TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume XLVIL, Issue 7719, 26 November 1890, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Thb question of precedence raised by Admiral Lord Charles Scott, at the banquet to Lord Carrington, has caused a good deal of controversy, and some unpleasantness in Australia. It appears that the Admiral wrote to the Mayor of Sydney asking what position would be assigned to him at the table. The Mayor replied sending a plan, from which it appeared that the Admiral would be placed after the Governors of Victoiia, South Austral ia and Queensland. Lord Charles Scott contended tbat he was entitled to rank next to the Governor of the colony,, except that in New South Wales the Chief Justice is entitled to that position owing to au old* charter granting him that precedence. What the Admiral contended for, was that ,he should be placed before the visiting Governors, hit-mating that otherwise he would be unable to attend tbe banquet. The .Mayor in reply regretted extremely that he was unable to alter the position he had assigned totheAdmiral. Thesentimentof the colony, he said, was decidedly that visiting Governors should take precedence next after the Governor of the colony visited, except in tbe case of' the Chief Justice of the colony, who held, his precedence by prescriptive'right. The Chief Justice, it was added, never insisted on hia right of precedence over vißiUug Governors. His Worship added 'that he had the concurrence of the Mayors of Melbourne, Adelaide, and Brisbane, besides that of the Chaaeellor of the SydneyUniversity, Sir Henry Parkes, and others. He declined to budge, therefore, from the position he had taken up. Lord Charles Scott, on the other hand, cared nothing for the array of municipal and other dignitaries with which he wis confronted, and did not attend the banquet.' - ' ' ,

Th_o__tic___t there is a great deal in tho arguments puc forward by the Mayor ol Sydney in support of his view. In ins memorandum to the other Mayors on the question he states the matter in the following form : —

'* A visiting Governor is received with all honor, although his powers cease on hia crossing the border of his own colony; but in the feeling of the people he represents the full majesty of the Queen's power and person, and, in addition to these powers, in his person the respect of the whole people he governs to the people whose colony he visits. The representative of the Queen ia aconstitntional authority to whom we are accustomed to look with the utmost respect, whether he is the Governor of our own colony or of an adjacent one; and it seems that the maintenance of this respectful attention should be upheld, without the smalleat disturbance, where the link that binds ua to the dear

bid land Is one co thoroughly of respect and affectionate regard. A vijiting Governor, therefore, not only represents the power and majesty of the Queen, but the very constitution under which all the Colonies live, and owing to the judicious selection made by the Home Government of able Governors, the very name of hia .Excellency the Governor, whether of one colony or an adjacent one, is always most deservedly popular. The Admiral, on the other hand, for whose office we aU have the highest respect, is not in aay way identified with the constitutional life of the colonies. He is an Imperial officer representing a part of her Majesty's power, but in no way representing her Majesty's person in those colonies where she is represented by a Governor. 1 *

There is a good deal in this view as to how; the precedence ought to be. Lord Charles Scott, however, declares that the matter has been settled by the supreme authority in such cases, namely, the Queen. " The old-established precedence of an Admiral in command of the naval forces on a station." he Bays, " is assigned to him. by the regulations, next after the Governor of the colony in which he happens to be present." If this be so, it settles the question, because a matter of precedence is decided not by the Mayor of Sydney, or even by Sir Henry Parkes, bnt by the Crown. It ia a pity, however, Lord Charles Scott did not quote his authority. The infallible Debrett declared that" divines, naval and military o_%cers, members of the legal and medical profession, graduates of universities, and citizens and burgesses have no precedence assigned to them either by statute or any fixed principle." Lord Charles Scott, in the absence of any special regulation such as that to which he alludes, would, be entitled to precedence as a younger son of a Duke. He would, however, to give the pas both to the Qovernor of Victoria and the Governor of South Australia, who are Earls of Scotland. These minute questions of precedence, however, are trivialities which the robust common sense of colonists rather looks down upon. - This being so, it is a pity Lord Charles Scott raised the question, especially on the occasion of the farewell banquet to so popular a Qovernor as Lord Carrington. Now that it has been raised, however, it would be as well if it were referred to the Home Government aadauthoritatively settled by the "fountain of honor."

The time may come when the water from some of the numerous and valuable mineral springs of New Zealand may become a profitable article of export. Already many people in England who are not able to go to Germany to the various baths use the water supposed to be suited to their particular ailment in their own houses. In fact the product of Friederichshall, Vicby and other continental springs is actually imported into this colony, although some of our own natural mineral waters would probably be even more efficacious. The extent to which such a trade may grow is strikingly shown by some figures regarding the Apollinaria Company recently published in The Times. The Appollinaris water is used ' not so much for medicinal purposes as for general use. It is a natural soda water, which is obtained from a well sunk on the left bank of the Ahr, hear the village of Neuenabr. It is so charged with carbonic acid that on & calm day it is dangerous to approach the sprir-g. Birds that alight near it die almost immediately, and are frequently picked np near the spot. All the same, the water' we need hardly say, is very pleasant as well as very wholesome to drink. It is exclusively bottled by an English company. It began its operations in 1873 and exported in that year a little under 2,000,000 bottles. Last year the number was nearly 16,000,000 and orders have been given for a still larger* supply of bottles in expectation of an increasing demand next year. No fewer than 450 persons are engaged in filling bottles, packing, and other opeiatioas carried on at the springs. The supply, it is estimated, is sufficient-to fill _5,0u0,CJ00 quart bottles yearly. ' The. raw material costs nothing and the profits are large- We, have soda water springs in ; New Zealand, as well as others charged with more active medicinal ingredients, so that, if anybody feels, disposed to embark on an industry of this kind in New Zealand, he will find nature has provided the necessary materials. Whether New Zealand mineral waters can ever be made " fashionable" in England— which, after all, ia the great thing—-and whether it would pay to send them so far, are of course questions not so easily settled.