TOPICS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume LXXXV, Issue 49, 27 February 1913, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY

The calm statement from the Acting* Minister for Defence Defence and regarding the defence its Cost. expenditure t which we published on Tuesday, supplied an excellent antidote to the wild screed from Mr. A. W. Hogg which appeared in the same column. The principal poi&t mado by the ActingMinister is one to which vvo havo referred before, without laying much stress upon it, but which we haw never seen advanced by any person in authority. In presenting his Estimated for the current year, amounting to £456,599, the Minister for Defence himself said that ho expected that when the scheme was in full swing, and the special outlay required in the initial stages had no longer to Ims provided for, tho vote cotdd be reduced to £400,000. Where did he | get this standard of measurement ? The only general estimate with which \v© a«© I acquainted is that now cited by tho Acting-Minister. _ Lord Kitchener estimated Australia's expenditure at £1.884,000; aaid as he treated New Zealand's requirements as approximately one-fourth of those of Australia, it is reasonable to infer that he would estimate New Zealand"* expenditure iv the came proportion. But a quarter of JD1.884.00D is £471.000, which is nearly £70,000 moro than tho actual expenditure hist year, and only £10,000 lees thnn the figures given by the ActingMimVlor for the current year. If th» largo number of non-recurring items that havo to bo provided for in the opening stages of, stick an undertaking be allowed for. this must bo regarded ac a highly satisfactory rank. We should certainly like to sco tho expenditure reduced to £400,000, arid we fully *ealia« that extravagance and the appearance of extravagance are the gr&afc danger/i oi the scheme. Let tho Minister and tho Commandant therefore strain every nerve to keep the expenditure down, but let Ufi at the same time put it on record against the croakers, the "skinflints," that the authorities are already doing eurprkihgly Well, and that to talk about the scheme as getting out of hand and galloping to a deficit is the sheerest nonsense. The w«y 8 of shipping companies, like those of Providence, are Preference to past finding out. In Germany ? these days no one, apart from the owners, actu> ally knows to whom a ship belongs, and the house flag and funnel colour afford but little information. There are ships, for instance, which fly the British flag and yet belong to a company registered in the State of New Jersey j and ships under foreign flags that have good British names, presumably not because the foreigner loves them, but rather from business considerations ; and thus it falls out that British names have been selected for new boats by the Deutsch- Australische Dampschiffsgesellßchaft — a title which goes with a good German swing. But the German is getting more than assistance from his own country j he is being helped by his rivals, the British shipowners. Here, again, the enduring con> sumer pays. Witnesses before the Empire Trade Commission yesterday did not know, and no one but the shipowners seem to know, how it can be that German gooda can be railed to Hamburg, loaded there, carried across the North Sea to England, and unloaded and reloaded there into a New Zealand liner, and still come out at 29s 6d per ton, while similar British gooda loaded once at an English port cost 40s a ton. The British ports, it seems quite clear, are being misused for the purpose of bringing out foreign-made goods to this country in order to defeat the operation of a tariff specially designed to assist the British manufacturer, and this practice is being .carried out with the connivance, x or fct least the consent, of British shipowners. Mr. Park may or may not have been correct in his view given to the Commission yesterday, that British ships kept freights on German goods below those on British in order to keep the German Out of the New Zealand trade j but one thing is perfectly clear : that the preferential tariff is thus rendered A hollow farce and that through the agency of British shipowners themselves. It is like other things connected with ship* owning, a complete enigma to the people at large. "There is keen interest and many sug* geßtions regarding the A Myola name for the new for O'Malley? Federal capital." states a message -to-day. For weeks various Australian papers (serious, semi-serious, and comic) have busied themselves about the name, and corres* pondents have impressively proved the possession of almost diabolical ingenuity in recommending impossible syllables. When "Myola" (a native word, said to mean "meeting-place") was first thrust before the public, the Brisbane Worker neatly countered with a proposal that "Myoath" would have a better Australian flavour. Facetious commentators also soon discovered that a rearrangement of "Myola" produced "Omaly," an approximation of O'Malley, king of a ridiculous castle in the air, This peculiar politician's vanity— possibly much increased by that verbal dower of "King" from his parents— may make him fight, hard for "Myola," despite the wags —and thus fill Australasia with regret. We believo that a great majority of the thoughtful people on both aides of the Tasman Sea would prefer a plain British i word, not difficult to spell. However, in all the whirl of theory, there is one com* fort. Mr. King O'Malley, speaking in Ins well-known tone of final authority, has said that "Lady Denmatt, when naming the capital, will not useiimported nor Australian champagne, but water." Though tho Bulletin may rotort thai even the water will havo to bo imported into tho lonely hinterland where Parliament is to sit, the use of. plain water is to be commended iv theso extravagant times, when the waste on ostentation and foolish flourish is monstrously excessive. New 2ealandera have had to suffer the waste of many tens of thousands of pounds during the past twenty years on "splashes" which have been en* joyed more by crafty politicians md their near friends than by the taxpayers.

At a meeting of permanent employees of the Harbour Board held at the Druids' Hall last evening it was decided to form an association, and if necessary register under the Unclassified Societies Act. The death of the fourteen months child of Mr. and Mre. G. S. Maben, of Ngaio, hae been reported to the police. Dr. Henry wae summoned to the parents' house this morning, but on arrival found the child dead. As he cannot give » certificate of death, an inqueet will bo held. The following telegram has been forwarded to the Premier by the Hamilton ' Chamber of Commerce : "Much dieeatisfartion is being expressed locally that the sawmilling industry is not represented on the Forestry Commission, as the question of reafforestation is one deeply affoctiDg the fnture welfare of this important industry, and we would respectfully urge the appointment of representatives." When the order of cases was besng arranged before Sir Joshua Williams ab Invercargill on Tuesday, Mr. Stout mentioned tho act-ion Brighton v. the Commissioner cf Crown Lands (the so-called Southland case). He said that he had received a. communication from the Crown Law Office, asking that a day be fixed, »3 it was proposed to send dowti counsel from Wellington. The hearing was fixed for Wednesday, sth March. Proposals by the 1 following local bodies for expenditure of accrued thirds were approved by the Wellington Land Board to-day subject to investigation toy the ranger s— Fetone Borough Council, £25 10s 9rl ; Wairarapa South County Council, £36 7s lOd j P»aagitikei County Council, £677 6s 8d ; Wainiarino County Council, £249 6s 7d ; Matfricevillc County Council, £5 Is lid; Akitio County Council, £270 8s lid. Tho girls in the Salvation Army Home in Owen-street are enjoying themselves at Akatarawa to-day. The outing was arranged by Mr. W. H. P. Barber, whose motor-car, together with cars lent by Councillor J. Smith and Messrs. F. Townsend, F. T. Moore, A. Naismith, F/ Rjowe, and J. Paul,' conveyed the children into tho country. The Army provided lunch, and Messrs. Godberand Rovvell supplied hampers of cake, etc., for the »ft»ttioon tea. The fund, for the purchase of the lioness at NWtown Park ' now amounts to about £90, leaving «- balance of £10 yet to be found. The latest donations, collected by Councillor Frost, chairman of the Reserves Committee, ares — Millar Hardwood Company, £1 Is; J. J. M'Grath, £h Is ; New Zealand Truth, £l Is ; Gear Meat Company, £1 Is ; Blundell Bros.,* £1 Is; Campbell and Burke. £1 Is ; Francis Penty, £1 ; Two Friends, £1; Herdman and Kirkcaldie, £1; Alfred Lindsay, £1; "Cubs," £1; K. W. Armit, 10s 6d : S. and W.M., 5s j C. Johnson, 4s; A Friend, 2b. At the Theatre Bbyal to-night a collection on behalf of the lioness will be t&ken up by Toby, the monkey, who will be^ attired in evening dress. Reserved judgment was given in the Stipendiary Magistrate's Court to«day in ihe case Barnes v. Collie and Hudson. Plaintiff claimed £46 19s 9d for painting and other work done in a house erected at Island Bay for W. H. Collie, one of the defendants. The claim was - admitted, but the defendant Hudson counter-claimed £20 damages for noncompletion of sub-contract on or before 31st July, 1912, oi;, alternatively, for negligence and unreasonable delay in completion of the stib-contract. In giving judgment, Dr. M'Arthur held that, as the architect stated that there would have been no penalties but for the plaintiff's delay, plaintiff was liable ' for the whole amount of the penalties^ Judgment %rould be given ' for plaintiff on the claim admitted, and for the defendant Hudson on the counter-claim. ' . New Zealand geologists and geographers^ are practically unanimous in agreeing that somewhere • about due riotith of Waiagatitii, and in the region of Cook Strait, lies the centre of earth- ■ quake activity as far as the islands of New Zealand are concerned (says the Wanganui Chronicle). Tho submerged strata, once probably a great plain between Australia and New Zealand, is of such & character as permits of quakes being felt in many parts of Australia. It is generally assumed that a severe disturbance occurring in the Cook Strait region would be felt all over New Zealand wherever towns or districts lie in ■ the main route of earthquakes. Westport has been considerably. shaken by shocks since Saturday last, yet until Tuesday night, at 9.12, Wanganui had not experienced any seismographic disturbance. It will be interesting to learn if West-port was subject to a shock about the time stated above, and more in- ; teK»tin£ to < know why Wanganui has not been disturbed when earthquakes have been felt in the line of volcanic and earthquake activity, Hardwood will soon become an object • for museums, judging by the rapidity with which it is becoming scarce. Other industrial timbers, Australian and New Zealand' (an despecially kauri), seem to be becoming equally precious, judging by the ever-increasing prices. Timber sleepers are becoming a thing of the past in Wellington at any rate, for the City ' Council now appears committed to a reinforced concrete policy. \JTor the Brooklyn line duplication some 2000 sleepers will be required, and of these 1200 are already made. The work is going on at the foot of the hill, Upper Willis-street. The City Engineer has abandoned timber for tramway sleepers because of the difficulty in getting supplies and also their cost. Napier tramway construction is hung up for the same cause^ — want of woodeh sleepers — although 1 there is shingle enough piled up near the breakwater to make sleepers sufficient for a Continental railway. Then there aro the tram rails 'themselves. Ihese, through pressure of work in the iron trade of England and delays through strikes, are very slowly coming to h*ad, and the work on the Broolclyn line is accordingly belated. It's "IT," the "Fowjds suit,"— Mado of fine material, a good fit, and moderate in price. GSeo. Fowids, Ltd., Mannersati'eet. — Advt.