NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 1514, 9 November 1912, Page 6

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

PARTIES IN THE UNITED STATES. ' In view of the Democratic success in - the elections to'the "United States Hons© of 8 Representatives, . as well as in the Presil dential election, a recently made estimate j of the ■ strength of. parties in, the . present 'House is of interest. . In the present House 3 the political division by States is exactly " equal, although there are' 229 Democratic, r and only 161.',. Republican representatives, j Yet there are 22 State delegations in which the Republicans, have a majority, and the same number, 22, in which the Democrats. ' have a majority. In addition, there are " four States, holding the balance of power, C -each tied with an equal number of Republij can and Democratic representatives. These are Maine, Rhode Island, Nebraska, and New Mexico. I • . J THE PATRIARCH OF NEWSPAPERS. The Publishers' Journal of- Germany 1 learns that recently the President, Yuan- "■> Shih Kai, suppressed the newspaper King--7 Bao for ever. King-Bao, is without doubt j the oldest newspaper in .the world. In £ Chinese history and literature it has played an enviable and supreme part. For 1500 years ' this journal' has informed China' of 5 the important events in the known world, j and exercised a profound influence upon } the growth o? the Chinese community. [ At a time in which Europe was plunged in darkness, without the faintest glimmer--1 ing of the future developments of book and newspaper printing, a Chinese dis- • covered that type could be made out of , an alloy of lead and silver, and accord- , ingly founded! in the reign of the Emperor Fin-tschuang-Tsang (400 A.D.) the KingBao, which has appeared without interrup--1 tion until to-day. Originally the paper ; was printed upon ten yellow silk pages, . which were bound together like a book, and sent to the highest dignitaries in the kingdom. In time this news sheet became famous throughout China. In the Great Library of the Emperor of China are pre- ■ served interesting documents, which relate to the history of the oldest newspaper in the, world. Two.of the outstanding events are well worthy of record, for the editors-in-chief of the paper often displayed exemplary • courage and great patriotism. Thus in the eighth century it was the editor of the King-Bao, who denounced the treachery of the Royal Prince, Fin-Mo-Ling, and received as reward for his devotion sentence to the most terrible tortures and finally to death at the stake. Fin-Mo-Ling's treachery was .proved too late to save the editor. But undoubtedly most fascinating and significent of all the incidents in the history of the newspaper is the action and the fate of the twelfth centuiy editor,' whSb wrote an article demanding that the Government should turn its back on tradition and ceremony, and should "send clever men to Europe, to learn there, to see, and to hear." For ■ this advice, which sounds so strangely modern — editor, . the famous Chinese poet, Gur-Nu-Tschang, was beheaded ; and his head, with ears torn off and the tongue . plucked out, was exhibited as a warning to modernists in every town of North China. DIPLOMATIC CONVERSATIONS." The recent interviews at Balmoral between Sir Edward Grey and M. Sazanoff, the Russian Foreign Minister, were, with particularity and pertinacity officially alluded to as "conversations." A .wellknown diplomatist, states that the word has in this connection a well-defined and important significance. Communications passing between the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and the ambassadors from foreign States fall under two categories. One is mutually understood to be informal; the other is girt about, with the solemnity and circumstance pertaining to treaty-making or approach to treaty-making. Under the former condition, known as "conversations," the business of international diplomacy is chiefly carried on. - During the Parliamentary Sir Edward Grey is "at home" at the Foreign Office in the afternoons of • five days a week. Dreriared for friendly

chat with any foreign Minister -who, hoping he does not intrude, may drop in. In such easy friendly circumstances, ' conversation that may lead to consequences of European concern is conducted with an affability • that does not deceive .either party to it. IMPROVING MAIN 110 ADS. The New South Wales Minister for Works has foreshadowed certain interesting changes in. the Roads Department, including a scheme by which main roads are ■ to be put under the charge of a board deriving its revenue from a sum deducted , from the Government subsidy to local bodies, and from a tax imposed upon the owners of - vehicles. The principle, | says the Sydney Morning Herald, ■ is an excellent one, but its appli- ; cation deserves some consideration be- , fore any decisive step is taken. The , general idea of local government is unimpaired, but the reduction of the subsidy to local bodies, must not bo so great as i to handicap them in their functions, which I will still be very considerable; £250,000 is to be withdrawn from their grant, and it has been suggested that this will make 1 it difficult for them to carry on their other l duties. Perhaps in view of the windfall , in the shape of a vehicle tax, the Govern- . ment will be able to exercise more generosity in this particular." L