NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 9736, 5 February 1895, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

The position and prospects of the Auckland Gas Company as Bet forth in the report and balance-sheet presented to shareholders at the annual meeting yesterday must be accepted as highly satisfactory and encouraging. A substantial profit was made on the year's transactions, and there is every likelihood of increased business during the ensuing twelve months. The policy of the directors in reducing the price of gas to the public has led to a much larger consumption. This is probably due in a great measure to the adoption of gas ranges for cooking purposes. In a climate such as we have in this part of New Zealand these must surely be welcomed by the majority of housewives as a boon and a blessing. Mechanical ingenuity has succeeded in bringing these ranges to a high state oi perfection, and it is confidently anticipated that their use will become general before very long, more particularly as the Gas Company are encouraging their adoption by the offer of very liberal terms. Increasing the qualification of directors from 40 to 60 shares, and giving them power to invest the money of the company in specific and safe securities, are eteps in the right direction. The Auckland Gas Company has had a very successful career so far, and we see no reason why its success should nob go on increasing.

Our correspondent at Apia states that per* sietenb rumours are rife there that Samoa is likely shortly to pass under the control of Germany. According to the Berlin correspondent of the London Times, the colonial party in Germany are preparing for a crusade against Great Britain on the subject of Samoa. Some of their organs are putting forward extravagant suggestions on the subject. The Berlin Neueste Nachrichten claims to have received the astonishing information from London that England would not be disinclined to exchange Zanzibar for

Samoa. It theia adds the modest «ag»eg • ■ ! tion that if England would give Zanzibar" " v ' Witu, and Uganda for Samoa, perhaps Ger!' -.''•'' many might think about it. Even in that I case the surrender of Samoa would be & "' source of great Annoyance to Germany. i The circular sent by the Melbourne Fre public Library to the authorities of our own Horary contains Borne interesting informs. Son. It shows that Victoria heads the list is to the number of volumes in its pab[j c libraries and mechanics institutes with 114,107 volumes; and that New Zealand : is 330,770, less than 7000 below New i tth Wales. The total for all the colonies . % little under 2,000,000 volumes. This ig § rery respectable number, but we are still . fibebind the miles upon miles in some of * of the Old World. The largest !%ry in the world is at Paris, and this s»ue institution contains more books than 1 publio libraries and institutes of all fchftustralaeian colonies put together.

% Parisian library holds upwards of 2,0(j|)00 printed books and 160,000 manuHcri||, Between the Imperial Library at St. ftersburg and the British Museum therefg nob much difference. In the Bribisliiaseum there are about 1,500,000 volumd These three are the largest librarian the world. The Royal Librarj of Muni* has now something over 900,000 but thif|includes many pamphlets; the Royal Lifary at Berlin contains 800,000 volumes *e library at Copenhagen 510,000the librqr at Dresden 500,000; the Uni' veraity (rflege at Gottingen 600,000. The Royal Litary at Vienna has 400,000 volumes and thetJniversity library in the same city 37000 volumes; at Buda Pesth the Univers|y library has 300,000 books; the correßp)tding library at Cracow about the same nqaber ; and that at Prague '205,000. The Arcrican libraries are growing rapidly, that atßoston being credited with close upon 1.(00,000 volumes.

In t| United States there ate 4QOQ librarie, containing about 31,000,000 volume: and pamphlets. With a population 4 63,000,000, thi3 would give one libraryjfor every 16,000 inhabitants, and an avrage of 50 volumes for every 10(1 inhabilnts. The distribution is, of course, unequal In Texas there are four volume! per 10], inhabitants. In Massachusetts there aa 500 libraries, containing 6,000,000 books ad pamphlets for a population of 2,20(|000. In Pennsylvania there are 3,000,00* volumes for a population of 5,500,001. As regards magnitude of libraries, there are 2600 containing from 1000 to 5000 volumes, 565 containing from 5006 to 19,000, 68 containing from 50,000 to 1)0,000 volumes, three containing more thaf 500,000 volumes. Women in the Unjed States, it has been found, read far pore than men they have more leisure, andtheir education, as a rule, is more extenure. Ashort sketch of A. E. Trott, the young Australian, whose recent brilliant exhibilions have taken him at one bound to the verj. front rank of the world's cricket, is sureto be of interest. In his three innings agaijsb the English bowling, he has made 195 Bins without losing his wicket. Considering that he is barely 22 years of age, and that this is the first season in which he has played for Australia against England, his batttng and bowliug are the morj meritorious. They bear the unmistakable stamp of promise. In neither innings could the famous English bowlers, with all theii skill, pet rid of him, and his total of 110 is the second highest of any individual participating iu the game. A contest between England and Australia is calculated to thoroughly test the mettle of a youth, and no young Australian, except it be Graham, who in his first great match at Lord's made 107 when the Australians were in dire digtress, has emerged from the ordeal witt colours so gaily flying as Trott's. Albert Edwin's confident vigorous batting ha: been quite a feature of the game, and hat quite justified the Victorian cricket expert who said before the game began, "Mark my words, young Trott is nearly as good a bat as his brother." He has not had the experience of some of his fellows, but a trip to England will give it to him. His success with the bat must be the more gratifying to him because he was " brought out" as a bowler. His success with the ball has hoen no less marked than his batting, and as he is also a brilliant fieldsman he seems to be the most likely of all the young players to take Giffen's mantle as champion of Australia when the present champion's powers wane. The Englishmen have a great opinion of Trott's cricket, and he is almost certain to -be a member of the next Australian Eleven which visits England.

Victoria's non-moral—we will nob say immoral— of education has won for itself an unenviable notoriety throughout the English-speaking world. Its lat«sfe critic is no less an authority than the Archbishop of Canterbury, lb is true there appears to be a certain class of people in every colonial community who would persuade themselves that they can learn nothin? from the experience of other States —and least of all from the Mother Country; but we believe the average colonial mind takes a broader and more reasonable view. However much we may dislike to admit it, there can honestly be very little doubt that the Archbishop is backed up by the powerful logic of facts and figures when he says the attitude of Victoria would be " ridiculous " were it not " dreadful;" for, according to Sir John Lubbock, in the English schools, where the children almost universally receive religious instruction, siuce 1870 the number of children has increased from 1,500,00010 5.000,000, and the number of persons in English prisons has fallen from 12,000 to 5000. In marked contrast to this is the state of France where, as the Temps states, criminal statistics and the statements of magistrates show thab as schools have been opened prisons have been filled, and diffusion of education has been accompanied, apparently, with increase of crime, and especially of juvenile crime. In attempting to account for this phenomenon, the Temps points out that in France education is simply intellectual instruction. In England there is not only instruction, but training. Moral and religious influences are brought to bear upon the children. Victoria again comes out very badly when compared with New South Wales, where religious instruction is imparted in the schools. The Archbishop's personal authority, he having been one of the most successful headmasters of the famous Wellington College, must have great weigh* in an educational question such as this, but backed up as he is by the teachings of statistics and experience, bis words come with almost irresistible force.

the fourth of the fire test matches between the English and Australian cricket representatives was concluded at Sydney yesterday under most unfavourable conditions as far as the visitors were concerned. Everything was against the batsmen and in favour of the bowling. Indeed, the disadvantages of the Englishmen were so manifest that at the commencement of the play yesterday Stoddart predicted that the match would be concluded that day. And so it was. But even taking all these things ini o account something more than 65 in the first innings, followed by 72, might *«<*<»•

-.Stfff 51 - . „ IT^cted . while a win for the an innings and 147 runs, k DB « Hopeful colonial could nob for a r £ have magined. Ib mu ß be rer m M ed that the wicket on which the to% means a good one. lb Kvwasbynomeunaagoodon.. It 6 been nearly ruined by the rain, and on fi account Stoddart, who won the toss, IDB opponents in to bat. Still, the J * yjwrday, thoroughly soaked by tJtiay.' rain, was certainly worse, though peL» not sufficient to account for the tpjrdous difference in the scores. The oig teams have now each won two mMcs and there is one more to be played. SucbW the case, the final struggle will be witched with the intensest interest throigW Australasia and the mother eoiw-jj. It is to be hoped that the conditionAinder which it is played will be juch this each team will hare a fair and »qual chance.

I'irther particulars of the operations of the Japanese at Weihaiwei show that their B tuck »as conducted on thoroughly scientific principles. The western forts have, ken captured, but those on the eastern] side of the harbour are still holding out/ j c 3 siid that ten Chinese warships havi ( fallen iato the hands of the Japanese. Thj . 1 Chines envoys to Japan charged wi/ < 1 conducting' the peace negotiations hap ' {tiled to satisfy the Japanese authorises ! that trey are properly credited, and ie, accordingly, returning to China. Thilis I the second time that the credentials of le , 1 jggnU of China sent to arrange termslf peace have been rojected by Japan as 4ytiffactory. The French Chamber of Deijjes oanaged to work itself up into a stie of frenzy over the letting of a contrfct '

by he Government to an English mi [or he transport of war materiel to Maa , 35 ,ar. The Government it seems had 1; en natty of this unpatriotic proceeding on he 'cfl-e of economy, as they thereby effti ed saving of £-4,000, but this excuse ras eated with contempt by the Socialists, ib.o tiered their feelings by indulging in a tec»nt of choice vituperation against England, 'he officers and crew of the steamer Crathil rhich ran down the Elbe, have been ex mined by the Court at Rotterdam, and re unanimous in declaring that they wen nawire the Elbo was sinking. We ui> ssiutingiy accept their statement. Wis o no believe there is a British crew ai#■hen in the world that would knotfcgly and deliberately abandon to th(3r ate those on board a doomed vessel. It he same time it seems strange J to Elbe sank after the collision as cruicly a* she is said to have done, that the- on board the Crathie did nob notice her isappearance. The Bank of New Zea'.an call, unwelcomo though ic was to moat shteholders, is being met in a very satisfaory manner. According to a cablegram fro London, 95 per cent, of the sharehders have already paid it.