NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11365, 7 May 1900, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Wb publish to-day an interview with the Sanitary Commissioners, in which they are at some pains to show that they were not responsible for the mistake made in declaring the boy suffering from blood-poisoning to be infected with plague. They also state, according to a letter written to the Wellington Press by Dr. Fyffe, that they advised the Government not to call the case one of plague until they had more data to go on. This explanation is satisfactory so far as it goes, but it places the Premier in an awkward position. He was in Auckland when the .suspected case was discovered, and in daily communication with the Commissioners. Yet we have him declaring at the meeting of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board on April 30, that "after what the medical officers said about the case now in the smallpox hospital, there was very little doubt that there was proof that it [tho plague] was not only on tho wharves, but in the middle of the city," and that " the Board might rest assured that that would not be the only case." He also asserted that " if proper and definite action was not taken, it would be the duty of the Government to declare Auckland infected." And now we know that tho Commissioners had advised the Government "not to call the case one of plague!" Who were the medical officers the Premier referred to, and what was the information he was acting on when ho declared " it would not be the only case?"

A correspondent semis us the following communication, which is deserving of consideration:—On Friday evening last, about five o'clock, a notice was served upon tho landlord of some leasehold property in Drake-street, of which the City Council are the owners, intimating that three cottages in a front street had been condemned as insanitary, and must be pulled down by four o'clock of the next afternoon. The occu-

pants of one ;of these cofctage^ re a mother and fire children—father .w4pg in the ' country;' of another, a widow \ram about 60, : who has in possession,} her cottage ■ for nine years; and.of "third, a mother with seven children—fa tit at work in the bush.- Interviewed by,PMovraant on Saturday morning, each tenant Emitted the visit some days previously of tWiwntlemen—not knowing, however, until iPirpied by him that the visitors were sanity inspectors, but each, denied that cither olhese gentlemen had given then) the slightest,]),); that their cottages had been condemned, d would have to bo pulled down. They 0 informed him that there had been no si., i ness in either cottage, the old widow statu, sho had not spent one shilling on medicin during her. residence there. Now, it was th plain duty of the landlord (writes our correspondent) to conform, like a good citizen, to tho demand of the Council, and to have started off first thing on Saturday morning to bundle the tenants into the street and pull down their dwellings. Needless to say he did nothing of the kind. The next proceeding in the present disturbed mental condition of the authorities will bo to apply probably tin's morning for a Court order, authorising these cottages to be pulled down. The landlord has not had the alternative given him to repair the buildings. In the faco of lie fact of there having been no sickness in these houses, it is difficult to conceive their being in an insanitary condition. Surely dilapidated and insanitary are not synonymous terms. These people are poor, and paying a small rental. Other tenements in first-class condition have evidently been taken by the Commissioners as their model, but such cannot be obtained at less than thrice the rent these people are paying. It follows that these evicted tenants will have to club together, take one cottage, and the three families herd in it. Surely that is not sanitation.

Mr. Lecky's article on the moral aspects of the South African war in tho London Daily News, may he commended (says the Spectator) to all who are open to conviction as to the righteousness of the British cause. Dismissing as impracticable the methods that might have been adopted by an " intelligent military despotism " to check the arming of the Transvaal, Mr. Lecky states his belief that the war had on the English side for some time become inevitable and could not have been greatly postponed. The grievances of the Outlnnders had boon exaggerated, but the Transvaal Government was " destestable," and the British Government could not acquiesce in a state of things which violated distinct promises, and threatened our wholo position in South Africa, , After paying a well-merited tribute to Mr. Schreiner's conduct as that of a, very honourable man, and frankly admitting the shortcomings of the British— sinister intrusion of financial speculation into the domain of politics both in England and South Africa, the baleful effect of the raid, which was a folly is well as a crime, and the adulation of Mr, Rhodes—Mr. Lecky declared that no responsible politician in England desired the war, and that Mr. Chamberlain, if not always judicious in. diplomacy, had nevertheless " sincerely laboured for peace," and that in its broad lines his policy had been just and moderate.

Leslie's Weekly contains an interesting paper by Captain Mahan on "The Monroe Doctrine and Our Navy." Touching on the Nicaragua Canal, ho points out that if America intends to make the Monroe doctrine effectual in resisting the pretensions of such nations, especially European, as are interested in using tho canal, and for the support of theinntcrests in gaining positions, she must bo prepared to resist by force, if need be, any attempt to obtain adjacent territory or ports which may serve as stations for a navy hostile to her. " The Monroe doctrine," he continues, "does not depend upon legal right, but upon tho moral right of our indispensable interests, deriving its chief support from the fact that it is not worth while to incur our enmity, pushed, perhaps, to the extent of war." The necessity for strengthening the American navy thus becomes paramount, and; while, to make it as strong as Great Britain's in the near future is out of the question, he holds that America can easily afford to rival the navy of France or Germany, " the only European States, besides Great Britain, whose interests might lead them actively to dispute the maintenance of the Monroe doctrine."

The Admiralty and Horse Guards Gazette discussing the question why Russia has chosen to encourage the suggestion that she is again menacing Herat, when she is perfectly aware that Great Britain is to all intents and purposes pledged to make a Russian occupation of that city a casus belli, says: The readiest explanation is doubtless found in the South African war. The bulk of the British army is locked up at the Cape in the prosecution of a struggle which recently bade fair to be bloody and prolonged. The St.. Petersburg Ministry may have thought that Great Britain would be too engrossed in the subjugation of the Boers to remember its promises to Abdur Rahman, or to resent the seizure of the ancient " Pearl of the World." In that case, Lord George Hamilton's declaration will serve to show that Great Britain is conscious that its Empire does not consist of South Africa alone. But it is not, after all, very probable that Russia has any real intention of advancing upon Herat at once. The true explanation of her concentration of troops at Kushk can more conceivably be found in other directions. The hypothesis we suggest is that she is simply holding herself prepared at all points to strike when the Ameer dies. . . . At his demise, the British Government will be placed in a perplexing position. Wo have practically pledged ourselves to maintain him on his throne, but we have not bound ourselves to preserve his dynasty. It is tolerably certain that when he disappears his kingdom will be plunged into internecine strife. The factions supporting the rival claims of his sons Habibulla and Nasrulla will doubtless meet in conflict. There is a third claimant in the background, who is too often forgotten when the future of Afghanistan is considered. Only 11 years ago Ishak Khan raised a formidable revolt against the Ameer in Afghan Turkestan. He was defeated, and fled to Russian territory, where, with his son, Mahomed Ismail Khan, he remains a refugee. . . . R us . sia knows the proverbial indecision of British Governments when they are not driven to fulfil binding pledges; and she possibly counts upon the prospect of our hesitation when the moment for irrevocable decision arrives. While we hesitate, Russia generally strikes; end her desire to bo ready to act quickly probably provides the main reason for her significant increase in the Ktlßhk garrison,

General Tucker's attack on Brandfort reI solved itself largely into a sharp artillery duel, two Boer guns being dismantled. The British casualties wore small. The Boers have evacuated the Tliabanchu hills. On Friday General lan Hamilton reached Welkom, on the Vet River, 15 miles south-west of Winburg. He had to fight his way throughout the whole march. On Wednesday General Hart occupied Smithfield, capturing 25 Boers. Fifteen Gordon Highlanders, under Captain Towse, were called upon to

surrender by a party 0 BoeTT surrounded then,. The Highlander ,*« ' ! " ever, fixed bayonets and swept ttmj' 1' * ■ enemy, killing 50. well," on April 29. General HunW v , | cross.dtbo.Vaal River at Windsort? '\' town being captured unopposed-' "' A By- 1' force has attacked the enemy's laJ'J f Fourteen Streams, compelling th 6 80 - : ! ;; T make a hasty retreat. lii hit d«„il ■ ' ' General French commends the excellent '" I duct oftho New Wanders, specially ° ni •■ - : tioning Major Robin ami Captain Mfe Lord Roberts adds a note stating th-tuT New glanders have specially distihguiaSS ': ' ; themselves. The New Zenlanders e re tV- " 1 first to enter Brandfort, An angry '£■•' h bate has taken place in Parliament in con 1 • neotion with tho publication of '\U a /.: 1 ■ patches concerning the Bpionkop engagement 1 . The division resulted in a Government aw ' 1 > prity of 99, but this is not regarded V* : I ! \st as to the extent of the dissatisfaction* 1 ! tthe supporters of the Government, ; Speak : ' 1 ' i\ at the opening function of the Mi : : 1 • Auleiny, Lord Salisbury said' be trusted'■■"' 1 • tit the chief movement of Lord Robert, : ' I ha begun. He hoped it would bring, \Jm 1 • adition to the termination of a lingerie 1 • wai the relief of heroic Matching.-,' In , '•. - i ' cab, to tho Viceroy, the German Emperor ? v 1 i stutj that the German contributions to the 1 • lndin famine fund were prompted by s™, ■' I ■ pathjand love to India. Lord Cureon, in ; v 1 • his rt)ly, said Germany's action -if« an |j•:.- 9 t illustrtion of the binding force of kinship, ' : a