TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume 9162, Issue 9162, 11 March 1910, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

While the British Empire has teen talking about various China's schemes of Imperial Awakening, organisation and the representation of its colonies in London, the Chinese Empire, supposed to be the least progressive of nations, has actually.made provision for an Imperial Parliament. In seven or eight years a Chinese M.P. from New Zealand, or whatever is the equivalent in China, will represent his exiled countrymen in a constitutional assembly! in Pekin, side by side with Chinese fellow members from Australia, America, and other countries, and with the larger body of compatriot legislators who have never pined in absence from the Flowery Land. It is now two years since a decree was issued that China was to have a representative parliament in ten years. The authorities noAV wish, the Chinese Consul in New Zealand, Mr Yung Liang Ehvang, informed a reporter, to accelerate this consummation. The Consul, with other Chinese Consuls overseas, has been asked to take a census of his countrymen within his jurisdiction, as a first step towards their representation in the proposed assembly. There will probably be one representative for New Zealand, and the suffrage is a very limited one. If there are any Chinese Socialists, which one may doubt, they may be expected to cry aloud in the fruit markets against the iniquities of the proposed franchise, for the Imperial authorities of China, who have considered the forms of government in all lands, have decided that the British system of "one man one vote" is not desirable. "No hoodlums or larrikins will be allowed to vote," Mr Hwang explains. The following restrictions apply alike to voting and to candidature :—No Chinese may become a candidate or exercise a vote who is of doubtful character or dishonest, who hae received a term in gaol, who is not earning his living by a respectable calling, who is in debt or untrustworthy, who smokes opium, who is insane, whose home or family is not of virtuous standing, who is illiterate. It will thus be seen that China should have a Parliament with somewhat more dignity and character than the national assemblies of other lands. Tourists and others who visit this country are not New Zealanders' always complimenHospitality. tary in their re-

marks about New Zealanders, and it ie therefore quite refreshing to find a traveller who has a good opinion of the people and is recommending the Dominion as a der sirable holiday spot for those who can avail themselves of its advantages. 1 The visitor we refer to is a resident of Singapore who spent some time in this country, and appears to have had a most enjoyable experience, judging by his remarks. He writes:—"As travelling companions the,people are delightful. They are friendly, but not familiar, and make you feel at home at once. They are as hospitable as the Irish; you are always welcome at the house of a New Zealander, and when he invites you he means it and wishes you to come. They may be a bit narrow-minded (an accusation brought against them recently, I believe, by Mr Foster Fraser), but much of this is due to their exceptionally isolated position. Sydney, the nearest large city, is over 1200 miles away by sea, and steamship rates are high, thereby rendering a visit to that city prohibitive to the people with a big "P." But, and to their credit be it said, they know their own country from A. to Z. At Home where facilities for knowing one's native land are far greater, it is a common thing to find an Englishman unfamiliar with many of the large centres, but in NewZealand the people of Dunedin visit Auckland and vice versa; Wellingtonians trip down to Christchurch and up to Auckland. . Indeed, it is quite safe to say that a large percentage of New Zealanders are thoroughly acquainted with their four large cities, Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin." The above is complimentary, but whether New Zealanders know their own country to the extent imagined is problematical. There are thousands of colonials who have never seen its thermal wonders and seem to have little inclination to view them, which is very regrettable, as a New Zealander cannot possibly know too much about his own country-

Then our visitor has something to say on the question of The Tipping hotel management. System. The curse of hotel

life in America and some other countries is the wretched system of tipping, but no complaint is made in this respect of New Zealand. The writer says:—"One thing which struck. me particularly during my wanderings was the absence of the 'tip.' At only one hotel did I see an evident anticipation of one, and this hotel was in an out of the way spot, and mostly frequented by globe trotters who accustom the attendants to an expectation of a pourboire. The New Zealander himself does not encourage tipping. The servants I found courteous-; slightly casual perhaps, and the same may be said of the hotel managers, but then they expect you to be the same, and if you will but meet them on their own ground all goes well. The mistake is to try and apply old traditions to a new "country where class prejudices exist but slightly, if at all. Taken all round, the colonial housemaid or waitress is a far pleasanter person j than her English eister; but do not mistake her freedom with yon for familiarity or forwardness. It is nothing of the kind; it is merely the result of a freer upbringing." There is sound commonsense in the writer's remarks about applying old country customs to a new country, and it is undoubtedly the attempt of English visitors to bring them into vogue that causes so much unpleasantness and interferes with their enjoyment in a land where freedom is preferred to servility. Colonials are not wanting in respect, and those who endeavour to understand them have no cause for complaint on that score.