NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Southland Times, Issue 1588, 7 June 1872, Page 3

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

I The JScbiedallion sailed on April IB for Wellington, with about'" 124 navvies, to be employed in the construction^ of the railways contracted for by. Messrs Brogden & Sons. i Mr 3J. B. Torrens has given notice that on April 30 he-will call the -attention -of the House of Commons to the successful* prbgress, of the system of conveyancing in th§L Australian colonies, and move for the Appointment of a select committee ; to inquire Hintb'in'e' subject and report upon itJ- C-, . ■ ■ • ■ '_ '■A- clergyman,' residing at Maidstone, says, speaking 5 of his parish, chiefly rabbited- byr.working people—" Will you pillow £ie to say that the dhief objection fcojbhe ipres&uved meat from -Australia is, jt is oVercoftkeclj? If any<method could v p|f jferinging-the meat "over to jtlirs cbtmtiy ttjiderdode it would soon become with a&classes. acceptable." The jdemaad foiMAustralian^ meat is, on the ■whole, "brisk, hut prices are not so satisfactory^ owing, it is said, to some of the importers forcing sales. • Tit iti said that the Rev. Eobert Henry Codrington, M. A., late fellow of Wadham ■College, Oxford, will be the successor Of DrPatteson.in the, bishopric of Melanesia.

Captain Coote leaves for Tasmania by this mail, accompanied by a fullstaff of engineers and the representatives of the firm of Messrs Edwin Clark, Punehard & Co., the eminent contractors, who have undertaken the completion and working of the line of railway from Hobart Town to Launeeston within four years. At a dinner just given, the gallant captain was presented with a testimonial, consisting of a valuable chronometer watch with appendages. The New Zealand mail via San Francisco was delivered in London on April 16. An impression prevails that the Governments of England and the United States have made arrangements for removing difficulties, the details of which, however, it would be inconvenient to make public. The Arbitration Commissioners met at Geneva on April 15. England and the United States were ' alone represented. The proceedings were confined to the official delivery of documents by the English and American representatives to M. Favrbt, the secretary of the tribunal, who will transmit them to the arbiters. The arbiters will meet on June 15. Some alarm has been excited on the Stock Exchange at what is deemed the independent tone of the English case, but according to the Washington correspondence of several New York journals published on April 17, it is reported that the Administration has decided to with-, draw the claims for indirect damages. The Bill to carry out the provisions of the Treaty of Washington came up on April 17 as a special order in the House of Representatives, but on. the motion of Mr Banks it was postponed for . four weeks. This may be regarded as a favorable sign. : . The great libel case of General Trochu against the Figaro newspaper has occupied a good deal of public attention. The newspaper in question attacked the political conduct of the General, and spoke disparagingly of his military acts' during the siege of Paris. The. trial; lasted several days, and the jury, after two hours' deliberation, returned a verdicfc acquitting M.M. Villemessant and Vitu of the principal charges of libel, bufc convicting them of insulting; a public 1 functionary, .They were, each sentenced to a fine of 3,006 f. and one month's imprisonment. Over 700 carpenters and joiners irf Verviers^ Belgi urn, '..suddenly 'struck work the other day for higher wages, and it is feared the strike .will become general. Although the naval authorities of I Germany are desirous of supplying the requirements of the fleet from the resources of national industry, they have been compelled to fall back upon English cast bronze and wrought iron as being superior to the home. productions. It is said that the .fortifications ..of Sebastopol are to be raised,. and thus will be broken another of the stipulations of | the late treaty which rendered the Black Sea neutral. Hussia ; is in the market for another loan. . It is reported that while the Pope and his counsellors are completely absorbed in conspiring against liberty, and live in the illusion that sooner or later it must come to an end, the Italians are quietly mining the very foundation of the spiritual authority of the Holy See by the inauguration of an Italian Bible Society — an event which took place the other | day under the auspices of the President of the Italian Senate, the Grand Duke of Nassau, and Father Hyacinthe. Borne is full of visitors, and the Prince and Princess of Wales have paid a visit to the Pope. It has been well said that " none j I but gloomy bigots or puritanical alarmists j will see in this interchange of courtesies cause for other feelings than historical reflection and a sentiment of satisfaction that such things can be." There is a rumor of the reconvocation of the (Ecu. ; menical Council.