NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 9830, 27 May 1895, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

■» ■ The China-Japan war will cost the bigger nation some £170,000,009. This hogs sum will, as an external debt, borrowed at six percent., involve China in an annual payment of £10,200,000. Now the balance of trade is decidedly against China, for on consulting Whittaker we find that the import* of the celestials in 1593 were some £7,100,000 in excess of their exports. As one can hardly imagine that this annual payment will be made in bullion it will be necessary to look to other sources from whence it may spring. Hitherto tea, silk, silk manufactures, and sugar have constituted by far the greater balk of the exports, but India, Ceylon, Japan, and Java bare moat seriously cut into and partially destroyed a business for which China twenty years ago had practically a monopoly. The silk industry has also suffered from Japanese and French competition, and the cultivation of the sugar-cane, now, thanks to German and French beetroot, barely pays the grower. Therefore looking at these facts we must come to the conclusion that China will (like the New Zealanders) have to curtail her imports —of cotton, which will affect Manchester, and of opium, which will seriously cub into the Indian revenue. Fortunately for herself, China has vast coal deposits, and she can grow her owu cotton, therefore she newest machinery for making cotton staffs will be imported from Europe and America. Experts will organise and direct the patient yellow man in the working of factories, and the labour of thousands will be employed at a remuneration ' of 6d per day of unlimited working hours. Interest on the external debt will thus be paid for in cotton stuffs ' and in woollen goods made from imported Australasian wools. Therefore England, through loaning money to China, will nob only stand to lose a good customer, bub will actually bo in danger of having her own markets flooded with cottons and woollens of the latest and most approved patterns, manufactured by the cheapest labour in the world. The French are evidently determined nob to let their German neighbours, who are just completing the North Sea-Baltic Canal, have it all their own way as far as canalbuilding is concerned. French authorities are now declaring that they are confident that their great scheme of a canal from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean will be one of the first great achievements of the new century, an even greater achievement than the German Canal about to be opened. In the French scheme, British companies trading with the Mediterranean and. the East will have a lively interest. In the first place, the French Canal will shorten the route from the Bay of Biscay to Malta and Egypt by some twelve hundred miles. If it were possible for ships to travel the . canal at a rate of speed as great at that which they would ordinarily maintain on the open sea, the gain in time and distance would be enormous. Bat that will nob be possible. However, the gain to commerce will still be very greab. The French have long had their minds fixed upon this scheme. .. Greab as Che length of this canal will be, none of

> work will have to be done de sow la i first place a considerable portion of the will be by rives; and in the second ice, the canal line of Louis XTV.'fl time- It 11 in existence, and will only h»Te to be .a«aed and deepened. ■ Compkinis have sometimes been made »pectin ths behaviour of some of the tquenters of our Public library, but we > not think affairs in Auckland are so bad i in, Melbourne, accordbiu to* writer in ie Age. He says:— l»bitne to hose presence strong objection Is LjtLn by id student who visit* the Public library ir '* self-improvement can be smelt, if not fen, many yards off. Hi has an unkempt lard and an exceedingly greasy and batled appearance, He generally enters ibrtly after tea o'clock, when the doors are Weed, and after ii .ding an empty recess tea down the first volume that comes to id. He 8 not at all concerned as to what of hook it may happen to —a Cdbj Magazine or a Family Herald will cvAim equally well. With this volume intent of him to justify bis presence at qualify him as a ' reader,' he spreads hielf well over the table, places his hat iron of him, and falls into a pound sleep, o: to be awakened when he thinks he is mciently refreshed to take another stroll frad the streets to pick up the butts of cits.'' Bat this does not appear to be the fit offence ; eating lunch on the sly, and i ti fingering the books and squirting [ tjicco juice, are included in the list of | tigs that the class is prone to. Needless t.vsay, these undesirable characters are a free of constant worry to the library istante. The Journal of Labour, published on May 2, has just come to hand, and its contents re as objectionable as any number preiously issued. The first article it entiled " Should Capitalists Advocate State Socialism," and is extracted from that ittreme publication the Westminster Renew, which publishes with approval Mr. Withy's papers on " Land Nationalisation. 0 it advocates the assumption of all inlustries by the State, who are to carry hem on by boards of control The irticle thus concludes :—"State Socialism is surely worth a trial, if only as a last remedy for the complained of * decay of our industries,' and until the experiment has keen properly tested, how can we say bat mat it may prove the true and only solution \ industrial and social success and happii nle* None have more reason to desirt sua a result than capitalists, and none shosji more earnestly study the question. WhoVill "oe the hero if the movement which will ltd is on to State Socialism, and nation&se the industries? He muss emergeyom the capitalist ranks. Support and sndess are certain, for the commercial world isknxiously looking for a deliverer.* i It is onecf the most surprising things connected fitfa the present administration, j that Micsten should every month print, | publish.and circulate, at the public cost, a journal { con taking Socialistic articles. Sach a taing is vithoat any parallel in any i country w colon). The Host not«worthy amongst the I birthday honours of recent years are tfca ' ca*es of thosi whe have made themselves known by their literary or artistic merit. This year thr« men are honoured who have obtained high position, but who would have had no dance of such distinction a generation ago. The famous novelist, Mr. Besant, is now Sir Walter ; Lewis Morris, the poet, is Sir Lewis, while the elevation to a knighthood of Henry Irving is an unprecedented notour to the theatrical profession. Sir Levis Morris, besides being a poet of so high aa order that he is believed by many to have the best claim for the laureateship, has done some political work. He was vice-chairaan of the Political Committee of the Reform Club, and in ISS6 he was Gladstoniaa candidate for the Pembroke Borough;, He has now, how. , ever, renounced all connection with politics. The rumours "of an early dissolution of the British Parliament continue. The proposals for Imperial assistance for the suggested Pacific cable and steamboat service are being kept persistently before the British Government, *nd Lord Rosebery has stated that he hopes to be able to an- ; nounce a satisfactory decision shortly. The ! Times thinks that an Imperial expenditure of £100,000 per annum would be amply repaid. A very powerful movement is on foot among the most prominent London bankers and merchants for the purpose of counteracting the operations©! the Bi-Metallic League. The trial of Oscar Wilde has at length been brought to a conclusion, Wilde being found guilty on all counts. The Judge was very severe in his remarks on passing sentence. He said he bad no shadow of doubt as to the correctness of the verdict, and that the two prisoners (Wilde and Taylor) seemed dead to all sense of shame. Each prisoner was sentenced to two years' imprisonment, the extreme penalty permitted by the law. There is a strong feeling in India to the effect that Great Britain should retain Chitral, as such a policy would be a guarantee of peace, and in the long run a saving in expenditure. The Japanese are said to be greatly dissatisfied and disheartened by Russian intrigues in Corea, and changes to the Corean officials are likely to be brought about.