NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10128, 11 May 1896, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

The subject of old age pensions is still being discussed both at home and in the colonies, but no solution is yet within sight. At the Inst meeting of the Auckland Liberal Association, Mr, J. Kays strongly condemned the present Government for not moving in this direction. They bad been returned to the House pledged to support this, and in their usual offhand way ol shuffling out of everything that was to the benefit of the colony, they had don« nothing for the aged fathers and mothers of New Zealand, He said that in England they are asking why the veterans of industry should hot be pensioned as well as civil servants, judges, and magistrates! and when such statesmen as Chamberlain, Labouchere, Sir G. Dilke, Broadburst, and others are in support of a national provision for the veterans of industry, they might readily believe that the national mind in England wus as much awakened to the importance of this legislative enact' ment as the colonial mind was hers. All over Europe the real right of the veterans of industry to be provided for in their old age was becoming recognised by all ■ their various rulers and legislators. It is no doubt true, as Mr. Kays states, that there is a general agreement that it

.Would be an excellentking if some method "Vera contrived by w\icb tho aged poor ould be provided fcr.lwithout attaching a tigma to the provision without encourag. ig idleness and pauperism, and without •wishing the industrlus poor. Bub the * implicated problem islet a far way from satisfactory solution. I The inconsistent polky of the United Sites is pointedly pub hr the St. James's Grette. Referring to lie motion passed in he Congress to recognso tho Cubans as baigerents, that jourtil says:— " For a sontry which fought a i upendous war to 3u|press a revolt of its ,vn citizens, the Senate's action goes very ar indeed. The Bared right of any Stat to maintain its om unity and to supprts its own rebels wihout foreign intorvent n was what tho N«th valiantly poured (,t its blood and dollirs for. But it soenj that European governments having sujects and territorie iu the neighbourly i of tho American continent have p rights. The Cubais, no doubt, lue not been well govened, and suffer nlch from an adnumeration which is Am lax and not too hmest. But if the liited States arrogatesthe right to upset frery government not amiinistered according to its ideals as undeßtood in the rule d public affairs, Washngton and New \|rk will have a greabieal to do, and tho*! might begin by reforning Venezuela. Tin Monroe doctrine is of incommon flexibility to adaptation, and d may say 'hands fcf to all Europe and ' -'s on' for tho Urjted States whore the triusmarine possession; of a European Powe are concerned. liis principle is applitable to Cuba, whichjs not part of the Ameican continent to-d|y. Why nob to Fiji, Manilla, and Nor Zealand to-mor-ow ?' "

Ve have no objection ti tho chiefs of any de;artment explaining to.those concerned tht working of any statutt, or uiy regula ticn in force. We think,howtver, that it is always well that this shoud be dono prvately, and that civil servints should no'er be found on the stump. They are certainly out of place in defmding tho poicy of a measure. That shoild bo left to Ministers. Civil servants ae supposed no- to have an opinion upon he policy of any Bill. The expediency of toil is obvious. Take, for instance, the present case. Mr. McGowan comes forward at a jublic meeting, and vehemently supports md defends the policy of the Government in issessing and levying a tax on consigning goods ami on commercial travellers. Bit suppose this Government were to go oit on these questions, in what position vouki Mr. McGowan be? The new Miniiters would be suspicious of Mr. McGowan and at all ovents they would know than to could not fet up at a public meeting ind defend their action in repealing the hw that has been so strongly objected to, But Mr. McGowan, in his address to he Chamber of Commerce at Napier, has jone much further than simply to vindicao the mea sures of the Government. He las viciously attacked those who make any injection, as being actuated by vulgar aid improper motives. Ho said that "tie agitation against the consignment tax wis got up by two firms, one doing business in Auckland and the other in Wellington, Jhristchurch, and Dunedin." He con tin red; "To his knowledge one firm was usirg correspondence with the Department as an advertisement for itself to show that they looked after the inters ti of consignees, iu the hope of getting a monopoly of consignment business to the colony." It is evident that Mr. McGowan has been taking a lesson from the Colonial Treasurer, fur the above assertion is very like what Ministers are now in the habit of making in their frequent political speeches. As to the first assertion, it is not true. The consignment tax is widely objected to. The opposition to it is not confined to two firms, but is concurred in by every person affected. The statement that one of the two firms is making an advertisement of their opposition to the tax, "in the aope of getting a monopoly of consignment business to the colony," is a libel. How can Mr. McGowan know what the "hope' of any person is? Any merchant who is in the way of receiving consignments is bouid to inform those who are in the habit cf sending goods of die law which the Government is intending to enforce, and ho may also state what is being done to get the Government not to enforce the tax. The statement that this is being done " in the hope of getting a monopoly of consignment business to the colony," seems nonsensical. If the tax continues to be enforced that merchant will be in no better position to deal with consignments than his neighbours, and the ;ame will be the case if the tax is not nforced. Any merchant must be sanguine ndeed if ho conceives it possible to get a monopoly of consignment business to the colony. The tax on consignments will certainly be injurious to Auckland. Almost all the island business is of that nature, produce being sent here to be sold in return for goods. Very much of that will now go to Sydney, which iB already a formidable competitor for island trade

We are informed by cable of the death of Cardinal Galimberti, one of the most prominent members of the immediate council uf His Holiness. Cardinal Galimberti has been frequently spoken of as the successor of Pope Loo, who is now more than eighty-six years old. The most prominent of the cardinals is Cardinal Raujpolla, the Secretary of State. Leo XIII. has drawn the lint-s of Pontifical policy by identifying the Papacy with modern progressive ideals, and he has associated with himself in his every act Cardinal Rampolla. A recent article in the Nouvelle Revue says of him :— "Amiable and good in private life, honest in business, incorruptible, persevering, serving God, Cardinal Rampolla has united merit of ideas to celerity of action. . . . Hissoul is as transparent as crystal. With an ordinary Secretary of State, Leo XIII. would perhaps haveconcealed his policy in the clouds. Cardinal Rampolla has carried it above tho storm into the calm sphere where it has become a symbol." Cardinal Ualimberti was regarded as being at the head of the apposite party, the Royalists, the Conservatives, tho Reactionaries, and the courts of Berlin, Vienna, and Rome, who can never pardon the friendship of Leo XIII. for the French Republic. Cardinal Galimberti was ahistorian, a diplomat, and an able tactician. He was not personally a popular man, but it was tho full intention to put him forward as a candidate for the Papacy, At present, therefore, if the necessity arose for the election of a Pope, the chances would bo in favour of ( »■ iinal Rampolla, and the continuance of the wise policy of Leo XIII.

There has been a discussion in the House jf Commons on Transvaal affairs, in which important speeches have been made by Sir W. Harcourt and Mr. Chamberlain. There have been additional revelations, which "how that a complete revolution in South Africa had been contemplated by the leaders in Johannesburg. The Khalifa, the successor to the Mahdi in the command of the rebels of the Soudan, is strengthening the garrison of Dongola, so that he evidently means to make a stand against our troops. A Sydney gentleman, who has just returned from London, Bays that a boom is expected in West Australian mines, bub that there is more money ready tor New Zealand than for any other colony.