ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13683, 17 March 1910, Page 9

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES

(FROM OCR OWN CORRESPONDENT.*! LONDON, February 4. AN HISTORIC BUILDING. The extensions of the Government huildiiig*" in Parliament street, with a j view to making an unbroken block from ' Downing street to Parliament square, i will entail the demolition of an old • house which lias some historic interest I for New Zealand. No. 34 Great i street, Westminster, which has ' now almost disappeared, Ls the house :at which Captain Hobson stayed for a ; rew weeks when he was making his preparations for his departure for New j Zealand to assume the Governorship of ' the new colony. It was from here i that he addressed his letters to theSecI retary of State, discussing his instruc- ! tioiis and asking for further light on i sonic points which became of great imI pcrtance to the future of the Domii I'ion. He wa.s at the time the guest of some old Plymouth friends, the Ren--1 dels, and it is thonght possible that the ! pen with which th.* Treaty of Waitangi : was signed waa the same steel-handled j one which was presented to Captain ! Hehrson just before, his departure by j young Rondel, whe afterwards became his son-in-law. EMPIRE MOVEMENT. Tiie Earl of Month writes: —As some of the sixteen millions of British subjects who observes Kmpire Day, 1909, may desire actively to promote tho Kmpire movement this year, 1 write to remind them that all the leaflets and oapers connected with it can be obtained of the secretary, at 83 LanI caster gate, London. The League of tiie Kmpire is arranging an essay competition, open to elementary schools of the Empire. The subject is "The Influence of the Different Climates of the Kmpire upon Domestic and Social Life." Tho competitors' age limit is 14. The winner will receive from the Karl of Meath a silver challenge cup. Tho League is also offering a three-guinea prize for the best Empire Day essay written by an elomentarr school Wv or <jirl under 14. The cup ancl prizes will be despatched in time to reach the winners on May 24th, and the names of the winning schools irill be engraved on the cups, which are to be replicas of the Warwick Vase. MR CROOKS AND THE FIJIAN. Mr ancl Mrs Will were accorded a warm welcome on* Saturday by the mcmWs of the Browning Settlement Brotherhood, Walworth, on the occasion of the annual prize distribution. Mrs Crooks gave away the prizes and was handed a silver medal bearing the inscription, "Will Crooks, Champion of the Poor." x Mr Crooks created much merriment by stating that in reply to a chief in the Fiji Islands, who asked him what tho land produced in this country, he said: "I can't tell you till I know if tho Budget is passed." "I shall never forget the look on his face when I told him that. He wanted to know if the Budget was a new kind of corn. (Laughter.) I said, 'I'm sorry; I ought not to have said that. It's a system of raising money from the land.' The chief replied: 'That's: what everything on the kind is. raised for.' " On Sunday, Mr Crooks addressed a meeting at Poplar dock gates, and prophesied that when tho measurp for dealing with the House of Lords came on the Labour Party would move an amendment to the effect that the only way to deal with that House was to end it. . JAPAN IN LONDON. Japan has already begun work at the White City for the Japan-British Exhibition, to be held this year. Japanese workmen are there handling material from the Orient, and erecting reproductions of famous temple gateways, real tea-houses, and models of beautiful spots in Japan. „ Finally, Shepherd's Bush will become as Oriental as it once was French. Sitxcen buildings will be occupied exclusively hy Japan, beginning with five of the eight overhead halls and continuing through the Wood Lane entrance halls and the buildings filled two years ago with the French dre&ses, to the western half of the decorative arts building and; the eastern wing of the machinery nail. The building hitherto devoted to woman's work on the Stadium side of tho grounds, and the jewellery building feeing it, half of the restaurant once known as "Paillard's," half the fine arts palace and the little Louis Quinze pavilion in the central gardens will also be transformed into bits of beautiful Japan.

NO SMOKING- ON 'CHANGE. Tlio long-standing nroblem of rmoking on the Stock Exchange has now been settled by the General Pur-, poses Committee prohibiting it alto-* f ether, the order comin_; into force on 'uc&day. Until now members have indulged in cigars and cigarettes at four o'clock, when the House officially closes; but complaints were made that members lighted ur> at their pleasure from twenty minutes to four onwards, lhe question was debated, and petitions were signed for and against, but the committee's resolution disoose- of the matter.

OLD AGE PENSIONS. TT-e history of how the ouestion of old age pensions was brought within the range of practical politics in England is told by Mr F. H. f Stead, the Warden of Browning Hall, in a book entitled "How Old Age Pensions Began to Be." In 1898 Lord Rothschild's Committee reported, after "a long and careful study of the question of pensions, that nothing could bo done-" This was about midsummer. In the autumn of the same year news reached this country that New Zealand was passing through its- various stages an Old iige Pensions Bill. As soon as Mr Stead saw this he asked Mr Pember Reeves, the of tho Colony, to go down to the Browning Settlement and expound the now measure to the men of Walworth. Mr Reeves did so. Afterward a number of tbo P.S.A. Brotherhood went to Mr Stead and suggested that a conference shoula be called to consider whether something could not be attempted for old people hero like what had been done in New Zealand. Mr Stead agreed, machinery was set in motion, conferences were held, and finally the demand for pensions received legislative form.

NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE DISPLAYS. The Produce Department of the High Commissioner's Office is now paying attention to the various disnlavs of the Dominion's products in London and elsewhere. The exhibit at the Imperial Institute is undergoing a rearrangement, and a special feature is bern« made of the New Zealand timber which was shown at the White City. There is also a standing display at tne Crystal Palace, and this" is being brought up to date with specimens of the latest developments of the industries of the Dominion. In addition, the resources and claims of New Zealand are being.placed before the citizens of Bristol by means of a shopwindow display.