TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14507, 8 November 1912, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Apart from bad architecture

Tidy perhaps the greatest di_Streets. figuroment of tho streets of

the modern city is tbe waste paper nuisance. Few things offend the oyo so much as a street littered with torn and crumpled pieces of newspaper, poster, or handbill. Por somo years thp City of London •has forbidden the distribution of handbills in the streets, but in tho rest of tho metropolis, until quite recently, thero has been no such prohibition. Tho Commissioner of Polico has, however, issued an order prohibiting tho distribution of handbills in tho streets within a radius of six miles from Charing Cross; and in future any person distributing handbills or employing a distributor, renders himself liable to prosecution. Tho order does not apply to houso-to-houso distribution of advertisements or to tho carrying of sandwich boards. That this edict will do much towards keeping the London streets in a tidy state cannot bo doubted. Its reception has naturally enough boen a mixed one, varying according to tho interests of thoso concerned. Tho "Daily Telegraph" states that an army of some thousand mon is employed almost regularly in handing out tho hundreds of thousands of handbills circulated in London during the course of a year. Ono firm alone has iSO men on its bocks, in practically continuous employ, and hosts of others aro employed as casuals. These mon will now be tin-own out of employment, and those engaged in tho printing trade, particularly tho smaller printers, whoso work consists largely of tho printing of tho cheaper class of handbills, aro likely to feel tho effects of tho new law. Tho sanitary authorities, on tho other hand, aro quite in favour of it. welcoming it as an efficient means of keeping the streets clean, and as a considerable ' asset in the preservation of public health. The fate of most of thoso leaflets is that they aro accepted unwillingly, glanced at, crumpled tip, and thrown away. "Tho view of tho man who is neither a printer, an advertiser, nor a bill distributor,'* says the "Daily Telegraph," "will probably bo that, -virile ho is sorry anyone should be thrown out of cm-' ployment, he is glad that ho will be saved the necessity of accepting leaflets which ho does not want. There is one matter for congratulation, at all events, and that is that at election times he will not be mot at every street corner by tho enthusiast who is anxious to press on him a fair-sized poster containing tl irteon reasons why he should voto for lV'nnk." London has follbwed the example of Paris in this respect, and no doubt other big cities will soon come into line.

Tho Sydney "Daily

Th© Telegraph" has an inDreadnought teresting article on Farm. tho work of th© Dread-

nought farm, not fai from Sydney.. This peculiarly ,named farm is so called because it is the home of a scheme by which the money raised privately to go towards building a Dreadnought for presentation to the Imperial Navj', is spent on bringing out, British lads to Australia and training them at the farm for country lifo. It was originally intended that they should be imported at tho rate of HOO a year, but there seems to be some difficulty in getting tho right kind of lad. However, the farm is turning out some hundreds of healthy, fairly welltrained, young fellows, between seventeen and twenty, to supply Australia., demand for farm and station labour. Th© lads aro mostly from Englisii towns, and some of thorn have no trado at all, so the material oh which tho farm works is quite raw. In a few months, however, these town-bred lad. aro competent enough to go out into tho Australian world and earn their own living. Tho Dreadnought farm carries on more industries than any. other institution in tho State, except th© Hawkesbury Agricultural College, and the pupils get a fine all-round training. Considering the poor quality of tho -roil and the fact that as soon as a pupil becomes a competent worker ho leaves, tho farm has dono surprising well financially. It sold produce valued at £2316 last year, besides supplying all its own requirements in the way of food, and making improvements to the value of £2000, and there was a balanco ou tho right side of £000. Tlio demand for these lads is several times greater than the supply, and it is stated officially that DO per cent, of tho pupils turn out well. One of tho Scottish Commissioners said the institution was the best thing ho had seen in Australia, and the "Daily Telegraph" naturally asks why the system should not be extended.