ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES (From Our London Correspondent.) A National Emigration Bureau Probable. London, December 3.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 138, 23 January 1886, Page 4

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES (From Our London Correspondent.) A National Emigration Bureau Probable. London, December 3.

Onk of the firet matters which the new member for Westminster, Mr Burdett Coutt«, has pledged himself to faring under the cognizance of Parliament is the necessity for establishing a national organisation for focussing information with regard to our Anglo-Saxon colonies , and disseminating the same by means of the Post-office Department throughout the length and breadth of Great Britain. In this design he is warmly backed tip by his spouse, the Baroness, and by a long string of clerics and philanthropists, prominent amongst the latter being Mr Arnold White, who considers emigration the panacea for all the ills that poor folk are liable to. Writing on the project the other day, Mr White said : " The main obstacle in the way of the would-be emigrant is the diffi culty of obtaining prompt and accurate information as to the actual condition of each part of the several colonies. It is true that emigration must finally be determined by the absorptive capacity of the colonies themselves ; but this absorptive capacity is capable of being regarded from opposite poles. The working-man voter of Dunedin is not likely to return to the Legislative Assembly a member for his district who will facilitate the influx of workmen from „ the old country who will compete with his constituents for their present liberal wages To the New Zealand voters' mind, there is absolutely no question whatever as to whether the colony is full. The reaeoning which leads to the exclusion of the Chinese applies with equal force to the exclusion of the Gierkenwell carpenter. On the other hand, if wages in Dunedin, or Melbourne, or Sydney afford a better chance for the unemployed of our English and large Scottish towns, it is a pity that the unemployed should not know the facts from an authoritative source. If it be said, ' There are the Agents-General, who are perfectly acquainted with the position of affairs ; what more is required ?' the obvious reply is, * The Agents - General, courteous and distinguished gentlemen though thay are, cannot shake off the po s it ons they occupy — namely, that of ambassadors of a Government elected by Protectionist voters. To be true to their Governments they cannot be parties to the lowering of wage* ; and were they to do so their tenure of office would not improrably mcc with an early and abrupt termination. What is wanted, therefore, is a trustworthy agent in every large town in every colony, who *-hall report to a central bureau at Whitehall the industrial position of affairs in his neighbourhood. Ib is essential that the bureau to which these monthly reports would be addressed should enjoy the prestige of State control, but there is no need at present to claim State aid for emigration itself. The cost of the whole organisation would not exceed £3,000 a year, and there would be no need to interfere with the 25 societies who emigrated last year no more than 3,500 souls."

The Locomotive Scandal. The " Ironmonger," commenting on the statement of the Minister of New Zealand Public Works with reference to what is now known as the "locomotive B"andal," points out that there is much in the document that is improbable. It is very unlikely, for instances, that the specification ■worked to by the Baldwin Co., of Philadelphia, was the same as that furnished to the original makers in ingland. The American manufacturers never build locomotives with plate frames, whereas the New Zealand specifications sent to British builders always provided for plate frame 8 ". That the American price at the particular time may have been lower is not unlikely, seeing that in 1883 and ISS4 the British locomotive works were overwhelmed with orders, and were compelled in consequence to ask higher prices, whilst the American engine works at the same time were not specially busy. Further, the difference in price between the British and American makers, if the latter are allowed to work their own specifications, may be accounted for by the use of steel instead of the best Yorkshire iron for boilers, by the use of steel instead of copper for the fire-boxes, by the substitution of iron tubes for brass ones, and so on, irrespective of other deails. These last-named facts could be easily ascertained by an inspection of the Baldwin engines in New Zealand in question, and it would not be uninteresting to hear from some our friends in the colony whether . these variations were made. Finally the statements made by Mr Richardson and Sir Julius Vogel read a little like blow when it is known that within the last few weeks the New Zealand Government have ordered locomotives in England to their old specifi cation, and as none of the British works are now busy, the new order has, no doubt, been placed on terms and prices with which the American builders, on equal conditions, could not for a moment compete.

An Interesting Reunion. Sir Philip Cunliffe Owen entertained the representatives of the various Australian colonies at the forthcoming Exhibition at lunch the other afternoon, at the Empire Club, -which, by-the-way, promises to be the chief resort of antipodean visitors next summer. The proceedings were of a purely social character, though in the course of an informal' speech Sir Philip laid stress on the imperative necessity for all exhibits being ineide the building by the 15th of April. It appears the Prince of Wales means to make a private inspection of the show a few days before the opening, with a view to making suggestions and excluding any unworthy exhibits. Now that the Inventions Exhibition is closed, it may, says " Vanity Fair," surprise the public to learn that one of the most marvellous mechanical arrangements at South Kensington was never exhibited at all. This was the kitchen of the famous Australian refreshment contractors, Messrs Spiers and Pond. (Their names, by-the-"Way, have become so inextricably connected with the metropolis that one almost forgets they came in the first instance from the antipodes.) The perfection of detail orde and arrangement that enabled the dail wants of fifty or sixty thousand uncertain and captious stomachs to be met defy description, and were, in fact, little short of miraculous. To the true artist so much that was good all being cooked at one and the s»me time was a veritable vision of the Elysian fields.

A Staunch Friend to the Colony. , The colonies have a staunch friend in Mr Roe, one of the new members for Derby. N ot the least effective passages in his election speeches were those in which he charges the " Perish India " party with indifference to our Greater Britain. He pleaded earnestly 'for a closer federation with oar colonies, asking us to see " Beyond the boroueh and the fblre, Wa sailed wherever ship could siJL We founded many a mighty state Pray God our greatness may not fail ' through craven fears of being great."

" The colonies," said he, " are England's reserve strength. Emerson, in one of his grandest similitudes, has compare i England to the banyan tree, which, it will be remembered, sends up shoots from its roots that become themselves huge trunks of the parent vegetation. ' She has planted herself on that little island,' says Emerson, *' like the banyan tree, and her roots have spread under the sea and come up on faraway continents and in every quarter! of the globe, flowering with her language and laws, and for ever perpetuating her, though the first trunk dismember and perish.' " Mr P. S. Abrahams, F Z.S., has presented two short-headed phalangers from Australia to the Royal Zoological Society. i

What Colonists Have to Learn from England. In the course of a most interesting article on "England Through Colonial Spectaoles," by Professor Strong (late of Melbourne University, but now of Manchester), which appeared the other day in the " Pall Mall Gazette," there occurs the following passage, which coincides so remarkably with what I am continually writing to you that 1 cannot resist quoting it: — "There are," eaya the Professor, "many lesaons which colonists have yet to learn from England, and any colonist is most unwise who does not give his family the advantage of a protracted trip to England before its members settle down to the career ot life. First and foremost the quality which strikes a colonist as most admirable in the best type of Englishmen is their dignified reticence and self-control under circumstances of provocation. In a demo cracy, every man of education can be a power if ha wishes it ; he is brought into contact with all sorts and conditions of men, of whom many take views antagonist ic to his own. Under these circumstances it is regrettable to find that calm and dispassionate discussion too often in the colonies is replaced by personal statements, stinging taunts, inuendoes, and the attribution of personaljmotives. The subjects of conversation, again, in the colonies are more personal than at Home, and English society beats colonial deplorably in the charm of Englishwomen of refinement and education. Not that women of refinement are a rarity in the colonies, but women of education are certainly so ; and this is natural in a country where the question of domestics is so very important and hard to solve that women who would be at the head of happy homes must needs be good housewives."

The Converted Comedian Again. I greatly regret to inform you that Mr Walter Reynolds is a backslider. The " converted comedian " has collapsed ; in other words, Mr Reynolds has turned his back on the mis-ionaries, and chums once more with his *• sinning brethren of the sock and buskin." From a par in the • " Era," 1 gather that Mr Walter Reynolds'a drama in six tableaux, "A Mother's Sin," has been accepted by an enterprising Scotchman, and will be produced at the Princesses Theatre, Glasgow, next April, the 11 converted comedian " taking a leading r6le. A long tour will follow. Unless this arrangement breaks down, I guess we shan't hear any more of Mr Reynolda's denunciations of "godless actors and actresses." There has, I hear, been some unpleasantness over the Creswick benefit. Mrs Creswick, it eeems, professed herself dissatisfied with the Bon. Secretary's (Mr Harrington Bailey's) accounts, and requested full particulars of receipts and expenditure. These were at once sent, but the Hon. Secretary naturally feels himself insulted. He did most of the hard work of the benefit, and instead of thanks, gets nothing but kicks. A cheap edition of Mr E. P. Hingaton'a "Australian Abroad," at 3s 6d, is announced.

Special Items. " Jottings from the Pacific" is the title of an instructive volume abounding in information on religious, zoological, and botanical matters by that weil known miseionary, Mr W. Wyatt Gill. The " Athenaeum" considers the book one of the most valuable on the subject recently published. Reports from Sheffield seem to say that the Australasian demand for hardware is increasing, and that a reaction has set in against the cutlery and edged tools of Germany and America. Large colonial orders for the true Sheffield goods of the highest quality are on hand. Correspondents of the " Ironmonger " continue trying to explain the recent falling- off in the colonial demand for Sheffield goods. One declares the "middleman " — the " merchant " with an office and a small boy somewhere in the city — has done more than anything else to discredit British cutlery in the colonies by incessantly demanding the "cutting" of prices. He ships wretched goods to customers as " first-class," and charges "firstclass" figures to recoup himself for the long credit he has frequently to give. Two manufacturers in letters complain that they have tried to do business direct with im» porters in New Zealand, but failed because of the preposterously long credits the colonial firms required. The failure of John Simes and Company, the old established firm of wool-brokers, who initiated the London sales of colonial wool, and date back to 1819, will, it is said, seriously affect a number of people both in j Australia and New Zealand. They attribute their bankruptcy partly to losses on an estate in New Zealand. Other failures are said to be imminent, and wool-brokers generally are bewailing the bad times. Indeed, in this trade at present there is a perfect illustration of the proverb, " Much cry and little wool." Your lady readers may be interested to know that the zoological novelty for the winter season is a dainty muff fronted by the curly head of an Australian goat, black nose, narrow eyes, curly horns, and all. Part of the fleece borders the muff, and the rest of the wool may be gathered from the heights of a bonnet labelled the "haute nouveaute." A numerously-attended banquet was held at the new Imperial Club in Chancery Lane on the 20th inst., at which the question of Imperial Federation was the subject of discussion. A Mr R. W. Davey occupied the chair, and the company consisted chiefly of journalists as yet unknown to fame. Numerous celebrities were invited, but they all sent letters of apology. Miss Ada Ward, whose visit to the old country has been a terribly unlucky one, returns to Australia by the John Elder, sailing Dec. 23rd. She has purchased the Australasian rights of several new pieces, and had others written for her, but has, I understand, entered into no definite engagements yet. Mrs Campbell Praed, whose novels descriptive of life in the Australian colonies have hitherto proved her greatest successes, has juet concluded a tale of a eimilar kind, entitled, " The Head Station," which will be published early this month' by Chapman and Hall. The same lady's " Australian Life; Black and White," has been well reviewed, and is in good demand at the libraries. The friends of Mrs Chippendale, who is expected home from New Zealand early this /month, are preparing a warm welcome for her. /Phe has alwayß been* very popular in 1 the profession.

The \r ell known firm of John Elder and Co., which built so many of the Orient and P. and O. boats, was last week registered as a limited liability company, under the name of the Fail field .Engineering and shipbuilding Company.

Postscript to Summary. London, Deo. 3, 5.30 p.m. The rumour whioh has caused so much I excitement in some of the colonies, to the effect that the Archbishop of Canterbury had refused to allow cofonially ordained cleigy to officiate in English churches,is,itis needless to say, utterly untrue. One cannot conceive a man of Bishop Barry's intelligence even for a moment giving credence to such a preposterous tale. . You will have heard by cable of Sir John Gorst's appointment to a judgeship in the Queen's Bench Division, vice Sir Henry Jjoopes, promoted to the Court of Appeal. | The nomination has not given unmixed satisfaction, as Sir John is too much of a partisan to make a good judge. Mr Childers will, it is said, now contest Chatham against Sir H. Drummond Wolff. The Australasian Club held its annual dinner at Cambridge last night Sir F. D. Bell and Mr Murray Smith went down to attend it. There waa also a very smart house dinner at the Empire Club last night, which Mr Garrick, Q.C., and some of the Agents-General attended. Jenning and Co., of Chard, in Dorset— the great cider county— are shipping just now to New Zealand cider-presses and mills of a new pattern, heavy wooden beams with granite rollers so fitted that "not a pip of the apple can escape being crushed." In making cider, it seems, the crushing of the pip has become an important process, the pip improving the flavour and adding to the keeping quality of the beverage. The various colonial banks are fighting hard against paying income tax on deposits paid into their London branches. I don't well understand the question, but will inquire into it before the next mail leaves,