BRITISH & FOREIGN NEWS

Hokitika Guardian, 28 February 1925, Page 3

BRITISH & FOREIGN NEWS

LATEST CABLE NEWS

UIBTEALIAN AKO N.Z. .AIII.K ASSOCIATION

EXTREMISTS IX ENGLAND. LONDON, Februarv 2!

While Mr .), 11. Thomas, M. !’.. is daily conn selling the railway men to adhere to conciliation in the negotiation of their wage demands in preference to a disastrous strike policy, the .Secretary ol the Miners’ Federation. Mr Cook, is preaching Red doctrines to the miners.

Tin* Miners' Executive to-day do cided to convene a conference in Lon don in March, of the Miners, Railwaymen, the Amalgamated Engineers, tin Transport Workers and the Locomotive Engineers for the purpose of discussing their various wage clams. This decision, following on suggestions to revive the Triple Alliance is being regarded as most significant. The newspapers point out that a struggle is at present going oh to resist, the inroads of the Reds in the Trade I'nion Congress. Like the Australian Reds, they are seeking to “ white ant ” the Fnions as the preliminary to gaining control of the Trade I'nion Congress, hut so far they have been most unsuccessful. An outstanding fact is that the last Trade I'nion Congress decision, refusing the ( uinmunists nfFilmtinu or union membership. is proving a hopeless failure.

A YOFTIFK CRIME. LONDON. February 27. Oldagi, the youth whose arrest was cabled on January 26rd. pleaded guitly to attempting to murder Mr.-. Bragg, and to maliciously setting lire to her house alter robbing her with violence. Me was sentenced to twenty-one months imprisonment and also with twenty strokes of the cat. Justice Avery declared that his youth saved the accused from a long term of penal servitude. The defending counsel suggested that Oidagi became mentally abnormal, lie had lived porlectlv reputably till De (■ember. Since then lie committee crime. Mis four burglaries were all marked bv extraordinarily wanton a.ts. In one ease he left the gas turned on and in another the water, while Ur 1 most hardened and most callous criminal would have hesitated to have used the violence shown towards Mrs Bragg. The accused’s roulession was really a glorification and a boasting of Ids own crimes. GERM \ N FINANCIAL RECOVERY. I ON DON. Feb. 2b. The “Doily Telegraph’s" Berlin correspondent, states there is a reduction in (lie Bank rate of Germany. It marks an important stage in Ocrmany’s return to economic health. Tim industrialists themselves no longer ('em that the inflation period allowed them to extend me-It-rate plant organisation at. trifling cost,, but state capital could not, be obtained below fifty I n r cent, owing to a rapacious demand tor profits, developed during the mad depreciation period. As soon as the industrialists shewed a willingness to e mIribulo towards ;1 settlement ol win debts, by an accept a nee of the Dawes scheme, American eanit.nl poured in. Money tends to I •„> easier for some time. TWO I.FYKI’J. LONDON. Feb. 27. Two levees have been arranged lor the ltll.li. and ItHh. of March, the Prince of Wales acting as Deputy for the King. Presentations to I Ir- I’rim-e of Wales will he considered equivalent to presentations to Mis Majesty. INTERESTING REVELATIONS. jltoceived this day at S.ol) a.m.) LONDON. 'February 27. There were interesting revelations in the Chancery Court when Mrs BrownIce claimed £8>.171 from the late Ear] Shrewsbury's estate which the present Fail, the deceased's grandson, is resist ing. ('oiiiiscl said Airs Brownlee met the deceased Earl in ISOH when she was

nineteen and soon alterwaiJs lived under his protection, the relationship continuing till the Furl died in 1921. The deceased gave her an allowance of one thousand yearly and lie made a will in 1929 leaving her the whole of the residue. The probate notion, uncut the latter, heard on 22ml July. |poo, resulted in an agreement lor a settlement, hut the terms unaffected the debts due. The claim originally totalled thirty thousand, hut the plaintiff was not pressing claims for eleven thousand fur beds made lor the deceased Earl. The present claim involves 107 items, including household expenses and the salary of her holy oompa.n-

Mr .'Justice Laurence thought sin: had an allowance of one thousand.

■Counsel said that was only pin money. The £13.799 of the claim concerned a string of racehorses the l'.arl (gave her in 1919 undertaking to pay lor training and upkeep. The parties consulted, Uut failed to reach a .settlement.

PACIFIC FLEET SFGGESTEP. LONDON. February 23. 'l he naval correspundeut of th

•• Evening Standard,” discussing the impelling Naval Conlerenee at Singapore snvs: ‘‘The three zones I nun uhieli the commanders of ships have been drawn constitute the area into which the world’s centre ol naval gravity is slowly shilling, by reason of its trade importance. An ideal saleguard would be an Imperial Eastern Meet, jointly created by Britain, Australia. .New Zealand, Canada, and India, but such a fleet to be adequate, would cost two hundred millions or lorty millions to each contributor. Therelore it is an ideal beyond reach of the Kxochequcrs. though, perhaps, each will ultimately have its own licet, coalescing into a struggle, whole when needed. In the meantime, the best attainable substitute is a decision to allocate the Fasten, waters to cruisers like the \ indielive and the Kent classes, with Australia's new leii-thousand-touuers, which are suitable lor long patrols, and ti.ul protection, hut in order lo oilset the present opposing rnpilal ships, there must later be a battle squadron, having the advantage ol ti-aiuin" constant I v in the waters in its own sphere. The chief difficulty at present is the lack ot ducks, except at Bombay, .Singapore and Hong Kong hut that is not insuperable. BUTTER PRESERVATIVE. LONDON, February 23. In response to protests from Australia against any proposal to ban the US,, of boric acid in butter Mr Newton (representing the Western District Cooperative Producers) is conferring with the Health authorities and is pointing out there is no objections to reducing the quantity of acid from point hve per cent, to point twenty-live per cent, hut he says total abolition would drive, out the Dominion producers and leave the foreigners an open field.