glorious events of which we have been privileged spectators, I am glad to think on behalf of the absent communities of Australasia, who share our feelings, that the sentiment behind all which makes us ready to risk our lives, all over the Empire, should a time of trouble come, is that belief which has been the secret of all the triumphs of England, a belief in the indestructibility of the British

race.

The Right Hon. Lord GEORGE HAMILTON, M.P. (Secretary of State for India): Before we disperse I have been entrusted with a toast the purport of which I think you will anticipate, namely, the health of His Royal Highness the Chairman. I, like many others present, have for many years past had the honour of a personal acquaintance with His Royal Highness. As Prince, as soldier, in every grade from that of lieutenant to general, as country gentleman, and in various other capacities, he has endeared himself to all around him. He undertakes no duty that he does not thoroughly master and efficiently perform. Nature has so endowed him that his personality is surrounded by a charm and a courtesy which strike a responsive echo from all with whom he comes in contact. We have had to-night a great and successful dinner. The success of that dinner is largely due to the charm and character which the presence of His Royal Highness has given to it. We are deeply grateful to him, and let us show our appreciation by drinking with more than ordinary cordiality the health of our Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN: My Lords, Ladies, and Gentlemen,-I thank my friend Lord George Hamilton most cordially for the only too flattering manner in which he has proposed this toast, and I also thank the assembled company for the very warm reception which you have given it. I can assure you that among the many pleasant memories of the Jubilee week there will be none which will be more pleasant to me than to remember that I was selected as your Chairman on this great and important occasion. It must necessarily be a great satisfaction to any Englishman to find himself in the chair in the midst of an assemblage like the one I am now addressing; and it is doubly so to one so nearly connected with the Sovereign, and one who has now for a good many years had the honour of serving his Queen and country in so many different parts of the world. Sir Evelyn Wood said just now that I had visited the Australian Colonies, but I regret extremely that I have not had that advantage, and I only hope in the future that I may still be able to do so. There is one other regret I feel this evening, and that is that the officers of the Colonial forces are not all present this

evening. I am afraid that the attraction of Her Majesty and Windsor Castle have been too great for them. However much I regret this I am sure you will agree with me that they are well worthy of receiving to the full the hospitality of our Sovereign. It has been a great pleasure to me as general officer commanding the troops on the occasion of Her Majesty's Jubilee in London, and also commanding the parade at Aldershot yesterday, to have the pleasure of twice having had the Colonial forces under my command. There is no officer in Her Majesty's service who has more warmly welcomed their presence amongst us, and I can only say that if all the Colonial troops come up to the standard of the samples we have seen, we have every reason to be proud of that accession to our military power, and we are certain they will return home with a feeling that they have been one, part and parcel of ourselves, and that we have tried to show them that from whatever part of the world they come, they are equally welcome among our ranks. Ladies and gentlemen, you will forgive me if my speech be short. You can imagine the position I am in when you know that I shall have to array myself in a gorgeous dress of a most uncomfortable nature for the fancy ball to be given by the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire to-night. You will therefore know that I have reached the last moment, and I can only most cordially thank you for the manner in which you have received me this evening.

The National Anthem was then played and the company separated.

APPENDIX

MEMORIAL re DOUBLE INCOME TAX.

In the Memorial addressed by the Council to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on April 15, 1896, praying for the amendment of the law relating to the levying and payment of Income Tax, so as to exempt income earned in any part of the Empire elsewhere than in the United Kingdom in all cases in which it can be shown that such income has already been charged with Income Tax in that part of the Empire, wherever it may be, in which such income is earned, it is mentioned (see clause 5) that on reference to certain Acts passed in the Australasian Colonies "it would appear that the general principle upon which the taxation therein imposed is based, is to tax any income derived from property situate within, or business carried on within the territorial limits of the Colony imposing the same," and that" income received by persons living in a particular Colony, derived from property outside that Colony, is not taxed, it being in the case of some Colonies expressly exempted and in others not within the operative words of their Acts." The Council are desirous of stating for general information that it has since come to their knowledge that while in the Australian Colonies including Tasmania income derived from outside those Colonies is not taxed, such general principle does not apply to New Zealand, where exemption appears to be confined to Imperial Pensions which pay tax at home; and that under the definition of " Income contained in Section 17 of the Land and Income Assessment Act Amendment Act 1892 of New Zealand, Sub-section 4 (e), "Income" includes the gains or profits derived or received "From every source or kind whatsoever (including income derived or received from lands or mortgages) outside the Colony whereby income is derived or received in New Zealand by any person."

UNIFICATION OF TIME AT SEA.

To the MOST HONOURABLE THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURY, K.G., Prime Minister.

THE MEMORIAL OF THE ROYAL COLONIAL
INSTITUTE.

The Council of the Royal Colonial Institute, for themselves and on behalf of about four thousand Fellows of the Institute residing in all parts of Her Majesty's Dominions, desire respectfully to submit to Her Majesty's Government the advisability of taking early steps for the Unification of Time at Sea, a question of worldwide interest which has been brought under the consideration of the Council by the Royal Society of Canada,-an important and influential body which has invited their co-operation in strongly advocating this reform in the interests of navigation and commerce.

Your Memorialists submit that the various points connected with civil, nautical, and astronomical time at sea appear to have been fully gone into during the past twelve years by various societies and authorities in different countries, and to have been eventually resolved into the simple question of the desirability of advancing astronomical time by twelve hours so as to harmonise it with civil time for nautical time has in general practice long been assimilated to civil time, and is no longer a matter giving rise to difficulty or discussion.

It is believed by your Memorialists that the proposed change can be easily introduced with decided advantage to observers, and that the general principle of the Unification of Time at Sea has now an almost universal consensus of opinion in its favour. This consensus of opinion is especially remarkable in the case of the shipmasters of the mercantile marine, who are deeply interested in the question.

The advancement of astronomical time by twelve hours so as to assimilate it to civil time, in order that both may be in agreement and begin everywhere at midnight, would require the adaptation of the Nautical Almanack to the change.

As the Nautical Almanack is of necessity prepared some years in advance, it is respectfully submitted by your Memorialists that a decision on this important subject should be arrived at by Her Majesty's Government with as little delay as possible, in order that

the change may take effect at the date indicated by astronomers, viz., the first day of the new century.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the Council have caused the Common Seal of the Royal Colonial Institute to be affixed this first day of January, One thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven, in the presence of—

GEORGE S. MACKENZIE, Chairman of the Day,
A. H. HOSKINS, Admiral, Councillor,
FREDERICK YOUNG, Vice-President,

L.S.

Members of the Council.

J. S. O'HALLORAN,

Secretary.

ADDRESS TO HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN.

The following loyal address to Her Majesty the Queen has been forwarded to the Secretary of State for the Home Department :

TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.

The Council and Fellows of the Royal Colonial Institute desire to express their loyal and dutiful congratulations on the approaching completion of the Sixtieth Anniversary of your Majesty's Accession to the Throne, an auspicious event without parallel in British History, which will evoke universal rejoicings amongst the vast and varied populations in all parts of the world who possess the proud privilege of being subjects of your most Gracious Majesty.

Among the most remarkable features of your Majesty's long and beneficent rule is the marvellous expansion of the Colonies and Dependencies which form integral parts of the Empire, and the development of their resources to an extent that will make the Victorian age for ever memorable as a period of unexampled progress and prosperity. That Empire is now estimated to include nearly one-fifth of the land surface of the globe, and to contain about an equal proportion of its inhabitants.

The Council and Fellows earnestly pray that under the blessing of Divine Providence, your Majesty may long be spared in health, peace, and happiness, to preside over the destinies of a loyal, devoted, and united people, whose welfare it has been the constant aim of your Majesty to cherish and promote, whether they dwell in these Isles or have their homes beyond the seas in distant portions of the Empire.