TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume XLVI, Issue 7476, 25 November 1889, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Whilb we ate congratulating ou«w* on our improved prospects in New Ze»f*B4 trade and commerce have for eome.tJSM past been prospering in the moat cess* factory manner at Home. In this ad»*W the working classes are participating;**, the full. Scarcely a day passes wHSa** news arriving of an increase of .?$* being conceded to one or more chase*« workers, and statistics show &** the percentage of unemployed in esah department is abnormally small. Soß* remarkable figures bearing out to** B statements were given by Mr, \*J M. Medley at the annual x&eem of the ,Oobden Club in London. '&» railway traffic of 1888 was worth, a and a quarter more than that t sjr™' The advance in the foreign * ra^ Mother Country has been etupendous during the last three y****!! 138G it amounted to .£618.600,000. Iβ I®7 there was an increase of j524,400,00^'* 1888 a further increase of for the present year it is estimated $* the foreign trade will tot up to th* &&' mous total of £728,000,000, showing •* increase of over a hundred millions £ arl °j! the past three years. Emigration a decrease. During the six months «»#» June last, 43,382 fewer emigrants left Vβ United Kingdom than was the caee duriag the same period in 1888, showing th*fct&* working classes, notwithstanding the »&* crease of population, are evincing greater desire to stay in their o*j country. Aβ to pauperism, the < j ec is again remarkable. Pauperism * n .®s land and Wales in the flUth week of W" April (the last return given) had euftK» 715,941, which is only 25 per 1000 of -» population, a lower average than tt.W year since 1857—which was the fltet f*! for which there was a report. Loo don in that week had 7000 leaa paupers tfoattj the corresponding week last year. Fof year the percentage will be about 23.1 in* thousand. When we come totheß *rL labor market, as Mr Medley find a remarkable state of things. Out « the eighteen tirades referred to in a repors fust made by Mr Burnett, thirteen were "very good," and five were "moderateWith regard to ebipbuildins;, the state « thing* wee desoribed in the report •» precedeated. Not counting 700 mm'& Itrike for higlMW wagw» tnet* were out c*

employment in that trade a proportion o* only .63 per cent. In engineering, Mr Burnett shows us that there were only 1.75 per cent, of the men in that industry out of employment, as against 5.2 last year. In housebuilding less than 1 per cent, of the men were out of work. The cotton tnd woollen trades in this respect were moderate. In the iron and rfceei. trades there were at the end of June but M6l men out of employment out of a total number of 188,774 operatives, which was only 1.8 per cent., as against 4.G per cent, last year, or less than half what it was. While all these people were at work, and receiving considerably higher wage 3 than they were a year ago, the price of wheat was scarcely ever before so low. It is not unworthy of remark that during the very time this qtate of things prevailed in freetrade England, the ironworkers in the employ Df Mr Andrew Carnegie, in protectionist America, had to submit to a reduction in iheir wages of 20 per cent.

9tm>X2TTS who presented themselves for the B.A. examination in connection with the New Zealand University this year, we are informed, met with an unpleasant (urprise. In the history and political economy paper the period prescribed for J&6 history was from 155S to 1625. When the candidates addressed themlelves to their work, however, they found themselves confronted with some rery remarkable questions, whose relation to the eventful reigns of Elisabeth and James 1., in which they had- been revelling for months past, seemed even less apparent than the much-quoted case of Goodwin Sands and Tenterden steeple. After a pause, the more erudite among them discovered that the English examiner, through some misapprehension, had adopted the period 1700 to 1800 as the basis of hie questions. At Christchureh the attention of the supervisor (Mr G. L. Lee) was called to the mistake; but fie, of course, was powerless to interfere. It so happened that some of the students nad previously taken the Eighteenth century, and so they proceeded to grapple with the paper. There were others who, in accordance with the usual student fashion, had let the period severely alone, dealing only with, that which had been prescribed, and these were in a hopeless quandary. It is whispered that all the knowledge which soma of them had in regard to Queen Anne was a distant rumour which had reached them concerning the demise of that. estimable Sovereign, while others, of course, knew of her as the " great Anna whom three ijjrealms obey," who used, at Hampton Court, to "sometimes counsel take and •ometimes tea." These facts, interesting in themselves, were hardly likely to fpnll them through," and so they gave themselves up to gaunt despair. TOne ray of hope, however, remains. Aα appeal will be made to the Senate, who it is to be hoped will help the unfortunate ones out of their difficulty. Mislakes of this kind will sometimes happen, k> long as English examiners are engaged, but this occasional drawback is far outbalanced by the manifold advantages of *he course. One moral which the studen fc 3 may very well lay to heart is that a little general knowledge of history is valuable v well as "cram," based solely on the period.

Wellington has made an excellent start towards the foundation of a public library. It will be remembered that Mr W. H. Levin, a large-hearted and public-spirited citizen, who, if we mistake not, was born in the started the movement .with. & donation of .£IOOO, and other subscriptions have already brought up the amount to abont £1500. At a public meeting held on the subject the other night Mr Justice Bichmond made an excellent speech, in which, as reported in the New Zealand Times, he roundly stirred up the residents of the sapitaljto (b> sensdof some hitherto neglected duties. Touching the public library question, he regretted to say that they were dreadfully behindhand in this and many ether matters of municipal importance, fend Wellington was the last place, so to ipeak, in- New Zealand; Christchurch, Dunedin, and even Auckland—(laughter) —were before them, though the Southern i ataei had had the benefit of endowments, while in Auckland private benefactors— ttotabjy Sir George Grey and the late Mr ,« Justice Gilliea—had done a great deal — -.Wellington boasted herself supreme (in •«e*etaonable Latin, he thought;, and it .jirae their own fault if the time did not I 8 wiim e y ***^< 1 k o4B ' themselves jftitkens of no mean city. As yet they had "Sane little for her adornment, but had ecavwted one of the healthiest places on tfftd'e earth into one of questionable repu>fcon in sanitary matters. Hβ hoped there was going to be a change in that and many other respects. In regard to drainage, concerning which *<&»ad something to say a short time ago, r w f * re gkd to see that public opinion to be roused to the necessity of rigorous action in that matter. We also congratulate the Wellington people on the laudable steps they are now taking in *° wlia * "* now Tei T properly repognised aa one of the prime requisites of •veqr important town.

•J«L * eß * rd *° Mt Thomaa > ot *>** PubUo *Wbrks Department, who baa just been appointed Official Assignee for ChristS?' "° me PMtseelaw of his career we liave obtained will doubtless be W*tt with interest. Mr Thomas, it ap. TO articled to » leading firm of Jttl» r *ueito» -and accountants 1 in the west of England, with whom he was ft* «c years. The firm had large conneeHona, and had the winding up of nearly •11 important bankrupt estates not only *m the West of England. Irat in Wales.Hβ next went to London, and was •**g*ged in the same profession for eleven during which period he was for jEree sessions in the Accountant's Office of the House of Commons. On coming out *fco this colony in July, 1875, and presentfmg "himself at Government Buildings, his testimonials won for him such a favorable opinion that on the day he arrived he was appointed a clerk in the Treasury, and .Accounts Committee- On ike isL jt'eb*u#ry, 1878, he was promoted to be Ao- ; eonntaat to the Public Works Department, ~~w?rTf->i nofritiOTt Hβ k&s T>-1 ri xrp to the prevent tune. He has aconxred » HigH xepcLtatioK in the serrice <m me~ OOQQt Of bis ability as an accountant, and is extremely popular not only with his subordinates bat; &Lzo witH thrmn oC the pubUc wiUi whom he hie been brought in contact. "We hare already expressed oar ipinion of the Act which limited tlie Government to the Civil Service in its choice of an Official Assignee for this city. It" is rery fortunate they were able to bit upon *° good a man for the position as Mr f Thomas appears to be. Worsen. Mrerrsee.—The ordinary a>eer-< mge of the City and Sydenham Councils: Jake slue tbii evening; I;