THE SUEZ MARCH MAIL.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 29, 1 June 1870, Page 3

THE SUEZ MARCH MAIL.

GENERAL SUMMARY. London, March 25. The Prince Imperial of France is reported to be ill with smalhpox. Dr Featherston and Mr F. D. Bell are staying at tho Charing Cross Hotel. They are working hard for tho objects desiderated, and have been courteously received by the members of the Government. The Commissioners have devoted practical attention to the subject of mail communication with New Zealand vid San Francisco. The English Government decline to subsidise the scheme. The Commissioners were presented to the Queen at Buckingham Palace on February 25th. The advertisements inviting applications for the Professorships in the Otago University, still appear in the newspapers. At a monster emigration meeting held at Liverpool on March 14th, Sir George Grey characterised the Imperial policy towards New Zealand as a disastrous one. The Irish members were divided on the Irish Land Bill. The motion that the Bill be now read a second time was met by an amendment proposed by Mr Brien (Kilkenny) and seconded by Mr White (Tipperary), that the Bill be read a second time that day six months. Of the eleven members against the Bill, three were Conservatives. The farmers' clubs in Ireland express dissatisfaction with the Bill, and the Fenian journals repudiate it. Mr Chichester Fortesuce introduced an Irish Peace Preservation Bill. An amendby Mr Moore rejecting it was negatived by 425.t0 13. The Irish "National" press are furious at the result. A Bill authorising the committal of habitual drunkards to reformatories, as well as one.establishing a High Court of Justice and an Appellate Court, have been read a second time in the House of Lords. Excitement having been produced by the publication in the Marseillaise of a letter from O'Donovan Rossa, describing alleged cruelties inflicted upon him, the Home Secretary has issued a counter statement exposing Rossa's exaggerations and falsehoods. Earl De Grey and Ripon has been installed Grand Master of the Freemasons. • The racing stud of the late Earl of Derby has been sold by auction for 4725 guineas. Since the Government took ihe telegraphs into its own hands, the number of messages has greatly increased. The funeral of Casey, the Fenian poet, _in Dublin, was attended by 10,000 people. A strike of 10,000 cotton opera! ves is expected at Bolton. 1000 joiners in Glasgow have struck for the reduction of the hours of labour to nine. A similar movement is going on in London, where bakers are, agitating for the abolition of night work.

The mail steamer Normandy, while on her way to Jersey, was run down, 30 miles from the Needles, by a heavy steamer from the Danube, and a great many lives were lost. Obituary. —Earl of Koden, Marquis of Ailsa, Sir George Goold, Lord Graves, the Bishop of Barbadoes, Mr J. W. Harper, the American publisher, Mr Albert Smith, and. Mr "W. Brough, the dramatist. The exports to New Zealand for the month show an increase of ,£355. New Zealand flax continues dull. 300 bales sold on March 17th, brought 37s for extra flue, 30s for good, and 22s for ordinary. The negotiations for the amalgamation of the Bank of Otago with the English, Scottish, and Australian Chartered Bank have been broken off, and the shares of the former bank have suffered slightly in consequence.

The quantity of New Zealand wool to hand is inconsiderable.

—o— THE CONTINENT. I v *' j Prince Murat has been cited before the High Court of Justice for assaulting a .. mason. *" Pere Hyacinthe has been released from hiii monastic bonds. The Due de Montpensier was goaded into a duel with the Prince de Bourbon, by a long series of insults and lampoons. The Duke, who fainted with horror at the fatal termination of the duel, was arrested, and conveyed to Madrid. v..' The ex-Quoen of Spain and her husband j |P having had a quarrel with regard to pecu't niary matters, a suit of divorce before the Pari* tribunal was threatened by the King, hat was averted by a compromise. —o— AMERICA. J The States of Georgia and Texas have I I been re-admitted into the Union. [/ Several of the State Legislatures have J rejected the proposal for female suffrage. i Ravely, a negro, has been admitted to d Senate, to the seat formerly eccupied [A by Mr Jefferson Davis. 4 . he Congressional enquiry into the gold . I ring abuses has led to the complete exone- \ > ration of General Grant. >jj the President of the Fenian | T/enate, haa been »hot by an ex-secrctor of i (hi \tret)mh*Q6. I A

INDIA. Bombay, April 14. The Duke of Edinburgh left Bombay on March 19, for Madras where he rejoined his ship. His reception at Madras was enthusiastic. GaLlk, April 20. The telegraphic cable via the Bed Sea, and the new line to Europe recently opened, are working Well. The Duke of Edinburgh arrived at Colombo in the Galatea on March 31. Commodore Heath met him with the flagship. The Duke was warmly received, and has since been treated to the sight of elephant drives. He is now hunting in the hill country. On his arrival here, the Duke received a telegram from the Admiralty, altering the destination of the Galatea, and ordering her on to the Australian station for two years. The Duke will proceed in the first place to the Mauritius, thence to the Capo, and thence to Australia. The reasons for this change are not known.

Latest Telegrams. London, April 13. Commander Palmar, of H.M.S. Rosario (the vessel by which the Daphne was seised), has been promoted to the rank of captain. The Prussian Government are supposed to be favourably inclined towards assuming the sovereignty of the Fiji Islands. The corvette Hertha has been ordered to proceed to the group. Mr Tallerman's auction sale of preserved meats went off badly. Another sale will be held this month at Liverpool. The cattle imported from South America have been sold at a heavy loss. April 14. Mr Lowe delivered his Financial Statement on the 11th inst. He stated the revenue for 1869 to be £75,434,000, and the expenditure £67,654,000, leaving a surplus of £7,878,000. Of this surplus £4,300,000 was devoted to defraying the expenses of the Abyssinian expedition, and the remainder was devoted to paying off Exchequer bonds, and buying up Exchequer bills. By this means £7,000,000 of the National Debt has been paid off. The abolition is proposed of the hawkers' and other small trading licenses, the tax on playing cards, and the 5 per cent, railway passenger duty j 'and the reduction of the inland postage on newspapers to a halfpenny. The remaining £4,000,000 it is proposed to dispose of by reducing the income tax to 4d., and the duty on sugar by one and a half per cent., retaining a surplus of £331,000. The'lrish Peace Preservation Bill has become law.

The Due de Montpensier, in consequence of his fatal duel with the Prince de Bourhon, has been condemned to one month's imprisonment, and to pay a fine of 30,000 francs. He has abandoned his candidature for the Spanish throne. " The revenue of Great Britain for the first quarter of the year exceeds the estimated sum by £47,088.

The Irish Land Bill is slowly proceeding through Committee. The principal clauses have been passed. Mr Bright's health is improving, but he will not bo able to resume his parliamentary duties this session. Agrarian outrages continue in Ireland. A Catholic clergyman has pronounced an anathema against Fenianism.

Camhridge, after nine successive defeats, won the University boat race by a length and a half.

* A revolt, occasioned by the conscription, has broken out in some of the provinces of Spain. Strong measures have been adopted for its suppression. Sir W. Fenwick Williams, the hero of Kars, and General Charles Grey, are dead. The disturbances in Paraguay have been finally ended by the defeat and death of Lopez.

Colonel Greville Nugent, M.P. for Longford, has been unseated.

April 16. The apprehension of a Fenian raid induced the Canadian Government to suspend the Habeas Corpus Act and send militia regiments, together with the 16th Regiment of infantry, to the eastern frontier.

M. Ollivier has submitted to the French Senate a scheme for a liberal reform. The constituent power of the Senate is to be transferred to the Corps LSgislatif, and the legislative power is to be divided between the Emperor, the Senate, and the Corps Legislatif. Matters relative to taxation are to be first voted by the latter. M. Ollivier announced his intention of submitting the question of the senatus eonsultum to a plebiscite. This caused dissensions, and ultimately a crisis, in the Cabinet. Some resignations took place, and among them that of Count Daru. M. Ollivier remains premier. The plebiscite takes place between the Ist and 18th of May. President Grant sent a special message to Congress regarding the decline of American commerce. The United States House of Representatives has passed a Bill enforcing the laws against the Moimons. A paper on the alleged South Sea Slave Trade, laid before Parliament, states that the expenses of the Daphne will be re* fmwfcd,