NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXIV, Issue 16326, 23 August 1913, Page 10

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Dr Woodrow Wilson ia quoted by a Reform journal as haring emphasised in his recent writings on democratic control of public affairs, “ the necessity for doing just what the Reform Government has done: the necessity for ending that traffio that nearly woro out the back stairs during the Liberal regime.” Tho innuendo is familiar enough and is characteristic of its source. But would it not bo more to tho point if the Reformers, now in possession of the records of every appointment to the public service, produced one or two illustrations of improper or even political appointments by the Liberal hlinistersP A definite caso resembling one or tiro of those that have been laid to their own charge would be worth volumes of vague insinuations.

The company which is arranging to institute a passenger airship service in Britain expects to begin operations before the end of this year. Its first airship is coming from Germany, where facilities for construction are available, but subsequent vessels will be built on British soil. Revolving' sheds of an improved typo will be provided at several points, and a journey through the air from London to Manchester, for example, is not expected to cost more than £5 or £6, with a meal included. The scheme is a commercial one, but it is being supported by people who see in it a chance of arousing the nation to tho importance of the dirigible balloon as a weapon of offence and defence. The German people did not take much interest in airships until passenger services were started. Probably travellers who want to be sure of reaching their destination on time will oontinue to use tho trains, but the mere tourist with wellstrung nerves will find the new service very attractive.

The Auokland “ Star ” points out that while British Consols have fallen about 25 per cent and Bank of England stock about 80 per cent during the last twenty years, New Zealand 4 per cent stock has fallen only 8 per cent in the same time. This is another feather in the cap of the Reformers—at least it will be when they begin their election campaign noxt year.

A London police court has been required to investigate some of tho practices of exhibitors at tho recent International Horse Show. An inspector of the Society for tho Prevention of Cruelty to Animals had been detailed to watch the horses enter the ring, and he made some remarkable discovert*?. Ho noticed a sedate animal begin suddenly to give a lively display of “ high spirits,” and found on examination that an irritating substance had been placed under its tail. He noticed a groom extract something from his mouth and give it to a horse just about to enter tho show ring. An inspection showed that chewed ginger was being used as a stimulant. The worst oase was that of a man who gave his horso a dose of capsicum, or essence of cayenne, just beforo it faced the judges. The pain made the animal nearly frantic, and tho grooms had great difficulty in getting it into the ring. A series of prosecutions was tho outcome of tho inspector’s observations, and tlio magistrate sent tho user of capsicum to prison for six weeks without the option of a fine.

There is ono good thing about the Reform Government. There may be others, but they are not so obvious as this one is. It is amenable to reason—when the reason is backed up by a fair number of votes. When tho Minister of Finance returned from his trip to London ho announced that ho could do nothing for the teachers this year as he had been too busy floating the most successful loan that had over been raised to attend to anything else. A little pressure was applied by the representatives of four thousand electors and Mr Allen found it possible to put £12,000 on the Estimates for tho distressed teachers. A little more pressure was applied and he managed to make adequate provision for their immediate needs. The Postmaster-General is also a reasonable man. Ho scouted the idea of having weather reports telephoned from Hanmer to tho Christchurch newspapers. The Treasury could not stand tho strain. Pressure was again applied by a small number of voters in the Hurunui district who had to bo won from their allegiance to Mr Forbes, and Mr Rhodes very sensibly followed the example of his pliant colleague. Weather reports from Hanmer will appear in the daily newspapers in futruro and the Treasury will stand tho strain as test it can. Tho Reformers are no longer jeering at Ministers for finding out what tho electors want and then giving it to them. Tliis is now a settled part of their own policy.

The discussion of land monopoly in tho Mother Country is bringing to light some striking facts regarding tho treatment accorded the small farmers by tho groat landlords. A typical case is 'that of a renowned Scottish Earl, who decided to build a new mansion on one of his big estates. Whon his building had reached its second storey a little thatched cottage nestling in a hollow came into view, and tho Earl gave instructions at once that this “ blot” on tho landscape should be removed. The oottage had been occupied for a century and a half by a family which hold a small farm on a yearly tenancy. The farm had been a morass when first taken up, but successive generations had drained and improved it —and paid tho increased rent demanded by the titled landlord as tho value of the property grew. Tho tenants wero given notice to quit, and had to leave without receiving a penny of compensation. Then tho cottage was pulled down and tho Earl was enabled to look out of bis upper windows without having his eyo offended by a thatched roof and a wisp of smoke. Mr Lloyd George is going to try to make such an act of injustioo impossible in the future.

During tho course of his speech in the Financial debate the member for Avon drew some striking comparisons between Mr Allen’s “ marvellous coup” on the London money market and other loans raised about the same time. Now South Wales raised £3,000,000 at 4 per cent, and got £99 10s, or 30s per £IOO more than New Zealand did, and Tasmania, with a to® ll of £1,300,00 at tho same price, beat Mr Allen’s record by £1 per cent, getting £99. South Africa, with her rather disturbing political and industrial problems, secured £4,000,000 at 4 P or ■cut at par, or £2 per £IOO better

than the price imposed upon Now Zealand. The only British dominion borrowing at 4 per cent that had to be content with £9B was Victoria, but in that notable instance the loan has a currency of only nine years. Victoria’s Treasurer did not have to commit his country to this comparatively high rate of interest for more than a generation, or possibly for two generations. Mr Allen, on tho other hand, did. Tho Prime Minister’s reply to Mr Russell’s indictment of Reform finance was that a photograph of tho members of tho Mackenzie Government looked to him for all tho world like a picturo of a company of undertakers. No wonder the member for Taumarunui, poor Mr Wilson, choked with merriment over his chief’s statesmanlike retort.

The variety performers who object to appearing on a stage with Jack Johnson, coloured prize-fightor and abductor, have reason and decency on their side, but the music-hall standard in matters of the kind has become very low in late years. Association with a divorco suit appears to bo regarded 03 a recommendation for employment by half the managers in Britain and America, to say nothing of other countries, and persons who have been connected with notorious crimes seem able to rely upon engagements to sing comio songs nightly at attractive salaries. Johnson’s recent record is peculiarly unsavoury, and probably would prevent him appearing as a publio entertainer in the United States, where racial prejudices are highly developed. But it is to be feared the British managers know t-heir public wlion they assume that he will attract audiences in the cities of the United Kingdom.

It fs some consolation, in these days of naval rivalry, to learn that the marksmanship of the British Navy is steadily improving. Tho ultimate test of a gun and of the men behind it is hitting power, and so long as this is satisfactory it really does not matter a great deal if the steel band at the muzzle of tho weapon is dull or the silver plate in tho wardroom unpolished. Ono remarkable feature of the return showing tho results pf the gunlayers’ tests in the British Navy last year is that the larger tho gun the more accurate the shooting. On vessels which are generally known as Dreadnoughts, to distinguish them from other big ships, tho number of hits was, to tho Britisher at all events, very gratifying. The percentage of the larger guns was as follows:—l3.s- - 57.9 per cent; 12-inch, 51.3 per cent; 9.2-inch, 63.2 per cent; 7.5-inch, 47.1 per cent; 6-inch, 50.9. It is estimated that motel aggregating 403,7501 b was fired, and that 233,0001 b, or 57.7 per cent, hit the target. In one of his books Rudyard Kipling tells of the officer who, if a shot fell short, used to remind the gunner that the British Admiralty did not supply him with shrapnel for the purposo of shooting mackerel. Even that keen advocate of correct shooting would have had little scope for his sarcasm during the latest naval teste.

Tho bias, conscious or unconscious, of the cablo agent in favour of the Conservative Party is shown in the message relating to the Chesterfield byelection. Tho seat has been won by Mr Kenyon, the Liberal-Labour candidate, who has secured a majority of nearly 1200 over his Conservative opponent, in spite of the presence of a Socialist in the field as a vote-splitting factor. Tho figures toll their own story, but the compiler of the cablegrams thinks it necessary to decloro that Home Rule was “ hardly mentioned in the Chesterfield election campaign.” If the Conservative candidate had won, every Unionist newspaper in Britain would have claimed that the electors of Chesterfield had pronounced against Home Rule. The Ministerialist, having gained a sweeping victory, the Empire is asked to. believe that Chesterfield has not expressed an opinion favourable to the most prominent plank in the Government’s platform.'

Recently a French aviator established a long distance record by flying from Paiis to St Petersburg and back, and now another venturesome spirit is preparing to “go one bettor.” Mr G. M. Difalt, who at present is making crosscountry flights in South America, intends in October next to attempt the journey from Great Britain to India. The undertaking is conditional upon a guarantee fund being raised, and already £IOOO has been subscribed. The proposed route is by way of Franco, Sicily, Alexandria, Cairo, Khartoum, Suakim, Aden and Karachi, and at tho end of the journey it is proposed to present the machine to the Indian Government. This is not tho only long distance effort under consideration. Tho “ Scientific American ” is responsible for the statement that Count von Zeppelin is building liis largest dirigible with a view to crossing the Atlantio. The journal states that the count expects to make tho trip in from thirty to sixty hours, and that German warships will be distributed along the route to render assistance should it bo needed. In matters of aviation New Zealand lags far behind. No ono has yet flown across the Avon, let alone Cook Strait.

Time will show if the dreadful charges now being made against the Bulgarian troops can te supported by evidence. Certainly they are not easily credible. Several foreign newspaper correspondents claim to have entered Adrianoplo within a few hours of the surrender of tho town to tho Bulgarians, and foreign consuls wero on the scene all tho time. Yet no whisper of the hideous outrages described in the cablegrams reached tho world at the time. The charges are being brought forward now at a moment when Servia, Greeco and Turkey, and possibly Russia, have an interest in discrediting Bulgaria in the eyes of Europe, and they must bo received with all the reserve that is proper in tho case of partisan narratives. If tho Bulgarians should bo proved guilty, they will forfeit the esteem they won by their magnificent efforts in the war with Turkey.