TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 33, 8 February 1908, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

«*»■ Sir Joseph Ward proved at Auckland vestcrday that he has a mind Penal equal to its reputation for Market subtlety. In at least one G ardent), portion of his speech ho gave a taste- of statesmanship all too rare in these days of compromise and watching for the.' ways Unit the people are jumping under the stimulus of tho press. The Prime- Minister has suggested that thero should be "a State market garden in cuch of the four centres, where should be utilised the manioc! prisoners nnd youths in gaols, crediting them with tho value of their work, and devoting half their caT-ings to the _wiuie_a_cs oi their wives or rela- J

tiveß." This is an idea, that was advocated in Tho Post years ago, and has been revived forcibly in thc&e columns several times lecently. Yet Sir Joseph has improved on our proposal, and for that all the more praise is due t& him. Ho sms a chance to kill one bird and wing another with tho ono stone ; ho hopes tc ou&t the Chinaman and tame the criminal simultaneously ; ho is not exactly setting a thief to catch a thief, but he is pittiiig tho prisoner against the Celestial. The white man has been mostly crowded out of tho market gaidcn, anu his place has been taken by the alien, but Sir Joeepli expects to see the Asiatic vanquished at last. The Trades and Labour Councils, for some reason known only to themselves, may oppo.'c the project, but it will commend itself to all truo lovcts of New Zealand. The wife deserter, the vagrant, tho spieler, tho "confidence man," will be turned to good account. Tc bo successful the scheme must include means to make tho v/orkhatsrs toil. 'Ihis could be clouo by shortening the diet down to the minimum of unattrachvo rations required for the maintenance of a. man in good health, copious cold baths for the sturdy rogues, and the promise of tobacco and other litilo luxuries for the industrious. To-day's London commercial message is interesting and instrnctButter and ive. For colonial butter Wool. aa high as 140s is being asked, and a forecast is ventured that this season will sse no reduction on the high prices now prevailing. To account for the rapid jump from 120s to 140s, two theories aro ad- ; vanccd, and together they may have furnished tha lever that has exerted tho big lift., There is the statistical view which is based upon the immense shortago of supplies; Australia,, alone being almost 8500 tons behind last season's export figures. Others urge the effects of tne Butter Act, which, passed last session by the English Legislature, only came into force on Ist January. This measure was frankly aimed at the milk- l blended butter industry, and diould put a stop to the pleasing and attractive nomenclature under which the compound masqueraded. Although a regrst must be expressed that owing to tho prolonged spell of dry weather our producers will not be able to fully benefit by tho excellent prices now ruling, we have a solatium in knowing that the enormous possibilities of the English market have been revealed to us. The events of the past week will no doubt encourage our batter producers to persist in their efforts to attain and maintain a standard of quality, the hiehest that can ba achieved. It is' reassuring to find that the London wool market is firm, and that all qualities aro in good demand. Money is again cheaper, and the opsn mancetis practicably one per cent, under the Bank rate. Stocks of raw material are low, and sninners aro well employed. Just as the" statistical position has played into the hands of tho butter producer, 30 may it reasonably be expect&d to assist the woolgrower in making good some of the ground lest during November and Decomber, when pessimism was tho dominant note. The English grow audacious. That the ■unemployed, instead of StTange starving humbly through Occurrence- the winter and gnawing in England, a charity bone, should talk of hying sacrilegious hands upon the historic park of Windsor Cnsclo, is is Onco more the language fails us. Whet ! uo suggest digging up that consecrated landscdp'e, a monarch's playground, in ordar to grow things to eat — nosslbly (O Heavens ') "spuds"! Is' this tho England, of our ancestors? ' Why is not the Tower of London ussd for the incarceration of buch lufiidiily rovoltcrs, instead of ,as a receptacle of, old armour and an American ra.ree-show ? Wo have heard before tho doctrine of the Lii;d for the people,'- and th© aTgument that it, is chocking that men should go hungry while the soil that would feed them is sinit against the spade. But Windsor Park, tho appurtenance of our gracious Sovereign ! To plough up the scenery that has sustained generations of Boyal Academicians ! Evidently empty stomachs kuow^ no law or order. We shall hear ue-xt that the Labour Party is introducing legislation to tax the syoTting preserv-ss of the- arist tocracy out of existence,- .in order that ' tha common people may bo able to put bread into the mouths of tUblr children. Have Britons really woke to 1 the inconsistency of shouting that they never shall be slaves, while the slavery of the poor is the most obvious thing about Britain? We would like to give more than Job's comfort to ChristThe Bitter Lesson, church. " in, her „ °f mpurning ,' over Christchurch. the terrible fire, which 'gnawed so pitilessly afc th© heart of tho city, but we can supply no better .consolation than the frank words of a candid friend, i Tho city realised very painfully that the i water arrangements were not equal to i a dire emergency. Years ago the local press reminded tho people that tho towu might be, in grave peril if ever a fire gained a firm grip ia a single street, but tho fire was not present when tho wise- counsel was given, and the citizens paid no' heed to the warning. Proposals for high-pressure schemes went I before tho ratepayers, and time after j time the burgesses rejected tho ealva- 1 tion offered them. They are convinced now ; tho water will come as fast as the hands of man can bring it. Tho fire also proved the- value of solid noncombustiblo internal walls, and probably the conflagration will have a permanent influence on future architecture. A point mentioned yesterday by Mr Morton, Wellington's City Engineer, should also not escape attention :n: n Christchurch and other cities. More important- even than fire-proof walls, vJ? „? av f» are -non-inflammable floors. YVellmgton's own great firs of October, 1906, emphasised the need for the duplication of the'Wainui main, and the experience- of Christchurch, again brings this matter to the front. Unfortunately tho duplication of tho main depends on the duplication, of tho Hutt railway, and this work seems destined to be a& much tor ever with us as tho poor. Mr. Robert Philp, Premier by the grace ._, , °f Governor Chelm3A Postal- Voto ford until the new Premier. Queensland Parliament n-eets, has sived his bacon only by a fragment of tho rmd. His seat at Townsville, which formerly he had isason to consider a pocket borough, was all but wrested from him by a Labour candidate. At tho \isible poll, Labour had won. Then postal voters came to the rescue, and apparently Mr. Philp is elected by a small majority. What a hnppy proof of the efficacy of the postal vote— tho original \cause of so much recent woe— the crux of Mr. Kidston s path to assulat upon the Legislative Council! The Legislative Council clove to the postal vote like wax. It was a privilege granted to ladio3 who shrank from soiling their skirts by contact with vulgar people at the booths; and, as the Hon. T. Thynne, M.L.C., affirmed, it would be "ungallant" to abolish it. So tho Council maintained its reputation for gallantry to the last ditch. Incidentally the Council expected that the postal vote would be all in favour of tho Conservatives—as Mr. Philp has found it. Its liability to abuse— tho chances th.it it . offered for whippinii up .proxies {of the

right colour) during an election ; even ] alter an election — theso things yielded to the necessity for upholding the Council's chivalrous standard of deference to the fair sex (of the right complexion). To Mr. Philp the profit. 110 has lost all and a good deal of honour. But he has gained the postal vote. It is satisfactory to know ,by a cable message published to-day The that Sir Harry Maclean, Liberated commonly described for Captivo. nearly eight months past as "the captive Kaid," is onco more a free man. It is only two oc three weeks since it was reported that tho state of his health was such as to caupe s?riou3 apprehension, and that a physician had been despatched to his assistance by tho British Government ; but to-day's news reports him a3 having arrived at Tangier in good health. References havo baen mede in come quarters to the "masterstroke" of statesmanship by which Raisuli secured his porso:i. Really, it was by a "confidencft trick" so devoid of imagination and so mean as to be considerably below the ordinary level even of Oriental artifice. The brigand was of courso a thief — like Robin Hood or Rob Roy — but r.howed -himself devoid even of the rudimentary "honour" popularly ascribed lo that ancient craft. Some relief will bo felt at to-day's news, for oven after tho ransom had boen paid, wholly or in part, it sesmed a little uncertain whether the brigand's part of the compact would bo carried out. Wo wonder if tho Kaid has had enough of Morocco? — we are inclined to doubt it. Probably the irresistible "call of ,the East" has taken possession of him ; and, if so, he may even yet figure as a factor in history. At present all seems in solution at Tangier— in ebullition alscf— and no analyst knows exactly what Kind of crystallisation to look for. Germany lakes a friendly interest in the process. Franca has been politely informed that she has been appealed to by both rivel Sultans to intervene; but the alleged appeal does not appear to have been on any recognised authority. It 13 not impossible that thero may yet ba work for Maclean in Tangier. 1