ANCHOVIES AND TOAST;

Auckland Star, Volume IV, Issue 1203, 1 December 1873, Page 3

ANCHOVIES AND TOAST;

Ok, Home Jottings by ottr London Correspondent. Simul et Sueunda et idonca dicere vltse. Aliena negotia centum Per caput ot circumsaliunt latus. London, via Brindisi, Oct. 3. IMiAIIGRATION. You •will have to mind your p's and q's in the matter of immigration or Canada will cut yon out of the market entirely. The Canadian Government have a scheme in embryo which has not yet been made public, which, as theatrical managers say, will draw a full house if anything will. In general terms the plan is to offer free grants of land, to erect immigrants' houses, and clear a portion g£ their land for them, supply them with seeds and food the first year, and allow thorn ten years to repay these comparatively trifling expenses. What do you think of such an immigration ticket as this ? It is said that Lord Dufferin is at the bottom of the scheme. Indeed he seems to have been rather unlike your late Governor and other colonial Governors in taking an active part in measures for the prosperity of the country. Mr Arch, the delegate of the English Labour Unionists, has been the occasion of Canada putting on a tremendous spurt in the race for population. The Labour Union found that the emigration of labour from one part of the country to another did not answer the requirements of their members, and also that their theoretical ideas that the lands which were enriched by labour should afford to that labour ample sustenance, would not hold water when tried in practice. Their eyes were therefore turned for some time in the direction of those countries in possession of open lands for freo occupation, and Canada appeared to present most features to be desired, for it owned fertile and abundant landed estates, and was at a reasonable distance. Mr Arch, who is a very clear thinker, and had attained some celebrity by the able manner in which he had given evidence before the committee on the Game Laws, wa3 selected a3 a deputation to visit Canada and ascertain its capabilities and _ what advantages it had to offer to the British settler. The Unionists were the More anxious to obtain reliable information since their friends who had been persuaded to make trial of Brazil had found the attempt a most lamentable failure, and are even now turning up in batches, their expenses home being paid by the British Government. Mr Arch has been received by the Governor, Lord Dufferin, the Government, aud the people with the utmost hospitality, and so far has sent home a most favourable account of the country ; so that there seems every probability that a very large stream of emigration will set next spring in a westerly direction. If so the movement must tell considerably to your detriment. Your Agent-General has lately gone in more for printer's ink, thereby showing his sense. His advertisements make a tolerable show in the Papers; but tho other colonies indulge to some, extent in posters, which are always effective, especially in country districts, and i think Dr Featherston should exhibit New in coloured inks also if he desires to Keep pace with the times. THE LIBERAL PROGRAMME. Mr Leatham.gM.P., a liberal member, has lately been giving mouth to utterances which rather startle those who imagine that the woerala are at fault as to what to do next. iae oommon saying has been that Mr Gladf, f/ P's government has exhausted its pro- . ime, and that the consciousness of this MtJshf} the reaction in favour of the Con- ; haft gained and continues to ; '" na^lr party so many seats. But Mr j «ofliSi& <!l6ayß that the liberal programme aas uot "been begun, that what has been already done by Mr Gladstone's cabinet is merely preliminary, and that all the £raat surprises are yet in store. He says that the *uae is nigh whea we are to have " a free oauroh, f ree labour, fie* school, and free

Ivi ". aml that uo amount of wrigglm<* on Uac pan o f fc} le Conservatives,'can prevent it n* u.:ght have added "free Jove"' to his ■ xist and pcrfeetel his catalogue of political and social delights. l i COAL. i . Coal ! coal ! coal ! Every one ia talk.mg about coal and its price, and what ; the poor people will do this winter ; ard I the end of all these high prices and [ strikes j s that there are move people )~LT«^JV 01 coal than gold, and that great coal discoveries have been made in consequence, and there is now again a prospect of cheaper coal at no very distant period. At a public meeting held the other day Sir A. Brady stated that he ha 1 lately visited a | coal-field in America bigger than all the , British coal-nelcU put together, where the ! min 1 c, ral was of first-rate quality, and where it could be shipped on board lighters at four shillings a ton. Already, said the narrator, there are many thousands of tons of this "coal snipped and on the way to England. £• v, - statement of the Baron Yon -Lachthoicn at the meeting of the British Association, at Brad ford, was the most surprising. _ He said, that in the west of China I ? here existed a coal-field of hundreds of miles in extent with a seam 95 feet in thickness. in the irovmce of Shansi, both coal andiron existed m immense quantities, and were to be iound on a plateau 2,000 or 3.0C0 feet in height. That a bed of coal twenty feet thick extended for 2CO or 300 miles alon* the great wall of China, and that its price at the pit mouth was seven-pence per ton. The conclusions drawn by the Baron from these facts were that the best steps to take would be to establish, as soon as possible, factories in China, where labour was cheap and skilled, and coal and iron abiyndant. Of course, the difficulty would »c m obtaining security for European life and property against the fancies, superstitions , and prejudices of the Celestials, but the reception of tho foreign ambassadors the other clay by the Emperor at Pekin gives hope of improvement. The Baron stated that the direct road to China, in case of the opening up of the coalfield, would be by means of a railway through Central Asiatic Russia. The colonies would feel this very much since the coal trade thence to India and China would of course be stopped- at once, whilst the English mines would ho so much relieved that all fear on the score of fuel for the future would be removed, and prices would assurcedly fall rapidly. MASOXTC. The Baroness Burdett Coutts has given the title to a new masonic lodge lately opened in London, and her Ladyship has presented the chairs for the three pillars. Tho Provincial Grand Master of Middlesex, Francis Burdett, who ig also master of the lodge, atated the other day that the Baroness took great interest in the welfare of tho craft, and it ia said that she will put in an appearance at a banquet soon to be held by the members of the lodge. Tin? STEAMER JUI/RTLLO. The Murillo has been taken from Dover to Londou in charge of the Admiralty, and there awaits the issue of tho suits instituted against her. The owners of the NorthUoot have laid their damages at £10,000, and the shippers of cargo at £14,000. OUil GOVERNMENT. The Brindisi mail, which arrived on the last day of September, brings us news of the determination on the part of the New lealand Government to treat the Wai /alo murder in the same manner as its many predecessors. The disgust of those who interest themselves in the progress of your country at this announcement is very great indeed, for we all feel that no confidence whatever can be placed on a Government which at tho present stage of public affairs feels itself too weak to take a red-handed murderer, even with half tho native population on the side of the law. Of course time, the great solver of all difficulties, will settle the native difficulty ; but in the meantime can the colony afford to wait ? That is the question for you to decide. If you are contented to take the leavings of other countries, and do not care to have your waste lands settled until pfter other iis;ng colonies have been filled up, then you are going the right way to attain your wishes by practically condoning the murder of Sullivan and the defiances of the Maori '' King." For the offering of the rewards for the capture of Purukutu and his accomplices means nothing whatever, and can result in nothing but laughter on the part of the natives at the weakness of the pakeha. HORRIBLE MUEDEE. Since the departure of last month's maU London has been horrified by the commission I of one of those dreadful crimes whichhappily only occasionally remind us of what dejiravcd human nature is capable. One day early in September a small portion of a human body (female) was found floating in the Thames, next day was found another portion of the same body, and from day to day for over a week pieces were picked up floating or stranded, all of which were found to belong to the same body. Medical evidence, when brought to bear upon the ghastly remains, discovered that they formed the major portion of the body of a female of about 40 years of age, tolerably good lookiug, of dark complexion and 'medium height that she had probably been killed by a blow on the head, and that by means of a fine saw the body had been divided immediately after death into about a dozen pieces and thrown into the water. The most rigid enquiries have been instituted, and rewards offered, without the effect of casting any light on the horror ; but it is rather significant that over fifty • persons have been ascertained to be missing, ! their friends having been to view the re- , mains ; and in several cases there seems to be suspicion of foul play. One of the most : repulsive features in the case is that the skin i of the face of the corpse was found to have j been dragged off in such a manner as to make the identification of features almost impossible. Medical skill has, _ however, managed, by means of mechanical appliances, to restore the outline, and the parts of the body having been fitted together the whole has been photographed. In seems probable that this will remain one of those impenetrable mysteries which are closed to human ken. The popular theory is that the butchery has been the work of one of the murderous lunatics, two of whom escaped from the Asylum at Broadmoor some months ago, and have not since I been heard of, and some indignation is felt that the Government have not taken some energetic steps to capture two auch creatures than whom a couple of tigers loose in our midst would be decidedly preferable. Greenstone.