CASUAL NOTES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 47, 24 January 1936, Page 8

CASUAL NOTES

(By “The Watcher.”) DEATH OF THE KING. The ominous news of the illness of the King, with the serious details given by cable, had prepared us for the sad event, the news of which reached us early on Tuesday, of his death. As New Zealand time is approximately 12 hours ahead of English time we received the news a few minutes after His Majesty had breathed his last. So passes from mortal ken the greatest man on the earth. Al lien the hand of death beckons wo all must obey, from the King of Kings to the beggar. Not only throughout the Empire over which he ruled —an Empire which comprises one-fourth of the world space of land, and over onefourth of the total population of the globe—but in every nation and people the news would be heard and read with grief and sorrow, for in the quarter century of his reign he had endeared himself to humanity. He was head of -a nation that stands lor liberty, justice and freedom. His public and private life were ■ unspotted. His sympathies were world-wide, and not confined merely to his own people. He leaves memories that will belong to the world for its uplifting and regeneration. Born on June 3, 1865, he recently passed his seventieth year, and as he became King on the death of his father, Edward VII, on May 6, 1910, lie reigned 25* years, as compared with the nine years of his father, and the 63 years of liis grandmother, Victoria the Good. The statement made by the Prime Minister (Air Savage) was in every way worthy ol the occasion, whilst the Civil Service, under the strict rule of precedent which governs such matters, also brought the whole Dominion into line. THE SUCCESSION. Our Sovereign being a constitutional hereditary monarch, tne Prince of Wales, being the heir to the Throne at once steps up to it. “Ihe King is dead. Bong live the iving!" expresses the position, both do jure and do facto. Dentil comes to all, out life goes on. Under our unwritten Constitution there is no room lor jealousy', dispute, or doubt. There can be no other claimant to the royal robes and Crown. To be known as Jtdward Viii., the former Prince of AVales is over 41 years of age, having been born on 23rd June, idu4, and is thus well on to middle age, and is besides a" man of strong personality. That he will follow in the footsteps of liis father as a constitutional monarch is certain. His actions during the past few years in personally visiting the slums in order to ■study the lives of the occupiers show wide practical sympathy. In many other ways he has already made liis mark. AAliilst therefore we mourn over the loss of our beloved King, we may’ thank God that liis successor has already shown he is worthy to follow on as our King-Emperor. The heir to the Throne will now become the. Duke of York, followed by Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, his elder daughter, born on April 21, 1926, unless the new King should change liis apparent resolve to remain unmarried. PALMERSTON NORTH’S AVEATHER

The daily weather reports published by' the Meteorological Office deal entirely with coastal towns, the object evidently being to supply information to shipping. Consequently, residents of inland towns have no means of comparing from day to day the local weather with that of other places. The Year Book lor 1936, just published, however, contains a table of meteorological observations lor 1934 from winch a general statement can be obtained. We have therefore taken out particulars lor the lour big cities and Palmerston North. Mean Daily Maximum. Auckland 65.2 Wellington 60.8 Christchurch 60.4 Dunedin 59.6 Palmerston North 63.9 Mean Daily Minimum. Auckland 53.7 Wellington 48.8 Christchurch 44.6 Dunedin 44.1 Palmerston North 47.4 Approximate Mean Temperature. Auckland 59.4 Wellington 54.8 Christchurch 52.6 Dunedin 51.9 Palmerston North 55.7 Maximum, Month. Auckland (Dee.) 79.5 Wellington (Dec.) 83.6 Christchurch (Feb.) 89.4 Dunedin (Fob.) 87.0 Palmerston North (Dec.) ... 84.0 Minimum, Month. Auckland (June) 38.0 Wellington (Aug.) 31.9 Christchurch (June) 24.5 Dunedin (Jiinc) 30.0 Palmerston North (Juno) ... 26.0 Absolute Maximum. Auckland 85.0 Wellington 88.0 Christchurch 95.7 Dunedin 94.0 Palmerston North 91.0 Absolute Minimum. Auckland 33.2 Wellington 28.6 Christchurch 21.3 Dunedin 23.0 Palmerston North ...* ... 23.0 Hours of Sunshine. Auckland 2,058.0 Wellington 2,156.9 Christchurch 1,973.6 Dunedin 1,743.9 Palmerston North 2,023.6 Total Rainfall. Auckland 43.54 AVellington 43.34 Christchurch 26.41 Dunedin 40.18 Palmerston North 35.53 Number of Day's’ Rain. Auckland 171 Wellington 151 Christchurch 129 Dunedin 151 Palmerston North 148 The figures given for hours of sunshine are those recorded at Massey College, those for the city not being available. They show clearly' that in any and every respect as regards weather Palmerston North can hold up its head. And more particularly as a residential area it is equal to any other city of the Dominion. ABSENTEES. One of the features of Ballance’s taxation scheme was a special rate upon absentee owners. His idea was to prevent English capitalists from investing large sums in New Zealand lands and spending the profits abroad. If memory is correct, an absentee was one who had been absent from New Zealand for more than three years, and some amusing cases came under the notice of the present writer of .big landholders who were happy in London being compelled to visit their properties out here in order to dodge the absentee land tax. Amongst those we remember as very keenly in favour of •the absentee tax was a gentleman who was a past president of the Bank of New Zealand. On one occasion he said, “What is the trouble of Ireland ? Largely the absentee landlords. They draw their profits and live on them in England. And,” he said, “if we are not careful we shall have the same experience in New Zealand. Capital will flow from overseas into it, and all we shall gain will be the working expenses. The profits will go abroad.” As a matter of fact, there were several large

English and Scottish complies ope£ athig here in Ballance’s day, but they soon found it convenient to gather their capital and depart. STOPPED THE JOB. Hon. Mr Semple bids fair to make history as Minister of p «J>! *c W He has not only told the Rnihvay Board to “got their running shoes in order ” but has also stopped a At AVaikaremoana lie found a shaft beimr dug' out. Now this was right into hi? hinds. He jumped ,nto the hum ket told them to “lower an ay, and down he went. AVhat he saw evidently did' not please him. He is all ex nerienced miner, and has in fact been U it all his life. As a result the work was stopped and the men were shifted aw ay t (La not he r job-about a hundred of them. He has so far refused to g ve liis reasons for the stoppage. Possibly they are engineering ones, and tlie re doubtable Minister can see an easier and cheaper method, or it may be the methods do not commend themselves^ At any rate stopped -it is and as the workmen, were not invited to put on their running shoes it is evident he does not blame them. . „t,„ AT x THE ENGLISHMAN ABROAD. Men of our race who travel on the Continent are regarded everywhere as unusual, or even peculiar. Ihey are reserved, care little for dress do not spend too freely, and generally easily bear the stamp of the race to which they belong. And yet England is easily the leading Power in the world to-day At Geneva she holds the foremost place in support of the League of Nations as the one and only possible means of abolishing war, and substituting tor it a carefully-considered method of arbitration. That the League has failed as regards Japan, Germany, and in other cases, does not mean it lias failed altogether. It still stands, and as regards the Italo-Abyssinian question, it has done all possible except go to war; and the absurdity of a League ot Peace trying to secure its main aim by a resort to war is apparent to all. THE BIG ISSUES. In a recent speech, before he retired from the Foreign Office, Sir Samuel Hoare stated the big issues which appeal to our nation —in other words, what England stands for—and nis words are so pregnant with sublime greatness that we quote them in inll. “There is,” he said, “I profoundly believe, in the people of this country a deep strain of idealism. It is not one of the things of which we care to talk much. But there are certain causes which arouse in the hearts or each one of us a wholehearted response. The right of tlie individual to freedom of thought and action; the right of nations to self-government; the loyal fulfilment of undertakings and agreements ; the fair treatment of less civilised races; the common endeavour to find a system whereby men may be enabled to lay aside their disputes and to work together for the good of all — there, indeed, are the big issues that deeply stir us. These are the big issues upon which tlie British instinct has usually shown itself sound and stable.