NEWS BY THE MAIL

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2030, 15 March 1907, Page 1

NEWS BY THE MAIL

LONDON, January 12. THE LATE SHAH OF PERSIA. Muzaffor-od-din,tlio Shah of Persia, died on Tuesday night. Tho hoirapparont, Mahomed Ali Mirza, was acknowledged at once as successor by tho Grand Vizier and tho othor Ministers, and ascends the throne without any friction. As Governor of tho province of Azerbaijan, tho now Shah came into conflict with the Constitutional Reform Party, and it is unlikely that the succession would have passed off so quietly had not Britain and Russia united in lending him their support. The Into Shah found Persia in a daugorous state, and his cloven years of rule have not improvod tho situation. lie squandered his rovonuos, alionated his subjects by misgovornmont and oppression, and in foreign politics played a game which on more than one occasion threatened tho very existence.of his country. It romains to be seen what can bo hoped for from his successor ; but with the improved relations botweon Russia and Britain, it is possible that European influence may bo brought to bear upon his policy in a more continuous and beneficent way than hitherto. THE COMEDY IN MOROCCO.

Events in Morocco have moved with dramatic swiftness. Last Saturday the Slioreofian troops attacked Raisuli’s stronghold at Zinat, some two thousand men being put in the field. At tho critical moment they ran short of shells and cartridges, and, being badly led, they were easily held in check by Raisuli’s men. At sunset the leisurely Oriental battle was concluded, the Sultan’s War Ministers having accomplished nothing save tho expenditure bf a quantity of powder and shot. On Sunday an able Algerian officer, whoso advice had been rejected on tho previous day because lie was a French citizen, was sent to tho front, and Raisuli’s houso was destroyed by shells. The village, however, proved to bo empty, and Raisuli and his men had fled to tho mountains, where for the present he remains uncaptured and apparently unpursued. It remains to bo seen whether the wholo affair is not one of connivance, for, as we suggested last week, it is possible that the last thing the Sultan wants is to have such an embarrassing prisoner. For the present tho brigand’s power is broken, the Sultan’s authority restored, and it is proved to tho world that when the Powers care to act in agreement they can make things move in Morocco. If they enforce tho organisation of the police with the same vigor with which they have demanded tho suppression of Raisuli, that distracted country may bo put in tho way of pacific reform. THE BAGHDAD RAILWAY. Tho Times of Wednesday contained a long and valuable communication from its correspondent at Constantinople on the subject of tho Baghdad railway. Two years have elapsed since the first section was opened to traffic, and tho company now contemplates boginning tho construction of tho next section, and is endeavoring to obtain from the Turkish Govern.ment_tho._nfiocssary. JinanciaLguarantees. An. elaborate account is given of tho financial arrangements originally entered into between the Government and the company, from which it appears that tho company must have mado a profit of about £BOO,OOO on the construction of the first section, of which only £148,000 have been put to reserve. The Sultan’s Government has not done so well by the enterprise, and is considerably out of prickgt, though matters may change when subsequent sections have been constructed. When the fourth section is finished there will bo direct communication between Constantinople and Damascus,and consequently with the Hedjaz railway, which, it is estimated, will reach Medina in about four and a-half years. BRITAIN’S ATTITUDE.

Constantinople will then be within five days' journey of Mecca. The strategic advantages of this prill be so great that the Turkish' Government, in spite of its loss in the past, is eager to continue the work of construction. The difficulty is that the next section will be very expensive, and the company is therefore anxious to combine it with the third section, which will bo cheap; but the Porte declare that they are unable to find the guarantees for two sections at once. T)ip German Embassy is said to be pressing the Sultan to assign the necessary, revenues, and since three directors of the company sit on the Council of the Public Debt, and a fourth member is a nominee of the Ottoman Bank, the company can count on a majority in its favor. Considering the way in which the uncompleted railway was very nearly employed last spring during our dispute with Turkey—that is, considering the strategic menace to Egypt involved in its completion —we sincerely (rusj: Giat our Government will give no encouragement to the new proposals for linking Constantinople with Damascus, We have no right, in our opinion, to forbid the construction of the railway, but we should certainly not help to prepare a weapon which may be used against ourselves. THE FRENCH BISHOPS AND THE POPE. The question whether the French Bishops" wore overruled by tlip Poire or not is still being vigorously discussed in the French and Italian Press. The Rome correspondent of the Times recently transmitted an official communique clearing the Pope of the charge of ignoring the Bishops and explaining that a propoased “law of public worship’ ’ was sprung on the Assombly at the last moment by the Archbishop of Besancon, which, after careful consideration by thp Pope, was condemned as impracticable. The Paris correspondent of the Times, after commenting on the inconsistencies of this dementi, now asserts that this scheme, contained in a printed report of 49 pages which lias come into his possession, so far from having been “sprung on the Assembly of Bishops at the last moment,” had been considered at the sittings of the Preparatory Commission, composed of four Cardinals, two Archbishops, and two Bishops, all of whom approved of it, and that it was subsequently approved —subject to the acceptance of the Pope—by a majority of the Bishops in the first Episcopal Assembly in May, 1906. The authority for what took place at the Preparatory Commission and at the Assembly ' is “a well-known Roman Catholic cccleciastic,” who considers it “extremely impolitic on the part of the Holy See to persist in these unfounded denials, as they challenge the French Government to publish the actual minutes of Higso proceedings, which they are certain to have found among Mgr. Montagnini’s papers.” SUBMITTED UNDER PROTEST. The correspondent of the Times in Paris telegraphs to Friday’s papei some interesting comments upon the way in which the action of the Vat-, can is emphasising the diffeieuce Le tween the Liberal French Catli'lic and the Cltrppiontanes, the latter r> whom, he declares, are in a var; small minority. Though the Bishop

and clergy submit to tho Papacy and obey its orders, however por.su lal.y

distastoful and howovor ruinous to tho work of tho Roman Church in France, many of thorn scarcely -oncoal the fact that tlioy are d -ng s<. reluctantly and under protelf Indood, tho Times corrospoa lijru- U-'OS on to say thnt il only a loader existed in tho liberal and modorato section of tho Episcopate, Iho lo.ifi-t botweon Franco and Lome uiu -i possibly liavo taken a d'-cUr/e turn, and tho first stop mig'-t Live loon mado towards tho founl'lU-u «.S a national church.” Whether this expression of opinion is woll founded wo cannot profess to say; but it is ovidont that tho Church of Franco has moved unwillingly to the orders from tho Vatican. It is to bo hoped that tho French Government will have tho wisdom to persist in their determination not to closo tho churches, and, however much they may be provoked to do so, will retrain from any action savouring of personal persecution. We trust that tho Bill which lias been introduced to abolish preliminary notification for nil forms of public meeting, including coromonies in churches, will bo passed into law, and that in this way no excuse will be given to the Vatican for depriving the people of Franco of public religious worship. CANON HENSON ON DENOMINATIONALISM. Tho Timos of Tuesday contained a very striking letter on the education question from Canon Hensley Henson, in which he draws a parallel and a contrast between the situations in England and France. In France the “case for Christianity has boon presented without the fatal error of undoiiomiuationalism, ” and the church lias had an unchallenged

monopoly. To-day the majority of Frenchmen have ceased to desire Christianity, since, the church having become intolerable, “it is assumed that Christianity is politically impossible.” In England, unlike Franco, the movement for establishing lull public control over elementary education is accompanied by a complete repudiation of secularism. But bow long will this repudiation last if the church continues to deny that there are any common undenominational elements in Christianity ? If such instruction is impossible, then the only result must be secularism, and, in France, our citizens may be led by their weariness of denominational conflicts to a distrust of Christianity itself. If Mr. Balfour’s view is adopted, and the State assumes tho same attitude to tlio Christian churches as the Indian Government to the various alien religions under its control, then it will be impossible to maintain any national recognition of Christianity. Wo commend Canon Henson’s wise words to the attention of all thoughtful men. THE DAY OF REST.

A “Message to the Nation” on Sunday observance, signed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of Westminster, and the President of the National Council of Evangelical Free Churches, was issued through tho Press on Saturday last. Tho signatories observe that “it is not merely that one day’s rest in seven- contnOii tes-janstls .tcutha-nluatu. cal arid mental efficiency of men, women, and children, and tends to make our home life more truly what English homo life ought to be. There is more than this. Under the sacred sanction which attaches to tho Lord s Day, it is intended that all should have opportunity, in the worship of Almighty God, to escape from the grip of ordinary cares and occupations into regions of higher thought and nobler aspiration. Wg are convinced that on adequate and reasonable Sunday observance depends in no small measuro tho possibility of promoting in England the deeper, the more sacred, and tlio more cndui ing interests of our common life.” The words “adequate and reasonable” clearly indicate that while the “Continentalising” of Sunday is held to be undesirable, the principle- of Sunday observance ought not tp be construed in the spirit of that rigid Sabbatarianism for which no authority is to be found in tho precepts of the Founder of Christianity. SHIPPING CHANGES.

Tho White Star Company announced on Monday their decision to transfer four of their largest liners on tho Atlantic service from Liverpool to Southampton. The announcement lias created a good deal of excitement ip shipping circles, but the competition of the French, and, above all, of the German, companies rendered the step inevitable. Under the new arrangement the White Star liners will touch at Cherbourg once a week, and thus enter directly into competition with the German and French lines for Continental passenger custom. The Cunard Company have issued a statement which clearly indicates their intention to follow suit before long in view of the advantages which the Channel poits offer for the Continental first-class traffic, though for the present tlio usual service will be continued fiom Liverpool. In any case, the new move need not affect the goods trade between Liverpool und America and

Canada. It was bound to come as a result of altered conditions, and to represent the news as an “absolute surprise” is to cast a slur on the intelligence of Liverpool. Mil. MARKS, M.P.

A correspondence between the Th'anct Liberal Association and the Thanot Conservative am) Constitutional Association was published in Tuesday’s newspapers. On 20th December the Executive Council of the former association passed a resolution expressing surprise that, in spite of the serious charges made against Mi. Marks, M.P., in the House of Commons, the local Conservative Association saw no reason to accept his proffered resignation, and appealed to them to disclose the exact nature of the evidence upon which they decided to dismiss these grave accusations as baseless.. In acknowledging the receipt of the resolution the secretary of'the Thanot Conservative Association was directed by his president to express surprise that the false and baseless charges,’ which had been answered by the electors oi Thanot in 1904, and with greater emphasis in 1906, should have been brought forward. To this evasive reply the Thauet Liberal Association responded by forwarding a resolution passed by them oil 3rd January, viz., that “This meeting, having considered Mr. Emery’s letter of 24tli December, 190 G, regrets that the evidence asked for, upon which the Isle of Tlianet Conservative and Constitutional Association based their decision to dismiss the grave charges made against the member of the division in the House of Commons, is not disclosed to the electors of Tlianet.”

“A CINDERELLA OF METALS.” THE ROMANCE OF COPPER. Dealing with the question of the prospective demand for copper, and therefore the success which must attend any new development of copper mining, some of the factors

which aro working in this direction may bo referred to. As has already been pointed out, one of the most potont forces in tho development of copper is bound to bo electricity. Electricity, tlio magic gen of modern civilisation, requires for its best efforts copper, and copper therefore tho world must have. The railroad engine must lie laboriously coaled, stoked and fed, to tlio accompaniment of human toil and dirt. Tlio electrician turns but a lever, and liis car leaps forward in hot challenge to its steam competitor, and distances it in the physical lace.

Electricity furnishes tho motive power for a network of already established and constantly growing electric railroad and street ear lines —copper wire flashes motive power to its humming wheels. In America the work of electrification of railways means enormous possibilities for copper in the future as uill be seen by reference to some facts concerning it. The, Now York Central is well into its task of replacing its steam railroad engines with those run liy electricity, and this necessary innovation will bo almost immediately followed by competing lines running into New York City. It is almost certain that within a few decades electric locomotives will entirely supplant the steam ones. The electrification of existing railroads will absorb alone over six millions tons of copper. Six million tons of copper represents ten times the present output of the world’s copper mines. This enormous demand on the copper deposits of the world is not problematical or theoretical. It is already here. Electric cars whirl through every suburb of every city of the United States, and the expansion of the “trolley” is tremendous. In the colonies, to come nearer home, the extension of the electrical tramway system is being pushed forward energetically. The four municipalities of New Zealand have installed it, and extensions are being contemplated in every direction. In Adelaide, one of the larger cities of the Australian Federation, they are contemplating introducing electric cars, and very recently Mr Bruce, the Mayor, and one of the aldermen of the city, made a personal inspection of the system in this colony, with the result that they will recommend the introduction at an early date into tlie City of Adelaide. In the United States, if the steam railroads are not electrified, tlie electric railroads will displace them. Parallel routes (steam and electric) are now, and have been for several years past, in keen competition. The electris railroad is more comfortable, more speedy ,and less expensive. Such enormous advantages obtained by the pressure of a button, tlie turning of a switch, must displace cruder methods. Electricity lias but begun its world-con-quering march, but hinted at the inconceivable revolution in store —copper is its handmaiden! Already an electrical era is on in South Africa. In 1905 electrical fittings and accessories exceeded £70,000, a sum comparatively small till it is known that it exceeded probably by two-thirds the demand of the previous year. The British Trades Journal reports “max —ax —me—presemr-jnine; wramiand other industrial concerns and

municipalities are vicing with each other in thoir efforts to push electricity to the limit of its commercial usefulness,” and then continues —“There is hardly a thirdrate township now which has not either adopted, or is about to adopt.

an electric-lighting scheme, and certainly no first-class town is without its electric tramways.” At the door of civilisation continents have slumbered that now begin to stir in answer to the clarion call of progress. Within the next decade India and China, shaking off tho lethargy of darker ages, will call with brazen lungs for twentieth century -trappings. Japan is already a user of enormous quantities of copper, Eastern Asia consuming a yearly average of over ten thousand tons. Japan lias a popuation exceeding 40,000,000. She now industrially represents what America was at the end of her Civil War. Japan’s future is before her, not behind her, and the tremendous demand on tho copper supplies of the world by her people, eager to see their country take rank as a leading civilised power, is destined to contribute a wonderful chapter to the future development of the value of copper. What are the uses of copper in modern civilisation? To generalize, we will say that industries of stupendous magnitude are dependant on this

metal. As a corollary, it affords em ; ployment to an enormous army of the world’s workers, and enriches the world to the extent of' over £100,000,000 each year. More than one-half of the present output of the world’s copper mines is absorbed by the engineering trades. For marine work it is practically indispensable, salt water and salt atmosphere alike failing to corrode it, as they do iron or steel. Sulphate of copper used for spraying grape vines to kill insect pests absorbs thousands of tons of tho metal annually. A force that scientists cannot even yet define, that learned professors fail to analyse, a subtle pervasive fluid that Franklin drew from the clouds —electricity—the giant force thqt man with his weakling body and wonderful brain already controls in part, and which is yearly passing more and more beneath Ids yoke, is rosiionsiblc for the enormous present

demands for copper, and will he responsible for an almost incalculable demand lu the future. Electricity has revolutionized already the civilised world, yet its uses have scarcely been grasped, its possibilities hardly comprehended. Our forefathers trudged homo by light of lamp or gas; the present generation demands electric light. The con-tinents-of the world are enmeshed in telegraphic and cable strands. Copper is the medium which carries tlio marvellously swift message of good or ill from quo world to another. Electricity with its uncanny power carries the voice of one man to another a thousand tulles apart—the mysterious fluid flashes along a copper strand. The cltimbilig proclivities of copper is causing men to scour the world for copper deposits, and the enormous possibilities in-

licront in promising copper “prospects” are beginning to force themselves on the consciousness of the great middle classes, Hitherto copper has been regarded more or less as a rich man’s proposition but the wonderful possibilities inherent in investments with the real metal as a foundation, must, sooner or later, become more widely known. In I9GO, the world produced 486,363 tons of copper. Mr Stevens in his copper handbook for 1906 states that a fiftyfold increase in copper production will see the world producing 24,318,150 tons of copper when the year 2000 arrives. The average accepted ratio of increase in copper consumption is estimated to range between 6 per cent, and 8 per cent, by copper experts. Taking these respective figures and striking an average of 7 per cent, wc find the world will consume 174,681,468 tons, of copper in tlie- year 2000—if it can get it,