The Southland Times. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1872.

Southland Times, Issue 1656, 1 November 1872, Page 2

The Southland Times. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1872.

The most remarkable feature of the intelligence brought by the Albion is unquestionably the- latest date from London, 22nd October. The broken cable Australia and Java has been picked up and repaired, Melbourne is now in direct telegraphic communication Yrith London, and the af rival of the Albion at the Bluff on the afternoon of the 29th October enabled the New Zealand journals of the next morning to supply tbeir readers with an epitome of the history of the civilised world, brought up to within eight days from date "With the announcement of this astounding fact, on which no doubt, much will yet be said and written, the greater part of . the interest ceases. One feels, however unreasonably, that tbe news conveyed for the first time under such circumstances ought to be of an unusually surprising character, and that the sequence of events is not complete without the record of some startling occurrence, or unlooked-for development of affairs previously uususpected. Nothing of the sort, however, has taken place ; and perhaps the most interesting and satisfactory part of the intelligence just received, for the inhabitants of New Zealand, ia that the prices of our two largest articles of export, preserved meats and wool, were very satisfactory, ten days ago, in the London market. At first sight this certainly looks something like a bathos, although on reflection it is probable that many of our readers will regard it as nothing of the sort, and will readily come to' the conclusion that if modern improvements in the way of telegraphic communication never bring us anything less satisfactory, the more of them we have the better. The award of the Geneva arbitrators, which hag at length been published, is of course a matter more in accord with the usual ideas of " the dignity of history" than the quotations of a commercial pricecurrent, and ought perhaps to take the foremost place. England is to pay America £3,000,000 sterling, in satisfaction of the damage done by the escaped cruisers. This amount is, curiously enough, exactly what everyone expected would be the sum awarded ; and aa it has long been felt that the great desideratum was to have the matter definitely aettled one way or another, little interest will now attach to the details of the calculations by which the total was arrived at. There are counter-claims on the part of England, now being estimated by a Board of Assessors Bitting at Washington, the award of which, it ir? expected, will considerably reduce the balance to be paid.* However this may be, there seems little reason to fear that this dispute, the issue j of which six months ago seemed so | doubtful, has now been reduced to a mere j matter of account, and that its complete settlement is only a question of time. The social condition of Great Britain, which has been a prominent topic of home news for months past, does not seem more reassuring by the last advices. High prices for everything continue to be the rule, and there has as yet been no interruption of that prosperity which Mr Gladstone lately described as advancing not by gradual progress, but by strides, and not even by-strides, but by bounds. But there are not wanting signs, like the i little cloud on the horizon, which indicate an approaching change, still distant, it j may be, but not the less certain. The strife between capital and labor continues unabated, and there appears no prospect j of its speedy termination. Combination' on the part of employers was being more extensively resorted to than before, and fche difficulty seems to be more decidedly than ever resolving itself into a trial of force against force. While tbe laboring classes declare that they are underpaid and overworked, in spite of the rise in wages, at the same time we find the extravagance and luxury of the middle classes assuming such proportions as to attract universal attention. Then we hear anticipations of a bad harvest, of the failure of the potato crop, and of reprisals on the part of the farmers in winter when work is scarce, for the conduct of the laborers in asking for higher wages when their labor is in demand. The high price of iron and coal, it may be noted, had slightly receded, in consequence of foreign supplies imported ; and in one district a large number of miners and ironworkers had given up a contemplated strike rather than face the consequences of a threatened lock-out on the part of the masters. In Continental politics the conference of the three Emperors was the main topic of discussion. All sorts of conclusions were being drawn from this important event, while at the same time the fact of any conference having taken place at all was flatly denied by those who ought to know best. According to another version of the matter, any arrangements that had been made were merely in the interests of peace ; but it has been remarked before now that the arrangements of such imperial peace-makers not -unfrequently end in war. The stringent measures of the German Parliament against the Jesuits were being enforced with the relentless and uncompromising severity characteristic of German administration, and the Italian Government were initiating measures for the suppression of religiouß orders within the kingdom—an undertaking of the magnitude of a revolution. The latest on dit about the Popp, and it ik probably little more, was to" tne" effect that preparafcrdns were being trsade for hjs .retirement to Pau, an arrapgejfaen&j

| which seems hardly likely to be carried I out during the lifetime of the present ; Pontiff,. who, whatever maj be thought of hia infallibility, haa given many proofs that he well understands the value of the prestige which, still belongs to the sacred precincts* of the Vatican. If tbe budget contains nothing; of a startling kind, it ia at least sufficiently varied;' We may add that as there is a prospect of getting late English telegraphic news by every Australian steamer that arrives either at the Bluff, Hokitika, or Auckland, that is to say on an average about once a week, so also it appears likely that there will soon be a fortnightly mail service to Australia via Suez. The ! Imperial Grovernment, with great liberality, offer to carry the Australian mails 1 free of chargo as far as G-alie, and to contribute, up to £40,000, one-half of , any service upon which the Australian Colonies may agree from that port to their respective capitals. If a fortnightly service is decided oh, the Imperial Government, it is Said, will be prepared, to consider the question of additional subsidy. There is every probability that such a service will be arranged, as the Australians, especially the commercial community of Victoria, have long desired to be placed on an equality, in this respect, with the more favored Eastern provinces of the Empire.