ITEMS BY THE MAIL.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4961, 15 February 1877, Page 3

ITEMS BY THE MAIL.

The income tax returns which have been issued for the financial year 1874-75 show that the amount charged with this tax advanced from £481,002,064 in 1873-74 to £498,260,685 in 1874-75. The amount charged in respect of lands, tenements, &c, constituting Schedule A, reached £151,374,750 in 1874-75, showing an increase of £1,365,901 over the preceding year. In respect of the occupation of lands, Schedule B, the amount "is £38,252,044, showing a decrease of, £356,980, this being the only schedule in which there is a decrease. In respect of dividends, annuities, &c, Schedule C, £42,389,640, an increase of £570,360. In respect of professions, trades, employments, railways, mines, ironworks, &c.— the great Schedule D—£239,075,475, showing an increase of £14,497,736 over the preceding year, which had a still larger increase over;its predecessor. .. In respect of public offices, Schedule E,.: £27,168,776, an increase of £1,181,604. There is thus a total increase of £17,258,621 over the preceding year in the amount assessed to income tax.

The warlike situation is very trying to the commerce of Russia. Indeed, what with the new Customs tariff raising the import duty 30 per cent., and the mobilisation, commercial and; financial prospects are not brilliant, • and the consequences threaten to become serious; There' are of course not wanting enthusiasts who look upon the practical ; prohibition of imports as a patriotic measure, destined to raise Russia to early prosperity; Ladies forswear the use of foreign silks," and associations are formed pledging their members to the employment only- of homo-.manufactures., There can be no question that the new tariff must put a stop to foreign importation* and at present, while the greater part of the railways are reserved, if not actually employed,' for military service, business is practically at a standstill. Russian" newspapers affirm an emissary to have arrived at Bokhara, from Turkey, who is endeavoring to incite the Mussulmans of Asia to a religious war against Russia on the side of Turkey. M Fresh difficulties haying arisen with regard to the..payment, ofllthe. war.-tax,.. General Quesada ordered the treasury of the provincial deputation, at Bilbao to be seized. The general's commands were carried nut,, but it was found tobe empty. It is thought probable that the members of the,deputation and the municipal council will resign their posts. , The;troops are consigned to the barracks, and great excitement prevails. . '■' - '.. The relations between Spain and .the Vatican are not very'friendly, principally in consequence of the difference of opinion existing with-regard to the Italian Church-in Madrid. The Vatican has irivited Catholic countries to take part in the Exhibition of Ecclesiastical Objects on the occasion of the episcopal jubilee of the Pope, which Will be celebrated in the month of June, 1877. A motion will be brought forward in the Greek Chamber of'Deputies proposing that a vote of thanks be presented to Mr. Gladstone for his support of the Hellenic cause. .There is ; every probability of the motion being adopted. .''■.' Egyptian affairs are looking brighter. . The' immediate payment of the overdue coupons of the short loans has.been ordered. ,The nomination of the English and, French,ComptrollersGeneral. iß.being hastened as. much as is.con-, sistent with the' necessary, consultations; between; the English and French Governments. :;:.,> '■'■■.. ...'■ ■ .■ ■■ :>.■'

Mr. G. W. Eoniaine will * probably be, appointed (to the post of English: Comptroller-: General Although over £1,000,000 is still required, it is affirmed that the coupons:due on January 15 will be paid. On ..the intercession of the.Cohsul-Gerieral the Khedive has consented to set at liberty the King of Abyssinia' a'Envoy.; V Colonel Gordon has arrived at Cairo, after anlabaence in Equatorial Africa of three years. He was cordially received by the Khedive, andtde'corated 'with the Grand Cross of the Order of the Medijie. ; ■■■, (An official announcement is made of the payment to the new Public Debt Office in November of £571,000.

, r No decisive action can 'be 'taken by either the Democrats or Republicans in respect to' the election of the President of the United States before the middle of February. It is then'that the duty will devolve on the President of the Senate of counting the votes which have been transmitted by the' members of the Electoral College, and of officially declaring on whom the choice of the nation has fallen. Meanwhile 1 the : country is fast falling into anarchy,'and much feeling is exhibited by the Democrats towards the Republicans. Troops have been despatched to the South to prevent political murders, and President Grant is credited with saying that he would have peace if he had to fight for it. The great Tweed has agreed to settle with New York on condition of i riot being prosecuted criminally. ' The freedom of the City of 'London is to be presented to Captain Sir George Nares, C.B. It is rumored that the custom of a daily celebratioa of the Holy Communion" is about to be restored at St. Paul's Cathedral, after ah intermission of some 300 years. Mr. Gladstone has declined with regret the honor of unveiling a statue of Burns at Glasgow next month. The Earl of Limerick, Grand Master of the Mark Degree of Freemasoris, ; has been nominated for the same office for the ensuing year. ....... . . \"v ■ The ■Revisers'of 'the Authorised Version of the New Testament met recently at the. Jerusalem Chamber for the 95th session. The

company carried on their revision to the begin"nirig ofth'e sixth chapter of the Epistle" to the Hebrew's. •- . , ;The last election contest in Bucks cost the successful candidate, the Hon. T. Fremantle £6480 Bs. 10d.; and the Hon. R. Carington' the defeated candidate; £7950 4s. lid. While signing a cheque in a tradesman's shop at Ledbury, the Rev. William Buckle, Vicar, of Canon .Frome, suddenly fell backwards and died. The Glasgow Students' Independent Association have, adopted Mr. Robert Browning as their candidate for the Lord Rectorship at the next session. ■ ;John and Ann Murray, an old married couple of Wolverhampton, swallowed a quantity of petroleum in mistake for gin, and both died. The weather has been very tempestuous in the Channel and in several of the country districts. Numerous shipping disasters are reported. _ The Smithfield Club Cattle Show, just held in the Agricultural Hall at Islington, has been a great success. The show of oxen, Bheep, and pigs has not been surpassed for years, and the implement and machinery department was suggestive of considerable progress. The Prince of Wales, who visited the show, expressed himself highly pleased with the arrangements. Notwithstanding the unfavorable state of the weather, the attendance has been above the average. ;A strong organisation is in course of formation to protest against the encroachment of prison and reformatory labor upon free labor. ;A fire broke out on December 4 in the Roman Catholic Convent at Wolverhampton. Considerable damage was done to the furniture and buildings, but fortunately no lives were lost. ■ ■ •

j The crews of the Arctic ships have been entertained at the Mansion House. . The city thus recognises the services they have rendered to science. ■ Mr. Egerton Vernon Harcourt, registrar of the diocese of York, has recently, given the sum of £IO,OOO for the augmentation of poor livings in the diocese. Mr. Harcourt is the son of Archbishop Vernon Harcourt. Mr. Tom King, once well known in the prize-ring, showed some chrysanthemums for competition at the Brixton show the other day, and' they were among the best exhibited, his gardener, Mr. Lee, obtaining two of the most important prizes for cut blooms. iMr. Moulton has withdrawn his suit against Mr. Henry Ward Beecher. The town of Havre has been choseD as the place of meeting in 1877 of the congress to be held by the French Society for the Promotion of Science. There was recently some difficulty in obtaining a full special jury in the Common Pleas, and the Judge fined the absentees £ls each. - ■' The total subscriptions to the Mansion House War Relief Fund amount t© £17,258, and the expenses to £1433.

The New Forest Shakers are said to be in a desperate state of poverty.. They are now but seldom seen in Lymington. Good whalebone is now worth from £BOO to £9OO per ton. The weather is very mild for December. A railway collision has taken place in France on the line between Chatillon and Aix. Eight persons were killed and fifteen wounded.An International Exhibition in Toronto is proposed for the year 1879. The death is announced of the marine painter, Paul von Tiesenhausen, at Munich. A milk seller has been fined £1 and costs at Gloucester for refusing to supply a policeconstable with one pennyworth of milk for the purpose of analysis. ",/;"'" , '" The receipts on account of revenue from April 1 to : December 9 were £49,957,568, against £49,437,312 in the corresponding period of the preceding financial year. . The. net. expenditure was the sum of £51,689,713, against £51,173,544. Thermost successful recruiting officer of lis generation is supposed to have been Sergeant .Thomas Warnes, who has just died at Wooliwich. ' He was formerly in the Royal Artillery, and he has enlisted. 4387 men for the army, of whom 3290: have been for the Royal Artillery. An artiller volunteer named French has been. fined 30s. by the Brighton magistrates for failing to make himself an efficient member of the corps by attending the requisite number of drills. . ': . *

A pqst office clerk, who had been in Government employ twenty-two years, and was entitled to a pension, has been convicted at Exeter of letter stealing, and sentenced to five years'penal servitude. A Glasgow milk dealer baß been fined £2O, with £3 16s. 6d. expense's, for selling adulterated milk. jA. shocking colliery explosion has occurred at Abertillery, in Wales, resulting in the loss of ;twenty lives. . . The Princess Louise has opened in the east theatre of the Eoyal Albert Hall an exhibition of needlework by mistresses and pupils in the public schools of London. An organisation has been opened at Stafford House for the purpose of receiving, subscriptions for the relief '..of \ distressed Turkish soldiers.

On December 23 the .Court of. Appeal affirmed the conviction of the,directors of the Eupion Gas Company, and Joseph Aspinwall and Charles Knocker were sent to prison.for "twelve months. The other two defendants— Muir and Why'te-'-have 1 undergone their sentence of two months' imprisonment.