CONDENSED CABLEGRAMS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, 6 June 1891, Page 2

CONDENSED CABLEGRAMS.

London. Mr Dunn, a Home Ruler, defeated Mr MoKeroll, a Unionist, for the Paisley seat by a majority of 1328. The Marquis of Salisbury has agreed to receive a deputation from the Imperial Federation League on the 17th inst., who will urge on the Prime Minister the necessity of calling together delegates from the various colonies to consider the best means to secure an effective share of the privileges and responsibilities of the Empire. Mr Victor Davendish, Unionist, has been returned unopposed for West Derbyshire in the House of Commons, the vacancy for which was caused by the death of Lord Edward Cavendish. The grain crops in Eastern Europe are in a bad condition owing to drought. In Greece, however they are looking very well, and a splendid yield is anticipated. A large number of decorations have been bestowed on Lieutenant Grant's battalion, in recognition of their gallan t behaviour after the massacre at Munipur. -.U-. The illness of Sir John Macdonald causes intense excitement in Canada. There is also a good deal of anxiety felt in England, and Her Majesty the Queen receives hourly bulletins as to the Premier's health. The Government have ordered an inquiry to be made into the report that a large number of Jews expelled from Russia propose to emigrate to England. The Czar states that he will continue to expel the Jews from Russian territory. Their alleged complicity with Nihilists in the attempts on the life Df His Majesty has forced the present policy. Forty bankers met the directors of the Bank of England to discuss the fixing of the discount rates and to ;ake steps to prevent a drain of gold :rom London in the summer. The National Press accuses Parlell of stealing money from the Parliamentary funds, and asserts he s afraid to face an audit of the acsounts.

The Irish census returns show- a decrease in the population of half a million in the last decade. In the House of Commons on the 2nd June the Bill introduced by Mr W. H. Smith, First Lord of the Treasury, suspending British sealers from carrying out their calling in Behring Sea, was read a second time. The measure proposes that prohibition should be for one year, and that a Eoyal Commission be set up to enquire into claims of shipowners for compensation. The Government has protested against the threat made by the French Admiral to seize boats supplying bait to American fisherman in St George's Bay, Newfoundland. The residents of British Columbia are opposed to the Behring Sea Fisheries Suspension Bill. The delegates from Newfoundland are assisting Lord Knutsford to prepare a measure in which it is proposed to deal with the vexed question of fisheries in that Cojony in a permanent manner. The Baccarat Scandle. H.R.H., the Prince of Wales was examined in the baccarat case on the 2nd June. He stated that he did not see any irregularity in Sir Gordon Cumming's play, and it was Lord Coventry who first suggested that the plaintiff was not playing fairly. There were so many of those present who said they had witnessed the unfair play that he could not help believing the accusation. In the interview he had with Sir Win. Gordon Cumming at Tranby Court on the night of the alleged cheating, the latter denied the charge. Witness did not observe any cheating himself. The plaintiff under cross-examina-tion resorted to absolute innocence as regards play, and explained that his winnings from the Prince of Wales and others was owing to the system of his play. General Owen Williams was examined, and admitted that he did not see any cheating on the part of the plaintiff; still he and others signed the confession in order to secure the required silence. The witness declared that the Prince of Wales told Sir W. Gordon Cumming that to play with his hands on the table did not look well. He said Mr Lysett Green, son-in-law of Mr Arthur Wilson, at whose residence the offence is alleged to have been committed, was the first to accuse the plaintiff of cheating, and that Mr Berkeley Levett also witnessed it. The case for the plaintiff was closed. In opening the . defence in the baccai/at case to-day, Sir Charles Russell, Q.C., declared thatHhe only motive which induced Sir Wm Gordon Cumming to take the present proceedings was the hope that they might prevent his being expelled from the clubs, and from his position in the Army. The learned counsel argutd that if plaintiff was so innocent as he wished the Court to believe he would not so easily have sacrificed his honor by signing an undertaking not to touch a card for the rest of his life, even for fifty princes. He intended to call witnesses who would prove absolutely the dishonesty of the plaintiff. Mr Stanley Wilson, son of Mrs Arthur Wilson, of Tranby Croft deposed that on the first night (September Bth), when the party were playing cards, he saw a £5 counter in front of Sir Gordon Cumming. and when the latter observed that he had won, he opened his hand and dropped another counter on the table. The next time an unfavourable card was drawn, and witness noticed a surreptitious diminution of the plaintiff's stake by withdrawing his hands, so that a counter fell in his lap. When witness informed Mr Berkeley Levett of the dishonest conduct, the latter disbelieved it. They then watched Sir William, and were convinced of his cheating. Under cross-examination, Mr Wilson said he omitted to make a record of what occured, and the statement prepared by General Owen Williams, purporting to show what defendants saw and did, was in several respects inaccurate.