TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 27, 1 February 1908, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

With health restored, and ready to r*~ sumo the duties and reWelcome, sponsibilities of office, the Hon. W. Hall-Jones has returned from his sojourn in the Old Country. The welcome and tho congratulations he will receive on all sides will bo no mere conventional form, but unaffected and sincere. Few public men have gained such general appreciation and esteem, and by none has it been better deserved. Like "Bobs" in the ballad, Mr. Hall-Jones "doesn't advertise." He is as unostentatious as he is conscientious ; but his work has spoken for itself. Faithful in the minor departments committed to his charge, he ! rose to £he occasion at those junctures when he filled temporarily the highest elective position in the land — notably the second time, when he was called on without warning, and in specially trying circumstances. Not only did he display ability and good judgment, but tho fine quality of tact in dealing both with colleagues ajid opponents. The public is not so slow a& some may think to recognise faithful service, and Mr. II&ll- Jones's work was gratefully appreciated. But few suspected the weight of the burden — a burden which proves heavy even for the broad shoulders of Premier Wnrd — and there was general sympathy with the Acting-Premier when he paid the penalty in failing stength. No one grudged him his holiday, and the 'heartiness of to-day's welcome will bo enhanced by the not wholly unselfish reflection t'h&t Ina services arc not to be lost to the^couattx..

The University Senate, in deciding to ask Government A Conservatorium to find the money of Music. for a Conservatorium of Music, possibly took into consideration the continual need of administrative economy. If the senate did not remember, doubtless the Government will not forget. The mounting revenue has mauy calls upon it for material needs; the "record" ' surplus expected at 31st March could already bo spent in imagination, and spent usefully. Every year interest on the public debt is" met by increasing the public debt. Yet we hope the Treasurer will see his way to endorse the senate's opinion. The minimum needed is apparently an initial vote of £5000, and an annual subsidy of £1000 Twice that, amount could bo used advantageously ; vex, such an expenditure is not necessary, and may not be discreet. That a Conservatorium may have its proper influence, and a fair chance to repay cost, it is necessary that the Professor of Music in charge bo a man of first-rate rank as nearly as obtainable for £750 a year. His word must be valid throughout New Zealand, in order that theCorrservatorium's examinations and degrees may be respected. Pupils' fees may pay foe local assistance. Devotion to the pianoforte is so general, and the Trinity College examinations have proved so popular, that there is good hope that a well-planned and well-managed Conservatorium may presently become independent of public aid. The University Chancellor estimates that £4000 or £5000 yearly is sent out of New Zealand in musical fees. If our correspondent, Mr. Robert Parker, is correct, and this estimate is greatly in excess of fact, there is still no good reason why a local Conservatorium should not receive and extend the income, given that its credit is set and maintained high. To-morrow is the dreaded 2nd February. Regardless of the fact An that to-morrow will be Earthquake Sunday, a day of rest, Tipster. an amateur meteorologist has promised nothing less than an earthquake, a hurricane, or a tidal wave. To this merciless man Sunday is no more sacred than Monday, but porhapa thero is as toxioli of gonciosrey in his selection of Sunday as the probable date of the catastrophe- ; he may fancy that on Sunday the people will bo more at leisure to save the fragments of their household gods, and, moreover, Monday is washing day. Still he has not definitely picked Sunday ; he said "about tht> 2nd Februaiy." That "about" is very disquieting. If we only knew for certain that the cataclysm would come to-morrow we could put all the crockery and clocks on the floor, and pass the day dn the open 6paces on the hills, but the "about"' makes us hesitate ; let us all fervently pray that this hesitation will not spell fearful loss. Why has the meteorologist done this thing? What have the people done to him? Ho guessed a spell* of dry weather recently, and this success intoxicated him. Hence the shadow of tho earthquake, the huge roaring wave, the devastating cyclone. Ho declares that it is not his fault, but the moon's. To-morrow we will bo a little nearer than usual to tho man in the moon, and ho is to teach us not to trench too closely upon his preserves. The earth has gone too far now to retreat, but if wo all promise sincerely that this trespass will not occur again if we can help it, perhaps the man in the moon will spare us. What should bo done to the foolish tipster is another question. The "speculator" — that individual who is erer , on the look out "Jobbing" f - something for nothState i Jit- except a liberal Lands. ■ Ifunt of "nerve" — lias profited largely by the State's^ indulgence; he has battened upon the people, and they have more or less patiently oubmitted to bo his pvey. One phase of the "jobber's" policy came before tho Auckland Land Board yesterday, when the members were discussing the rebates of rent to Grown tenants under the Bush and Swamp Act. With the objeot of giving settlers a chance to establish themselves Parliament agreed to allow them to have iheir land rent fr<:2 for four years after they had paid the first half-year's rent. This gerierous attitude is tho speculator's opportunity. He secures sections, and vvzth tli& bait of free rent he captures another tenant, "for a consideration," substantial consolation for the crafty operator. The board hopes to check this rialpractice by preventing transferees from reaping the benefit of the rebate. Final decision, however, has been deferred for a full meeting of jfche board, at which representatives of the Crown tenants will be present. The board's ideas arc. right ; arid the proposed procedure will no doubt be approved by the Minister of Lands who has his keen eyes wide open for the frustration of "speculators." Land has already been saddled far too heavily with the profits of middlemen — greeuy consumers who produce nothing. They have had a very long innings, but theie are signs that they are to be bowled out at Lst. From far away Waikato comes a revival of an old proposal— the Labour federation of all workers' the unions in New Zealand. It Leveller, is natural enough for the toilers to seek any advantages that may accrue from amalgamation, but are the men prepared to abide by the inevitable sequel, the reduction of wages to a drab level? Are they ready for the form of Socialism which teaches that eight hours' work at one trad© should be rewarded exactly the same as eight hours' at another? The attitude of one body in Dunedin, the Society of Carpenters and Joiners, shows that the man who wields the chisel and the hammer considers" that he should receive at least as much as the man who flourishes the trowel. The carpenters ' and joiners are "much dissatisfied with the recent award of the Arbitration ' Court; they are annoyed because they are getting Is 4d a day less than bricklayers and plasterers. This is a very significant grievance. Whether Jack the Joiner is as good as his roaster or nofc, he certainly thinks that he is as good as Bill the Bricklayer and Tom the Tinker. Because Jack happens to have chosen joinery as his trade he is convinced that his choice should bring him payment equal to the emolument of Bill and Tom. It is fortunate, however, that this trait, this desire for a deud 1 level, in which the minimum of' everything (except wages) will be the maximum which the employer may expect to see, does not run through tht majority of New ZeaJandors. There is much love of individuality left. The voices which clamour for colourless collectivism are still in the wilderness. Broken Hill shareholders, who have been looking sad and Caught weary for a long time in a past, have raised their Cleft Log. heads and are beginning to take notice. Tho Stock Exchange "bea:s" drove the market down a little too far ; and in tho effort it appears that they oversold possible deliveries. When the scrip could not be got, naturally the price of scrip rose ; and it seems that some wild offers hava been made to meet angagenient* In a day the market value of eight Broken Hill mines advanced by more than £600,000, the _ great Proprietary, alone appreciating by a quarter-million. The uiarket will probably steady at a

lower valuation. The main cause of Broken Hill's woe is independent of exchange gambling. The price of silver ftands at about sixpence per ounco less than last year's •tverage ; and until it recovers the Broken Hill prospect must remain gloomy. All the Broken Hill mines together had a market valne of 10| millions at the end of 1906. At the end of 1907 tho valuation had fallen by six millions. That is, the mines are worth in public estimation considerably le. c s than one-half what they were worth a year ago. Speculation accounts only for a, pint ii» the bucket ol calamity. It is not the gambling on the Australian market, but the metal surplus in the world's market, that is responsible for the general downfall of stocks. And America is still pouring out her silver product. Maybe we shall live to see the day when silver will be reckoned as a demi-semi-precious metal, in an ornamental class by itself. And then coinage?