SPECIAL TELEGRAMS.

Southland Times, Issue 1616, 6 August 1872, Page 3

SPECIAL TELEGRAMS.

London, June 20. The Geneva Court, after three brief days' sittings, adjourned till the 26th.

The proceedings were absolutely secret. Telegraphic correspondence is being maintained between the two Governments. The American Ministers have returned to Washington. They admit the right of the arbitrators to adjourn. In a despatch of April 10, the Earl of Kimberley says that protectionist tariffs and differential duties will do more to weaken the connection between the colonies and the mother country than any expression of opinion as to severance, i The Times remarks that if the Australian Legislatures, after mature deliberation, should petition the Home Government for < a repeal of the law against differential import duties, the concession must ulti- < mately be made, but if they proceed to use the power by adopting intercolonial reciprocity in a protectionist sense as distinct from a simple customs union, they ' will seriously loosen the bonds attaching , them to Great Britain. , The Anti-Jesuit Bill has passed the } German Parliament. j In a letter to Cardinal Antonelli, the Pope protests against tbe new measure for suppressing religious bodies, and deelares the co-existence of the two governments impossible. On the 26th anniversary of his accession the Pope received congratulations from 4,000 European representatives (?) at the Vatican. The London builders having declined arbitration on the proposals of the masters, the lock-out commences to-day. Twenty-five thousand men will probably be affected. The Belfast lock-out has terminated, the workmen accepting the 2s offered by the employers. The weather has changed from tropical heat to terrific tempests in the midland and northern districts, with destructive floods. Professor Airy has been knighted. Arrived. — Sharstone, Sparta, City of Perth, Hawkesbury, Fugitive, Malay, Queen Bee. Sailed. — Coonatto, Niagara, Colonial Empire, Balmain, Westbury, Ballarat. July 1. The British and Australian Telegraph Company has announced the issue of £320,000 preference stock, for the purpose of enabling tbe company to lay a cable to Normanton. The projected Australian steamer service via the Cape of Good Hope is a failure. An iron steamer, constructed for the Builli Coal Company, has been successfully launched on the Thames. The Earl of Kimberley, replying to the enquiries of Lord Belmore, has stated in the House of Lords that of the six steam warships on the Australian station four will be entirely employed in the suppression of kidnapping. Sailing vessels will also be used as tenders. He explained the measures contemplated in order to give effect to the Polynesian Bill. Mr M 'Arthur's motion for a protectorate or the annexation of Fiji was lost by 51 votes. The Government acquiesces in the union of Fiji with the Australian colonies, but declines to annex it to the empire without the expressed wish of its people. ' The Government has established friendly relations with Cakobau's Government. The imperial authorities prefer annexation to a protectorate. The Times regards the debate as a marked epoch in colonial policy. Tbe Government has promised a searching enquiry into the causes of the failure of the European and Albert Assurance Companies. Dividends. — South Australian Land Company, 7 per cent ; New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency, 10 per cent. Arrivals. — Highflyer, Gamble, Arab. July 4. The questions of Fiji annexation and Imperial unity have been warmly discussed. The advocates of disintegration are everywhere discredited. The nature of the injury to the Java cable is unknown. The repairs will be made at the expense of the Construction Company. The Abbeyholme has returned into Portsmouth damaged by a collision. The Dhollerah, froni Adelaide, has been burned in the Pacific. All the passengers and crew were saved.