Notes and Comments.

Feilding Star, Volume VI, Issue 1796, 17 May 1912, Page 2

Notes and Comments.

Tragedy of a Lost Kihg. If such an incident as that recorded in the passing this week of Frederik VIII., King of Denmark, had been

incorporated in a work of fie.ion, reviewers would have referred to it as an attempt to strain the credulity of readers. And yet in this most modern year a king takes a stroll, has a heart seizure only a few hundred yards from his residence, and collapses. Dressed like an ordinary citizen, he looks like an ordinary welldressed man, and, unidentified, his body passes from the hospital to the mortuary—with the common crowd of a city's unknown dead! Meanwhile, his family miss the monarch—a tribute to his domestic habits that his family should miss him within so short a time—and an all-night search finished in the public morgue in Hamburg. History shows no other such incident, though history is marked down the ages with strange episodes in the passing of kings.

The Anglo-Danish Analogy. There has been a strange series of coincidences in the modern royal histories of England and Denmark. Queen Victoria reigned until her heir became an old man. ' King Christian IX. did the same thing. King Edward reigned only seven years, and passed away suddenly. Now Denmark's King, after being only six years on his father's throne, also died unexpectedly. To-day England's ruler is 47 years of age, and Denmark's 42 years; and these two mona-rchs are first cousins, they being of the same relationship also to the Czar of Russia. Modern Denmark has given England a Queen (Alexandra), Russia an Empress (Marie), and Kings to Greece (George) and Norway (Haakon VII.), and has the further remarkable record of having two brothers of the same family (Christian and Karl, or Haakon) as Kings ruling over separate nations.

A Sign of the Times. There have been various warnings from men and institutions lately about tlie tightening of the purse-strings through the hardening of the money market. The State-guarantee 'Advances Department has now decided that in future no loans shall be granted to local bodies which have either had a loan previously or have borrowed up to £5000. Tho department points out as an explanation for this action that already the amount of funds available is not sufficient to fulfil tho requirements, and in consecjuepce.tlie above course has to be adopted. The office is still refusing to lend money for tlie purpose of paying off debts. It points out that the local bodies in Now Zealand owe £16,000,----000 apart from what they have borrowed from the Government, and if Ipa'iis wero granted by tlie department for tho purpose of "discharge those liabilities the amount required would bo greatly in excess of tho amount that the department can lend annually. It is therefore confining its loans, as far a.s possible, to such useful works as tracks, roads, bridges, drainage, and water supply.

Learning to Say "No." Futher evidence is forthcoming that tho Mackenzie Cabinet is not wildly Hinging out tho answer "Yes" to every deputation that seranados it with "Oh, promise me!" Yesterday a deputation from tho recent Conference of Librarians urged the Hon. J. A. Hanan to give effect to the conference's recommendation that the sum of £3000 or £4000 annually voted for libraries could bo better expended if a Library Commission was entrusted with the disposal. Tho conference also thought that there should be a library in every school where there was a reasonable number of children. It was urged that the school as well as country libraries should be 'administered by the commission. Replying, the Minister saiel it was a good omen to sec such interest being evinced in education. As to the' proposed commission, there was no doubt it had done valuable work in other countries, and he believed the existing system here could be improved. There was also the question of expenses to be considered. A ■ largo amount ivas already being spent on education, anel claims for more expenditure were Doing made. Primary education was the first necessity: that assured, they could proceed further. However, he would go into the whole matter, and, he hoped, make representations to Cabinet. Save Me From My Friend! One of the most unsatisfactory features of educational administration has been the "pulling of wires" to get certain persons appointed to choice positions as teachers,- regardless altogether of the claims of others better qualified, who have earned the right to be first considered.- It was to prevent this that the system of promotion by classification was introduced, and the experience of it in the Wanganui Education District has fully borne out the sanguine anticipations formed in its favour, and this was confirmed by the lucid explanation of the working of the system given by Mr G. D. Braik, Chief Inspector of Schools for this district, during the recent appeal case. One advantage of the classification list to teachers is the knowledge it gives to them of their weak points and the consequent facilities for improvement and promotion. It is a strong testimony to the satisfaction the system is giving to teachers to find that they are strongly in favour of making it general throughout the Dominion, and committees have never yet objected to any teacher personally who has been selected for appointment under such a system. We regret to notice, however, that the morning paper in Palmerston has already commenced "pulling the strings" in favour of a supposed candidate for appointment to the new school in Palmerston next year, for any attempt of the sort is more certain to prejudice the interests of the gentleman 1 who is in question than anything else. Support from such a source has generally _ proved fatal to the hopes of candidates for local bodies in that district, and even in the wider field of general politics. Tho AVanganui Education Board's administration is impartial enough to satisfy anyone of commonsense, but the prohibition of canvassing for positions is just as strong against public advocacy as personal influence. We feel sure that there is not a teacher in the district capable for the position who would not condemn partisan methods of the kind, and those who would favour it are not built on the lines on which successful teacher** ire made.