ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES. [BY THE AUCKLAND " STAR'S" LONDON CORRESPONDENT. ]

Te Aroha News, Volume II, Issue 101, 9 May 1885, Page 3

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES. [BY THE AUCKLAND " STAR'S " LONDON CORRESPONDENT. ]

London, March 14th. This following passengers are booked per Arawa for Auckland :— Captain and Mrs Moore, Miss Carlyon, Mr and Mrs Leyson and family and nurse j Major and Mrs Yuill and family; Messrs Engster, Zellweger, Zureter, Hawes, Thompson, Edwards, Turner, and Mr and Mrs Wilson. Mr J. B. Russell, solicitor, of Auckland, has arrived in London, and is enjoying himself. Mr John Birks, of North Auckland, who came Home two years ago in the hope of forming a company to start a special settlement on his land up the Kaipara, died the other day at Doncaster. His ideas as to ppecial settlement business collapsed soon after his arrival in England, and he was glad to sell his land to W. Ashby and Co. for a trifle. A telegram Btating that New Zealand had volunteered troops in the event of war with Ruseia appeared in the "Morning Post." Messrs Scott and Dobson, delegates for the East and West Coaet Railway, have taken offices in Westminster Chambers, and are engaged in the preliminaries. Rumour says they have a fair chance of success. Messrs Russell and Co., of Qlaßgow, launched from tkeir yards on the 4th inst. a finely-modelled sailing chip, to be employed by the "Shire" line in the New Zealand trade. She was named the Tipshire, and her tonnage is 1,350. Mrs Challi?, a wealthy elderly lady with six nephews, mostly grown up, has determined to emigrate to New Zealand and settle there. The party will probably be passengers for Auckland per Tongariro. Captain Henry Yuill, late of the Royal Navy, with his wife and two children, will be paßsengers for Christchurch per Arawa. Captain Yuill means eventually to settle in Auckland, and is in negotiation with Captain Ashby for 183 acres of land overlooking the Hauraki Gulf. The appointment of Lord Carrington to be Governor of New South Wales has caused much dissatisfaction at the Colonial Office. His lordship is very wealthy, besides being a landowner with ample duties and responsibilities at Home, so that it^ is difficult to conceive what motive has in duced him to seek such an appointment. He bears the reputation of having a craze for amassing money, and being very stingy. William Courtenay delivered his lecture on Taranaki to a large audience at Exeter Hall. The improvement in the frozen mutton trade which I reported last week continues, and will be permanent so long as the time of arrivalofsucccssiveshipsis carefully planned, and the supply not excessive. The Wellington lamb per Arawa was wretchedly poor, and only fetched 6h per pound. The current prices for New Zealand mutton are 38 6d to 3s lOd per stone of 8 pounds, New Zealand lamb, 4s 4d ; Melbourne mutton, 3s 4d to 3s 8d ; Sydney mutton, 3s^ River Plate, 3s ; Scotch, ss. An important meeting of bankers, merchants, shippers, and others interested in a revision of the existing clauses of bills of lading from a mercantile point of view, was held in the city last week, under tho presidency of Mr Macguire, M P., Sir F. D. Bell, Sir S. Sr™»*l, and Agant-General for Queensland atfctad 1, and representatives of most of the grcd^ - lglo-colonial business firms such as Sargood and Son, Me Arthur, and Co., Mathieson's, etc., were present. After a speech from the Chairman, in which he pointed out that they were not really at odds with shipowners on the bills of lading question, and the latter admitted that reform was urgently needed, and had already discusaed the matter. Mr Keen proposed the following resolution, which was supported by Sir F, D. Bell, Mr Stephen Ralli, Mr Garrick, and others, " That this meeting, representing the mercantile interests, is of opinion that the bills of lading in force at the present time are in many cases unacceptable to merchants, in consequence of the clause exonerating shipowners from their liabilities. It is urgent that some satisfactory modification of these bills of lading should be agreed upon, and with that view this meeting resolves that a committee be appointed to confer with shipowners and others interested in the subject." Formerly, he said, a bill ofj lading was a simple receipt given by the captain or owner by which he undertook to deliver goods in the same order and condition in which he had received them, certain contingencies excepted — " the act of God and the perils of the sea." A steamship bill of lading now, however, contained clauses enumerating every conceivable thing which might cause lohs or damage to goods, exempting the shipowner from all liability arising out of them. (Hear, hear.) He maintained tnat shippers had no freedom of contract with the shipowners. He did not wish to go to politics, but in the Merchant Shipping Bill of last session there were four clauses which would have helped merchants considerably. He thought it inadvisable to to wait for a registration. (Hear, hear.) If the Royal Commission were to report that it was advisable to make a bill of lading, he did not believe that the House of Commons would make a bill of lading of them. In the second part of his resolution a compromise was proposed, and he believed that much good would come out of the proposed Committee. The International Bill of Lading of 1882, and the New York Produce Bill of Lading, which was based upon the International, were far from perfect ; but if they were taken as a starting point by the Committee.he thought something might be made out of them quite easily, withoutoffendingthe colonies. Subsequently Mr Onslow made a bitter attack on Lord Derby, whom he accused of persistent stubbornness and rank stupidity. He was, he declared, at a loss to conceive how the noble i lord could reconcile it to his dignity to remain in the Cabinet. In the House of Commons the other ovening, Lord Fitzmaurice assured Mr Gorst that the assurances of Germany respecting the independence of Samoa and Tongs did not «maoate §ol«ly from Count Mun&ter,

the German Ambassador, but had been voluntarily given by Prince Bismarokto Her Majesty's representative at Berlin. All the Australian colonies have accepted the Prince of Wales's suggestions, and appointed their respective Agents-General to represent them at the Indian and Colonial Exhibition, save New South Wales, which nominates Sir P. Jennings. Sir S. Samuel naturally considers this an insult to him, and threatens to resign if the appointment is conformed. The many friends of Sir Saul in the North (he married an Auckland lady) will be sorry to hear this. The reports of the interviews between Mr J. A. Froude and the colonial newspapers folk on the subject of AgentsGeneral has caused much amusement in Anglo-colonial circles. None of the AgentsGeneral will now confess to knowing Froude. Sir H. Robinson contributes an interesting article to the " Pall Mall Gazette " criticising Lord Grey's scheme for a colonial Board of Advice. Sir Hercules sees insuperable difficulties in the way of a United Colonial Board formed of representatives from Australasia, British North America and South Africa, but thinks separate boards might be formed by the representatives of the divisions, each of which might advise the Colonial Secretary on questions affecting his own interest. The Australasian Board would consist of the Agants-General of the six colonies, with (possibly) one of two ex-officio members, men of admitted authority and experience.