TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXII, Issue 48, 25 August 1911, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

"Poor struggling candidate," remarked a delegate at the CounA Plethora ties' Conference yesterof Pledge*, day in mock sympathy with the harried person who seeks the suffrages of tho people. It has been increasingly necessary for the candidate to put thicker and thicker covering on his feet to safely traverse the thorns ana broken bottles that strew his path. The pledge-makers are abroßd. The factories are working overtime m town -and country, and parcels of pledges rush upon the candidate, The Farmers Protection Association aska tor pledges, and the generous farmer make* tins concession to the candidßte— -he can think what he Hkes, believe what ha likes, call himself Masseyite, WonJite, Allenite, or even cordite, and the farmer promwes Hot to Worry about tboso trifles so long as the candidate pledges himself t? vot « f< ? the faTm «i*' interests. The New Zealand Labour Party asks for Pi^lr 68 ' * Th ? re Rt ? Btf0 »g M«rt» that the New Zealand Alliance will ask candidates to pledge themselves for the absolute majority in local and Dominion option polls, or the principle of no pledge, no vote. The Counties' Conferonce wants a pledge put to candidates about the Local Government Bill. Is there any chance of a pledge about Biwe-in-schools or denominational edulit L'j *r* le w ?° do ftot inte nd to ! bepaftdidates are displaying much'ineenuity in the framing oi pledges, but tan-didates-^pecially the plder 'ones-are-sembhng tho duel between the projecI tile and armour-plate in the navy business. It is usually the extremist, the man of one idea, the man of an obsession, who insists on the pledge, but I happily the people o f New Zealand are not yet swayed by extremists, though the National League (how a very quiet fff }W> apparently) has fears that the tad may wag the dog. What it * >Hing New & a kn*d thinking of all Ufa* partisan pledge-making? The simplicity of the method in which t.w- • f, a .. \ printer and "Trying It On." photographer _ , . . , , Melbourne seems to h S ve ™*S m^ that he could Amass Wealth without expense or effort on his own part is not more refflarkAble than its sublime audacity, and it is pleasant to record that this gentleman has had his adventurous Va-reer checked at the outset, receiving At the same time a salutary lesson both in law and equity. j Everyone is familiar with tho^e adverItisements headed "In Memoriam," in many cases embodying tombstone *ju%s**J hoary with age, (sometimes Adapted by verbal changes to the ocj casion. A large portion of a column of i the great Australian papeTs is daily occupied with these notices, and some time ago the Age had a surprise in being served with a summons from on© F. W. Marks, claiming damages for infringement of his copyright m three four-line stanza* which appeared in the advertisements of 29th June last. It must have Almost taken aw»y the breath of the advertising manager, and his eurprtee would scarcely be diminished when he found that the paper waa expected to pay for the privilege of republishing such literary geme as these : "Fondest memories ever linger Around my darling father's grate, ft A^j e u linge v w^ e1 " c OTr de!ir one lies, am bveathe these sacred words once more: Not lost, but only gone before.' " The cage ca nie before Judge Dwyer in the District Court on 7th August. It appeared that complainant, for his own convenience m canvassing for orders for memorial cards, had printed ft collection of Jingling mottoes, supposed to be Appropriate, and in October last lodged an application for their registration under the Copyrights Act, Mr. Wilkins, of the Age, who had seATched the files for about two years, proved that Tepeatedly since May, 1909, th© » protected " lines had Appealed m the Age— in fact, the Advertising columns themselves had apparently supplied the matter for which the proprietors were asked to pay. Mr. Dwyer was scarcely inclined to take the claim seriously. "Do you know who wrote 'Not lost, but gone befoTe 1 ?" ho asked, to which Mr. Wilkin suggested, "probably it wa* Noah." But H com' plamants counsel maintained that mere registration constituted a certificate of > title, " unless that certificate" was challenged or cancelled ac provided by the Act, decision was reserved. A week later judgment was given, and a High Court decision quoted proving that complainant had no claim. Considering that he himself had l^eAlly bfeen exploiting others, the Bench observed, the prosecution was a,n impudent one. Case dismissed, with five guineas costs. We are not surprised that the attention of the Government has Jack Ashore, been called to a recent ... „ incident at Auckland. Men from a British warship were debarred from a skating rink because they were wearing the King's uniform. The management, in an explanation telegraphed to The Post not long ago, expressed regret that the exclusion had been ordered, and gave the excuse that some lady patrons of the hall objected to the presence of sailors in uniform. It was further stated that if the sailors had been in civilian dre&s they would have been admitted. It is not customary, however, for men of the Navy to com© ashore with a kit of civilian raiment, and no doubt they are not eager to hire a suit to gain admission to a skating rink or other entertainment halls. This prejudice against the uniform of the Empire's defenders, by land and sea, is no novelty. Similar hostility to the clothes of soldiers and sailors has existed 111 the United States of America, and the biaa of some thoughtless sections of the public has gone bo far that a league has been formed to promote respect for the uniform, It is a pitiful confession for men in any country lo have to make. Surely those VeTy sensitive ladies of Auckland should be prepared to bear the sight of a sailor's uni. form. Some of their sisters here--and probably Auckland haa some of this brand-— profess a willingness to bear arms, if necessary. We suspect that the nervous ladies associate boisterousness, possibly developed by liquor, with tho uniform, and in such a c&aa it will be well to have the suspicion fairly put in the open for answer. Certainly it is no good way to encourage sobriety lo shut "Jack" out of the skating rin*s and other places 0! healthy reerwiltei. Is he Expected to find his distraction in the tavern? It is hoped that the re; grettable Auckland occitrrence will not Be allowed to rest at the point where it was left by the management of the skating fink.

The greab industrial upheaval in England has already had its effect on New Zealand. Mhjsts. Campbell and Burke, contractors of this city, who have secured the contract for the erecti&ft cr{ the Public Trust building m Auckland, have been notified by their London agent* that, owing to the strike, they were unableto ship tho steel girders and other material required ift the constintC' tion of the building by the boat whit* left on 21st August. The agent* hope to ship them by steamer leaving on 15th September. This, of course, will mean a certain amount of delay in commencing th© work, »s it. would bo a wasvte of time to complete th© excavation and then stop the work until the arrival of the fcteel. Messrs. Campbell and Burko propose leaving Wellington to start the contract as toxm as fhey receive cable fcdvice the steal hfca beeu shipped.