NOTES.

Evening Star, Issue 7331, 1 October 1887, Page 2

NOTES.

When on the stomp, and recounting tnfl* manifold blessings that a policy' A flood of Protection is Likely to confer' Ziftttple. on thb much-governed country,. Mr Kobert Stout and Sir Julius* Vogel were both fond of giving the Opposition Press a slap in the face by declaringthat in the matter of telegrams the Press* were now enjoying to a large extent th« benefits of Protection. We have frequently pointed out, when discussing telegraphic' matters, that it pays the Departmwrt to' transmit Press matter cheap; that the ear--rent tariff is not so liberal as the Telegrsfby Commissioner affects to believe; and that » portion of the Press would save money if Dr Lemon could be induced to meet their wishes in the matter of a special wire. There was held in London lately a large gathering to celebrate the Jubilee of the electric! telegraph, and a notable speech was made by the English Postmaster-General, who referred to the wonderful strides during the past fifty years in cheapening the advantages of telegraphic communication!. Mr ftaikes told his audience that thensmberef telegrams sent through the post office in the United Kingdom last year was 51 ,500,000 a rate of nearly 1.000/ XX) per week—and the* number is still steadily increasing. lis Great Britain alone there are 6,514 telegraph offices, and the wires yield at revenue of L 2,000,000 sterling. The development of submarine cables wste equally wonderful. l£ is not fifty years since the first submarine) wire was laid betwixt England and France, The first Atlantic cable was laid in 1855, and was another failure, breaking down jn the: very middle of its first message—one" sent from the Queen to the President of tW United States. Twenty years ago there were only about 2,000 miles of sea-cable f but to-day the sea-depths are fairly strung: with wires, which ad as great planetary nerves, and flash'intelligence from, shore to' shore.. No less than 115,000 miles of cables lie at the bottom of the sea, ana* represent an expenditure of nearly L 40,000,000 stef ling. While the late Mr Fawcett presided RfeSti Martin'sLeGrand, the ruling.policy waff to deal with the greatest liberality with 1 the Press, mid Mr Ratkes has decided, to act on the same lines. In England the newspapers are charged 2d per 100 words? and though that rate mvbrves an annus! loss of L 200,000, the nation is quite content to bear it, in order that the reading- pablie shall obtain the fullest information. "1 imagine," said Mr Baikes," that the country is well satisfied that this should be so, and! that there afe few people who would wish to abridge that privilege, having regard to> the enormous importance to all classes of the community of being plased at the earliest moment in possession of the fullest knowledge of what is going on.* We ac knowledge Sir Julius VogeTs libera! teat* Went of tie Press during his control of the" Telegraph Deportment, but we should vastly* like to find Dr Lemon similarly disposed towards the Fourth Estate. The supporters of the Bible in the schools are numerous in the new FarliaThe Case ment, and if an Amending EdaWell stated, Bill should be bwwrgh* down will be very active » furtherance of their cause. But, before they can hope to influence the House in tlw desired direction, the/ must come to » decision on two points of paramount mv portance—(l) What portions of the Scrip" tures to be read daily are acceptable to the great mass of the people 1 (2} It something more than Scripture-reading is arrived l at, by whom is the religions instruction to be* given ? Ihe second question is the weightier one, and will, we think, prove the rook on which the Bible-in-schools party will be shipwrecked. Those who wish for thff preservation of our national system of education should pondet the answer of Inspector Hepburn, of the Victorian Education Department, to the demand which has arisen in that Colony for religion* insfroetion iv the State schools there.

If the teaching of religion could be successfully introduced into the schools without ruining? the present educational system, no one would be more pleased than myself; but the difficulties in the way are, in my opinion, insuperable. Granting (and it is a great concession) that those to whom is deputed the task cf choosing these texts agree among themselves as* to What would be suitable otttH, ate these texts' to he explained or not ? If they are to be explained, who would undertake tbo° duty ? The majority of teachers would, refuse. Some, no doubt, would willingly offer to do sffj but would their interpretation of these U*t& give satisfaction to parents of differ*** creeds? If these texts are to remain nnexplained, would the children receive much benefit therefrom? I hold that where efciU dren receive religious instruction at homey that given in school is unnecessary; and, if the home instruction is wanting, the little received in the schools would not benefit them very much, in one school in this district, after * moral lesson on "Honesty," the teacher wa» consulted by one boy who was in doubt whether ho should obey his father, who bade him steall wood from a neighbor's yard, or the command! "Thou shalt not steal," as inculcated in the< lesson given. He was told that his father's) command was nought when opposed to the Divine law. From my knowledge of human* nature, I can make a very Bhrewd goes* as to what law that boy would have to obey. Again, if religion were taught itt State schools, an inspector's time woul* be very often frittered away in holding: inquiries into diffeiences between parents' and teachers-all the outcome of religions' teaching. During the past year a parent com' plained about a teacher trying to pervert his children, because they were asked the feminin* of priest; he contending that there could be no feminine. If complaints such as this crop up" under the.present system, what trill happen it religious instruction be introduced 1 At present an inspector is supposed to have some acquaintance with a variety of subjects, ranging torn military drill to sewing. To settle the differences between parents and teachers, would he require to be posted op in theology? If so, a long farewell to all the harmony that at present characterises the yearly conferences of inspectors. In teaching morals and inserting in the reading-books lessons calculated to make children obedient, honest, etc., the State,, whicb claims to be secular, has done more than can be expeoted of it."

Among the Masonic fraternity it is eustc mary to hold " Lodges of A Lodge of Sorrow " when conspicuous* Sorrow. brethren "shuffle off thismortal coil." Might the suggestion be offered to the Protection League as to the propriety and becomingness of recognising in some such way the political extinction of their venerated president, who has so effectively received his quietus at the hands of the electors of Roslyn 1 The Protectionists, armed with the full influence of the League, did their level best to secure his return; but, alas! he only landed a bad second—not only losing his election, but irreparably damaging the prestige of the League. It is very sad, but so it is; and, added to the very signal defeat at Caversham, makes up a very bitter pill for the local manufacturers, who would vaunt their cause as won, and the additional thousand* a'-year of profits already in their pockets. One of the amusing incidents of the recent election was the march to the Independent poll at Caversham of the BeneElectors, volent Asylum contingent— Mmsterialists to a man—under the command of an erstwhile agitator, who on this occasion led the van in a nondescript conveyance, something between a barrow and a wheel-chair, the motive power being supplied by relays of able-bodied inmates of the Institution. This redoubtable demagogue, the favored correspondent of Ministers, took up a position for some time outside the Town Hall, and dilated literally ore rotundo on the various iniquities of the classes and the conspicuous virtues of the masses. The contest, he roared out, was between capital and labor, and capital must be put down. He did not refer to loafing; the subject perhaps being too personal aB affecting some noisy supporters of the " labor candidate;" The electors of Caversham, mostly working men, have demonstrated very plainly that such humbug will not go down.

Vakyikg slightly the question addressed by Philip to the ennucb, it may A Fake well W inquired of the coterie Step. who assembled at the Chamber of Commerce to frame a lequisition to Sir Robert Stout to "come back again," whether they know what they are doing. The contest is over and we would fain let matters bide. But the gentlemen referred to—amongst the names of whom we observe some who might have been supposed to have been possessed of more intelligence—compel a protest against their proceedings. In a minor sense they insult the constituency of Dnnedin East, who had a perfect right to cast their votes as they thought proper, and who ■ may fairly be credited with as much political wisdom as the outsiders who, in a manner, revised their judgment in a hole-and-corner eonclave. This was bad enough and bold enough; but there is a graver aide to the question and a larger issue at stake. The defeat of Sir Robert Stoat was the defeat of the Ministry; ft

"Ministry which has plunged the Colony into almost irremediable confusion and difficulty, and ruined its credit in the tnoney markets of the world. Can any «ane man doubt that the communistic theories in relation to land and property openly avowed and attempted to be put into operation by Messrs Stout and Ballance have operated equally, and probably more injuriously, than even the borrowing and spending proclivities of Sir Julius Vogel? Many of those concerned in this foolish business are business men of a class not usually addicted to sentimental fallacies. And they must, or Bhould know, that neither capitalists nor immigrants will care to throw in their lot with a country where the Government is "run" by men who parade views antagonistic to the interests of both. We Want more people and more money, and Without an accession of both it is vain to Expect a relief from the gloom of depression. During'the existence of the late Ministry things have fallen from bad to worse, and nothing less than their removal from office would have improvod affairs. This Was only to be effected by the nonselection of the Premier, and his defeat —speaking of it not as personal to Sir Robert Stout, but as indicating the will of the people—is an event of which the electors of Dunedin East may well be proud. It was not the man but the Premier of a vicious and mischievous Government that Was defeated. And now, forsooth, some political idolaters come forth in the vain •endeavor to reinstate the head and front of the offending. They arc simply striving to •destroy, or at least weaken, the moral effect <of the people's victory, and in so doing they •are perpetrating the worst possible offence against the public weal. Nothing will Restore New Zealand to the proud position *he once occupied in the estimation of the ■Home Country, except the establishment of "a sensible Government not given over to "fads" about land nationalisation, land acquisition, and the destruction of freehold J tenure. Just as the expulsion of Graham Berry restored the finances of Victoria, so will the expulsion of the Stout-Vogel com- j fcination restore prosperity to New Zealand. \ And nothing less could do it. j

A capital story is going the rounds. It is to the effect that on WednesB °tr u*™ 011 " 'W tn *s te^e g ram was Ben * *° •re Arranged. a nowly-elected M.U.R., who belongs to the party that will henceforth be known as "United Canterbury " : Stout leaves per Tarwera. Fhthusiastio crowd to see him off. Arrange demonstration,. That impromptu " ovation " at Christchurch is now perfectly understood. Organisers of political demonstrations should be exceedingly careful where they leave copies of their telegrams, because its very awkward when they get into the hands of the enemy.