NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10422, 21 April 1897, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Thk McKinley Cabinet is now complete, the following being the new secretaries :— Senator John Sherman, Secretary of Stato; II r. Lyinan J. Gage, Secretary of the Treasury; General Russell A. Alger, Secretary of War) Mr. John D. Long, Secretary of the Navy; Mr. Cornelius N. Bliss, Secretary of the Interior; Mr. James A. Gary, Postmaster-General; Mr. Joseph McKenna, Attorney •General' Mr. James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture. It is a Cabinet of millionaires, Senator Sherman, of Ohio, is seventy-four years of age, and is one of the most respected of American statesmen. lie is a lawyer by profession, and has run for the presidency aa Republican .candidate oh more than one occasion. Uβ was Secretary of tho Treasury during President Hoyee' administration. Ho Will probably be best remeinbored in connection with the Sherman Act, which was to hare tliu effect of preventing the free coinage of silver by tho purchase of silver monthly by the Treasury. The purchasing clauses of thin Aot were repealed in 1893. 111 appearance Senator Sherman is gaunt and Wiry, with strongly marked features. He is reserved in mauner, preferring deeds to words. He is a millionaire. Mr. Lymau J. Gag 6 U (10 years old, and six feet high, ami it a many times millionaire. He is suspected of leanings towards Demo craoy. Uβ is a banker. General Russell A, Alger is another sexagenarian, and was born in Ohio. He also is a millionaire, and achieved hie dollars in the Michigan pine lands, where he conducted a "lumber business" after the War' Ho practised law in 1859, but soon gave that up, and when the War broke out he led a troop of Michigan cavalry, emerging a colonel when peace was restored. He has been Governor of Michigan. Mr. John D. Long Is a "clown east" Yankee, having been born at Buckfield, Main, in 1838. Hβ n a graduate of Harvard. He practised law at Boston, and became Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Massachusetts Legislature. Mr. Long is short and thick - let, with smooth manners, and is a millionaire. Mr, Joseph McKenna is by birth a Quaker. He was born, in 1843, in Philadelphia, bub migrated with his father to California, in 1855. He ia a lawyer, and has been a membor of the State Legislature and of Congress. Mr. James Wilson is a Scotchman, having been born in Ayrshire. He is 64 years old, and went to America 42 years ago. He is profesior of agriculture in lowa, where he had a seat in the Legislature. Ho has been a momber of Congress. Mr. Wilson is a millionaire. Mr. Cornelius N. Bliss is a Now York merchant. He is a prominent Eastern Republican, and is the treasurer of the Republican National Committee, of which Mr. Mark Hanna is chairman. Uβ ia between 50 and 60 years of age. He is the head of one of the greatest wholesale dry goods firms in America. Hβ is a millionaire.

The old'fnfhioned casuists might find some fund for ingenious speculation in certain cases that have recently been before the American law courts. Thus in Brooklyn a man claimed damages for the death of hie daughter, who was killed in a collision between a street ear nnd a brewer's dray. The jury awarded 3000 dollars damages against the brewer, but exonerated Hie tram company. On appeal the verdict against the brewer was sustained, and the tram company was also held to be responsible. A second action wae brought aijftineb the defendants jointly, and a verdict for 2000 dollars whs returned. The lawyers are now trying to disco»er if the plaintiff can collect the original verdict of 3009 dollsra against the brewing company, and make the 2000 dollars apply to the tram company only, or if the lust verdict stands us an expense to each of the defendants of 1000 dollars, or if the last verdict can be ignored and the 3000 dollars be collected under the decision of the Appellate Court. In New York an even more perplexing case haa arisen. A young man had bequeathed to him 70,000 dollars so long as he remained "sobor and induetrioue," but it was stipulated that if he became drunken or dissipated the property wae to be vested in trustees and retained by them until he reformed. The legatee has been ot pood moral charaoter, but has had the misfortune to reach the Bankruptcy Court, owing, as ho declares, to the malfeasance of his partner. Hie creditors olaim the 70,000 dollars, but an ingenious lawyor has suggested that in order to protect hie legacy he should take to bad habits and persist in them until the statute of limitations prevents ony further persecution. He could then " reform" and rogain the property from the trustees. But how far is a lawyer justified in advising a course of action which involves an evasion of legal liabilities and a life of open debauchery, both of which are regarded by the law as being against public policy ?

There has been, eaya the Australian Review of Reviews, a curious outbroak of tomkiniim in Sydney during the month. The city has always been liable to the emergence of whet are, in (he local vernacular, called " pusbee"-clpetere of youths who do not exactly belong to the crimina classes, bat who delight iu practical jokes strongly flavoured with brutality. Eachl "push" hue its local habitat, a rough organisation, and one or more recognised leaders »nd the degree of brutality in its performances depends largely on the temper of it* leaders. Theirexploitmngefrom maiming a Chioaman, or raiding a public-house, up to actual murder. At present the youthful brutality of Sydney U ratJier more structureless thin formerly; there are fewer organieod gangs, that in, bat the spirit of lawlejsnese, and the joy in violence amongst large numbers of youths in Sydney, is very minifost. Here,is a typical incident related by a respectable citizen in one of the daily Sydney journals :-Two young men were driving along in a cart in one of the city thoroughfares, and an inoffensive Chinaman wae walking along the etreet. The young men signalled to some boys who were playing in the road, to supply them with blue metal, and then, after making the Chinaman run, amused themselves by driving slowly after him and (belling him at be fled, with road Betel. Thii temper fermenting in the blood of

thousands of youth?, and spread ov« the area of a dozen suburbs, yields a hwe.bc! impish outrage) which natdfalty awake public alarm. The magistrates of the c :! have held a conference on the ebbjeotf the police are taking energetic eteps toijHrj press the evil, and indignant citizens Mk of organising defence aviations, J urge that the lash should be «»p| 4Md as a penalty of larnkinism. Mel bourne was tho birthplace of that Mil' sounding term, but Sydney supplies the worst illustrations of it 3 meaning. k 0 scientific analysis of lafrlkinUm h a 3 yet been attempted, and while it has many contributing owes in climate and locial habits, etc., and, perhaps, in literature, yet the caueo is probably something deeper still. Some wholesome element is mi M i ni , in the family life, the educational systems' and the social life of the colonies which makes larrikinisui on such a scale possible.

It is a little difficult to follow accurately and intelligently tho operations of the Greek and Turkish forces, owing to the meagre information available respecting tho locality where the fighting j 8 takibe place, bub according to the latest newt from the seat of war the Turks have prored their superiority over the Greek forces, and have driven back the latter with heavy loss, capturing one ot their batteries. It seems almost certain that the Turks if not restrained by the Powers, will, in the long run, completely smash up the Greek forces and overrun the kingdom. The fighting lias been desperate and the losses on both sides very heavy. The Greek fleet has been able to do novae execution in the Gulf 0 £ Arta. The Turkish navy, whioh since the death of Hpbart Paeha, the English com. mander, has been a.lowed to go to pieces, is apparently unable Id render effective assistance to the army. Tho situation in South Africa is, according to l)r. Leyds, who has arrived in Berlin, very critical. A meeting between the Emperors of Germany, Austria, and Russia has been arranged. The French press is afraid that thii mentis a revival of the dreikaiserbund.