TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXX, Issue 133, 2 December 1910, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Visitors to the House of Representatives are of two orders — the Strangers ordinary who sit at the in the House, back behind a barrier, and the extraordinary who are privileged to sit along the wall, on each side of the Speaker's chair. Some of the specially privileged callers are financially or otherwise closely interested in Bills that are under discussion, and as chese spectators are allowed to sit near heads of departments, who are advising the Ministers in charge of Bills, their presence has excited suspicion among some of the people's Representatives. Several complaints have, been made during the past few days, and serious charges have been made that the whisper of the powerful private man has been conveyed to the Ministerial public man, in the full glare of the electric light, on the floor of the House. We do not suggest that these charges have any foundation 5 they may be mere suspicions on the part of members, but "it i.« advisable that^the way should not be left open for the formation of such suspicions. The restricted space in the present Chamber may be quoted as an excuse for putting some strangers in places which have exposed them to suspicion, but the room, with all its limitations, has spaces where tho visitors could be accommodated without embarrassment to themselves or anybody else. It is very unpleasant to have a state of affairs which lias led more than one member to allege that the floor of the House of Representatives has become a haunt for artful lobbyists. If some of the burgesses of the State . town of Rotorua have Legislation their way, the * geysers for the will be included in the Geysers. next amendment of the . Factories Act. It is complained that the patient, long-suffering geysers are severely overworked. While they; are slumbering in their cosy warm subterranean beds, gathering strength to toil for the tourist, they are .rudely disturbed with a bombardment of common soap, and induced to make untimely ppoutings. Who is the vandal that sweats the geyser with soap? It is the Government. A correspondent of the Rotorua Times, referring to the tribulations of Mr. Wairoa, Geyser, a very respectable inhabitant of Hotorua, wrote: —"It seems to me that the Government wishes to pander to any Tom, Dick, or Parson that happens along. I would suggest that the geyser be soaped at reasonable intervals." The rough-and. ready emetic of soap weakens the geyser intime, and good Rotoruans fear the demiseof a family which dra\vs gold to a hospitable township, which ever has a glad eye and an outstretched hand for the visitor, at per head. Hers is an opening for that guide, philosopher, and friend of tbb Government, the ■'Governor-in-Council." Failing legislation to prescribe hours for the geysers, the Rotoruans themselves might get some peace for unfortunate Wairoa and Waimangu by forming a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Geysers. Between the Public Holidays Act, the Tramways Bill, the For the Public Governor-in - Council, Convenience. and the Minister of Public Works, some members of the City Council were puzzled about the tramway time-table for Christmas Day. The '25th December will be on Sunday, but the Christmas holiday will be on the 26th and Boxing Day on the 27th. Will there be two Christmases — one actual and the other statutory ? It took the council some time to get a clear understanding of the complication, but eventually illumination came, and with it some comfort for the public The council has decided to run the customary Sunday cars on the 25th, and the full ordinary time-table on the 26th. There is no doubt that the churches will have their observances on the 25th (Sunday), and this day will abound with the dinners and other incidentals of Christinas. Some citizens may be disposed to sit about and crack nuts and dally 1 with raisins, sweets, and almonds all tho afternoon, but others, especially those who have a nice vista of baked clay all about their premises, will be eager to flee to the blue of the sea. Those people who are not eager to stew in a cramped house" on a blistering day have a right to rational treatment from the council, and it is good to see that common-sense has prevailed on the council. The tramway, men will receive extra pay for work on the 25th, and they will not be the only men toiling for the public convenience on that day. The men at . the gasworks, the electric light station, and many others, engaged at tasks for the public good, will be busy . It is a sheer impossibility to prescribe a full Christmas holiday for everybody.