THE AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, JUNE 23, 1879.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5491, 23 June 1879, Page 4

THE AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, JUNE 23, 1879.

L Reuteb's telegram, published by us his morning, states that the Prince Imierial of France, Eugene Louis Jean : bseph Napoleon, has been killed in a ; kirmish with the Zulus. He was tho ■ rJy son of the late Emperor Napoleon < EI. of Prance, and was born on March j 5, 1856, and was consequently in the ]

24th year of hia age. For many years he was a delicate child, and fears were frequently entertained by hia parents that he would not eurvive. However, with the exercise of. the utmost care that loving parents could bestow and skilful physicians devise, he struggled through his childhood, and of late years has given indications of enjoying a strong and vigorous manhood. His education was attended to in the most systematic manner, and during his early feebleness his parents employed French and English nurses, who were enjoined never to speak to him except in their own language, while his mother spoke to him alone in Spanish. Thus, while he was still a child, he was unconsciously thoroughly instructed in at least three of the modern European languages, and his education thus hastened in the easiest possible manner. As he advanced in years his early feeble health improved, and he was subsequently able to pursue his studies with energy and vigour. From his earliest years the military spirit was inspired into him, and while yet a child he enrolled as a private in the army, and passed through every rank in the military profession. The feeling of estrangement between France and Prussia, respecting the proposed candidate to the Spanish Throne, resulted in war being declared by France against Prussia on the loth of July, 1870. It was on thie occasion that the Prince Imperial witnessed the first actual war. He went with his father, the Emperor, to the front, and was present at the shelling and taking of Saarbruck by the French, on the 2nd of August, scarcely a month after the war began. It was then that the Emperor stated the Prince Imperial had received his " baptism of fire.' On this occasion the young Prince displayed a remarkable degree of coolness and. courage, and his father telegraphed to the Empress respecting the event as follows:—"Louis has just received his baptism of fire. He showed admirable coolness, and was not at all affected. A division of General Frossard has captured the heights which overlook the left bank of Saarbruck. The Prussians made but a short resistance. We were in the front rank, but the bullets and cannon balls fell at our feet. Louis has kept a bullet which fell quite close to him. Some of the soldiers wept at seeing him so calm." The campaign which began so aus- '•' piciously was disastrous to France, for the above victory wa3 soon followed by "a the disastrous defeats of Weissenbnrg, Woerth, and Forbach. On the Ist September, the defeat at Sedan took place, and on the following day the Emperor gave himself up to the King of Prussia, together with a vast body of men. Mean,D while the young Prince was hurried off to Belgium, whither his mother had gone for s " escape to England, and on the Cth Soptem- .'* ber set foot on British soil, when he proceeded to Hastings, and was there joined j™ by the Empress, his mother, three days later. Since that time, until recently, he *' has been a guest of Great Britain. It was in British military colleges his education was completed, and it was in the it British army he received his scientific military training. He was a frank and _ kindly yoang man, brave to rashness, r and had the gift of making friends whereever he went. When the news of Lord Clielmsford's disaster at Isandula reached London, ■B the Prince Imperial was one of the first to volunteer for service at the Cape. Of sJ course, his services could not be aeoepted in that capacity, but he decided to » go on his own account, and share the vicissitudes of the British troop 3 !r in Zululand. He left London for Natal on the 26th February this year, *" with the intention of watching the campaign, and thus gaining some experience in actual warfare. Before leaving, he wrote a letter to M. Rouher, informing him of his decision, of which the following is a portion : —"For the last eight years I have been the guest of England. My education has been completed in an English military school, and I have strengthened my tiea of friendship with the English army by taking part in its .. annual manoeuvres. The war at the d Cape having assumed a more serious character, I have wished to follow the campaign, and shall embark in two days. I could not remain aloof and not share the dangers and fatigues of the troops among whom I have so many friends. Moreover, the time spent in witnessing this struggle of civilisation agaiust barbarism will not for me be wasted." It was no doubt the desire of the Prince to distinguish himself as a soldier, obviously the best means of recommending himself to the favour of the French people. It was impossible for him to take part in a Earopean war, and therefore his resource was to serve in one of the "little wars" of Great Britain. He would naturally be eager to gain a reputation for personal courage. After arrival in Natal the change of climate affected him, and for some time his health was bad. However, he seems to have got over the indisposition due to the sudden change of climate, and appears to have become acclimatised, for the telegram states that he was with a reconnoitering party that entered Zululand on the Ist of June, on the resumption of hostilities. The party seems to have fallen into an ambush, and before they could recover themselves the Prince had fallen a victim to the short dirk-like knife, of the Zulus, with which they fight at close quarters. How this news will be received in France we cannot say, but the claims of the Napoleonic party will be les3 strong than before, and in the event of their restoration of power in the future, the family of Jerome Bonaparte will be elevated to the throne. On a recent occasion we made some remarks upon the condition of our gaol at Mount Eden as a matter which demanded immediate attention. We pointed out then that the arrangements were not only quite inadequate, but even so defective as to render our house of correction a mere hot-bed of vice and crime, through the almost total absence of proper means for separating and classifying prisoners. We cannot but hope that the Government will take some steps in this matter during the approaching session, as a very mode" rate vote would, with proper management, go very far towards doing the work required. The magnificent wall which now surrounds the gaol was erected at a cost which was merely nominal compared with what it would have beon in another place or in other circumstances. In that case, the Provincial Government had but little money to expend even upon so necessary a work, but expended it to the best advantage by utilising the labour of the person and the proximity of the material. The work of erecting proper buildings and yards inside the wall may easily be conducted on the same principle, and if this is done, we venture to say that an expenditure of £2000 would do a very large portion of what is required to remove the worst part of the defects pointed out as characterising our gaol. There is, however, another matter connected with the subject of the provisions made for gaols in this colony which is of more than local concern. The whole cost of providing for the care of our convicted population is now borne, of course, from colonial funds, and the amount is very considerable. For this year, or rather for that which closed on the 30th of Jnne, the colony pays. fully £35,000, as the expense of maintaining gaols in various parts of the country. The average number of prisoners cannot very easily be fixed with absolute certainty, but it can be approximately arrived at, and shows a total of about 100 prisoners "1 [ ™r gaols at one time. The sum of ;W5,000, which our gaola cost will if divided, give a cost of £42 a year for tho care, control and maintenance of each of these prisoners. Now, it this sum were tound to be necessary for the purpose we might regret the expense, but as this service must be performed, we could scarcely do more than excuse the Englishman's proverbial privilege of grumbling. We nave more than a suspicion, however,

that such is not the case, and we cannot but believe that the present Government are perfectly aware of the circumstances. There are prisons in operation in various parts of the colony which are still conducted upon the system on whicli they were conducted under the Provincial Governments in their various localities. The principal prisons are those of Auckland, Dunedin, Lyttelton and Wellington, while there are smaller gaols at a variety of places throughout the country. At Auckland, the expense of the prisons throughout the whole district amounts to £4275. In the district of Wellington it amounts to £2550, in Canterbury to £4435, and in Otago to £19,105. Out of the whole vote of about £35,000 for prisons for the colony, all but some £16,000 is swallowed up by the penal institutions of Otago. The fact is sufficiently startling to arrest attention, and it can scarcely fail to be asked, why does such a discrepancy exist ? Of course, the most obvious answer would be that the crime of Otago wa3 more than twice as great as that of the rest of the colony combined. In justice to Otago, however, we are bound to say that, however satisfactorily it might account for the largeness of her demands in this respect upon the Treasury, it is not the case. The crime of the great Southern Province is not materially, if at .all) greater than that of Auckland. Indeed, it would appear, thai the number of persons in the principal gaol of the district, (that of Dunedin), is materially less than the number at Mount Eden. It is the system pursued which produces the different results, financially, of the two prisons. And by this we mean, not the different systems of discipline, or management in the proper sense of the word, because these things appear to differ but little, but the difference of style in which the whole department is conducted. And first, looking at the results, we are struck' by the fact, that there are on an average nearly, If not quite, forty prisoners less in Dunedin gaol, than in Mount Eden prison. Dunedin gaol is a much complete and secure prison than that ol Auckland can pretend to be j and therefore, safe custody ought to be more easily and cheaply obtained in the Southern capital than here. But the facts are strangely the other way. The cost of food and clothing indeed is, il anything, less per head in Dunedin than elsewhere, to judge by the evidence supplied to a committee of the House of Representatives last year. Yet the cost of keeping prisoners in gaol in Dunedin ia .£53 5s a-year for each prisoner, besides the price of their food. In Auckland this is done for less than .£lB per head a-year, at Lyttelton for less than j-23, and at Wellington for about £25 103 each. Strange and unaccountable as it may appear, the Government place on the Estimates three times as much for the cost of keeping each convict safely in Dunedin prison, which they put on for exactly the same service, under more difficult conditions, in Auckland, and much more than twice as much as that service costs ia any other large gaol in the colony. A glance irt the Estimates as passed shewa how the thing is done, and also shews how very easily it might be remedied. A gaoler anywhere out of Dunedia gets £300 a-year salary, but there, with a prison containing onefourth less prisoners, the gaoler gets £500. In Auckland, warders are paid from £120 to £130 a-year for their services, and there is more want of applications by suitable candidates for a vacant post at the salaries. In Dunedin, on the other hand, wardera of the same standing receive from £236 down to £185 a-year, with an extra salary of from 2s 6d to Is a-day when they have been at the work for a certain length of time. In Auckland gaol, again, there are twenty warders to look after 175 prisoners, with very poor appliances for doing so effectually ; while, in Dunedin, it takee twentythree of these, far more highly-paid officials, to look after 133 criminals, where they have nearly every convenience for doing so. Such facts as these serve to explain the reason why the Provincial District of Otago expends as much public money in its gaols in a year as all the rest of the colony put together. But while the fact is explained, it is in no sense justified by this means. There is and can be no good reason why public money is to be be wasted in paying too highly for any class of services merely because they are rendered to the colony at Dunedin. An Otago convict is, we take it, neither better nor worse than an Auckland convict; and we feel sure that, to judge from results, an Otago prison warder is not a bit better than one of these employed at Mount Eden. And yet the Dunedin man does far less work and is paid vastly more for doing it than the Auckland man. Such anomalies as these should be looked into, and and put an end to, now that the Estimates cannot be passed without exposing them in the strongest light. It is clear that money is being wasted in this direction which could easily be saved if the Government were only bent upon saving it, and now, if ever, the duty is cast upon Government of doing this. Of course, such economy will be unpalatable to Otago people, who think nothing extravagant which is spent South of the Waitaki River. But whether palatable or not, it is quite time that this and other similar abuses, some of which we shall yet refer to, should be put down with a strong hand in the best interests of the colony at large. It was quite clear from the first that the ploughing operations on the farms at Oakura, Opunake, and Hawera, could not long continue. For a time the natives might be let alone, and might continue their ploughing operations in peace. It might be hoped that they would become tired of the work, and seeing that no miraculous power thought fit to intervene, would return to Parihaka sadder and wiser men. It seemed indeed, during the last few days, as if this was likely to be the result. But the meeting at Parihaka has concluded, and the Maoris are now at leisure to go on with the ploughing, and this they have done with greater vigour than ever. They commenced operations on Mr. Livingstone's farm at Hawera, and to make their action more marked, they began with the lawn in front of his house. There were two teams, guarded by fifteen Maoris, concerned in the transiction. This was "somewhat too much," ind the settlers determined to take action. Major Brown, the Civil Commissioner of ] ;he district, is now at Hawera, and he , nformed the Premier that the settlers 1 vere to have a meeting, and that they 1 s-ere " determined to take some action." i Se further informed the Premier that t ;hat action was likely to take the shape )f "carting the ploughmen and their 1 >loughs across the Waingongoro." To t his Sir George Grey replies, urging I laution and coolness, but saying it must est with the authorities on the spot r rtiether measures should not be taken to f 'prevent the Maoris from going on tha l ind, and if they did not go, to move a hem and their ploughs, without a usult, and quietly, from the land." 5 t is not quite dear whether the ction of the settlers was taken in r ' ursuance of this telegram, or whether liey anticipated it (probably the latter), p ut, all events, yesterday morning the c sttlers mustered, and put the natives off, „; epositing men and ploughs on the other v ! de of the Waingongoro. Major Brown, ho telegraphs to the Premier after the ■ jection of the Maoris, states that " the « jttlers used no more force than was tl ecessary for their removal," and that m iere was only a slight tussle with one cc itive. The natives say they will return. B Here then is the inevitable step num- A) 3r two, which has been delayed quite as as ng as could be expected. What next 1 tl id next ? The settlers have done with f° ie natives what the natives did with the j? irveyors on Waimate plains. It may be ken as certain that the example set at amera will be followed elsewhere; that i e Maoris will be " removed," to attend j a agricultural operations on their own «b

land, and. that they will not another furrow on the places where thev have of late established themselves. Tβ Whiti is as strong as ever against figtfc. ing, but it is a question whether he %a control all the people who have of kt« been guided by him. Some of these natives may not have so complete a per suasion as he has that they will ultfl mately receive Divine aid, and excited by the_ late_ proceedings may do something which will bring on a collision. It is cer 8 tainly to be hoped that the natives will wait for miraculous intervention, but w& wish we were quite confident that they would. What has been done, we belief to have been the best course in the circumstances, and is much more effective than if the Armed Constabulary had interfered. A telegram from New Plymouth informs us that Mr. James Mackay and Mr. Thompson had, on the part of the Government, made an offer to Te Whiti to have a commission to inquire into anv grievances the natives might have to allege in respect of land matters on the West Coast. In reply, Te Whiti repeated the statement he made at the late meeting,—namely, that the time for Courts of Commission had passed. It was, indeed, in reply to this message that the ploughing was commenced oli Mr Livingstone's land at Hawera. We do not know that the chances of maintaining the peace are diminished by what has taken place. Something had to be done and this is decidedly the best. Amongat the settlers there is an excellent feeling There appears, so far, to have been no temper shown on their part toward the Maoris. They simply want to be let alone. They are associated in Volunteer companies, and with the Armed Constabulary, who are in a most efficient condition, and well armed, could easily deal with the whole of the natives of the district. But, the danger is in the Maori policy of ambush and surprise. A Waikato correspondent writes that from enquiry he finds no guns or warlike stores have been supplied to any natives for a considerable period without due ennuirv and invariably upon either the recommend!' tion of the Resident Alagistratea or native agent for the Government at Alexandra Any guns Eold were specially authorised bv the Hon. the Native Minister. It has been officially announced that Mr Spencer Von Sturmer, th> Resident Maeis' trate at Hokianga, will be immediately tranferred to the Wbangarei district, vice Mr. Aubrey, R.M., who either gets compensation for long service, or retires on a pension. It is also, vre learn, under the consideration of the Government to remove Mr. Williams, R.M. for Mangonui, Wliunearoa, Kawakawa, and B.y of Island? to another judicial district The proposed changes are, it ia stated, principally owine to the report of Mr. Bryce, the Commissioner appointed to inquire into the Bay of Islands electoral roll business. We regret to hear that Dr. Thornelly, the medical superintendent of the Lunatic Asylum, had another attack of bloodspitting, &c, on last Friday and Saturday which has wholly incapacitated him from attending to hia usual routine doties. Dr. Yonng, as on the previous occasion when Dγ' Thornally was similarly prostrated from a like attack, continues in attendance upon the sufferer. Dr. Thornelly was in bad health when he arriv-d in this country, and it would appear now that it is questionable whether he will be able to carry out his duties. We hear indeed, that he contemplated sending in his resignation. The inspector, Mr. T. Macffarlaoe, communicated with the Colouial Secretary on the matter, and was authorised to place Dr. Young in charge of the institution.' The truly unfortunate inmates of the institution must suffer from the continned ill-health of the resident surgeon. Wβ understand there has been a considerable increase in the number of patients lately. The Colonial Secretary, Colonel Whitmore, is expected to visit the Asylum previous to his departure from here. On Saturday two young watermen—Henry Keane and Isaac Huot—were fined in the sum of £50 and costs for evading the Customs regulations ia attempting to land a keg of rum at St. George's Bay. It was given in evidence by the Custom officers that the keg in question was shipped on board the schooner Madona, outward bound to the Friendly Islands, on May 31, and how it came to be found on Kangitoto Beach is a problem that has yet to be solved. We believe, however, that proceedings will be instituted against the master of the schooner when he arrives in port, and we trust that Captain Lombard will ba able to clear himself from the charge which will be brought against him. Should the case turn out as many surmise, the transaction will be a very expensive one, as it has already proved to Keane, who, besides being fined in £25 and his share of the costs, has lost his bo»t, which waa seized on Saturday by the Cuetome. A few days ago a telegram was received, stating that a larceny had been committed and valuable goods stolen from Dr. Lemon, also, that the notorious Frederick Plummer had been arrested for the theft. We learn that the credit of his speedy arrest is due to the Auckland police force, who, from the description furnished to them, at once identified the criminal, and communicated with the Wellington and Dunedin police. Plummer. during his residence in the Auckland district, was kept carefully under police enrreillance, and a judicious watch kept on his movements. This, no doubt, prevented his return to his former habits. He was for some time employed on the Auckland Railway, and, subsequently, re-visited hia friends in Alb;rt!and, where a subscription was made up for him to enable him to proceed to England. Instead, however, of leaving for Fngland, as he intimated, he proceeded South, under an assumed name, and resumed his old habits at Wellington. His career on this occasion was, however, a very short one. The schedule of the course of lectures to be delivered under the auspices of the Young Men's Christian Association appears in our advertisement columns. The next lecture is to be given on Friday evening next, by the Rev. J. S. Hill, upon "The Tabernacle." Mr. Jolly, of Hamilton, says our Waikato contemporary, has again had a portien of his flock worried by dogs—a greyhound and pointer. Three sheep were killed, and lit more or less injured. The educational question will again be brought under the consideration of St. James's Discussion Ci:iss to-night, when Mr. J. D. Schmidt will deliver n lecture on "State Aid to Education." The meeting n'ill be held in the new ro:im, where there ie imple accommodation tor those persons who may wish to attend. We understand that the Ministry purpose introducing, dnrine;the coming session of the Assembly, a bill to authorise superannuation md pension allowance to officers and men of ;he Armed Constabulary, owing to the erseptional nature of the duties which the uembers of this branch of the public service iave to perform. The Select Committee's eport on police matters during last session ended hi this direction. The police cells were well filled last night. -hey contained six persons on remand, and hree charged with drunkenness. They will >e all charged at the Police Court to-day. The young man named King, who waa ecently brought to the Auckland hospital rom the Thames, died there yesterday. Iβ met with serious injuries while engaged t bush work in the Tairtia district. After short stay in the hospital at the Thames, e was bn ught into Auckland, but from the rat, little hops was ent-rtained of his jcovery. We understand that Mr. James Mason, , roprietor of the Parnell nurseries, has reiived instructions to decorate the Choral all for the ball on Thursday evening next, ven in honour of His Excellency the Go» jrnor. . Recently the Dunodin Harbour Board ■terviewed the Hon. Mr. Macandrew, rela« ve to a proposal for dredging and deepening te bar, by purchasing a dredge on Governent account in London, and charging the Ist against compensation comiag to the pard for land taken for railway purposes, r. Macandrew did not seem to regard this feasible, and was not prepared to admit e claim of the Board to any compensation r the wharves destroyed, bat he acknowiged that assessors mast be appointed to :cide the question. Debentures Nos. 6 and 48, of the Auckland iblio Buildings Commissioners, are to be paid lat the Bank of New Zealand, on the Ist of : ly, after which date no interest will be pay- j Iβ on the said debentures.

At the last sitting of the District Court a< "Westpott, Judge Wcston referred in no measured terms to the granting o£ licences to sell liquor to every "Tom, Dick, and Harry," and said that it appeared to him that the authorities winked at the evil for the sake of the revenue which was produced. Daring the hearing of" the application of John James Morris, a bankrupt, for his discharge at the District Court, Hokitika, Judge Westou insisted upon the necessity ■of more stringent dealing with the Licensing Act. "This was," said his Honor, "not an exceptional case ; it was similar to others ■which were constantly coming before him on the Coast. Here was a mau who started at Kumara in debt, but with a cottage he valued at £60. He moves the cottage on to a section, and incurs the liability of £400 in turning this miserable cottage into an hotel. He b'ivs goods on credit, and sells for cash. Ultimately he finds himself loaded with d-bt, with almost worthless property and a bill of sale over it. His taking were £1 a day, upon which there was no profit. Finding himself without a sixpence, he fails, aud tho very people he had victimized supply him again on credit." After some further remarks, Judge Weston went on to say:—" The way business was carried on on the West Coast waa marvellous and sinful. The shareholders of the banks suffered through this system of trading. It was quits time the justices set their faces against this indiscriminate granting of licences. Bankers and merchants were the sufferers. He had done all he could, but it was without effect, on the folly of these traders." Gas companies (remarks an English paper) are not more popular with honseholdsrs than water compani-.s, neither of the two showing any consideration for their customers, from whose pockets nevertheless they manago to extract enormous profits. Any little attention, therefore, paid to the public by a gas cotnpmy is as pleasing as it is unexpected, aud deserves to be recognised. The gas company at Coventry has set a goo;l example iu this respect, which it ie to be hoped will be followed by other companies of a like nature. This amiable company, it is stated, secured premiies in a central part of the city, and haa made the necessary arrangement* for cooking a number of diuntra daily by gaa. The local consumers of gas are invited to send their dinners to the company's kitchen to be cooked ; and it has been intimated that no charge will be made. The cooking will be conducted as a labour of love, and not fur money. To many households thi* offer will be a great benefit. The saving effected in fuel will alone go far towards payment of tlv; gas-rate, to say nothing of the economy of time and trouble ; and if gas companies t,eusrally would enible householders to dispense with the services of cook they would deserve universal gratitude. At the conclusion of a second pip=r on the naval and military resources of the colonies, which was read by Captain Colomb at the United Service Institution recently, the lecturer earnestly appealed to " the men who have the power" to obtain inquiry into the workings of our present policy of Imperial defeuce, which, Captain Colomb ably argned, is based upon a radically wrong principle. The principle which, the lecturer clearly shewed, lies at the root of all colonialilefensive systems is one of tome defence. So far was this prin eiple carried at tha Cipe that up to last year the military organisation for the defence of the colony was by territorial divisions, tha inhabitants being organised for the internal defence, not of the colony, but merely of their respective divisions. In New Zealand at this moment "no militia officer," to quote the words of the New Zealand Militia Act, or militiaman in any regiment can be canifed or ordered to go beyond the boundaries of the district for which euch regiment or indep-ndent company is raised, except only such as shall volunteer . for service of tue same," while in another colony no officer or man can be compelled to march beyond a line drawn round the capital and four miles distant from it $ nor can they even be called out withiu the line until the enemy is iu sight. Purely home defence is, iu fact, tne cardinal principle of all colonial military arrangements ; and it would be well, Captiin Colomb contends, to nquire betimes whether the general adoption of this principle is judicious, or whether it may not be breediug a series of military and naval confusions. Such an inquiry, Captain Colomb suggests, should take the form of an Imperial Commission, on which should sit representatives of the great colonies, selected by them for the purpose, with an advisiug council of naval and military authorities, to inquire into and fis the principles on which the Empire mnst act in order to secure the maximum amount of safety at a minimum cost. An American paper, writing of capricious opera singers, has the following : —" Mo3t capricions of all, however, is Uma de Murske. No manager could control her, until the present one, De Vivo, became associated with her. It was a common thing for her to refuse to siDg because her parrots and dog 3 had not tasted dinner. At one time she had a monkey, a Newfoundland dog, two Maltese terriers, and a French poodle, three parrots, and a par.'ket. She took them everywhere, and :"t cost her her salary to pay for the damage they did to the furniture at the hotels where she stopped. De Vivo says this travelling menagerie, from firat to last, cost her from 25,000d015. ta 50,i/OOdo!s. It accompanied her through Buseia, Austria, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Australia, and America. If sickness occurred in this 'happy family,' De Mnrska became eick too, and would not aing. From deaths at one time or another, the menagerie has now dwindled to two do°s and three birds; but a dealer in anfmala in that city has a standing order on his books to fill the vacauciesin the company as opportunity may offer." Mr. Charles It. Drysdale, writing to the London Echo npon statistics for.the Australian colonies, draws a striking comparison between the relative birth and death rates of England and New ZeaUnd. After showing how much this Colony ie in advance of the mother country, the writer sa/s :—" What, then, is the reason for this extraordinary healthineis of Sew Zealand? It resides greatly in the fact, disclosed in. au account given by one of your contemporaries, of the rate of wages fiiven in that happy colony. In New Zealand, it seems, the lowest rate of agricultural wage 3 is at present 8a a day of eieht hours' work, in a country where wheat sells at 4s the bushel, and butcher's meat is abont 4d the pound. There is now no mystery in the matter, since we know at home that the mortality of the children of our richer classes (Ansell) is only 8 per cent, in the firet year of life, whilst as much as 30 per cent, among the children of the poor in our large towns die iu their first year. And again, the average age at death among our well-to-do classes is found to be about do, whilst it is only 35 among the working-classes who are often too hard-worked and but ill fed The moral I would draw from the comparative statistics of New Zealand and Eneland is as follows :—ln order to have a low death-rate there must be a very slight pressure of population on food siiPP'iesThis is accomplished in Nuw Zealand by the acquisition of immense tracts of fertile land, capable of raising wheat and other products with little labour. In Europe, if we wish to have such a low death-rate, we must consent to have such a very low birth-rate as to enable our population to press as slightly on the powers of tho soil, and we shall never have true happiness until this time arrives.