BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2513, 9 April 1881, Page 2

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

[Reuter’s Agency.j

Peasant-Shooting by Policemen. London, April 6.

A serious disturbance occurred at Bitllinamore, Ireland, to-day, .between the police and the people. The latter were fired upon by the police, and a girl, who was in the crowd, was shot dead.

The Seige of Melbourne. The detached squadron, consisting of Her Majesty’s ships Inconstant, Bacchante (with which are the Princes Albert Victor and George of Wales), Tourmaline, Carysfort, and Cleopatra, under the command of Admiral Earl Clauwilliam, which was ordered from its cruise in January last to Natal, for the purpose of landing a brigade for service in the Transvaal, has now received orders to proceed from the Cape to Melbourne. It has not transpired whether other Australian ports will be visited by the squadron. A Hard StruggleApril 7,

A bulletin issued this morning reports that Earl Beaconsfield suffered a serious relapse during last night, and is now in a very critical state. Sir W. Tenner, one of the physicians in ordinary to the Queen, has consequently been summoned to confer with the other medical attendants on his lordship. Land Legislation for Ireland. In the House of Commons to-day, the Bill introduced by the Government for the amendment of the Irish Land Laws was laid on the table and read a first time. The measure provides for the erection of Courts of law, to fix rents, which shall thereafter remain unaltered for a period of fifteen years. The Court will also undertake the regulation of land tenure and land sales. A commission will be appointed to make

grants, to faciliate emigration, to assist tenants to purchase their holdings, and to buy land from landholders who are willing to sell. It will be optional with landlords and tenants to evoke the aid of the Courts. It is intended that the Act shall be partiallySretrospective.

The Tunis Difficulty. Bomb, April. 6.

Signor Carioli, President of the Council of Ministers, made a statement today in the Chamber of Deputies in regard to the state of affairs in Tunis. In the course of his speech he stated that the English and Italian Governments had arrived at a complete agreement as to the course they would pursue in regard to the Tunisian question.