Stray Leaves.

Northland Age, Volume 2, Issue 44, 12 June 1906, Page 5

Stray Leaves.

To elect a man as a member of a School Committee is, to make the best of it, bestowing a very doubtful honour, but any appreciation of a person’s worth of citizenship should at least be given fairly and openly. In these days of faked ballots and packed meetings, one is not surprised to hear of sharp practices being resorted to on even the most trivial occasions, and the tenets of justice and equity perforce give way to the customs of cliquism which exist in nearly every small community. Smith with 'jig following is going to do J°ne,s a good turn, or he is going to do him a bad one; he intends to foist ibnes into a certain position, or he iesires to keep that individual out of it; and should the opportunity for either course of action occur Smith’s way he will promptly take advantage of it according to his inclination. Many an election is actually “ cut and dried” before] theJ meeting takes place. Jones and his backers, acting perhaps on the maxim that “ punctuality is the thief of time," arrive at the meeting place about five minutes after the appointed hour, only to find that Smith is before them and they—like the little boy who fell out of the balloon—are not in it! Something similar—the instances are not exactly parallel—happened at the School Committee election in Mangonui on Tuesday evening last. The statutory hour of meeting was 7 p.m., and promptly to time four householders attended, a chairman was elected, and

the whole business rushed through in the space of about three minutes. Immediately afterwards another body of householders put in an appearance and wanted to know where they came in. The chairman intimated that it didn’t occur to him that they came in at all—the “ election ” was concluded, and that was all about it. Of course the chairman’s methods of procedure were perfectly constitutional, but still such tactics are not altogether unquestionable ; they may be “ smart ” certainly, but decidedly unfair considering he was aware that by waiting five minutes a more representative meeting would have resulted. Beyond that we have every respect for the chairman in question ; we have had experience—sometimes ■ sad, sometimes otherwise—of bright chairmen,

boisterous chairmen, cool chairmen, cheery chairmen, dull chairman, dreary chairmen, flurried chairmen, fat chairmen, good chairmen, gouty chairmen, happy chairmen, honest chairmen, and nearly all other varieties of chairmen whose descriptive adjectives ] could be arranged in alphabetical sequence, but we are lost in wonderment and admiration for the business capacity and possible versa tility of this latest prodigy.

Every now and then one reads of batches of colonials returning home from South Africa, and they all are agreed that under existing conditions it is no country for a white man. Some one has said that South Africa would yet prove the grave of the British Empire, and if that prophecy still awaits fulfilment, it may be asserted that the southern half of the Dark Continent has become the tomb of the Empire’s Honour. We were told—and what fools we were to believe—that the war was necessasy because Kruger and the Boers denied the franchise to the European, and refused representative government. And where is the representation now ?| It is as far off as it was in Kruger’s! day. and South Africa is being run ini the interests of the moneyed classes,! who were] strong enough to carry the] ordinance under which Chinese slave! labour was introduced. The Flag of] Empire over South Africa does not] bravely wave in answer to every breeze, but it is a draggled rag, steeped in torrents of blood, and despised by all who allowed themselves to be lured by the lies of diplomacy. The very compensation promised to Boers as part of the treaty of surrender is alleged to have never been paid, the amounts awarded to claimants for the destruction of property have never been paid, and in all probability never will be paid. And it was for such a mass of fraud and chicanery that the sons of Empire threw themselves into the struggle 1 They fought for a land from which they are now practically hunted, and the spoils are now being gathered in by those already rich. Can anyone say that the Empire’s honour has not suffered in South Africa, or can anyone find a more humiliating picture in all history ?

The vital statistics of the colony for 1905, furnish the following figures:—Births, 23,682 ; illegitimates 1082, cases of twins 245 (including three cases of triplets—one each in Taranaki, Canterbury, and Otago Provincial Districts); deaths, 8,061; marriage notices, 7,449 ; marriages by registrar, 1,125. Bay of Islands recorded 18 births, 2 illegitimates, 1 instance of twins, 2 deaths, 6 marriagf notices, and two marriages by registrar; Houhora 25 births, 5 deaths, 3 marriage notices, 2 marriages by registrar ; Kaitaia 38 births, 4 deaths, 8 marriage notices, 5 marriages by registrar; Kaeo 1 birth and 2 deaths ; Kawakawa2l births, 11 deaths, 5 marriage notices, 1 marriage by registrar ; Mangonui 28 births, 1 death and 2 marriages ; Ohaeawai 18 births, 4 deaths and 7 marriages ; Whangaroa 18 births, 1 illegitimate, 7 deaths, 5 marriage notices, 4 marriages by registrar. The totals for Auckland Provincial District were: Births, 5,609; illegitimates, 241; cases of twins, 61; duaths, 1,938; marriage notices, 1,651; marriages by registrar, 289,