WHAT THE PAPERS SAY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 19 April 1909, Page 1

WHAT THE PAPERS SAY.

SEAMY SIDE OF SPORT.

The racing clubs derive a very considerable revenue from the bookmakers, probably quite enough to compensate them for th^ amount of money that is diverted from the totalisitor, and it it their clear duty to see that the men they license are decent membeYs of their i-nlfmg and posse-.sed of some means. They "may bring the law into disrepute by paying no proper attention to these matters, b'.it if. Parliament should be called npori to interfere again it may lake it into its \w;rf to effrtct reform? that would be .'till less acceptable tc the clubs. The totalisator does not stand .so well with a majority of theelectors that its friends can afford te unite a legislative review of its posi tiyii.— Lyttelton "Times." THE UNIVERSITY TOL'RNEV. The idea of tinis fostering the Uni vtisity spirit is nltogetlicr worthy, anc; :it Iht'ie is a certain -xtent of piovin ciiilism strll t-i overcome in .'New Zea ;«iiJ ( it Js gratifying to find the stu dents, so entiiusiasticaliy engaged in l breaking down the barrier by in-.titut inji an annual reunion at which the\ all may mingle and compete in friendly rivalry. In their debating contest th( students indulge in a form of competi (ion which has the merit of maintaininn the properties and giving the tour iin'iient a dignity it would not have il atnkiico formed the whole programme As it is, there is a nico adjustmant bj which the powers of brain and brawn aie revealed, and the public made tc learn that the University is something more than an institution which examiner and grants degrees. — Wellington 'Times." "IN COMMON HONESTY." "In common honosty to the country," will Sir Joseph Ward tell us whethe) the pledges given to the settlers by the founders of the line are to be kept or whether the Liiwrence-rtoxburgl railway is to be decisively and finall) ah/'ndoned in favour of the extension from E'lievale, or the line from Heriot. Tln'i'!.' is a su.^uicion abroad, which find; fi-od in the known predilections of th< Premier and the undisguised jubilation of the Invtiiiirgill politicians, that thi prus'.'nt Government desire to deflect the trade of the chief fruit-growing distiict of Otayo from Dunedin to the me Irrpolis of Southland. If such a sus . picion turn-* out to be a correct an liLi|i;ition of the railway policy of the C'Ovrrniiiuit .what, "it: common huneetv to tl-e ivimtry," must be done with the authors of the reports which declarec tliat, on the score of practicability anc eeoi.on'v, the route from Lawrence \va: the btst of three? And if, to back uj their designs, the Government of thi day can obtain whatever report the} /ike conecrning the relative feasibility of rival railway routes, what is to hi said about the "common honesty of oui Civil Service?"— Tuapelta "Times."

THE EASTER CAMP. The Railway Department seems unfor Umately to have thought that anything Would do for a crowd of volunteers, anc" lo have agted upon that thought most thoroughly. Anything more caku lated to discourage volunteering cai hardly be imagined, and we are glad t< *ee that Lieut. -Colonel Smith, who ap parently bore the brunt of the negotia tions with" the railway officials, intend; to press for an inquiry into the whol' matter. If the result of his action ia t< induce the Railway Department to loolupon volunteers not merely as hnmar lieings, but as men entitled to some con sideration, and to confer with the De fence Department as to their transpor' to the annual camps, the inquiry wil l>e a very valuable conclusion to ai unfortunate- affair. • — Christclnircl "Press." I NNECESSAKV I'.MLWAYS. 1 here is ftir too yeu^ral a tendent y U .-iiDordinato the public interctts uf tlr whole country to purely local considcra lions and to the necessity for securinf votes. It is nothing less than scanda lous that at a time when Govornmcir find it necessary to retrench and econo misp on every hand, claims such as thos: made on behalf of the Lawrence-Rox burgh railway should be bolstered up b\ local agitations, and the State Treasury should Be thus shamelessly plundered V satisfy selfish, parochial prejudices anc' imaginary needs. We hope that th< Government will not be content with what they have done in this case, bu' that they will carefully investigate thi conditions under which all our railway are Being constructed, and will ruthless ly strike out all projects which do no' appear to be immediately required in thi public interest. — Auckland "Star."

Archbishop liedwool, in replying U n toast in his honour when entertainei liie other evening by his clergy to cele braU his 70th biithday, said he hat come to New Zealnnd when he wasthrei years of app. WJien he was 15 h. wen' to Europe to complete his educa pnn. Twenty years later he returnee as bishop of the diocese. He was stil. strong and vigorous, and he hoped to bi able to do mu.'h more. He was now direct ins; his attention towards the erection of a cathedral that would be worthy of New Zealand and worthy ol I the Cathol-c body. Mr \V. Smart, superintending engine?! of the Union Company, leaves on a Lusi ness trip to London on Thursday next. The Rev. W. J. Mayer and his Vnh band of Barnardo boys will be in NewZealand shortly. Wherever they have heen expenses have not been "chai^'d them, and the result is that between £8000 and £9000 has bewt colle.-'wl, during their tour, which commenced ;ii Perth a year ago, for the work in tl.< sheets of London.