MAIL NEWS.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1559, 17 February 1879, Page 3

MAIL NEWS.

PREMISES’ CONSTITUENCIES.

Whatever constituency may have the honor of being represented iu the next Parliament by Mr Gladstone, his electoral experience bids fair to bo of a more varied kind than that of any English Premier ; though even he has not yet changed seats so often as did Lord Russell, who represented in succession Tavistock, Hunts, Bandon, Devonshire, Stroud, and London. One finds, by the way, on glancing over the list of Prime Ministers, that four constituencies have especially distinguished themselves by returning First Lords of the Treasury actual or prospective. The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the county of Buckingham, and the borough of Rye have each returned two Premiers. Oxford chose and rejected both Sir Robert Peel and Mr Gladstone before either of them had attained to the highest post which can be filled by a subject. Cambridge, once she had elected Pitt, remained true to him to the last, but was not equally faithful to Lord Palmerston. The county of Buckingham has been represented by Lord Grenville and Lord Beaconsfield. Mr Jenkinson, afterwards Esrl of Liverpool, and fifteen years at the head of the Government, was elected M.P. for Rye in 1790. In 1806 the little borough sent “ Major-General Sir Arthur Wellesley, K.B ,” as its representative to the House of Commons. It may be added that only one Prime Minister of the present century—Lord Aberdeen—was entirely without practical experience of the House of Commons. Succeeding to his father’s title at the age of eighteen, he was naturally debarred, as a peer of Scotland, from becoming a candidate for a seat in the Lower House. He nevertheless won his way into Parliament as a representative peer at the age of twen(y-two. A SOUTH AMERICAN WAR. According to a 'letter from Buenos Ayres in the “Cologne Gazette,” the dispute whDh has for some time been going on be! ween the Argentine Republic and Chili on account of the Argentinian claims to Patagonia has become more violent than ever owing to the seizure of the North American barque Devonshire by the Chilian cruiser Magellanes off the island of Monte Leon, some miles to the south of the mouth of the River Santa Cruz, on the ground that the Devonshire had shipped some guano on Chilian territory without the consent of the Chilian authorities. All the Argentinian newspapers, including those which have been hitherto been most moderate in tone, protest against the assumption that the territory south of the Santa Cruz belongs to Chili, and urge the Government to demand satisfaction. A further complication is likely to arise from the fact that the Devonshire was sailing under the United States flag at the time she was captured, and it is believed that the Cabinet at Washington will take the opportunity afforded by this incident of interfering in the affairs of the South American States. That the Chilian Government anticipates a conflict is shown by its having ordered the fleet to assemble in the Archipelago of Talcahuano, about sixty miles to the south of Valparaiso, at which point it would be favorably situated for an attack on Argentine territory. The Argentine Government, on its side, has appointed Colonel Alvaro Earros Governor of Patagonia ; but this is a mere form, for the inhabited portions of that country are already under the jurisdiction of Chili, and the new Governor could have no authority over them so long as Chili maintains her pretensions. KHEREDINE PASHA. The well-known Turkish writer, Osman Bey, who has served in the Russian army, and occasionally contributes to Russian newspapers, has published in the “Novoe Vremya” an account of Kheredine Pasha, his former comrade in arms, and now Grand Yizier. Kheredine is, he says, by race an Abkhasian, and was born at Bamburie, near Sukhum, in the Caucasus. In 1835 he was bought in the slave market at Tophane, together with his two brothers, by an agent of the Sultan, who afterwards sent Kheredine as a gift to the Bey of Tunis. Osman Bey first saw Kherodine at Batoum, where he was introduced to Osman by his brother. Kheredine was then in command of the artillery in a Tunisian contingent, and was a man of imposing appearance, with fair hair and beard. He was sent by the Bey to Prance to complete his military studios, and he employed his time to such good purpose that when he returned to Tunis he soon became one of the most eminent men in the country. The Bey appointed him Minister, and frequonly sent him to Paris on financial and other missions. After one of these journeys Kheredine published a work on Eastern policy which was much read and commented upon. Osman Bey Thinks that Kheredine obtained his present post at Constantinople partly by the influence of his brothers —one of whom, Muohlis Pasha, fought in the late campaign in Armenia and was wounded in the battle of Kisil Tepe. The name of Kheredine (Fortune of the Faith) is regarded by the Turks as a talisman ; and Russian diplomatists have no rerson to rejoice at his appointment, as neither himself nor his supporters can be in any sense described as partisans of Russia. THE TEA TRADE. According to the “Economist,” the present position of the China tea trade is very unsatisfactory, and before long a serious crisis may occur. It appears that the character of the trade has undergone great modifications during the past few years. Some of the oldestablished houses in the trade have died out or turned their attention to other business, and their places have been supplied by syndicates formed by merchants, brokers, and dealers. By a system of continued heavy purchases in China, followed by forced sales of tea on its arrival in this country, these syndicates have kept their business in motion and their bills in circulation. Whether this mode of doing business is the cause of the depression that has existed for some time, it is difficult to say ; but th< ro appears no question that the importations of tea have shown a loss during the last two or three years. In the c iso of certain ship monts considerable profits have been made, but importers generally have been losing money by their transactions, and in many cases rather heavily Brokers and bankers have both assisted to keep matters going, and. as the hills in respect of the unsold portion of the earlier shipments of this year will have shortly to ho met, considerable anxiety i* shown. Large sales may enable importers t • meet present demands ; but forced sales will only have the effect of reducing pric -s, and will thus add very much to future difficulties It is also reported that the hankers concerned in the trade he.ve come to an agreement ordy to buy tea bills at, three months’ sight for tie j future, and if this is true it will acid further I tq the Drcssuro on importers, especially on

those who have not capital enough to meet, their bills independently of the sales of tea. The English tea trade has also suffered lately from America and Australia obtaining the plater portion of their teas direct from China. assassination at lima. The assassination at Lima, on the 16th of No> ember, of Don Manuel Pardo, ex- President of the Peruvian Republic, and President of the Senate, seems to have been a very coldblooded affair. Sonor Pardo arrived at the door of the Senate House at two o’clock on the afternoon of the 16th of November, and, alighting from his carriage, entered the vestibule where the guard of honor, some ten or twelve infantry soldiers with a bugler, commanded by a Captain Ulloa, and belonging to the battalion “ Pichincha,” was drawn up with arms presented to receive him. This ceremony being always performed on the entrance of the President of the Upper House, Senor Pardo, followed by Senor Rivas and another friend, passed along the line, waved his hand to the officer, and was turning into a narrow passage-way leading to the Senate chamber, when the last man in the line, the sergeant of the guard, by name Montoya, levelled his rifle and fired point blank at Senor Pardo, who staggered and fell mortally wounded. It was found impossible to move him from the spot where ho had fallen, and although every effort was made to save his life, he shortly afterwards expired, his last words being, “ I pardon everybody, even my assassin.” In the meantime Senor Melgar, who saw the sergeant fire the fatal shot, seized him by the throat and struggled with him to prevent his escape. The rest of the guard remained passive during the struggle, and the sergeant, disengaging himself from the hands of Senor Melgar, ran away at full speed, no one attempting to stop him. He was, however, subsequently cap tured by a sergeant of the guard of the corps of gendarmerie, and placed in confinement. By latest accounts he seems likely to receive something more than a nominal punishment for the crime ho has committed. THE WORLD’S TIMBER. The extent of the timber resources of the world is a question of increasing importance, as forest after forest disappears under the ad vancing foot of civilisation. As things stand it seems by no means improbable that posterity will’have to get on as best it may in a treeless planet. Some interesting information on the subject may he gained by studying an “analysis of returns relating to colonial timber” which has just been issued as a Parliamentary paper. It appears that, so far as Canada is concerned, it is in the province of Quebec only that any steps have been taken (and those of an ineffective kind) to check waste and diminish the frequency of forest fires. In none of the six provinces of the Dominion have measures been taken to secure the replanting of cleared areas, notwithstanding an enormous and growing consumption. In the province of Ontario more than 87a per cent, of the timber annually cut is exported, and looking to the magnitude of the timber exports it is remarkable that so little has been done to prevent the threatened exhaustion of the chief article oi trade in the province. In Nova Scotia the amount of timber annually cut is estimated to exceed by 25 per cent, the amount which could be cut each year without permanent injury to the forests, whiie in Prince Ed ward Isiand the amount annually cut exceeds nearly seventeen times the quantity which would represent a prudent rate of consumpti n Of all the provinces of the Dominion, British Columbia alone appears to offer a supply of any considerable magnitude for the future wants of the timber trade. The timber resources of this province are declared by local authorities to be practically inexhaustible ; but it is probable that should the whole strain of the demand be thrown upon it, a few years would make a very perceptible inroad upon them. There is a tendency in newly-settled countries to regard timber as a mere incumbrance to the land; and as it generally occupies the most fertile soils, the finest timber is that first selected for destruction by fire, by ring barking and other rude and wasteful methods in favor with colonists. It is, perhaps, not possible in very newly-settled colonies to put restraints upon the clearing of the land, although even in these cnees it would seem advisable to leave belts and clumps of trees for the future wants of the inhabitants. No such difficulty, however exists in many of the places to which these returns apply; where strong and wellestablished Governments look on supinely while the timber is disappearing, and the whole country is becoming treeless. THE CHINESE AND THE RUSSIANS. Recent events on the Russian and Chinese frontier have aggravated rather than diminished the difficulties in the way of the success of Chung How’s mission to St Petersburg. All along the line there seems to have been a growing irritation on the part of the Chinese against their neighbour, and a fixed determination to put a stop to expeditions which under various disguises, such as “scientific,” “friendly,” &c., have generally ended by a loss of territory to China. At both extremities of the f rontier the ill-feeling has become more especially apparent, and this, even if we knew nothing of the facts, would suggest the presence of the same disturbing cause in Manchooria and Kuldja. At both points the Chinese have much which the Russians want—a freer sea-board on the one hand and a fertile province on the other. The long strip of soacoast from the mouth of the Amoor to the Oorean frontier which Russia acquired from China during the war with England and France iu 1860 was not enough to satisfy the wants of the Czar’s Government, and it is reported that for some time there has been manifested a disposition to encroach further into Manchooria. In revenge, Chinese banditti have been carrying on a border warfare with the inhabitants of the Russian province of Hankoi; and a correspondent from Yladivostock stales that in June last a regular engagement took place between a eotnia of Cossacks and a band of Chinese robbers near the town of Hankoi After a well sustained fight, the banditti crossed the frontier, but continued to menace the Cossacks, and eventually dispersed on the arrival of a body of regular Chinese troops, whose assistance was challenged by the Russian commandant. From Orenburg it is reported that life and property are totally insecure on the Chinese frontier, and that a band of 750 Kirghese Kibitkas, ungr.ttefullv regardless of the advantages they derived from Russian rule, recently crossed over to Chinese territory, cutting down a Russian picket on their way. Oa the Kai Mountains, near the Kara Kuh Pass, an exploring expedition despatched from Fort Yernoe only escaped a similar fate by a judicious retreat. And the “Turkestan Gazette ” states that a reinforcement of 1900 men has been added to the army destined to operate against Kuldja. Meanwhile a force of 7000 Russians have advanced over the Pamir to within five marches of Yarkand, thus giving color to a report which has of late been current at Pekin that the Russians are preparing military operations for the occupation of Yarkand and Khoton. As from both of those places practicable roads lead to Ladakh, their importance to the Russians will bo readily recognised, as also will be the fact that the success of the venture would bo a matter for even greater concern to ourselves than to the Chinese. Altogether, affairs in Central and Northern Asia are in such a critical condition that a crisis must soon be reached; and since it is inevitable the sooner it is brought about the better. MISCELLANEOUS. Admiral Sir Geoffrey Hornby has (the “Standard ” says) been to Constantinople to confer with Sir Henry Layard as to the disposition of the fleet within the Dardanelles. Ii is not thought po»aible that the British fleet will winter at Artaki, and if not withdrawn from the Marmora an early move to Ismidt is confidently looked for. The “Journal d’Alsace ” says that a collateral descendant of Martin Luther is among the students of theology at Stnishurg Uiiivorsity. M Friedrich Luther is in direct line from Heinz Luther, uncle of the reformer. He was bora at Silzungen, near the village of Mobra, in Thuringia, which was the birthplace of the Luther family. A Paris telegram in the “Daily Telegraph,” says ; —“ A terrible accident has just occurred in the commune of Chapclle-Moche, in the O ne. A crowd of children, numbering fiftytwo, were sliding on a deep pond near the village, when suddenly the ice broke, and

forty 'fright were precipitated to the bottom or the pond, from which their bodiea were taken out lifeless. The Canadian Government' has determined to complete the Canada Pacific Railway between Lake Superior and the City of Winnipeg with the utmost speed, bo ns to prevent the permanent diversion of thenorth-westtraflicthrough the American lines. A telegram from Ottawa says it is understood that In January official correspondence will commence be .ween the Governments of Newfoundland and Canada with reference to the admission of the forme? province into the Dominion. Private communications on this subject have, it is slated, already been exchanged. News from the West Coast of Africa states that King George has been imprisoned _»t Bonny by several of the chiefs of the district for attempting to levy a rate on the traders. After being in irons and confined for ten days he was released and was under strict surveillance, Oko Jumbo and Ada Allison being his chief guardians. At Q.uettah on the 18th ult. matters were quiet. The Houssas, in searching for some contraband goods in an adjacent village, met with resistance, and they destroyed the goods, and left the town partially in flames.

The son of King Theodore of Abyssinia, who was brought to England after the fall of Magdala, is being educated for the army. The last appeal of the man Moncasi, who fired at King Alphonse, has been rejected by the Supreme Court, and his fate now lies with the Council of Ministers. It is believed that the sentence of death will be executed. Messrs Somes and Co. writes from 55, Old Broad street : “ Having noticed in the “Times” of the 30th ult. an extract from a Trinidad newspaper with reference to the fresh discoveries of gold at La Pastora, in Venezuela, we think you may be interested to know that, in confirmation of this news, we have in our possession a nugget weighing 14cz e 14dwt,, which formed part of a remittance to us last month of 2500 z, of gold from that district.”

An express passenger train on the RostovVladikavkas railway, in the Caucasus, fell off the line last week from a height 'of 15 metres. The driver and stoker, the guard, and eighteen passengers, including General Hientze and several officers serving in the Caucasus, were killed, and thirty-bight other passengers injured. A murder was committed at Ardtyle, near Newmarket on-Fergus, county Clare, last Friday night. A farmer named McOinerney came homo from the fair at Newmarket under the inflenco of drink, and began to quarrel with his wife. His son, a young man about twenty-five years of age, who was married and lived in the house with his wife, interfered to protect his mother, when the father seized a gun and fired at him, some of the shot taking effect, near the heart. The son died on Saturmorninsr