GLEANINGS FROM THE PAPERS.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 2, Issue 69, 25 January 1879, Page 3

GLEANINGS FROM THE PAPERS.

The following ships are ordered home : —The Curlew, 3, Commander Castle, from China to Spithead; the Daphne, 5, (lommander Tandy, from the East Indies; the Diamond, 14, Captain G.S, Bosani(uet, from China to Spithead ; the Nymphe, 9, Captain Townsend,' from Australia to Spithead ; the Sapphire, 14, Captain E. H. Murray, from Australia to Devonport; the Sappho, 4, Commander Digbv, from Australia to Spithead ; the Shah, 26, Captain Bedford, from the Pacific to Spithead; the Shannon, !), Captain Grant, from China to Devonport; the Thistle, 4, Commander Hunt, from China to Spithead. Latest advices from Jamaica, under date June ;sth, and from Natal and Mauritius, dated .July 18, speak of the crops in those countries as being rather above last year's yield. As'these colonies do not import from Natal or Jamaica, tin; production in those countries will not materially affect us, but from Mauritius the export to Australia during the present year, and the influence which such imports will have upon the pre - of the crop now being manufactured. Th.' 55,345, tons above mentioned was the Australian portion of the Mauritius nop of bust year, which in all amounted to 142,213t0n5. That is to say, considerably more than one third of the Mauritius crop found a market in these colonies.—" Maeknv Standard."

Tin! -: TwiiitL Century "says,—" England, in decreasing trade, in decreasing interest on loans, and in tlie decrease of homo trad", in l!h- rich buying foreign productions, is fast going down hill. scci.i : lj w: !i.'-- seeing down lull llie absence of a home i- the dire •' enoouragcment to immortality. Mentaiiy we are becoming trivial .puerile, and imh-eile. The ma lag !i " i\ ho '!o nui pimL-r .>,,:., o: ii .. «lly bankiujas. . r•. .;; «: (. .. i;vh is o.iiy supp >c» '1 i, tij- • am i mm their backs to co.mnou sense." Ail as to tn" iow i:' hisses generally, their lives are one long light for their bread - no savings, no prospects; routine of labor, without hope, home, or happiness; their rents raised, their work less in demand, and the landlords buying up more land, which means that the people have loss interest in their own country and their labor benefitting the landlords', who go on increasing their income by tho sacrifice of the people. What are tho remedics? A law that no man shall he the tenant of house or lands of another, that no man shall own house or land that he does not practically occupy. Every tenant has lost his birthright as o fi citizen. County or district hoards to administer the local affairs of the district, and so relieve a member of Parliament from deciding on the question of draining an Irish hog of 200 acrus, or tho propriety of a jetty to a Scotch lake. Carry these measures, and the trade of the eontry would increase a hundred-fold ; no man would bo unwillingly idle, for the permanent improvements then required by a man who owned his house or land would give universal employment and turn the country into gardens that surrounded the villa-farms, and the towns into wide thoroughfares lined with pulnces. We need not then legislate on public houses nobody comparatively would have inclination to frequent them. They arc nowfilled with the desponding, who drink Care away. Our charities would sink into subscription in the Sunday service for the parson, for the poor would then bo rich ID Work, and have tho foothold of security of homo cultivation to fall back upon ; our living Would be twice as cheap, for tho farmer, reaping tho improvements in his farm would grow fruits and vegetables to the fear of them rotting in his barns; nnd our security would he assured, for no nation dare attack u people cemented by a sense of a froet'om, 'qualified by n sense of justice. What if wo still continue the life of dreary despoudancy I The rich will becoino richer, tho poor poorer. Wo cannot recover our lost position, and so the reduction of wages and tho discontinuance of manufacture will drive the whole of tho laboring population into tho workhouse ; what surprises me above ull is that nobody sees the future looming in the preaont.'

It is understood that Signor d'Albertis ' has parted with the extensive zoological collection mode during his two last e.vpeditioni up the Ely River, New Guinea, 1 to the Manjuis G. Doriu, of Genoa, who will, no doubt deposit them in the MUseo < Ivied of that city, of which he is the founder and principal benefactor. These collections wero ottered to the i liritish Museum. Signor d'Albertis is now making arrangements for the publi--1 cation in Ijondnn of a narrative of his [adventures in New Guinea. A short time since General Tom Thumb was asked by a visitor how he came by his name. " Well," said the General jocosely, "I suppose that Mr. Barntun and Queen Victoria divide the honours. Previous to my presentation to the Uueen, at Buckingham Palaco, in 1844, ! Lad been known simply as'TomThumb," .but the Queen, when I was presented to her in that form, said, with a smile. 'You ought to have a title. 1 think I shall hj eve to call you General Tom Thumb.' the Duke of Wellington and several others of the nobility were present at the time, and, of course, Her Majesty's woids were instantly adopted and I became a ' Genera]' from that time forward." An English pickpocket was arrested at the Exhibition, a few days ago, just at the moment when he wui plying his trade. On the following morning he was taken to the Palais do Justice to be interrogated. As he was pnx-oediiig along a corridor between two gardiens do la paix, he suddenly tripped one of them up with his foot, and pushing the other violently backward, ran olf as fast as he could. They immediately gave chase, but tho start he had obtained enabled him to reach the outer gate; and although tile alarm was given lie dashed jiast .some more jiolicemen, and diving through the cairiages and crowds on the Boulevard du Palais, he succeeded in making his escape'. I

(From the Home News.) It is rumoured that negotiations for the cession of Delagoa Pay to England by Portugal are concluded, and that it will soon become British property. Should this be true, an entirely new complexion will givon to the affairs of South East Africa.

Sir Charles Dilke has taken the newly acquired territory of Perak under his wing, and a few nights ago addressed a long list of questions to the Colonial Secretary concerning its internal administration, fie wanted to knowKrho was responsible for tile local police force, who collected revenues, administered justice, originated and carried out public works. He was equally curious with regard tocxpenditure and audit of accounts. SirMichal HicksBeooh's replies were cautions but satisfactory so far as they went. The British residents at Porak were, he said, associated with the native judges in the law courts, but taxation and ".ho collection of revenue were altogether in the hands of liritish officials. No pleasanter book has appeared for some years past than the conversations of .Mr. Nassau Senior which has just been published, and among them are many opiniiffis of men of mark. One which ::.;iiiot but he flattering to national spirit : Englishmen, and of English Colonists especially, fell from the lips of theenii-ii-ut Frenchman it. deCircourt. "The missions of England have been many. Due was to introduce into the world a representative government, another was to give it lie trade, another is to keep alive for happier times tho embers of liberty that still remain in Europe. But your great mission is to found empires, to bo a magna vinim mater to scatter wide the civilised man. Two hundred years hence French, Italian, and German will he dialects as comparatively insignificant as Dutch and Portugese are now. Thi.se who desire wide and permanent fame should write in English,"