NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9624, 24 September 1894, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

The Rev. Mr. Fitchett, of Melbourne, has recently visited Sydney, and has there been interviewed on the position of Victoria. He said We are in a state of chaos, politically, now, bub we derive some coneolation from your experience. You seem to be emerging from your troubles. Your revenue is elastic, bub we are still behind you, financially and politically. We have a bigger deficit than you have, and a greater railway loss, and we are actually without a Government or a polioy. The logic of distress is effacing parties in Victoria. Political machinery, however, ill expresses popular feeling, being unable to register ib quickly. If popular feeling could do so

directly and quickly, ib would pub aside all parties and appoinb a Government with a mandate bo touch nothing controversial, wear no party livery,, and pub the finances straight. In Victoria we are undoubtedly drifting towards freebrado. Governor Tillman has decided to re-open the liquor dispensaries in the State of South Carolina. It will be remembered that the Supreme Court of the State, by a decision rendered in April, declared unconstitutional the State's assumption of the control of the liquor traffic in South Carolina, which control was exercised under a law passed in December, 1892. The governor now contends that the Supreme Court has failed to give any decision in regard to the constitutionality of a later Act passed in December, 1893, and argues that that later Acb is

still in full force and effect, and declares that) it will be enforced by him until the Court shall have passed upon it, or until the legislature shall have repealed it. All per* sons interested, including public carriers, are notified by the Governor that the importation of liquors will be at the risk, of seizure, and that all contraband liquors found within the borders of the State will be seized according to law.

The statement in the anneal report) of the bureau of statistics of Pennsylvania is that out of the 53 strikes in the State in 1893, twice as many as were credited to the previous year, not one was successful. The estimated loss in wages is 1,395,423 dollars, and the causes were distributed as follows : I —For increase of wages, 6; against a re* duction of wages, 34; for recognition of labour associations, 3; for semi-monthly pay, 1; and miscellaneous causes, 8. Nine of the total number were among iron and steel workers. In England in 1892 there were 692 strikes and 8 lockouts, affecting 371,799 persons. Of the 692 strikes 345 were settled either by mutual conciliation or by mediation, 115 by submission of workpeople, 79 by the hands being replaced, 33 by conciliation and submission, 13 by conciliation and hands being replaced, 22 by submission and hands being replaced, and 16 by arbitration. As regards the cost of those conflicts, it is difficult to arrive at anything like definite figures. The amount of wages not paid during the period of stoppages is variously estimated af from £485,000 to £495,000 per week. The capital laid idle in 511 establishments making returns was very nearly £19,000,000. The cost of restarting works in the cases of 45 firms was £165,000, and £55,000 was spent by employers in resisting strikes. In 235 strikes the contributions from trade unions to men on strike reached a total of £163,000, this, of course, being only a fraction of the total sum expended in this way. It will thns be seen that the cost directly and indirectly has been enormous, and Mr. Burnett's conclusion on the whole matter is that 'the general balance of results was against the workmen, as may always be anticipated during a period of declining trade.'"

School teachers in New Zealand may extract some comfort from reading the following advertisements, which appear in a recent issue of a Glasgow paper : —" School Board of Maryhill.—Pupil teachers wanted; salary, boys, £15; girls, £12 10s.Applications to be lodged with the subscriber before Monday first, 9th July.W. B. Gemmel, clerk, 136, Wellington-street, Glasgow, sth July, 1894." "Wanted, for Cumbernauld Public School, a male certificated assistant teacher; to enter on duties beginning of August; singing and D certificate preferred; salary, £75 per annum, with share of grant for evening classes.— Applications, with testimonials, to De lodged on or before 12th July, with John Longwill, clerk, the Bank House, Camber* nauld.

Government advertising in New South Wales is regulated by a Cabinet minute, dated so long ago aa December 6, 1887, and signed by Sir Henry Parke3. The minute states that much waste of public money has been incurred by negligence or want of knowledge in giving Government advertisements to newspapers. In every case the first thing to be considered is whether the newspaper affords a medium of publicity for the advertisement, and no other consideration should have weight. For general purposes the Sydney morning papers and an evening paper afford this medium ot publicity, and certain weekly papers are also stated a 9 affording the same medium. Advertisements requiring publicity in any particular portion of the colony may be given to any newspaper possessing an established circulation in that district. The minute concludes" In no instance is any Government advertisement to be given as a matter of favour or patronage, or for any reason whatever apart from the ascertained value of the medium of publicity wbioh the newspaper presents." Those who are interested in technical and agricultural education for our young people will be glad to know that the movement is strengthening in England. Mr. Jesse Col lings, M.P., who made himself famous by the " three acres and a cow " agitation, lately addressed a horticultural conference in Surrey. He said that 20 {years ago or less science was not much heard of in the education of the country. It was no longer possible to carry on by a rule of thumb, and the first great step was made in 1889 by the passing of the Technical Education Act. I Probably what was more important was the setting aside in 1890 of about £750,000 for scientific and technical education by what was known as the Gosehen fund. Local authorities bad proved themselves worthy of the trust placed in them. Oat of the £750,000, £600,000 was being j devoted to technical education. Not an industry in the world required such varied knowledge and skill as did the cultivation of the soil. Parliament last year gave the magnificent sum of £7,425 for the advancement of agriculture. That was an improvement on 1890, when it was only £3,000, but the poorest canton in Switzerland gave double as much. He deprecated the spending of the money in scholarships and exhibitions. What they wanted was the skilled, educated working man, whether it was on the land or in the manufactories. He feared that elementary education was too bookish. Each village school should have its village garden, where the children mighb be taught practical agriculture, as was done in Ireland and in Switzerland and other places. According to Mr. A. Sanford, who is an expert on the question of fish, we are guilty of a great waste. Oar legislators, who do not know sufficient of the subject, have decreed that all "flounders" under nine inches are unsaleable. . It seems, however, ; that there is a fish called by the fishermen the "dab," which is a different fish, bub which the Government persists in regarding as a flounder. Mr. Sanford says:—" An eight-inch ' dab is quite as heavy as a nine-inch flounder, as it is thicker and wider, but owing to the law prohibiting the sale of nine-inch flounders almost the whole of the dabs are thrown away. I consider this a great waste of food, and certainly tnere is nothing gained in the way of protecting the flouudera. At the present time, when the fishermen have such a hard struggle for existence, it would be a help to them if they were allowed to sell the dabs. A net that will let a nineinch flounder go through will catch an eightinch dab, consequently there is a large quantity of dabs caught, and owing to the fisheries regulations these are thrown overboard to feed the natural enemies of the flounders, thereby helping to destroy the fwh that our laws are intended to protect. It is very seldom that a dab is caught over th« nine-inch limit, and as the dabs are classed as flounders the whole catch is lost. The consumers of fish are sufferers by the regulation, as about half the fish caught are dabs and hove away. This affects the price of the flounders, in that the supply is limited to about half the quantity that would come to market if it were lawful to sell eight-inch dabs. I would, respectfully suggest to the proper authorities, that the regulations be so

altered that an eight-inch dab can be sold and that the law remain the same a? S present regarding the nine-inch flounder." We have to-day, Chinese accounts of the ate naval engagement. They assert that the Chin Yuen, previous to being sunk bv shots, which struck her below the water line, rammed and sank a Japanese warship" also that a Japanese vessel was set on firby shots from the Chinese vessels. Th Japanese accounts say that they had no vessels sunk, and that with one exception all can be repaired at sea. As might be expected, the late naval engagement has been much discussed in England Th« - " is indeed very important to Great Britain from the political interests involved and also from the lessons it affords a' to the naval warfare of the future Latest London advices as to the wool sales show that the tendency of prices is still in the direction of improvement. The effect of better prices of wool would soon be evident in the improved position of affairs in all the colonies. It is not yet clear what will be the outcome of the Victorian elections. The members of the Patterson Government seem to have been unpopular with the members of the civil service, au<l the civil servants are now a power in all the colonies. A serious strike amount the printers is impending in Sydney.