NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1237, 21 February 1878, Page 3

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

By yesterday’s mail we are in receipt of London files to January 3rd, and American to January 21st. Our American papers contain, us usual, a long record of horrors, accidents unequalled in piteousness, murders unrivalled in atrocity, and a miscellany inapproachable in sensational character by the news of the whole world besides. This branch of the intelligence has, however, been pretty effectually rendered out by the Press Agency and other telegraphic correspondents. The English papers are a fortnight later than those brought by the Suez mail last week. On December 31st the “ Times ” published a review, occupying upwards of nine columns, of the events of the year in all parts of the globe ; but it is noticeable that although the Jow'akis and the Galekas, Yakoob Beg, and Kreli are thought worthy of notice, the names of Australia and New Zealand do not once occur, and absolutely there is no reference to Mr Graham Berry or Sir G. Grey. The following extracts will be of interest, and, as they deal succinctly with matters of which the accounts only reached us in disconnected fragments during the year, will enable many 1 readers to form a clearer view upon some great questions than has been yet possible : THE SYMPATHIES OE EUBOPE.

In the midst of arms, diplomacy is, like law, ordinarily suspended. No aid has been given to either belligerent in contravention of the rules of neutrality by any Power, It is understood that the German Emperor cordially sympathises with Russia, and the policy of his Government apparently agrees with his personal feelings. The Italian Government also is believed to incline to the cause of Russia, for reasons which are not fully understood. Austria has not been influenced in action by the jealousy which might have been provoked by the prospect of Russian victories

!in Turkey. Tho Court of Vienna and the 1 military aristocracy are supposed to favor .■Russia. In Hungary the popular feeling of ' the Magyars is unanimously adverse to Russia; 1 but in both divisions of the Monarchy respon- | gible politicians of all parties approve the | neutrality which the Government, has main- ; taint'd. The national divisions which exist in Austria and Hungary, and the risk of a breach j of friendly relations with G-ermany, sufficiently I account for (he expectant policy which the I Austro-Hungarian Chancellor, himself a 1 Magyar, has uniformly maintained. The : Government of Athens, though it is believed to have felt little sympathy with the Slavonic movement, has prepared to assert its claims to a share in the spoil if the Turkish Empire is broken up by the war. Early in, the year a Cabinet was formed by a coalition of all leaders of part it s, under tho Presidency of the celebrated Canuris, who formerly contributed hy his naval exploits to tho independence of Greece. His death a. few months afterwards has had no effect in disturbing the concert of parties, which will probably last as long as the crisis in Turkey. The Greeks of Constantinople appear to deprecate Russian conquest; but. if the Government of Athens determines on war, it will probably be seconded by insurrections in Thessaly, Epirus, and Crete. The neutrality adopted from the first bj T the English Government has been prospectively defined and limited by a despatch of Lord Derby’s, nearly identical in terms with Mr Cross’s speech. Before tho war began, overtures are supposed to have been made by the German Government for an understanding, which would have included the acquisition of Egypt by England. If the proposal was made, the English Government could not but decline a scheme which would have begun with a partition of the Turkish Empire. The Government of Marshal MacMnhon, sufficiently occupied with domestic difficulties, has exhibited no active interest in (ho affairs of the East. The diplomatic complications which must precede and attend the conclusion of the war will be sufficiently embarrassing. Negotiation has hitherto been premature, while it was still impossible to measure the forces which it is the main business of diplomacy to ascertain and recognise. TRADE AND FINANCE. The harvest of the year in England was one of the worst on record, and the commercial depression of two or three previous years has not abated. The returns of exports show a considerable diminution, though the large amount of imports proves that the purchasing power of the community is not seriously affected. The stagnation extends to every other commercial country ; but hopes of an early revival are entertained in the United States. One indication of the unsatisfactory state of trade is furnished by the difficulty of employing money in discounting bills. From April, 1876, to May, 1877, the bank rate of interest remained at 2 per cent., and the market rate was so much lower than the official quotation t hat the London joint-stock banks discontinued their acceptance of money on deposit., except from their regular customers. In May the rate was raised to 3 per cent. ; and, after a temporary reduction, it was advanced in October to 4, and afterwards for a few weeks to 5 per cent., but the main object of the Bank of England was to guard against a drain of bullion, and the supply of money for purposes of discount still exceeds the demand. The depressed stale of commerce and industry has, unfortunately, not suspended tho disastrous struggle between employers and workmen. A strike in the cotton trade at; Bolton and a lock-out by the iron shipbuilders on (he Clyde have caused much local distress. The colliers have been advised by some of their leaders to reduce the output of coal, iu the hope of raising prices at the cost of the community. The construction of a great public building in London has been interrupted by a strike of the masons for increased wages and shorter hours of work.

INDIAN DIFFICULTIES.

In India there has been a petty border war with the Jo will is, a predatory mountain tribe on the North-West frontier. In the early part of the year, on the invitation of the Khan of Khelat, an English officer with a considerable escort was sent to reside at Quettab, and perhaps the measure may have caused irritation and alarm among the neighbouring tribes. At the date of the latest accounts the operations of the English forces had been successful, but the objects of the expedition had not been fully attained. The gorgeous ceremony attending the proclamat ion at Delhi of the Queen’s assumption of the title of Empress of India produced no political effect. Indian statesmen were even at the time preoccupied by the anticipation of the famine which has since extended with frightful severity over a great part of the Presidencies of Bombay and Madras, and over some of the adjacent states. The efforts of the Supreme and Local Governments to relieve the wants of the people have been unceasing; but the deaths from the direct or indirect consequences of want of food are estimated at hundreds of thousands; and the health of many of the survivors must have been permanently affected. A subscription in England for the relief of Indian distress amounted to nearly half a million, and the liberality of the contributors was not exhausted when the Indian authorities announced that the necessity for aid no longer existed. Copious autumn rains removed all apprehension of a second season of famine ; and the pressure on the resources of the Government rapidly diminishes. Two celebrated Eastern potentates have died wit hin the year. Jung Bahadoor, nominally Minister and really Sovereign of Nepaul, had long since attained his position by unscrupulous vigour in removing rivals from his path. While he excluded Europeans from his country, he pursued a friendly policy to the English Government, and during the Mutiny he rendered useful service. At the time of his death he was preparing for a second visit to England. Little is known of the character of his brother, who has succeeded to his power. The death of Yakooh Beg of Kashgar may probably be followed by dynastic and territorial changes in the remote East. Like many Eastern potentates, Yakoob had been a soldier of fortune before he superseded the chief whom he had served. Alone among the Mahomedan rulers of provinces formerly belonging to China., Yakoob Beg, otherwise known as the Atalik Ghazi, had maintained an independence which was threatened both from the east and the west. He had during his reign avoided collision with his Russian neighbours in Central Asia; but it is doubtful whether he would have been able permanently to resist the steady progress of great Chinese armies, which will probably restore the former frontiers of the Empire. The inheritance of Yakoob Beg has already caused broils and revolutions among the claimants of the succession, and the kingdom which he formed is not likely to endure.

THE POSITION IN SOUTH AFRICA.

In South Africa it has been found necessary to interfere with a neighboring community of European blood. The independence of the Republic of Transvaal, founded a quarter of a century ago by Dutch emigrants from the colony, had been recognised and afterwards respected by the English Government; but collisions between the people of the Transvaal and the Caffres always involved a danger of a general Native war, and in the course of last year the levies of the Republic had been defeated in a contest with a neighboring chief. It appeared from the official statements of Mr Burgers, President of the Republic, that the Government was unable cither to provide for the defence of the territory or to maintain internal order. Sir Theophilus Shepstonc, an officer of great experience in dealing both with native tribes and with colonists in South Africa, was despatched by Lord Carnarvon to the Transvaal with a largo discretionary power, extending in certain specified contingencies to the assumption of the government. The Commissioner, arriving at the seat of Government in advance of a small body of troops which had been placed at his disposal, found the state of affairs so alarming that he at once determined on adding the Transvaal to the dominions of the Crown, and his decision was afterwards approved by the Colonial Office.

The Dutch inhabitants of tho territory seem not to have been dissatisfied with the measure, which was naturally acceptable to the English residents. The powerful King of the Enins, who has threatened an invasion of the Transvaal, has thought h prudent to avoid a collision with the Imperial and Colonial Governments, and on the whole the annexation seems to have produced advantageous results. Iu a distant part of South Africa petty hostilities, provoked by Krcli, chief of (he Galekas, or his advisors, have ended in bis defeat, and in his deposition by Sir Barlle Ere re, now Governor of the Cape. The project of federation has not yet been carried into effect, but Lord Carnarvon’s policy is believed to increase In popularity, and the acquisition of the Transvaal will, pc-rhapq diminish the impediments to union. So far, however, as Africa is concerned, the arrival of Mr H. M. Stanley at tho Capo, after his marvellous journey across the Continent, has dwarfed the interest felt either in a Galeka outbreak or in a South African Confederation.