London.

Manawatu Herald, 6 March 1897, Page 2

London.

St. James* Gaud c states that great nctivity is being displayed in the Eng'i-ih naval stations Tbe leave of officers has been curtailed, and several warships aro always keeping steam up. In the course of a speech Lord Silishu'y enid the Moslems in Cret.i strongly ohj 'Cted to a union with Grec'CH, anrl there was no evidence i that the Christians desired it either. Thf wisest course was to revive the question of liberty of action. If Liter on the Cretans desired the union, the Powers would be unlikely to resist; If Greece gained the ter ritory now the signal would be given to dismember Turkey, and that would embroil Europe in war. Ie was dif ficult to persuade the Powers to agree to the withdrawal of the Turkish troops. In the House of Commons Sir William Vernon Harcourt Btated, in reply to Lord Salisbury, that it was insane to employ the Turkish police, and the union of Crete with Greece wa3 the only satisfactory solution of the situation. The Queen has expressed her thanks to the members of the Benin expedition. A great gale in tho southern counties has caused serious damage. There were many shipwrecks and the mails were delayed. The British Navy Estimates have been submitted to the House of Commons. The total amount required for the year is £21,833,000 The number of men is to bs increased by 6300, and a sum of &!,- --000,000 is to be expended on the construction of new warships, com prising four line-of-battle ships, three cruisers and two torpedo-boat destroyers. The formation of a trained reserve force is to be commenced. At present there are 106 vessels of all classes iv course of construction. In the course of his examination, Mr Cecil Rhodes declared that he would never repeat such an illegality as the Jameson raid. He admitted that he held 50,000 shares in the British South African Chartered Company. Mr Rhodes asserted that the Uit* landers were treated worse than the Kaffirs, and that their ore was taxed at the rate of 36s per ton.