ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 458, 29 March 1890, Page 4

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES .

(FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.)

London, February 6. SIR CHARLES DILKE.

That Sir Charles Dilke’s opponents have no notion of forgetting the unproven charges against him, and permitting one of the ablest of living politicians to resume a career of great public usefulness, is conclusively proved by the fact that, with the exception of the “ Daily News and one or two Gladstonian papers, “Problems of Greater Britain” has been universally “ boycotted ”by the press. Of course, the “ Times ” gave the initial cue. Sir Charles forwarded a copy of the work to Printing House Square (addressing it to Mr Buckle by name) a week before the ordinary issues for review were sent out, and how eagerly he scanned columns of the leading journal for the anticipated notice, morning after morning,- may well be imagined. I confess it never would have occurred to me to suspect our loading editors of taking such an uncharitably vindictive and contemptibly narrow-minded course. Has it, then, come to this, that a great man who sins against our moral code is not morely to be eternally banned socially and politically, but prevented (as far as possible) from exercising for the benefit of his fellows, any of the intellectual gifts with vvhich God has endowed him ? How far this partial press boycott will injure the most important work on the colonies published for many years, remains to be seen. Lam afraid the effect will be pretty bad. Sir Charles’s complaisance to the leading Anglo-Colonial journalists of late is now explained. Evidently he foresaw a possible “ boycott,” and wished to make sure that even if the book fell dead in England it would be read in the colonies.. A special colonial edition is in preparation, and will be despatched to your part of the world in about a fortnight. Whether Sir Charles visits the Australian colonies next autumn will, from what I can earn, greatly depend on the amount of appreciation with which his worit is received. Time has in no way dulled this able man’s sensitiveness with regard to his misfortunes. Every demonstration of the implacable moralists who insist on his permanent suppression cuts him to the. quick, and how seriously the boycott of hi 3 book will pain and chagrin both himself and Lady Dilke, one can only guess. . Many men would have tired under such relentless persecution, and sternly abandoned all interest in politics for ever. Sir Charles Dilke cannot. He is a crack shot, a good rider, a fine all-round athlete, the best fencer (with foils) in England, yet neither hunting, shooting, athletics, nor the life of a country gentleman have sufficed as more than temporary distractions. The man’s heart and intellect are alike concentrated on politics, and his great hope is that Mrs Crawford may some day repent, and by a tardy confession enable him to resume hie career in the Commons. That Sir Charles Dilke was not a Joseph is, of course, admitted (that was what complicated his position so), but that the charges laid at his door by Mrs Crawford were correct I never have believed, and never shall believe. NEW ZEALAND PASSENGERS BY THE COROMANDEL. The substitution of the Coromandel for the Rome (originally advertised as this week’s P. and O. steamer) has caused a lot of grumbling amongst the Australian and New Zealand passengers who had engaged berths on the latter liner. Not only is the general accommodation of the Coromandel (which belongs to the Cnina service) inferior to the Rome’s, but she carries fewer saloon passengers, consequently the state-rooms are overcrowded. The language of persons I could mention, who reserved airy two-berth cabins on the hurricane deck of the Rome, and now find themselves transferred to stuffy three berth main deck cabins (opposite the engineroom) of the Coromandel, I prefer to leave to the imagination. The through passengers to New Zealand are, of course, the worst sufferers, as going furthest they generally get choice of the most comfortable state-rooms on board. Mr E. W. G. Rathbone, though down in the Coromandel’s list as a through passenger to Auckland (in conjunction with Mr and Mrs R. Ferguson), will go no further than Malta in that vessel. He waits there for the larger and more comfortable Britannia, in which Mr Toole and other acquaintances have secured berths. Mr and Mrs Code and six children are booked for Lyttelton per Coromandel, and Mr Rindskopf, like Bishop Selwyn, joins at Ismailia, and goes through to Dunedin. BISHOP SELWYN. The Bishop of Melanesia and Mrs Selvvyn are passengers by the Coromandel, which, however, they do not join till Ismailia. Mr Mr C. T. Best, the renowned Liverpool organist, who has been specially engaged to inaugurate the magnificent new instrument in Sydney Town Hall, also journeys to the Antipodes by the same steamer. He returns via ’Frisco, having a number of important engagements in the States, and will probably stop a short time in New Zealand should sufficient inducement offer. Mr Best is accompanied by his wife and daughter.

HAS AUSTRALIA A FOREIGN POLICY?

Mr Patchett-Martin, in an article headed “ Has Australia a Foreign Policy ?” in the “Scotsman,” quotes Sir Andrew Clark’s opinion that the day may nob improbably come when the colonies and the mother country will have to join issue and forcibly expunge the French and German settlements in the Pacific. Mr G. W. Kerr thinks that in the far - off future _ a united Australia might attempt this, but deDrecates hostile threats whilst the population is so (comparatively speaking) small and there are so many internal bickerings and jealousies.. A cynical a Australian 15 predicts that in case of trouble, the French and German cruisers will instantly make for and seize Palmerston, stopping cable communication, with Europe,and slipping inside Port Phillip and Port Jackson before the good people of Melbourne and Sydney know war is declared. They are more likely to do" this than we are to seize New Caledonia or New Guinea.

NATIONAL MORTGAGE AGENCY. At the fourteenth ordinary meeting of the National Mortgage and Agency Company of New Zealand a 5 percent, dividend wasdeclared,and £2,500 added to the reserve fund The Chairman in the course of a reassuring speech said the custom of imprudent borrowing by private individuals was ceasing, and the Government was setting a good example in economy. The colony suffered, fcowever, from the want of free •trade, the unalterable policy of the mother ■country. PERSONAL NOTES. Mr W. lectured last evening at Exeter Ball before a large His subject was, as usual, “Taranaki,” the discourse being illustrated with 50 views by ; limelight. Mrs McMillan and daughters return to Auckland by the Britannia.

Sir C. Dilke does not forget to give Browning’s “ Waring ” (the late Alfred Domett) full credit for writing “ the longest and dullest poem extant about New Zealand.” The many friends of Sir Napier, and Lady Broome in New Zealand will be pleased to hear that should (as seems probable) Sir Henry Norman resign the Government of Queensland, the late Governor of Western Australia will almost certainly get the berth. It seems odd to find the none too successful editor of a sixpenny magazine, nominated for a post like the Chief Justiceship of Samoa, but backstairs influence can work wonders even in these enlightened days, and I need only say Mr Kinloch Cooke’s great friend and patron is an ex-Under-Secretary for the Colonies, to wit, Lord Dunraven. Lady Berry christened the third of the five Australian cruisers intended for the protection of your shores and commerce at Elswick, on Wednesday, amid considerable ceremony. The name selected was (for no apparent reason) the Persian. Subsequently Sir Graham Berry made a long speech on Federation. Sir F. D. Bell will, I should imagine, fco asked to talk at the next launch function. Sir Saul Samuel has had his turn.

LITERARY AND THEATRICAL. It has been my privilege to hear “Richard Savage,” the four-act play in which Mr H. Marriott Watson (late of Christchurch) has been collaborating with Mr J. M. Barrie, read aloud. The story follows pretty accurately the romantic details of Savages career, and is from beginning to end eminently dramatic. If the title role with its powerful and pathetic death scene does nob tempt that exigeant actor-manager, Mr Beerbohim-Tree, to give the piece a trial, he must indeed be hard to please. Do not, however, conclude “ Richard Savage ” is a onepart play. There are several fairly “fat” men characters, and at least one female of prominence. The dialogue struck me as crisp and to the point. Altogether I should imagine “Richard Savage’’ought to do. But of course one never can tell. Plays which read well (as this does) sometimes fail egregiously when acted. Referring to the literature of New Zealand in “Problems of Greater Britain,” Sir C. Dilke makes complimentary mention o Mr Farjeon and Mr H. M. Watson, but ignores Fergus Hume, Mr Loughnan, Miss Cheeseman, Vincent Pyke and Mr Bracken.

Macmillans have purchased the home rights of Rolf Bolderwood’s new novel, and will publish it early next month. If it is only a quarter as good as “ Robbery Under Arms ” it will succeed. Messrs Jno. Haddon and Co. have formed a syndicate of American, Colonial, and home papers for the publication of Sala’s “Echoes of the Week.” The “ Times ” has resolved to start a cable correspondent in Melbourne. The Australian prima donna Madame Melba has been so successful in the role of the two mad operatic heroines Ophelia and Lucia that she is about to attempt a third, viz., Caterina, in Meyerbeer’s “L’Etoile du Nord,” which is being mounted at the Grand Opera, Paris, with characteristic magnificence. An infant prodigy from your part of the world, named Elsie Hall, has been creating a great stir in musical circles. Though only twelve years old, she plays from memory, and with marvellous execution, the most difficult pieces of Chopin and Liszt. With Chopin, the little one seems to have special affinity. She began her studies in Australia, but has for the last two years been under Pruchner, at Stuttgart. Lord Dunlo has arrived home. The Viscountess did nob go to meet her errant spouse. The next act of this interesting matrimonial drama will be watched with curiosity. Amongst the many valedictory feasts to Mr Toole, I must not forget to mention the luncheon at the Mansion House on Tuesday, which Lord Mayor Isaacs (a great patron of the drama) gave in honour of the (I should imagine by this time) gorged but still “genial comedian.” “Friend Irving,” who has stood by “ Friend Toole manfully through all this trying period, was again present, and had his share of speechifying. Today the ladies of the profession are “kettledrumming” Toole and Co. at the Hotel Metropole, and on Wednesday next the banquet par excellence will ring down the curtain.