The Daily Telegraph. TUESDAY, AUGUST 7, 1900. HOME AND ABROAD.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 9835, 7 August 1900, Page 4

The Daily Telegraph. TUESDAY, AUGUST 7, 1900. HOME AND ABROAD.

Memhers of the House are of course, chivalrous. That goes without saying. But, like the honor which distinguished the gentlemen to whom Antony referred in his oration over Ctesar, Parliamentary chivalry is apt to go limping sometimes. That is possibly the reason why we find a few members, from the Premier downwards, dropping into modes of personal allusion which good taste must condemn. This defect most frequently takes the shape of comments upon the " displacement " of other less substantial members. Now, as all big men are not cowardly bullies, it is a pity that a few of the tribe (of big men, that is) who have got into the House should so behave as to tempt one to conclude that their general bulk is not in proportion with their brains. We have been led into this train of thought by noting that whenever Mr Pirani or Mr Atkinson manage to give some more than customary proof of 'their intellectual capacity, those to whom the result is unwelcome are accustomed to sneer at them as small men.

This is certainly not so bad as replying to an otherwise convincing speech by objecting that its author has a lunatic child, as one vulgar ruffian once did, but it is not elevating. It does not accord with that chivalry which we are all agreed is the attribute of members of the House, and it has a tendency to invite reprisals. If we could conceive Mr Pirani or Mr Atkinson descending to the level which alone renders possible such questionable conduct, we might assume them, when styled " mannikins," or " mosquitos," or ' ; hop-o'-my-thumbs,"—all flowers of rhetoric which may be culJed from Hansard — to retort upon their critics by a few remarks couched in a similar spirit. They might enquire, for example, how much of their physically bigger opponents was greasy paunch and how much healthy and serviceable muscle, or whether a seven inch hat mLiht not after all cover a four-inch brain, and a swelled carcase hold a shrivelled soul ?

Of course they will do nothing of the kind. In that respect they tower above the class of antagonist we refer to "by a head." And we are very pleased to think that this is so. We have not drawn attention to the subject because we would have them answer fools according to their folly, but in the hope of seeing that folly minimised. Possibly if the Speaker gave the matter a little thought we should see an improvement. Onr view may be a mistaken one, but we confess to sometimes thinking that he does not sufficiently study the need for relentlessly que.ehing personalities in Parliament. At other times—as when, for example, but the other day he wa_ very firm with a member who usually suffers badly from iete montee —we admire him immensely, and on such occasions we find ourselves won- | dering how it is he does not intervene more frequently. Be that as it may, and until the Speaker is mora in cvi - dence with the " big" fellows, the latter may consider Dr. Watts's lines as appropriate : — Were I so tall to grasp the pole, Or grasp the ocean with my span, I must be measured by my soul; The mmd's the standard of the man. Are the members of the _STapier Municipal Council quite comfortable in their minds over the condition of the roads in some parts of* the borough 1 If they are we must suppose them to be easily satisfied. It would be a pity if they were to fall into the error of the Hawke's Bay County Council, which body, so far as we can judge, really believe that to keep roads in good order nothing more is necessary than to shift the location of portions of the beach. We have suggested to the County Council on other occasions that the belief of some people in the virtue of broken limestone is not altogether a superstition, and that rates may sometimes be more wisely expended than in merely shifting shingle, but we must admit that the condition of some of the roads does not warrant us in holding that our efforts have been particularly successful. We hope for better things from the Municipal Council, and therefore venture topoint out to the members that in some of the outlying portions of the borough the roads might be attended to with advantage.

Those at the head of affairs in Rhodesia are manifesting a very wise appreciation of the situation there. To whomsoever is owing the scheme put forward is a '• smart " man in the best sense of that common but much misused word. Settlers are wanted badly, and what is offered to induce Australians and _\ r ew Zealanders to remain in Rhodesia practically amounts to a stocked farm for nothing from a pecuniary point of view, the real payment being made in consent to liability for military service. On paper the offer is of a farm of three thousand acres for a hundred and twenty-five pounds, five hundred head of cattle being thrown in, but as the payment of the money is to be spread over a term of years, during which the settler is to receive twenty-five pounds a year " for his keep," it is obvious that by relinquishing this latter payment the farm becomes the property of the settler in six years under a sort of lease by which he its bound to pay as tent ball' the increase of his callle.

Such are the terms which, according to letters received from Australian Bushmen now in B.hodesia, are being offered to members of that force who have a knowledge of sheep and cattle. It is evident that Mr Cecil Rhodes is prepared to go considerable lengths in building up a loyal community in that part of the world Even if we reckon the value of the cattle at the low price of two pounds a head the Chartered Company are willing to pay in cattle alone a thousand pounds for every suitable settler. It is true the conditions are so designed that possession of both farm and cattle are dependent upon continued occupancy ' for a term of years, with liability to military service, and that at the valuation of cattle we have, hypothetically adopted a half per cent increase would mean a commencing rent for the company of a hundred and twenty-five pounds a year, yet with all these limitations the offer, is certainly a tempting one to adventurous spirits.

The facts being accumulated in connection with the assassination of the late King of Italy go to show that a very comprehensive conspiracy to murder prominent personages exists. One of our cable messages alludes to an Italian in Brazil who expected to hear of the assassination of Humbert last June. The fact that Bressi was selected to go from the United States to Italy to commit the crime seems to prove that the headquarters of the Anarchist organisation is in the former country. Apparently we get corroboration of this view in the news relating to the condition of affairs in Chicago. It appears that a meeting of Italians to express sympathy with r the widowed Queen of Italy was broken up by a gang of Anarchists led by the widow of a man executed in the same town for a dynamite outrage a few years ago. The latter fact reminds us again that the Anarchists, although most frequently striking at monarch?, are yet quite prepared to murder not only Presidents, but (as in the case of the Chicago Anarchists who were executed) to carry out schemes of wholesale slaughter, involving all ranks of society, in a country governed by a manhood suffrage Republic

The refusal of the United States to grant extradition in the case of men implicated in the plot to assassinate King Humbert may possibly be capable of a reasonable explanation. The statements even of the chief assassin do not constitute evidence upon which a United States or a British Court could order the extradition of a suspected person. But what the whole civilised world has a right to be surprised at is the failure of the Chicago police to protect orderly persons from open outrage by Anarchists in that town. Are we to fall back upon the theory, held by some people, and certainly favored by tha extraordinary license which at one time was granted to Fenian conspirators in the United States, that in a Democracy under a constitution such as that of the United States it is a profitable form of political action not to be too particular with regard to assassins of a certain type ?

We do not think that is an answer which fits all the facts. For example, the United States has never permitted anything tending to be so subversive of society as the Sipido incident in Belgium, and Belgium is by no means a manhood suffrage country. Practically every man over twenty-five years of age may have a vote, but as opposed to that the possession of pro perty carries with it the right to a second vote, and a certain standard of education a third, vote. The position of affairs is thus somewhat as follows :—The majority of the work ing men over twenty-five have one vote ; the majority of the wealihy have two votes and the remainder of that class three votes ; while most of the lawyers, parsons, priests, professors, and teachers have three votes To this it should be added that a working man who owns a hundred pounds' worth of land or house property, or who, not owning that value in immovable property, is yet over thirty-five, married, and pays what is called the house tax, may have a second vote. To sum up, -he bulk of the male-adults over twenty-five of the working class have one vote and a few of them have two, but the greater portion of what we- are accustomed to style the upper classes have three rotes each. Consequently the Clericals are in power, the country seethes with discontent, and sops have to be thrown to Cerberus occasionally. The "escape" of Sipido may perhaps be regarded as such a concession.

Our second page reading matter is - * composed of China war and other news, Transvaal war and cable items appear on» page three, serial on page six, and telegraphic, football, sporting, etc., on pageIseven. The promotion of Sub-Inspector O'Brien to the full rank of Inspector is gazetted. A New Zealarider who ha 3 arrived in' London from South Africa, was surprised and shocked to meet Mr Ferris, the famous cricketer, once of New South; Wales, and later of Gloucestershire, inthe Boer ranks, fighting against England. The many friends of Mrs Peter McHardy will learn with deep regret of: , her death, which took place A at her residence at Havelock last night. The deceased lady, who had been ailing for many moniha, was of a cheery disposition and. well liked by those who knew her. Farmers and growers of cereale areinformed that the laspector of Stock for the Napier district has received from theDepartment of Agriculture, Wellington, twenty-nine samples of different kinds of wheat seeds for exhibition. They are now on view at his office. The course of musical lectures arranged to follow those on literary subjects m the Athenaeum Hall will be opened this evening, when Miss Ogilvie Green, of Hastings, will take for her subject "Schubert and" Schumann." Miss Tanner will vocally illustrate the «„/!,?. the two c °niposers, and Miss G. William*, will play the instrumental, selections. The football matches in Melbourne are= this season being attended by a revival o„ the spirt ot ruffianism which some years ago did much to bring the game into discredit. I. i. now a common occurrence for the umpire and players tobe on the watch for hostile attacks when leaving the playing ground, and on several occasions they have been badly mauled by partisans of the losing #ide. In connection with the coming jubilee of the province of Canterbury, when our southern neighbors will give themselvesup to rejoicing, we understand that a number of old Canterbury residents in this part of the world will hold a local celebration of the event. The idea is a good one. The citizens of Berlin have a summary method of stopping the dangerous practice of carrying sticks and umbrella* horizontally. As soon as a man tuckshis umbrella under hia arm he will promptly feel a quick blow on ie" from behind. There is no use in his getting angry with the person who strikes theblow, because the police are determined* to stop this dangerous practice. A company parade of the Napier Rifles was held last night under Captain Halpin and Lieutenant Hudson, and although the weather was wet and the drill had to be held in the open (the Garrison Hall being engaged in connection with the dog and poultry showk there was a large muster. Some useful company drill was gone through, the men acquitting themselves most satis- ' factorily. It is significant to observe (says ant' exchange) that for months past tlw.> population returns show a sb?adv ex-v.-s of departures over arrival . YY'h.i the* cause of this exodus tluit has •-__ in*> Surely it cannot be because of the prosperity of the country, and the plentifulness of work, and the high »ates of wages. Whatever the cause, the exo lv& is a decided and steady one. The Mayor (Mr G. H. Swan) has re- [ ceived the following telegram from Mrs Berry's brother in reply to his message or sympathy to that lady on the death ot her husband, Lieutenant Berry, inAfrica : — " Mrs Berry desires me tothank you for your kind telegram and for your many kindnesses to her late ! husband." Last night the officers of the j town corps of volunteers prepared and signed a letter of condolence with Mrs Berry. Mr Seddon's scheme tor the administration by New Zealand of the Cook the Fiji and the Friendly Ldands, is hardly taken seriously (writes a London correspondent). Anglo-Australians see in his latest move an attempt to keep the New Zealanders, who they assert are federally inclined, from joiniog ther Commonwealth by giving them a little federation of their own. They make unkind references to " King Richard" wishing to add to his titles the " King of the Cannibal Islands,'"' and to tbe lable of the frog aud the ox. An extraordinary freak was played by the lightning during a .heavy thunderstorm at Coventry. Tkelightning struck the chimney stack of a house in George street, occupied by Mr Albert Stringer watchmaker, and split it nearly to the basement. Considerable damage wa_ 'done by the fall of bricks, but the chief disaster was the magnetising of all the tools and watches in Mr Stringer's workshop which, like most of the shops of the kind in Coventry, is situated at the top of the house. Every article of steel received a charge of the electric current,, and though it may be possible to demagnetise the smaller articles and parts of the watches, yet the larger tools are so thoroughly impregnated as to be completely spoiled. Mr Stringer first discovered what had happened when hetook up a pair of tweezers to hold a 1 screw, with the result that half a dozen ' screws that were loose in the box rushed to the point of the tool.

Judgment was given by Mr A. Turnbull, S.M., this morning in the civil caseheard last Tuesday, in which Alexander Harrison sued to recover £13 3 S 4_ fopwages alleged to be due for an unexpired month and a month's wages in lieu of notice, the plaintiff having been dismissed without notice on refusing to obey certain orders of the plaintiffs manager, Mr J. Vigor Brown. His Worship said r "In this case I have come to the conclusion that the plaintiff is entitled to succeed. Taking all the circumstances into consideration, it appears to me that the services he was asked to render, and refused to perform, were not within tiescope of his employment. As regardsthe amount that should be recovered in the case, after looking into the authorities. I have come to the conclusion that the plaintiff is only entitled to recover a month s wages, in li eu of notice, from thedate of his dismissal. I therefore give \ls™£ T° r f 7 Us 8d > aDd costs £1 r-ff ■ ft. t appeared for the piaintiff, and Mr Logau for the defendant. There was (says « Woomera ") a timewhen lucky diggers lit their pipes with bank-notes, and also made sandwiches*of them "just to show how well in they were not knowing that the banks alonebenefited Last week the National Bank of Australasia had news from one of its-far-off country branches that a goat had taken up the old business of note-eating.. A resioent in the bush, while looking: alter his midday meal, carefully placed three £1 „ o tes on tbe table. After finishing ins cooking h e mused the~ money. As there was no one about the piace except himself ami his pet goat, susp;ci,.-. fo] on Wii.iam. Being a poor man i, e h* money back, and tried an emetic on his friend without_"aa. _M,'Vl.;y ho tii'.ed tho •top-, fr<" T

sure enough there were the fragments of the notes nicely coiled up in his stomach. The numbers being distinct, the bank reprimanded the man for his carelessness and reissued the notes. At the Magistrate's Court this morning before Mr A. Turnbull, S.M., judgment was given for the plaintiff in the following undefended case :—John Griffin v. David Glendinning, £15 lis 3d, costs £2 8s 6d.—ln the following •judgment summons cases orders were made as stated : —C. O'Donoghue v. J. H. Trim mer, £5 15s 6d, to be paid in monthly instalments of £1, in default one week's imprisonment; Kirkcaldie and Stains v. J. H. Trimmer, £5 5s Id, to be paid in monthly instalments of £1, in default one week's imprisonment. — In a defended case, George Rymer v. George Connor, the plaintiff sought to recover £7 7s 6d for the hire of a mare and trap and for damage done to the vehicle while in defendant's charge.- The case for p the defendant, for whom Mr Lusk ap ean-d, was that the accident by •which the damage was done had not ra.sulted from any negligence on his part, but through the mare not being fit for the purpose for which she was hired. The plaintiff alleged that the mare was a first-class one, in every way fitted for the purpose for which she was hired, and in every way reliable. hearing the evidence his Worship gave judgment for the plaintiff, with costs 10s. According to a London paper the Boer Commandant Ollivier is said to have been once a colun'st in New Zealand. He •was, so the story runs, at the Antipcd«s, a Birmingham man, who emigrated to South Africa, tried his fortune with the Cape Mounted Rifles, then went on to New Zealand and settled at Mangere, in ihe Auckland province. Thence he ■wandered home to Birmingham. But a letter afterward sent by him to a New Zealand friend said that there were " too many sdlk hats "to suit him in Mr Chamberlain's city. So ha sailed once more to Africa, married a Dutch wife, and was found last spring in the ranks of the -enemies of Birmingham and the Empire. The Gisborne Gas Company have chartered the brigantine River Huot.er to -bring a lorid of coals from Newcastle, and as illustrating the effect of recent boom in coal and scarcity of bottoms to meet the increased output, it is stated that as hi«h a freight as 24s per ton has to be paid, being an increase of 8s on late rate*. The increase is general, for from Newcastle to Wellington the freights have risen from 8s to 12s a ton. The Gisborne freight, it will be noted (says >*._?. Hcriila) is just double this amount; in tact, this port is the heaviest burdened port in the colony in the matter of coal freights, the explanation being that owing to the failure of Governments to open up our back country by rail and develop a timber industry, we are unable to supply visiting vessels with backloaiing, which they receive at most other colonial ports. In other words, we have to take out a return ticket for a single journey. Some instructive remarks bearing on the state of the libel law were made in the New' South Wales Full Court recently. Mr Justice Owen said that the bringing of libel actions was becoming a fine art in this colony. An eminent member of the bar thereupon observed amid laughter that it was the only art left to lawyers now. His Honor went ou to point out that more than half of the time of the last sittings of the Court was taken up in hearing libel actions. His Honor said that the sootier the present law was altered the better, and significantly remarked, " I wish they would put me on the jury in some of these libel actions." In the case under the notice of their Honors Mr Justice Stephen said that the verdict of the jury had "amazed" him, and the Chief Justice said he could not help thinking that in the case in which heavy damages had been awarded against the newspaper a verdict should have been returntd in its favor. Kirkcaldie and Stains (Ltd.) are offering Very Special Bargains thi9, the last •week of bale, in White and Brown Turkish Towels (large size) reduced prices lis 6d per dozen. Also a special line of Good Blankets at very much reduced prices.—Advt. RINGLAND BROS, are pleased to. state that tney have secured the services of a First-class Cutter —Mb H. D. Stevenson —who holds the Diploma,. TAKEN WITH HONORS, of the Tailors' School of Art, London, and has had large practical experience in all branches of the trade. Ladies are reminded that this is the last week of the Gigantic Sale now being held at Kirkcaldie and Stains (Ltd.). Sale will positively close on Saturday evening next. Great bargains will be offered in every department. Remnants and all Oddments are to be sacrificed. — Advt.