PASSING EVENTS. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIV, Issue 78, 28 September 1907, Page 11

PASSING EVENTS.

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

AMERICAN TELEGRAPH STRIKE. Ths strike of the telegraph operatois in America which caused much inconvenience last month apparently came sooner than was anticipated, a number of the more impulsive men walking out of the New York Office and refusing to accept telegraphic messages sent by nonunionists. The movement soon spread and tho strikers seem to have a strong backing, for tho railway telegraphists union promised £400,000 to aid the strike, and the President of the National Federation of Labour placed £500,000 at the service of the Commercial Telegraphers' Union. These offers, however could not have been largely drawn on for the differences were recently settled and tho men resumed work. TO ABOLISH CRAMMING. The scholarship system has been denounced by the National Union of Teachers, or at least by their President. It depends on examination, and examination leads to cramming, and cramming brings boys and girls, young men and young women, to the verge of lunacy. So much is agreed by quite a considerable proportion of those inhabitants of ths British Islands who think about the matter (says St. James's Budget). If we grant the evil, we are faced by the demand for a substitute. Examinations may be bad, but how can the "pupil be tested and kept up to the mark without them? The National Union of Teachers were offered a compromise by their president. He suggested, supposing competitive examination to be a necessity, that candidates should be given soino new work to prepare in the examination room. Thoreby thsir power to get knowledge for themselves might be judged, not their power to yield up what had been laboriously stuffed into their heads. The proposal has merit. It is worthy of consideration and development. But it involves so radical a change in the whole educational system that w© do not expect to see it adopted just yet — not before we have arrived at saner ideals of education and resolved on the importance of striving after them. TRADE WITH AUSTRALIA. Tho Board of Trade last month issued a report by its Advisory Committee on Commercial Intelligence upon conditions and prospects of British trade in Australia. It is based upon materials collected by Mr. R. J. Jeffray, who went to Australia as a commissioner on behalf of tho committee. The proportion of the Australian import trade which is in tba hinds of British firms has, it appears, fallen from 71.3 per cent, in 1891-5 to 58.3 per cent, in 1901-5, whilst that of foreign countries has risen from 17.1 per cent, to 28.9 per cent. British traders have, it would appsar, deliberatsly chosen to restrict themselves to a small number of great main Hiiqs of production for the Australian market, and to leave the field offered by the miscellaneous wants of a large community open to their foreign competitors. The demand for cheap goods is also ono- with which hitherto they have, to a large extent, been reluctant to comply. FALSE MARKING OF GOODS. In response to the memorial forwarded by tho Association of Chambers of Commarce to tha British Foreign Secretary, calling attention to the practice which has arisen among foreign manufacturers of maikinq goods with English names or phrases of a nature to lead to the falso supposition that they are British goods, a letbar has been received stating, on behalf of Sir Edward Grey, that the whole question is engaging the earnest attention of tho Government. EX-CONVICT AS MILLIONAIRE. Society in Grayedona, Lo'mbardy, has boen greatly excited recently by news that Gerolanio Pasquali, who has served no fewer than forty-six terms of imprisonment for robbery on the island of Lampedusa, has inherited on enormous fortune, and is preparing to entertain lavishly in the town. Among Pasquali'* relatives was a wealthy aunt, named Pontiggia, who had expressed her intention to leave him out of her will. The old- lady) however, died without having made a will, and Pasquali left his prison to inherit, as her nearest relative, her fortune and a beautiful villa at Gravedona, where hs is now living in luxury. On tin day that he formally cam© into his inheritance Pasquili sMit a cheque for six thousand lire to his late fellow-prisoners at Lampednsa. His enjoyment of this windfall of some millions is marred, nevertheless, by some of the worries of wealth, for a group of relations of the dead aunt have come upon ths scene, accusing him of having destroyed the old lady's will and their accusations have been strong enough to induce the police authorities to begin an investigation of the charge. A JUDGE ACCUSED. An extraordinary scene occurred recently in kha Law Courts at Modena, ltaly. Signor Giacomo Ferri, the prominent lawyer and Parliamentary deputy, stood up and refused to argue tho case before th court on teh ground tha, one of the assisting judges was habitually guilty of bribery and corrupt practice, which, Signer Ferri added, would be found specified in formal denunciation, which lie had handed to the King's Procurator. The president was dumfounded, and at length ordered the next civil case to be proceeded witK ; but all the other lawyers in court, one after another, announced their adhesion to Signor Ferri and declined to discuss business before the accused Judge Vi^nocchi till tho charges had been investigat3d. Hence tho session' had to be adjourned sine die. Apropos of this incident the Komo correspondent of an English paper, mentions that Signor Orlando, Minuter of Justice, on being recently appointed to that Cabinet post, issued v general circular manifesting his intention of purging the Italian bench of incompetent or unworthy administrators. The Government then began a series of prosecutions against yarious members of the judicial bench, Who were charged with corrupt practices in Genoa, Catanzaio and ether places. The dean of the judges in the aforementioned Calabrian city was condemned to a year's suspension from office. This step on the part of the central government soams to huve instill-ed courage into the ranks of the lawyera, who are co-operating in the arduous task of judicial reform. SANITY AND SUICIDE. As in New Zealand, it appears to havo been the almost invariable custom in the North-East district of London for coroner's juries to return a veidict of "temporary insanity" in cases of suicide, whther the evidenco disclosed the stato of the person's mind or not. How* ever, within ono. week recently there, were no fewer than six verdicts of "felo do so" returned by Shoreditch, Bcthnul Green, and Hackney juries. Interviewed on the subject by a representative of The Tribune, Dr. Wynn Westcott, tho coroner, said he was unable to account for the change in tho attitude of" the juries. In the six cases referred .to the juries came to the conclusion that the victim was sane when suicide was committed, aud vfli-dicts of "felo de •»" followed.