AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8463, 13 June 1907, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

THE MELBOURNE MURDER. Received June 12, 10.41 a.m. MELBOURNE, June 12. The Government offers £SOO re,ward for the conviction of the mur.derer of Mr Bauer, who was killed in his office while weighing diamonds. OLYMPIC SPORTS. Received June 12, 8.7 a.m. MELBOURNE, June 12. A conference of the inter-State .university rowing delegates decided to send a team, if possible, to the .Olympic sports in England next year. ANNIVERSARY OF NORFOLK ISLAND. •Received June 12, 8.7 a.m. NORFOLK ISLAND, June 12. The fifty-first anniversary of the .colony was celebrated with a picnic ,and sports, amid fine weather. FEDERAL MAIL CONTRACT. Received June 12. 10.41 a.m. SYDNEY, June 12. The State Government has decided not to participate in any guarantee to the'"mail syndicate*.. The Victorian 'Government has, however, changed its attitude since the Premiers" Conference, the Cabinet having decided to contribute to the guarantee if other States do, provided Victoria holds first mortgage over the vessels. , Received June 13, 12.19 a.m. MELBOURNE, June 12.

Sir John Forrest states that he has received communications from New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania, practically declining to make a guarantee in connection with the mail syndicate. IMMIGRATION AND FASTER SEA SERVICES. COMMENTS BY SIR J. G. WARD. Received June 12, 8.50 a.m. PERTH, June 12. Sir Joseph Ward, interviewed here, says it is undeniable that there is in Great Britain a great want of knowledge concerning the position of the self-governing dominions and the development that is taking place in them. "I must say," he added, "that Canada to some extent should be excepted, for the reason that she has made advertising an art, She advertises wherever her representatives are to be found, and makes a display ■of what Canada has to offer in the way of land attractions and employment for workers, in a manner which is extremely successful. For instance, I visited Dublin Exhibition, where Canada had a separate court, which was fitted up in such a way thac visitors h;<d before them a realistic presentation of wheat fields and of dairying land with cattle grazing on it. As an outcome of Canada's pushfulness I siw three or four steamers laden with human freight leave England and Scotland for Canada. The Dominion is better known in England than any other of the self-governing colonies. Its comparative nearness#to' England is also a factor in keeping it before the eyes of the British people. Although I must in justice to our representatives say that they spare no pains to keep their country before the public, yet our expenditure in advertising is very small indeed compared with that of Canada." / "With reference to the mail subsidy, I advocated an improved At-lantic-Pacific service across Canada to New Zealand and Australia. My view was that we should aim at a twenty days' service between New Zealand and London--four days across 'the Atlantic, four clays across Canada, and twelve days across the Pacific to New Zealand. It is quite a common thing for a steamer to travel between London and America at 21 or 22 knots. I hold that the same speed could be maintained between Vancouver, New Zealand and Australia, provided that the countries concerned are prepared to pay a subsidy large enough to induce owners of the class of steamers mentioned to take up the trade. It would necessitate 'a subsidy of about £400,000 a year. Although that is large Tsum, it could be borne if it was divided proportionately between the countries concerned." Asked whether such a service would not interfere with the Suez Canal service, Sir Jospeh Ward replied:—"My opinion is that it would not. The service I advocate would cause an increase of traffic. Wherever great steamer facilities for passenger traffic have been provided, they have resulted in such an enormous increase of trade that instead of injuring existing lines they havd caused the establishment of additional lines to cope with the traffic This has been the experience in the Atlantic trade, where, of course, there is a large population at the end of the line. [We in Australasia must look forward to a large increase of population in years to come, and by establishing the most up-to-date passenger service we would be doing much to attract immigrants to our shores. So far as New Zealand is concerned we will leave nothing undone to establish such service. At both the Imperial and the Navigation Conferences I advocated a reduction of Suez Canal dues. The present high i*ates have handicapped the development of colonial trade, causing the bulk of imports and exports to be carried round the Cape. It seems to me monstrous that the rates should be bo high that ordinary cargo steamers are almost prohibited from using the Canal. It is possible that in view of the speeches made by Australian representatives, some alteration will be made in the near future."

!cable news.

I United Press Association—'<y Electric Telegraph Copyright RUGBY FOOTBALL. Received June 12, 12.19 a.m. SYDNEY, June 12. The New South ' Wales second fifteen defeated the Queensland second . fifteen by 12 points to '3 points. HINDOO EXECUTED, i | Received June 12, 10.41 a.m. SYDNEY, June 12. Sadeck, a Hindoo, was executed at Broken Hill for the murder of a woman named Cooney in January last. FOUR WIVES LIVING. Received June 13, 12.19 a.m. SYDNEY, June 12. In the Divorce Court, during the i hearing of a case in which a wife petitioned for a divorce, it was elicited that respondent, who was at present in gaol in San Francisco, had four wives living. MR DEAKIN ON LIBERAL 1 CONSISTENCY. Received June 12, 9.54 a.m. SYDNEY, June 12. The following interview with Mr Deakin while in England has been telegraphed from Fremantle: — Dealing with the attitude of the Imperial Government, Mr Deakin says:—"l think Ministers acted consistently and argued throughout inconsistently. They absolutely refused any and every kind of fiscal preference, either on their existing tariff or by any modification of it. In that direction there was 'no thoroughfare,' but they suggested that, with regard to modes of preference other than fiscal, they had an open mind. They invited propositions of any character, although they refrained from making any themselves. Yet when I submitted a general suggestion purpose of providing a basis which' ' might lead to some definite arrangement, it was attacked in a most contentious spirit, and was dealt with in its details in spite of my repeated protest, made at the time, that the details were matters of indifference, and that Ministers were evading the real purpose of the proposal. What I sought was practical action, and the resolution necessary to allow such action to be taken. The outcome was that the motion I offered was declined in favour of a general and indefinite resolution which favoured some such action being taken hereafter at some indefinite time." Mr Deakin instanced the case of Sir Wilfrid Laurier's mail service proposal, which met, he said, certainly with less aggressiveness from the Home authorities, but with a most equally determined opposition. Sir Wilfrid Laurier was obliged to consent to his motion being whittled down before he could secure its acceptance. There was little prospect now of Sir Joseph Ward's desire for a rapid Pacific service receiving anything like adequate support from the British Government. The totai practical result of their endeavours to ascertain forms of co-operation, other than in fiscal preference, to which the Imperial Government was willing to agree, was nil. "It would have been more consistent," added Mr Deakin, "if Ministers with a mandate against preference had given their decision at the outset of the conference. We were met in effect, at tU close of the argument, with a plai-. 'non possumus,' quite irrespective of the merits of the discussion, or'in fact of any discussion we could have maintained. Except, therefore, a3 a dialectic extra for Ministers,, the ', whole debate, so far as they are concerned, is rendered meaningless. Whittle, therefore, they were perfectly consistent in refusing to accept our proposal, they were quite inconsistent when they encouraged us 'to pursue argument at great length without a prospect of the arguments leading to anything." j