TOPICS OF THE DAY

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 7863, 14 May 1891, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY

Antone who knows the Isle of Dogs, U* in what may be called the Docks counti in the lower Thames, will acknowlgZ' that it is not exactly the situation <£, would choose for a place of residence. Ta there, as in many unpleasant parts of th metropolis, a great many people hare te live, and in this instance they are nwstlt dock laborers and men employed in way end another at the tarioua doefa there. Such an unpromising locality as this desolate stretch of laud do not at first sight seem to be euitable for a trial of the allotment system, and yet it is just here that the system ianowboim? tried. The Millwall Dock Company own» considerable quantity of land ia y, 9 neighbourhood, which they hold aa a reserve in case an increase of buainew in the future will necessitate an extension of their docks. Of this land Mr McDougalL member for Poplar on the .London Count? Council, has acquired the lease of gomi seventeen acres, which he has cat up fo» the benefit of the workmen iv th) locality into one hundred and fotj two allotments, varying in size, but avet« aging about 50yds by 10yds. Plota of thia size are let at an annual rental of 6s, though others are as low as half-a crown, and there are a few at 11s. It is satisfactory to learn that there hare been nearly double as many applicants as there were plots, and the 162 holders of allot* rnents are said to fairly represent the working men of the district. A represontative of the Daily News paid a visit to the infant settlement recently and writes v follows : —

•' They (the tenants) were pretty nearij all of them out on the land on Saturday afternoon, and notwithstanding the sticky soil and cold clinging fog it vu a thoroughly interesting and exhilarating scene. They worked aa though they had found a new interest in life. ' I knoirt lots of 'em as would ha' spent the after* noon in the public house,' eaid one of the Committee that Mr McDougall has very wisely handed over the management to. Of course they would have been in the public house, squandering their money and impoverishing their Families and be< fuddling their brains. But, then, what can such men do in such neighborhoods P Here they were with a healthy diversion, good for body and mind, and likely to bring into every one of their homes a fresh interest and mate* rial help in the form of wholesome diet * They be all in it, I can tell you,' eaid the Committeeman. ' Why, there was two oa *em out here the other nitrht tryin' to geb on with their diggin' by a bit ot a iemp. Then the harmony there is among 'em. Why, it'e aatonishin'. Wβ havea't had % single word, of unpleasantness among 'era all day.'"

The land is said to be a little heavy at present, and the men were dressing it ■with road scrapings, while they will be paid a trifle by the factories around foe carting away ashes and furnace refuse, which can be used for tho purpose of lighten , ing the land. Mr McDougall thinks of getting an expert to come down and lecture to the men as to what they should grow, and already flower and vegetable showa are being talked of. The men are enthusiastic to a degree, and the movement is evidently one which only needs to be Bet going in similar localities to succeed. The humanising influence of a garden is wonderful, and to men whose lives have hitherto been epent for the most part b©» tween the daily work and the nearest publio house, the pleasure of working in their own plot of ground, and watching the growth of their little crops will he a welcome and beneficial change. Mr MoDougall must be heartily cdneratulated on the success which has attended the inauguration of his scheme, and for devoting the energy which up to the present he has exercised in crusading against Lottdon music halls to such a useful purpose.

Thb rather remarkable occurrence 0* * city, with a population of some 2%X8 changing its name haa just been witnessed in Australia. Thirty eight years ago &< town of Bendigo renounced ita name, *«» all its surrounding traditions of the pri« ring and the early days of the and adopted the more aristocratae cognomen of Sandhurst, by which ifc h«J**f officially known ever since, and ua it has grown into one of the lewiflf cities of Victoria, the inhabitant* olatew » . fop it a poaitioa second only to Bendigo, as most people know, tec* *™ name from a pugilist who considerable celebrity in th««*rHer pwc ° this century, and as a name for. » B° l " diggings it waa at least as euphoniona w> well choeen as a great many of the tie thea in vogue, but ac that <* respectable law-abiding city it is open to question. However, sonae Q? w business people of Sandhurst, a« « •» called until a few days ago. took «» their heads that if only the city WJ ite old name, by which it was W *«» known as the head-quarters of » *f gold mining dutfcot in past ye»»» » attention of English capitaUste a»gM « attracted, and an increased in*** money for investment be the w"**- orather extraordinary idea, which g«f the said capitalists credit for very » common sense, though perhaps the eHM* brokers of Sandhurst feel that they «* justified in their opinion by past triaw" tions. A petition in favor of the «*•»f" was presented to the Minister of *» Works which bore the names of 3800 tories, supposed to be tone fide r »* only. The Minister direoted that a po" taken on the question. The rolls were need, and of the 4973 votes o the roll 1516 were polled for the chftßg* and 267 for the retention oftfaenam* Sandhurst, which leftthe decisive m*pM / o* 1348 in favour of Bendigo. Two or days afterwards a largo meeting of eoau men opposed to the change was *»* when it appeared that all or newly »v those in favor of Sandhurst had abat»me» from voting The Chairman, Mr * '

stated that the Minister had \i he wanted a poll of those !** favour of the change and the favoring the name of Bendigo had its fuU strength, some of them P Q j. persons who held eeveral votes b eothat only 1000 or 1100 persons ***» favorable to the change. Mr J. H. « cr oW said that if they had known that vote was to be for and against then * Sandhurst party would have worked d the day. A long discussion L,k place, in the course of which it wa3 ~ tlia t they did not know until the of the poll that the vote frt be taken for or against, and Sandhurst supporters had been previously asked not to vote. Eventually a morial to the Minister wa3 drawn np Ktting f° rth tbat fclie re3ulfc of tae Ti did not represent the wishes of the Majority of the people, and praying that n -will not sanction the alteration, but -vube ipteased to permit those whom we resenfc to retain the name of Sandhurst, which this great city ha 3 become taoffn throughout this world." No tenable argument had been put forward fa the advocates for the alteration, which ♦icy Bubmi fcfce< * would under the eircuma dangerous precedent, in the *.+«i* " inasmuch," said the memorial, future, » j, castlemaine (upon tne same score) mie'nt the name to be altered to its eld name of Forest Ureek, Maldon to jjjjangower, Beech worth to Tiie Ovens, •nd so on; aud it may here ba stated that c ne of the adjoining township 9 will, we Understand, endeavor to adopt the name e f Sandhurst if it is discarded here." A Committee was appointed to present the memorial, but their labor seems to have been in vain, for a Saudhuret telei n a Melbourne paper stated that the Minister had privately expressed his intention of changing the name of the t ity to Beudigo, accepting the result of the poll as settling the matter. Judging ty the obtainable facts of the case, this decision seems rather hard on the majority of the townspeople, who are forced to submit to the wishes of a peotion of their number. Moat people jrill allow, however, that the names of jjiany townships in Australia, and New could be altered with considerable advantage; though probably we are not as badly off in the matter of place gomenclature as America, where such mimes as Bloody Gulch abound, becoming in process of time transmogrified into Jonesville, or some such atrocity, the latter state of the place being but a decree better than the first. To alter place names satisfactorily good judgment is required, a course which does not appear to have been followed when Bendigo is WbstiLuted for Sandhurst.