CURRENT TOPICS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 9188, 13 April 1910, Page 6

CURRENT TOPICS.

(By Fbank Morton.)

Being at .present in Auckland, I am' a little out of the' running as to tho Mayoral contest in Wellington; but advices from the south confirm me in the opinion expressed some weeks ago - That Mr Wilford is by far the best man offering for the vacancy. I have frequently had reason to make gentle fun of Mr Wilford as a politician. He is a little easy and a little loud, and he is apt, to talk his loudest when there arc many ladies in the gallery. These, after all, arc amiable weaknesses enough, and they don't detract in any way from Mr Wilford's excellent general qualities. He is, to start with, a worker. Although he was Chairman of Committees in .Parliament last session, ho found time, or made time, to attend 62 meetings of the Harbour Board and to attend in his office as Chairman of the Harbour Board 131 times on other matters. On the Harbour Board, indeed, Mr Wilford did admirable work, \vor>c that cannot fail to commend him to the citizens of Wellington during this present contest. He is sound on all matters of municipal finance. "This is not a flush year." he says, "and we can't lead a champagne life 011 a beer income' simile that will appeal with pathetic force to all tired legislators "who have lived within sound of Bellamy's. Further. Mr Wilford lias well defined anc! remarkable social qualities. He will make an ideal Mftyor from the decorative standpoint. In any case, ho is the best man * offering, and for that reason, the man the citizens should elect. I don t think there is any" doubt that ho will bo elected.

PEOPLE IN BOATS.

The sad boating fatality at Castlecliff on Sunday emphasises the fact that the most careful people arc often careless of their life in boats. The less knowledge a man lias of a boat and of tho management-' of a boat, the greater, as a. rule, is His confidence. The beginner will cheerfully take risks that the seasoned hand would not dream of taking. There seems to be no doubt at all that these poor folk at Castlecliff were crossing tho river mouth in circumstances and under conditions that made the greatest skill in the handling of the boat necessary. The boat was flat-bottomed. There was a strong current down, which met a strong sea-swell at the entrance and caused a nasty "jobblc/' Becoming alarmed, the party sought to reiui-JT. That move, of course, was fatal. The boati 6i')ce broadside on, capsized. Needless to say, no flat-bottomed boat ought ever to have got into fitch a position unless it wero under control of thoroughly skilled hands. But tho thing is done, 'and there is little to be gained from talking about it. The lesson of it is that unskilled people should not fool about in boats. But that is the lesson taught by cvev boating fatality cf the kind for hundreds of years past, and the unskilled- folk still go their' foolish way. Some lessons, it seems, humanity cannot learn. When I think of my own early boating days, I shudder still. I remember sailing down the treacherous Lane Cover River in Sydney in a boat full of girls with every sheet fast knotted. Later than that, in Singapore. Cowen end I used to borrow a. crazy sailing boat from the police, and put out into tho Straits in all sorts of weather at all hours of the day and night. _No man would dream of doing such things once he knows anything of boating. It would seem that there is a special Providence for tho duffer, but that that Providence sometimes tires. When it tires, we hear of these disasters.

THE NEW GOVERNOR. Sir John Dickson-Poynder, who is to succeed Lord Plunkct as Governor of New Zealand, is a somewhat undistinguished gentleman with military experience. He entered the British Parliament as a Conservative in 1892, and became a Liberal when it suited him in 1900. He was for several years a member of the London County Council, but achieved no sort of prominence there. And he is, alas! only a baronet. Further, his true and original name is merely jJohn Dickson. Ho assumed the name of Poynder when ho succeeded to certain property left him by his mother's uncle in 1888".

Tho fact is that having to do all that the Governor of New Zealand has to do, Sir John Dickson-Poynder will doubtless do well enough. He is a soldier, and the new order is plainly that all Colonial Governors on this side shall be either naval or military men. I suppose that ho was tho most promising soldier available for this vacancy. DR. McCALL. "Sir Frederick Cowcn's Festival of Empire Orchestra is visiting 12 English and Scottish Cities," and the cablegram tells us, "Mr McCall (Agent-General for Tasmania), delivers an Imperial address each evening." I can imagine him doing it. McCall is a good fellow and a good friend of mine, who helped me in a thousand ways during the period of my Tasmanian sojourn. He is a confirmed enthusiast. He was an enthusiast for Australian Fcdera- ' tion. When the Federation was consummated he became enthusiastic for all" sorts of other things. Now that he has settled in London as Agent-General for his little island, he has naturally become an enthusiast for Imperialism. His idea of travelling with a concert company to deliver speeches on matters of Imperial concern is delightfully characteristic and original. Dr. McCall is of sturdy build and a rubicund countenance. Except when he is in conventional evening dress, he invariably wears the frock ooat and silk hat of our possible 'effete civilisation. But there is nothing effete about Dr. McCall. He is virile in his every atom. A crisp and forceful speaker, he has great personal magnetism, and his personal popularity always counted for much, in his political success. In short," Tasmania is far better served in the matter of an Agent-General than New Zealand is just now in the niatter of her High Commissioner. AUCKLAND. We arc having perfcct weather here in Auckland. Given perfect weather, there could be no finer place than Auckland in which to spend a holiday. now the place is altogether delightful.' Yesterday, for instance, I spent the day with friends at Lake Takapuna. It was the finest day I have known in New Zealand: true Ilobart weather: pleasant heat tempered by a soft breeze of perfectly delicious coolness. Everybody seemed happy and everybody had reason to be. For an Auckland Sunday, you must understand, is not at all like a

Wellington Sunday. The trams run. There are boats going on excursions to the various waterside resorts. The beaches are thronged. I suppose it is the climate that makes the difference, but the Wellington ideal of a dead Sunday does not obtain at all in Auckland.

Otherwise, I see no reason yet to modify the opinions I expressed of Auckland when I was hero nearly two years ago. The people are hospitable to the last degree, the climate is delightful, the,, scenery is charming. The thing I remarked this time, as I remarked last time, is that this charming climate makes for sleepiness. There is literally no rush in Auckland. Nobody hustles, and nobody worries. Everybody seems perfectly willing to do business and bccome active —to-morrow. The people havo a somewhat defective sense of their personal responsibilities. The gods have given them every good tiling, but they arc for ever crying to bo spoon-fed. Auckland is a city of amiable grumblers. Of course, the Government comes in for most of the grumbling, and I havo to admit-at once that in some, matters Auckland has very genuine grievances against the Government. But Auckland merely grumbles, and at that stops. No. Government or •Corporation was ever injured,- impressed, or seriously embarrassed by empty grumbling. Auckland lacks the energy required to make its grievances felt. Its natural indolence retards its natural This indolence is probably accountable I for the fact that Auckland will put up | with anything. It puts up with the

filthiest trams on earth. It puts up with roads to the north that a disgrace to our civilisation. It puts_ up with all sorts of things that Dunedin and Wellington Vould never dream of putting up with —things that even Christchuroh would get fierce about. The condition of -the trams is positively inexcusable. -I never saw trams so dirty before, even in Asia. I don't know why these things should be, but I do know that the-yi, will continue to be just so long as Auck-| land is content to put up with them.

OLD FRIENDS

These are small islands, so that one meets one's friends everywhere. On Saturday I mot, quite casually, an Englishman I have known in various places over half the world. He has lived in Capri, in Cairo, in Naples, in Vienna, in Venice, and all sorts of other places like that; and he assured me that ho was living in Aucklahd just now merely because he considered Auckland the best bally place in Australasia to live in. Just this morning I met in the street Mr J. Loudon, an ex-Mayor of Dunedin, and one of the most cheerful and progressive public men of the Southern city. He passes through to Rotorua with his wife on a holiday. Over at Takapuna is MiDavid J. Nathan, of Wellington. He had a pretty bad nervous breakdown a while ago, and a period of absolute rest was ordered, as imperative in his case. In a few weeks, Rotorua and Auckland have restored him wonderfully. Ho says he is. beginning to feel as .fit as ever and already looks forward with some eagerness to a return to the hurly-burly.

''WIRELESS." I spent Saturday out at Epsom, with an old Singaporo friend, who- was chief electrician to tho Eastern Extension Cable Co. when I was out there in tho sun. We had a very good time out there, for though my friend is very religious, and I am, well, not very religious, we had many things in common. Incidentally, my friend had a few things to say about wireless telegraphic systems. "Don't let anybody persuade you," he said, "that the cable systems will ever be done away, with, unless some discovery is made of which we have no inkling at this time. Certain very gravo defects or handicaps arc indissociable from all' wireless systems. Why, they arc passing a law in the United States even now to prevent amateurs playing tricks with the ether. Over and over again, often, for hours at a time, the official wireless systems have proved utterly useless, merely bscau4e amateurs have been fooling with private instruments, mixing messages. 'cutting in' arid generally playing havoc. I think it' will* prove very difficult to devise a law that will guard the official, systems absolutely against this pest of the amateur. In any case, it is proved beyond question that it is easily possible for the mischievous outsider at any time to take possession of the ether and send a jabber of nonsense to the instruments "operating in all directions. It is quite impossible that any such nuisance could arise, to any 6uc-h extent, with*th© cable system. It is true that land wires may be tapped, and messages filched in that way; and it is equally true that cables may be picked up and cut in time of war. But I have always insisted that the remedy for that must lie in the use of what I can only call 'secret cables.' Thero seems to ho no reason at all why the British power should not h(j,vo a system of official cables whose tracks and directions could be kept secret. At present I have no doubt at all that everyone of the Powers has_ complete information as to the precise position of every British-owned cable. In these circumstances, ft is always comparatively easy to interrupt communications in war time, since it must alwa.vs be extremely difficult to guard a cable effectively throughout its entire length; but with "secret cables, it would be almost impossible to interrupt communications. Mind you, I do not in the least deny tho extraordinarily high value of the wireless systems. For the use of ships at sea, 'wireless' is absolutely invaluable. Despite tho grave defects that can bo urged against it, it must be of great value during naval warfare. But for the ordinary purposes of telegraphic communication I insist that tho wireless system can never supersede tho cable systems. The American idea of apportioning certain hours of the day during which the ether shall lie reserved for official use seems to mc to be absolutely impracticable. The very enthusiasm of the amateur makes it impossible 10 keep him within duo bounds. Equilly potent is tho curiosity of the amateur. It is a- very fascinating thing this sport of catching messages in the trackless ether. The amateur then is one of tho lions in tho path. While the amateur site at his instrument, the public can have no possible security for the privacy of its messages. With tho cable svstems and the land wire systems, tho public has remarkable, if not absolute, security. It is an extraordinary thing, a thing that tends to strengthen one's faith in human nature, how slight a leakage there is from the telegraphic service. With complete confidence, men trust to the wires messages that involve huge interests, messages ■ that often enough go to tho root of established reputations ind groat enterprises. And the wires, prove trustworthy. I have yet to meet trie business man who is afraid to trust the telegraph office. But what a difference there would be if tho business man knew that any one of a thousand irresponsible amateurs could cut him and intercept his message. It would mean, the complete wreckage of the telegraphic system, as we now understand it. So, one way and another, I don't think that the shareholders of the various great Cable Co.'s need have-any anxiety about the value of their scrip."

THE GOVERNMENT. ' I have been greatly interested to note how complete the unpopularity of the Government has become right through this Auckland district. I suppose that there are Government supporters somewhere. but for tho lifa of me I can't find them. Setting aside as negligible th'is littlo agitation about the Kriyvett grievance, there remains a solid body of rather bitter discontent. Aucklanders feel that the Government is worse than indifferent to the needs and interests of Auckland. Aucklanders say that tho Governm6nt does not care a scrap about Auckland, being content to/ rely on the support of the south. The Knyvett grievance, ho\vever insignificerit it .may be on a general view, has availed to bring this discontent to a head. If there were a general election to-morrow I do not believe that tho Government would win a single seat in tho north. I know that Auckland is super-sensitive, but that admission does not affect the main fact — the fact that Auckland at this time has had enough of the Government. Auckland's super-sensitiveness is sometimes very quaint. Once a month or so a P. and O. steamer puts into Auckland and remains a few hours. Lately there was some talk of these ships calling alternately at Auckland and at Wellington. This talk distressed Auckland greatly. But now we havo the P. a,nd O. Company's assurance that the ship's shall continue to call at Auckland only. Auckland breathes again.