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-._--LONDON CORRESPONDENCE,

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LONDON CORRESPONDENCE, [Wedeem It right to state that we do not at all times identify ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions,] The terrible event which has befallen the Imperial house ot Austria in the suicide of the Crown Prince Rudolph, has caused an amount of sensation and concern in England which, even at this lapse of more than a week, continues to be worthy of note. The sadness of the tragedy was the more apparent because the Emperor Francis Joseph is held in esteem by the whole of Europe, which has recognised the dignity and patience with which he has met a series of mis- fortunes that might well have crushed an ordinary man. Coming to the throne forty years ago in the midst of revolutionary agitation, and when only little more than a boy, he had at the very outset to employ foreign aid to enable him to overcome rebellion at home. Eleven years later, as a consequence of the war with France, he was compelled to see his power over Italy lost, in 1886 he had to reconcile himself to the cession of Venetia and to Austria being lowered from her position as chief of the German nationalities, and now this personal blow has come to prostrate him after he had encountered so many others in the national cause. The European public generally took little heed of the political considerations involved in the sad event; it was to them something which appealed to the inner consciousness of all; and the sorrow ex- pressed was far from conventional, and was dis- tinctly real. We are now officially promised thorough exa- mination into the state of our Imperial defences when Parliament resumes its work, and the ne- cessity for strengthening the navy is in par- ticular to be Ministerially enforced. The general opinion is likely to be that the first step, at least, is urgently demanded, for many curious stories are afloat as to the condition of our war-ships at the present moment, and it will be good for all concerned to have these thoroughly tested. It is not remarkable, of course, that in so vast an organisation there should be some blunders dis- covered, but certain of these are of a kind which oughttoberegardedaspreventable. Forinstance, it was reported a few days since that a certain new ship upon a distant station, which had been built at enormous cost, could not fire her guns because the concussion was so great that at every discharge she was seriously strained. In another case, the vessel could not be fully armed, because it was found that she could not carry the weight of guns for which she had been intended. These are only a sample of the stories which are con- stantly current in naval circles as to the condi- tion of the fleet; and as the navy is our first line of defence, it is only natural that the tax-paying public should wonder whether such instances are fair tests of the whole. That, of course, they are not; although they are sufficiently serious to justify thorough examination, there is little doubt that certain of them could be paralleled in foreign fleets. It is right enough to learn the truth, but it would be foolish to think that Eng- land has the monopoly of making mistakes. Once more there is a re-arousing of interest in the electric light, and a number of schemes for establishing the new illuminant in various quar- ters of town and country are being laid before the public. But, as is often the case where there is great competition, some of the promoters are over-zealous to be first in the field, and the Board of Trade has had to issue, within the past few days, a caution against this too great promp- titude. It appears that some of them have not waited for the statutory authority before break- ing up the streets in their district, in order to lay their mains but, as is now officially pointed out to them, this may entail awkward conse- quences. Not only do their works run the risk of being stopped by direction of a court of law, at the instance either of some public authority or aggrieved person, but they do not possess the remedies for enforcing against their customers the charges which the Legislature 11 cl has given to those who obtain statutory powers. These dangers are so clear that is well that such a caution should have been emphatically given, for it may prevent unfairness as well as friction and loss. The electric light has had a host of obstacles to overcome in the endeavour of its friends to make it popular and generally acces- sible, and it would be a thousand pities if these were increased at the present favourable moment by any injudicious or premature action. Those acquainted with financial affairs in the City are of opinion that the coming spring will see a great wave of speculation pass over England. Already there have been abundant signs of the rising of the speculative tide, and cautious per- sons are already looking with something not alto- gether removed from alarm at the prospect now promised us. The worst of all such" booms is that, not only are large fortunes often placed in peril, but that small competences are frequently submerged. The amount of interest which in these days can be realised from what are known as first-class securities" is so small that it is no wonder that people who depend for their livelihood upon what they can get from their investments, should be tempted to speculate in stock which promises them more. It is upon this knowledge that many a financier depends for his success, and a glowing prospectus proves a most powerful engine for extracting money from the pockets of those not over well-to-do. The consequence is that, at a time of general speculation, many enterprises are launched which are of a some- what risky character, and it is not given to all would-be investors to possess the faculty of determining at a glance which are good and which bad. This is the reason why those who have nothing to gain but all to lose by a panic always dread the advent of a great I I boom," The question of railway rates is one which is so intimately bound up with the trade of the country, that the effect of the Railway and Canal Traffic Act of last year, as touching their incidence, will be closely and, indeed, jealously watched. The Board of Trade has made an order under that Act to the effect that, where a railway company intend to increase any toll, rate, or charge published in the books re- quired to be kept by the company for public inspection, notice of the proposed increase shall, not less than fourteen days before the date on which the increase is to take effect, be published once, at least, in a local newspaper, and be printed in large type, and kept posted for not 11 y less than twenty-eight days in a conspicuous place in each of the stations on the railway affected, the traffic at or between which is subject to the toll. This is a good regulation as far as it goes, but it seems to be the opinion of a good many persons directly interested in the question that it does not go far enough, for complaints are being made by traders in various parts of the country that the railway companies have taken advantage of the new Act to raise their rates, and that it is of no particular comfort to be told of it. What was wanted was not that the rates should be heightened, but that they should be lowered, and the latter result has certainly not as yet been attained. Her Majesty's judges of the Queen's Bench Division have had much of their time occupied of late by the hearing of applications from candi- dates at the recent County Council elections for relief from penalties incurred for offences unwit- tingly committed under the Municipal Elections i (Corrupt and Illegal Practices) Act. The occu- pants of the bench have more than once expressed wondermeat at. the number of such applications but when it is considered that an entirely new system has been put in operation in every countv in England and Wales, and that the elections have been taken upon a plan which, in most of the districts concerned, was practically unknown, the amazement ought to be the less. One point worth noting is that the majority of the offences adnutted related either to the circulation of bills and placards to which no name of printer was attached, or to the holding of committee meetings in premises on which intoxicating liquors were licensed to be sold. The former practice was evidently a survival of the old idea that at election times people were privileged to issue scurrilous attacks upon their opponents, to which naturally no printer's name would be appended, while the second is a very modern pro- vision of the law, with which it was excusable for most folk to be unacquainted. The judges have taken a lenient view of the acknowledged oflences, very much on the grounds just stated, but have felt bound to append a caution that future offenders would be severely dealt with. The warning was necessary, but it may be hoped that three years hence, when the next County Council elections take place, it will not be needed, because by that time all intending candidates ought to have had sufficient experience to cause them to keep well within the law. Among the social controversies of the hour is one of especial interest to the gentler sex, for it is an attempt to answer the question, Why do so many Englishmen marry American girls 2" It has been suggested in various quarters that this may be construed as an affront to our countrywomen, and though this in any case would be strained, seeing that the proportion of Anglo-American to completely English mar- riages is exceedingly small, it must be a comfort to those who are inclined to take the matter to heart to feel that it is equally an affront to the American men. The real fact, of course is that the whole controversy is I an exceedingly profitless one. Joined as Eng- land and America are by a thousand ties of race, religion, and speech, and linked the closer by the facilities for oceanic travel which now so abound, what wonder is it that there should frequently be marriages between the two peoples? It may please American women to think themselves superior to their English sisters, and Englishmen to consider that, on the whole, they are better than their American cousins; but all the argument in the world will not prove conclusive upon such delicate points. There the marriages are, and more are likely to come. A F. R.

PRINCE RUDOLPH'S DEATH.

EPITOME OF NEWS,

THE MARKETS.-