THE NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 8, Issue 407, 30 August 1866, Page 2

THE NEWS BY THE MAIL.

OUR CORRESPONDENT’S LETTER. CONTINENT All MEMOBANDA, The telegrams following this will, in all probability, inform you of war between Austria and some other German powers on one side, and Prussia, Italy, and other German powers on the other. Sleswig Holstein is the (nominal) bone of contention, and Prussia has shuffled Austria out of Holstein without firing a shot, whereby Austria will probably have to bear the onus of firing the first. Numerically, the Austrian side is the stronger, but it by no means follows that it must therefore succeed. The real question to be decided between them is as simple as that which prompts a couple of schoolboys to a bout with fisticuffs; it is to prove which is master, which is to rule in the school (Germany.) Meanwhile the Italians are bound to attempt to take possesion of Yenetia. Whether they are able to do it or not, time will prove. To give an opinion is not necessary, as it would be valueless, unless founded upon better data than the general public have at command. Garibaldi is to lead an army of volunteers and co-operate with the regular army. France, Prussia, and Britain, jointly tried to mediate and prevent war, but failed. Russia, it is said, is now massing troops on the Prussian frontier, but for what purpose is quite unknown here. France, or rather her ruler Napoleon, has spoken, and said that peace is desired, that he will stand by armed ready, but not interfere unless her interests require it; that he will not think of requiring any extension of territory unless there is a re-arrangement of boundaries in the interest of one of the other great powers; that in any case he would not wish to incorporate with France any of the adjacent territories unless their population expressed a desire to be annexed to the Empire ; and last, but far from least, that he has the assurance of the interested parties that the re-settlement of boundaries (utter the war) shall not be without his consent. These propositions can scarcely be misunderstood. Who can doubt them ? the last especially. If the combatants get mutually severely punished, exhausted, —who will dare re-settle the map of Europe without consulting the man whose word will be backed, if necessary, by 800,000 bayonets ? That he will have a finger in the pie 1 do not doubt. That Britain may be able to keep neutral is to be hoped. At present some of the Conservative party profess to sympathise with Austria, but such expressions of opinion will only help to prolong the rule of the Whig ministry, who avowedly sympathise with Italy. Greece remains in a state of chaos. Her young King has nut found a bed of roses.

The Danubian principalities, Wallachia and Moldavia, or as they are now frequently termed, Roumania, have not git their status definitely fixed. They are anxious for union and independence. The first probably will be allowed, the last denied, although practically they have many of its advantages without its dangers. The great powers of Europe bound them to own the Suzerainty of the Sultan of T ark o * 7 now o vnovirr t j > wuu 4* jwutiy tribute; binding the Sultan not to interfere in their internal affairs without the consent of the great powers; and mutually bound themselves to non-interference ; hence they have the advantages of liberty of internal administration, without the risk of being under the control of the Czar on one hand and the Kair ser (of Austria) on the other. For doubtless either of these would try to appropriate these territories on the first opportunity, if they were first completely detached from Turkey. At present Roumania has chosen a ruler in the person of Charles of Hohenzollern, a member of the royal family of Prussia. The Sultan does not approve, and would interfere if he dared. The other great powers have shrunk from election, but withheld from the Sultan their assent to his interference. AMEEICAN ITEMS. American advices state that a Fenian army, 500 strong, had crossed the frontier into Canada, and captured a village called Fort Erie; repulsed the first body of volunteers who engaged them, torn up part of a railway, and seized supplies, offering Fenian bonds in payment. It would be ridiculous were it not for the fact that honest men will lose their lives in repelling the invasion. .Stephens, the originator of the Fenian movement, having escaped to America, has addressed the brotherhood, complaing of the low state of their treasury, and intimated tolerably clearly that if they won't dub up freely he won’t liberate Ireland, but retire in disgust. Doubtless he will so retire when the swindle has run its course, and no more money can be got. It is said that O’Mahouey has been kicked (figuratively I suppose) out of the Fenian Government Offices; if so, ha has escaped easier than most people expected he would. Jefferson Davis has undergone a process that might have ended in death from anxiety, confinement, and annoyance. It is understood he is to have more personal liberty and less restraint for the future. That treason is one of the deepest crimes, and must be so punished, in America, is exemplified in his person. THE FINANCIAL PANIC IN ENGLAND AND JOINT STOCK COMPANIES. The financial panic has brought down several colossal undertakings, and will be severely felt among the middle classes, many of whom had entrusted most of their savings to such high class concerns as Overend, Gurney and Co., Agra and Mastermans, &c. Many houses, wealthy in themselves, have fallen before a conspiracy, which began by forcing their shares down in the market, and then causing a run on them, which the most solvent houses find hard to meet, as at such times no amount of real first-class securities can stand in the place of hard cash. Thus Agra and Mastermans was said to have paid three millions over the counter the four days preceding their stoppage, and would probably have weathered the storm had they not learned that there was a run on their branches in India : this decided them. Currency mongers of course take the opportunity of advocating such a change in the law as would lead to extended issues of notes. Practically, no amount of notes would prevent times of embarrassment and panic. When money is abundant, people will speculate—(not merely invest their spare cash, for it is not that causes the mischief, but speculate far beyond their means of paying) ; —when money is abundant, all kinds of bubble companies are started ; all promise to pay well, for if they did not so promise people would not take shares ; all, or nearly all, pay those well who get them up, as well as those who manage them; —when money is from any cause rather tight, their shares go down, the bubble bursts, the shareholders suffer; in the crash that ensues, many of the sound houses are dragged down with the unsound. A few short years pass, money is again abundant, bubble companies start again —and so the former history is repeated. Joint Stock Companies are very good things in their proper place, but investors should first, if possible, learn something about the business they propose doing, and the terms on which ii is to be done ; ami, above all, w'ho and what are the persons wao will have the management. As stockjobbing, which is neither more nor less than gambling, has floated many a bubble scheme, and destroyed many a sound one, that is the quarter where a cure or a pre-

Tentative should be applied. But that quarter is aot very likely to be assailed successfully. Many Joint Sto?k Companies are anxious to be quoted on the Exchange, but Bound paying concerns need not desire it, as their shares ought not to vary much; whereas companies that are not over prosperous are more favorable to the gamblers, as their shares may be raised or depressed considerably.