BRITISH & FOREIGN NEWS

Hokitika Guardian, 10 December 1925, Page 3

BRITISH & FOREIGN NEWS

[Renter Telegrams.] EX-f■'OVERNOIL’S TRIBUTE. •LONDON 1 . Dec. S. A luncheon tendered in honour of Lord and Lady Forster, on their return I'runt Australia, was attended by a distinguished gathering at Australia House.

hi a speech. Lord Forster said that Australia "as developing in a manner wlTieh baffled description. Deserts were being turned into smiling gardens. It was all really a staggering achievement for so few people in such a brief time. Australia, he said, was growing at the fastest rate industrially. hut. with the primary expansion there must tie a eo-related coordinated growth in other directions. He and his wife hoped always to he able to do .something for the country in which they had left so large a portion of their hearts. Mr \Y. C. Pridgcmau (First Lord of the Admiralty) acknowledged Australia's help at this critical time by laying down two new cruisers. Mr J. Thomas, Labour M.P.. said that he hoped to visit Australia next year. I .'EY EL CROSSING SMASH. DELHI, Dee. 9. A level crossing smash occurred at Kaipur. Central Provinces. A motorlorry carrying 25 passengers, collided with a goods train. The lorry, after the collision, hurst into (lames. Four' passengers died of injuries and four others are in a critical condition. PENNY POSTAGE FOIL SOUTH A FIUC A. CAPETOWN. Dee. 9 The re-introduction of penny postage into South Africa on Ist. Jan. will he signalised by a new issue of stamps of a distinct South African design. The King’s head will disappear from the more popular denominations, namely the half-penny, penny and twopenny. which "ill he replaced respectively by representation of Van Dieheck’s ship and drawings of Onion Buildings at Pretoria.

Chinese position. (Deceived this day at 11.25 a.m.) PEKING. Dec. 9. Kuc.sangliiig’s troops arc advancing slowly. The main body is still al Chinehow. hut the advance guards are approaching Liaoho. Japanese gendarmes are assisting the police in Mukden. Kiioniinehun'.s troops have no" reached Yaiigtsun and the Lichingliiiites have withdrawn to Peitsaug. Trains are running 10-dav between Peking and Tientsin. Liehinglin is reported to have taken personal charge of the troops near Machatig and claims he hits defeated two brigades of the second Kiioniichun army at Teevaho and one brigade at Taeheng. Four hundred additional Japanese troops have gone lo Mukden. All Inreigncrs in Hsinmidfu have been evacuated. H is understood a number of foreign women were given refuge at the Japanese and other consulates in Mukden. where all e'-nsuls held a meeting to plan measures for the protection of nationals. Hsiuwiidl'u is said to have been looted liv Mukden troops to-day.

A JAPANESE. W MINING. TOKIO. Dec. 9. \s a result of iln- ibrafre ol hostilities entering the .la pa nose defence gone, the War tlffieu announces the text of a roitinmniealion which the commander of the Japanese Kwautung army experts to send simnltaneouslv io Ihe rival Chinese commamlders lighting in Manchuria. Alter emphasising .Jap-au s '1 riot uon-inter!cr-euce policy, hitherto lollowed. the communication contains a warning Hint if hostilities in the railway /one or adjacent districts jeopardise Japanese I i vos or property. Japanese troops will lx> constrained to act. WIPE LESS. LONDON. December 9. It is learned that Air Allard failed to induce the Post Office to consent to Austarlia participating in the central beam station of England. CAUSE OF DISASTER. CAPETOWN, Dee. 9. It is- ascertained that tile powerstation disaster was duo to the breaking of the shaft of a large turbine driven generator. The Inline ol the machine hurst, and the broken parts were scattered in all directions. Some were found in the town of Verecniging, more than a quarter of a mile away. The astonishing feature was that no one was injured. The mine tonnage affected by the stoppage is over 20,(100 daily, representing a loss of thirty thousand sterling. The daily resumption of work is exported at the end of the week. AFRICAN POLITICS. CAPETOWN, Dee. !). In his opening address to the Union Congress of the- South African Party. Mr Smuts said the party were prepared Lo contribute to the solution of the native question so far as it was .soluble. It was proposed that after Bills embodying Air Ifcrtzog's policy were laid before 'Parliament!, vi 'National Convention he held to which, not onl\ the Bills, hut the whole native question he referred, with a mandate to find a solution, which if possible, would he generally acceptable to tho people of South Africa. Its scheme would he reported to Parliament as the basis of discussion and in this way the rights of the people would he safeguarded.

BILL VETOED. MANILA. Dec. 0. Governor AVonil vetoed a Bill providing for the holding of a plebiscite on the question of Phillippine independence; also Bills designed to open an insular treasury to the control of native politicians.