TOWN EDITION. The Ensign. GORE : THURSDAY, JANUARY 9,1896.

Mataura Ensign, Issue 82, 9 January 1896, Page 2

TOWN EDITION. The Ensign. GORE : THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 1896.

Pensions in their way, properly' bestowed, are excellent institutions, but have in times past-, as well pensions. as in later days, been somewhat overdone by , the various governments of this colony. The pensioners of the New Zealand Government to-day, include among their number many estimable gentlemen who really do not need a pension, and who possess no better claim to the country's bounty than we ourselves, save that by a combination of happy circumstances they were placed at one time in positions of importance, wliicb, while their tenure of office lasted, they filled creditably, and when it ceased they were donated an everlasting reminder of the fact, in the shape of a substantial pension by a grateful Government, much in the same way as a mistress would give her chief housemaid a " character," when the latter loft her employ. Because a man has onoe done you a good turn, it does not follow that you are eternally under an- obligation to him, but it would really seem as if such were the case in the matter of the State, and some of its erstwhile officials. Aristooratio ex civil-servants, for perhaps a decade of more than usually successful service, have, in some instance?, drawn princely pensions without a blush, while the humble railway employee, who, in the performance of his more obacure duties has the misfortune to lose an arm or a leg, must find other employment suited to his maimed condition; or cast himself into the embrace of the cold, gaunt arms of charity, so-called. We will readily concede ' however, that men holding such positions as jadgeshipp, magistracies and the like, when old age or infirmities preclude a continuance of their services, should be provided for during the remainder of their days by the State, if their circumstances are such that they are wholly, or in part, dependant upon the remuneration they receive for the discharge of their important functions, but on no other aocount. A few months back, it will be remembered that continued ill-health necessitated Mr 0. £. Hawson's retirement from the Magisterial Bench. Mr Eawgon's failing health was universally regretted, and Mr McCarthy was appointed as his successor, and the incident, as far as the general public were concerned, was at an end. It was with no little surprise that on Tuesday wo learned that Mr ftswsoa had commenced practice at Invercargill as a barrister and solioitor. Pensions are awarded upon the understanding that the recipients are no longer able to engage in' the active labors of life, and Mr IJawson's broEen health at the time of his retirement certainly indicated that such was his condition. While we do not for one moment disputehis right to embark in business, butit would afrt'u'niy. be a deep disgrace upon the Government if their parisimony had been the cause of his entering into competition with- the members of an already overcrowded profession. If this is not so, and the state of Mr Bawson's bealt-Q was not such aswonld preventhimfromundertaking the arduous duties of his new calling, he should in all fairness forego further claims to a pension and be content with (he thanks of the country he served so well in his Magisterial capacity. Counoimob Maeti-n, at the Council meeting on Monday night, ventilated a long-standing and seridanqeb signals, ous public grievance in drawing attention to the danger to which residents generally are exposed on the Mersey Street railway crossing while shunting is goigg on. These operations — rendered necessary, no doubt, by tho growing commercial imporcadce of this town— are carried oa for the best part of every week day, and, singularly enough, that portiou of tha railway premises most used during shunting is the spot referred to and complained of. Although the utmost care is taken by the railway officials!, almost any pedestrian who has not his wits about him', is liable to be caught by a string of flying trucks or an engine. The danger is most imminent to those crossing the line who uso the footpath by the Post Office, as the high fence ou the Bide conceals from view ony vehicles that may be approaching from the northern end of the yard. No serious accidents have oocurred on this crossing, for wh ; ch fao*, however, we have little to thank the Railway Department, as tho spot is in about as dangerouß a oondition as is possible to conceive. The upshot of the Council's deliberations on the matter was that the railway authorities are to be requested to place an electrio bell at the crossing, similar to the one in use at the Dunedin Station yard, which will warn all and' sundry of the approach of train?, etc. Whether this request will be- complied with or not remains yet to be seen, but the need of something in the shape of a danger signal there is day by day becoming more imperative. Owing to the entrance to the goods yard and many mercantile premises necessitating carters using the Mersey street crossing, the local Jehus have also no small grievance arising oat of the amount of shunting done. It is no uncommon thing to see several waggons and carts on either side of the line delayed for five or ten minutes at a time awaiting their opportunity to get across, An electric bell or any other danger signal would do but little to afford them any relief in the matter, but compared with the risk to life and limb run by pedestrians at this spot afe present, the carriers' troubles are very slight indeed. The advent of summer in this colony invariably brings in its train a melancholy chapter of drowning swimming, fatalities. More than usually numerous have been the deaths from this cause this autntner, the victims in most cases having beeu unable to swim. During the past five weeks not a day has passed but what has brought the sorrowful tidings of three or four fatal bathing or boating accidents in different places. In the majority of these oases an ability to swim on the part of the victims would have saved valuablo lives, and with these bitter experiences regularly brought home to them) the wonder of it is that the Government has not long since made the acquirement of the art of self-preserva° -tion a factor in the ordinary school curriculum. Daring childhood and early . youth, is the best time foe the assimilation j

of every kind of knowledge, and what avails it though the man who is oapiized from a boat should be the greatest mathematician of the day if he cannoc swim? Our high schools and colleges have long recognised .the eminent usefulness of swimming, and ip most cases it is a feature for 89 regular -instruction as .arithmetic or grammar. Few public schools are out, of reach of & suitable piece;pf water, and we would again urge it, upon school committees that they use evf ry possible endeavour to efEeot a spread of the incalculable advantages possessed by those who number the ability to swim among their other accomplishments. Thottgh, by his hare-brained action, Dr Jameson set millitary and political commands at defiance, and ds jameson. struck a fell blow to British colonising prospects in the Transvaal, tbe plnok and determination of he and his little bandrebels though they be, according to the approved code of military ethics — one cannot quite repress some feeling of admiration for those of our misguided countrymen who made such a gallant stand in the face of overwhelming odd?. That a force of 460 Britons should stubbornly set their faces against the foe. who numbered 2700, continue fighting them for 36 hours, and surrendering only when the last cartridge was expended, proves beyond shadow of a doubt that the dayg of England's martial glory have i not departed, neither has the courage of j her sons waned during all the. years of peace that have passed. The Boers, it would seem, during the encounter occupied) the higher ground of the hilly* country in whioh the battle was fought, and with such effect did their rifles fulfill their deadly missions That Dr Jameson, time and time again was dislodged j from his position, and when the' Boers' victory was assured,' nearly half/ of-, the " thin' red streak " which started on that insane journey had fallen in the bootless fight. That Dr Jameson's action was in some way prompted by the- Hon. Cecil Bhodes wonld appear apparent by the tatter's resignation of the Premiership of Gape Colony ia consequence of the affair. The Home Press appears unanimous in the opinion that concerted action is being taken by the other nations represented in South Africa, to prejudice England's interests and damage her prospests, bur, so far, nothing very definite has transpired, and an armed truce obtain?.