NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10596, 10 November 1897, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

■ u'■■ -*" : — ~~■ ' In . view .ot ,• the . efforts I which are : being made in Auckland to put a stop to the sale d£ ; liqaor.on Sundays the provisions of.' the Bill which Jim just been introduced by tho Chief Secretary into' the South Australian Legislative Council to cope, w.ith the sainp, evil will be of interest ;; In tho interpretation clause bona-fide 'lodger' means ■", an person who' is a regular bona-Sde boarder, or shall haye actually bpna fide- lodged, on the licensed f premiaes i for. i at' least ; twelve hoiire prior fo hie being , ; supplied t with. liquor." .'. 'A. '. traveller has' to ■ extend ;, hie travel from five to ton miles to come under tho bona-fidfl exemption; $ The inosb importanb claiieqj is No. 4, .which a reads :— "Any licensed person holding a publican's or wine liceiiße who shall admib or suffer to gain admission ■ into his licensed premises tlurihg prohibited liourg , any person tjian .a, bpna-fide traveller jor bona-fide lodger, and any person other than a bonafide traveler or bbna-fide lodger, who shall .enter or attempt |to | gain ! : admisaion to Wi.. Jfaenfefi Pr?!EUes,.or'shaH befonn^j

, iisssS , hoars, shall be deemod to ' , an offence against this Act, and shall h liable to a penalty ,of not less than £5 * : morg tjian £20. Proyided,lw ay . 1 . the 'acoujed persot] shall show (to 'tho J . faction of the Court t'liab thV'pe C s 0a a "' admitted, sufforod to be admitted, entering or attempting to' gain admission, or foanj on the premises as was on the premises or attempting: to' gain admission thereto for soma lawful purpose, &w j hall ' • not bean unlawfully supplied with an 1 liquor, .and had not entered: such preofe • : for the purpose or with the intent of bein« ° supplied, the Court shall abstain from W convicting"' such pVratT;" }\ % ' r penalty of £.5 to £20 is prodded "for iiq B | • supplied to a bona fide lodger or 'traveller ; "to be consumed by any other person» ■ Power is given to constables to enter prsraises day or night, and arrest person* legally found thereon.; ■ >'■ v ,t• 1 1 * -—'' *-—. . .The London Daily Chronicle some time ago announced on "authority, derived from , an unimpeachable source,.tliat'.Presideni |p§| gpj;,: head of the Transvaal Republic, is suffering from an advanced stage of Bright', disease, and, in the opinion of medical n&p#s§ his life is hardly likely to be paoioiiged 18 months." ";Wfio is the authority for thiifi ridiculous canard?" asks the Johannesburg Standard. " Tjtp mistake made is obviously due to i) qopfusioii between President Kru | get' and another prominent member of the HtS executive, who, we regret (jO; say, is jeriMp o H siy ill, though more'sanguine hopes are : now entertained; . bub \yq are authorised to'"?;p state on oven more 1 unimpeachable authority,' to wit, that of the President himself, 'and'of his medical adviser, that his Honour is organically sound, and has suffered solely through the great pressure of 'work!tfatfflfi has left liinj no time for- relaxation- jqd ' exercise." .' ' ' .' '-iwaS'v . Judging hy the 'prominence thab hVh'fi . been given t,o the, retirement of George Giffen, both in the English and Australian press,,one might bp exceed for. thinking that the fate of the empire was some way -

involved. To the ardent cricketer the im- ; portance . given; tq the question is amply §|f| justified in view of Giffen's wonderful a round performances men three years ago, when he scored 64,58, 161, 41, 32, 43, 53; 24, 8, 57,51,51, and 27,$Pj fhich j»ayehim the magnificent average "of. 5G*25, besides' wjjjcji he captured 50 out o? $>$}§ li£ wickets which fell in the events in

which -he bowled. No wonder then as thn ivrifcer of "Punitive Notes" in the Sydney Momijiff Herald B.iya, "the great question of ( the . moment is j not whether we shall federate, nor the' extent of the firiancfaj deficit, but whether Mr, George Giffef 13- to play 'cricket for us' this seasonI think 1 this is really one •of j the oc&Sfws sions where compulsory arbitration might be, adycntftgepMly, employed, ;>lfc;isYj(||M national calamity, and . I don't see ;. wbsf||§ some of our leading cricketers have not already appealed to high quarters. iWhyifflf not ask the Prince of Wales, or the Archbishop of Canterbury, or Mr. Gladstone—■ &$$ or . that ; Belgian ■ Professor 'who; seams' able: $$| to settle anything—to step in. The proba-; .<* bility is i that . none of :fchesoV would f ack'|||| They would all say thqt they felt hopoureij, but that the issues, wer^' too, momentous; but, still, ye. might try. ' For my own part I".' do : nob ' think it matters two;' straws whether Mr. Giffen plays or not. : - If he hM»j||| a stiff knee, or'a stiff neck,' he' can surely 1 , please 'himself.' • I am certain that there won't be a single spectator less •. at the . great , raatobes because of his pbsepce. , Besides, it is rude to press some people too V [ muchand very injudicious." i~». i—_—' , .f| The remarks of Dr. Bevan, / \ie .well-:' j> known Victorian Congregationalist minis- v ter, regarding the growth of sacerdotalism ' ■among the Presbyterians (to which we have * already referred in those columns) appear ■'•fit to .liave given considerable offence in Sydney, where the Doctor has been lecturing -'i ' lately. . One \ Presbyterian clergyman, ?§ thinking that Dr. Bevan' had in his mind. the. action of the. , New, ■ South Wales Moderator, who has been visiting the various Presbyterian congregations,' vigorously repudiated the charge of sacerdotalism. Dr. 1 Bevan, in l'oply, stated:—"l wm hot referring to Presbyterianism here, and I. <Tr> am yery.' glad' to know, that the Moderat||||f (Dr. Bruce) is visiting ; the congregations , the ; Presbyterian . Church " throughout the Jp colony—a very proper duty for a Moderator; and of course quite free from any suggestion* of the sacerdotalism to,/which 1 'hava referred. • JJy '' reference v was to'thS«M change which 1 has come' over the . fushion; of worship in some of the leading churches of the Establishment' in Scotland. For example, in the St.' Giles's Cathedral, if:g>s£f: which Dr. Cameron Lee? is the minister, # • form . of. service ■is being introduced v,yssJp| different; from that j with. .which twe are familiar in the Presbyterian Church genßrji,%s! ally, end innovations in. the. direction pf ? sacerdotal leading of • the Communion service are being found ■in -other Churches.; During .my, visit Hope I was told thai,' suppose disestablishment should take pia.es in Scotland, tfcs •' disestablished, Cliurcb' Si vyoald probably divide 'into two mparts, on| *pf portion of .which would : join, the . other Presbyterian Churches, while the other pari ssS would Very probably unite with the Episcoc palian Church of Scotland,; which is pr^^S

bably one of llio most sacerdotal in 'doctrioi and ritual in; form •of all : the Churches in w the Anglican Communion. It was to this y, tendency that I referred. Ido not know % that there is anything of the kind in these colonies, and. I iriadb no reference to the Presbyterian Church here." V. •: . •.• - f

The situation in West Africa is becoming |j| serious owing to the policy of .pbrsiscenb ; ;vj aggression jadopted by' (lie French. They have . burned , twelve , towns situated ;in : v is territory under . British protection, a coly||| lision with (lie English force stationed in the neighbourhood being narrowly averted, Tho English Conservative organs insist thab • the 'policy' of surrender to >Franq^.'niu^ stop, t Four of the British gunboats operate ing on the fjilo shelled the Dervish forts at -V Metamuiab, and reached the 'sixth cataract, ''f, which is only seventy miles from Khartoum. ; They returned without being in any way >' v 'k injured. The Board of Trade returns fo|' ■■ -M? last month give- evidence of ; the deploy able effect which Ihe engineers' strike V : is'.having upon - British trade, iy*;, decrease -in tho export ,of . machinery to.-'-'tho... value of £465,000 is shown.' /v. The Prussian Government have decided to '■> buy putt, the Polish ,* ; landowners, and to substitute Germans .in thoir stead. The .V.f Austrian Minister of Finance lias advised ; the , Opposition party, not to compel the ~* - Government) :to prolong. ' the i Ausgleich of an /iihperial : decree. • The t Ausglejch is., hp arrangement by which Austria.contributes 70 and Hungary 30 per||y|. cent, pf tho joint .expenditure of the Au§crQ-llqnga|;ian Empire. The Ausgleich expires during-the present .year, ; and Austria contends that Hungary's contribution .should be increased to 42 per cent. Hungary objects to : tin's increase,' and several conferences' have been' held between { tlia Ministers'of the two countries, and . varioui . arrangements adopted ,by them for equalising: the commercial conditions in the two countries — including 'a identical 0 railway jg§|| tariffs, Government contracts to be gives irrespective of nationality, and facilities toj||| be.giyjn foe Hungarian companies to business in Austria.