NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16602, 14 July 1914, Page 6

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Two letters from correspondents in this issuo oil the question of religious instruction in schools call for a few words. The Rev J. R. Hewlaud takes exception to the view expressed in a recent editorial in this journal that religion being essentially an individual matter there is danger in making its teaching part of our compulsory system of education. Tho correspondent says that it is not proposed to make religious teaching compulsory. If this can be established it will certainly be a relief to a largo percentage of the touchers. These men and women are for tho most part seriously disturbed by what is proposed in the Referendum Bill, as witness the protests that are being made by them in all parts of tho dominion. Mr Hewland asks, What is the difference in principle between a majority of members of Parliament settling this question and a majority of the electors? This might be combated not unreasonably with another question: Why refer the matter to the peoplo when there is a representative Parliament qualified to determine it? But as a matter of fact the members of the House, of Representatives know that this is a question of conscience

iii which they are not justified in exercising authority. That is why a succession of Parliaments has taken the negative course of keeping tho national system of education secular, since it is compulsory. Even the Government of the day—the Ministers of the Crown with their sense of high responsibility—daro not express an opinion, as a Government, upon tho question. The other letter referred to, that of “C.L.,” raises the point that Parliament has no mandate from tho electors to pass a Referendum Bill. Side-track-ing, for the moment, tho fact that the present Government has no mandate | to do anything, since it has not tho backing of a majority of voters, and allowing that the Referendum Bill is not a Government measure although it is fathered by tho Minister of Education, there is a good deal in the objection raised by the correspondent. The objection is not vital, because the Legislature must in the nature of tilings be called upon sometimes to handle important subjects upon which tho constituencies have not been consulted ; but in this case ft would be quite reasonable to allow tho question to stand over until after the general election so soon to be held. The advocates of religious instruction in the schools, ns it is proposed in tho Referendum Bill, are unquestionably earnest people, convinced that they are pushing a movement for the good of the community, but tho vigorous opposition that the crusade is encountering is in itself a fair argument for hastening slowly. The question of superannuation for employees raised by a correspondent in this morning’s “Lyttelton Times” is one of great importance as well as interest. It will probably be worth while to see how the subject is treated at the Municipal Conference opening in Wellington to-day. It is one of the large difficulties of the existing system of industry that working men and women, who are, of course, of most use in their years of physical and mental prime, and have to givo placo to'others when advancing years render their employment unprofitable, too often find themselves then in poor circumstances. The principle of superannuation should bo applied as generally ns possible. Local bodies have the statutory authority to do this, and a fow, of which tho Wellington Harbour Board is tho pioneer, have established superannuation schemes. The discussion at the Conference may encourage others to do likewise. The correspondent suggests that the National Provident Fund is capable of extension, and this idea is certainly worth careful consideration. It was always tho hope of the Ward Government, which passed tho Act, that the scheme would prove but the beginning of one having much wider scope and application. In Germany and some other countries insurance against old ago is compulsory, which is obviously the only way to make it universal. No doubt when the Liberals return to power in New Zealand this phase of social reform will receive sympathetic treatment. Tho National Provident Fund ought to be capable of wide extension. At tho present time participation in its benefits and advantages is open to only a limited section of the community, but the principlo is sound and the scheme is valuable even in its restricted use. The present Act, however, can certainly not bo accepted ns tho last word on tho subject. , Tho cabled report from Pekin that tho smuggling of Persian opium into I China has become a regular trade sug- 1 gests that the interdiction of tho legal j traffic in this drug may revive a state of things resembling that which pre- j vailed in tho old days before Britain by force of arms compelled the Chinese Government to admit opium. From 1 tho very beginning of the importation ' of opium into China the trade was op- j posed by the rulers, who quickly real- . iscd tho injury it did their people. 1 War junks were specially fitted out for the repression of the traffic,'but in the 1 end John Bull’s strong right arm won 1 a way for his smugglers, and a contra- - band traffic was made legal commerce } by a policy which the British termed j bold and masterful, but which rude and , perhaps envious foreigners called bully- s ing. In a very interesting book on i “ The China Clippers,” just published, Mr Basil Lubbock, the well-known iiau- 1 tieal writer, gives an account of tho j opium smuggling business, which was j at its zenith from 1846 to 1860. Mr c Lubbock docs not concern himself with i the ethics of the trade, but he gives * unstinted praise to tho men and the j ships engaged in the drug-running ( business by tho enterprising British, i American and Parseo firms. The ; trade, ho says, produced some very fast and beautiful ships, and it trained ! an incomparable race of seamen. In 1 such a hazardous duty, swift keels and • uncommonly skilful and plucky sailors ‘ were a necessity. ‘ t The officers of tho opium clippers, c says Mr Lubbock, were carefully pick- f ed. In tho British vessels many of f them were ex-naval men, and there was j evidently as great a competition for appointments as there was for the ser- ( vico of tho East India Company. ‘ The <■ pay was enticingly high. “Tho cap- f tains, if they succeded in avoiding cap- 1 ture, very soon made fortunes and | retired. The clippers carried double | crews, composed of all nationalities, , but amongst whom there were always c to bo found a sprinkling of deserters from the Royal Navy, drawn by the ] luro of high pay and promise of excite- £ ment. Discipline had, of course, to be ( very strict; gun and cutlass drill form- j ed a regular part of tho routine while , smartness in sail-handling was a matter l of esprit de corps.” Tho vessels en- 1 gaged in the running of opium from Calcutta to Hong Kong, Amoy and f other ports, whence it was distributed c along the coast and up the rivers, were ! small craft, mostly brigs and schooners, with a few barques and only one . ship, the celebrated Falcon; but size • was ’not required, for their only cargo i was opium and silver specie. The chief British firms engaged in r tho trade were Jardine, Matheson and t Co and' Dent and Co., whose estab- f iishments at Hong Kong m the fifties \ are described as magnificent. Tho risks £ were great, for not only the mandarins’ war junks, but the piratical lorchns l were always on tho look-out for such y rich prizes, lying becalmed. However, « all the smugging c ™ f t were supplied £ with 40ft sweeps, which were run out v of the gun-ports, and with six men at C

each would send a schooner along at three or four knots an hour. The little ship Falcon, 350 tons, which had been Lord Yarborough’s yacht, mounted a broadside of eleven guns, and resembled a small corvette. Those were the days of smuggling de luxe. The opium-runners of to-day necessarily will work on different lines, but that they will mako it a profitable trade is pretty certain. Where there is a will there is a way for the runner of contraband, as recent events in Ulster have abundantly prqven.