EUROPEAN ITEMS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 1014, 6 August 1883, Page 2

EUROPEAN ITEMS.

London, July 24. Mr Gladstone announced, in the House of Commons yesterday that the Government would not ask Parliament to sanction the i roviaional agreement entered into with Baron de Lesaeps re the second Suez Canal. The Government thought this course advisable in view of the opposition which the scheme had encountered at the hands of the public. The withdrawal of the Government from the agreement has been generally approved of, and the sum of LI,OOO is being subscribed for the purpose of making a survey of the Jordan Valley. It is reported that a very hostile feeling has been created between the English and French troops, in con-equence of the recent action of the French Admiral at Tamatave. This feeling reached its climax at Port Said yesterday, when a serious scrimmage took place between the English and the French marines th«re, several men being fatally injured. Cholera is spreading amongst the British troops, who withdrew from Cairo into the desert. Another soldier belonging to the Black Watch Regiment has succumbed. M. Waddington, who was recently appointed French A ambassador at the Court of St James, has arrived in England. Baron de Les-eps, President of the Suez Canal ; ompany. has announced his intention of issuing debentures for the amount required for the construction of the proposed duplicate canal, this course being considered expedient in view of the withdrawal of the British Government from the agreement. Count de Lesseps states that he will act in the matter quite independently of England, and that he requires no concession from that country. The Hon Evelyn Ashley, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Colonies, stated in the House of Commons yesterday that it was uncertain whether the late Sir Arthur Kennedy, Governor of Queensland, was in reality a party to the attempted annexation of New Guinea by his Government. Great excitement was created in London last night by the report that Asiatic cholera had broken out at Kensington, and the alarm was increased by a second rumor that the same disease had made its appearance at Lianfyllin, a market town n Wales, county Montgomery. In-, quiries were at once instituted to ascertain the accuracy of the reports. It is now generally believed that the disease whicli forms the foundation of the rumor is English cholera. In reply to a question in the House of Lords last night, Earl Granville, Secretary for Foreign Affairs, stated that the ' Government had undjr consideration the proposed railway alo ig the Valley of Eu-, phrates as a substitute for the second Suez Canal. It is probable that Sir Stafford Northcote will withdraw the motion of which he recent’y gave notice, repudiating Baron De Lesseps’ claim to a monopoly for constructing a second canal across the Isthmus of Suez.

The French authorities have raised tho siege of Tamatave, and terminated tho blockade, Kruger, the President of the Transvaal Republic, intends to visit London in September on a diplomatic mission to Lord Derby. Portions of shipments of Victorian, Tasmanian, and New Zealand Hops forwarded some time ago to the London market have been sold at prices varying from Ll2 to Ll 4 per cwt. London, July 29.

The motion brought forward in tha House of Commons by Mr Onslow, member for Guildford, condemning the proposal that a portion of the expenses connected with the Egyptian war should be made a charge on the Indian revenue, has been rejected by a large majority. In the course of the debate which took place on the question one of the members suggested that the Australian colonies should also be called upon to bear a part of the expenses. Mr Gladstone, referring to this suggestion, said that the Imperial Parliament had no power to compel Australia to contribute towards the expenses even if a motion were parried to that effect. He added, however, that if the Governments of the several Australian Colonies felt disposed to vote cer ain sums of money towards that object, their assistance would be acceptable. The reports that the Asiatic cholera had broken out in London and at Llanfyllin, Wales, have proved to be without foundation.

The recent action of the French in Anam has not, it is stated, affected the relations between France and China, which remain on a friendly footing. The latest reports from South Italy state that the bodies of hundreds of

persona are entombed in the ruins cause,! by the earthquake which occurred on Saturday night. Two thousand soldiers and laborers are now engaged removing the debris. Subscriptions on beha'f of the families who have been rendered homeless by the catastrophe have been opened in several Italian towns, and the Pope has subscribed 20,000 francs to the fund. Carey lingered in great agony for some time before dying.