24, thus sums up the history of the Soudan campaign in one short sentence :—": — " The progress of the affair, as it is looked back on, resembles nothing so much as the progress of a drunken man, in its alternations of torpor and wild zigzag rashes, its absence of any apparent object, and its final collapse." Speculating in one of its most recent issues as to how far the Crimes Act may be renewed, the Pall Mall Gazette says :—Everything depends upon the standpoint from which your approach this question. We approach it from the standpoint of Home Rule. We recognise quite as fully as Mr. Parnell that the present state of things in Ireland is exceptional and provisional. Within five years we shall be driven by Parliamentary exigencies to grant Ireland some sort of legislature of her own. Keeping that in view, we are strongly of opinion that nothing should be done to disturb social peace in Ireland during that period of transition. If the floodgates of crime were once more unloosed, Home Rule would only be attained after a spasm of military repression. That of all things, in the interest of both countries, it is necessary to avoid. Pending this radical transformation of Irish administration and legislation, it is important that Englishmen should not be led to feel that they have been driven to concede Home Rule by violence and crime. Parliamentary exigencies will bring it about fast enough without agrarian crime, and Home Rulers need not grudge the temporary inconvenience of "a law which will help them to increase and consolidate their Parliamentary contingent, and will serve as an illustration of England's impotence to govern without coercion. On all grounds, then, we are inclined to think that the best thing would be to let Lord Spencer have whatever bill he wants, and pass it for the five years that will probably be needed for the establishment of Home' Rule,