NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16039, 4 October 1915, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

♦ THREE HUNDRED. WAR STAMPS. The introduction in New Zealand of the halfpenny war tax stamp lends special interest to the large number of new series of stamps that have been issued byvarious countries since the beginning of the war. The first year of hostilities brought no fewer than 337 new stamps into circulation as a consequence, direct or indirect, of the present struggle. In part this has been due to the dependence of several countries upon German dyes. For instance, the American Government could not for this reason maintain the normal colour of its stamps. According to Mr. Fred J. Melville, writing in the Daily Telegraph, Persia has suffered a stamp famine, and has had to resort to the issue of 16 provisional stamps. Even far Siam. whose stamps were latterly printed in Germany, is now turning out the remnants of the obsolete 1906 issue and surcharging them with the modern "satangV currency, as the Ger-man-printed issup is running out. Turkey, on the other hand, is running out of its London-printed stamps, and has issued two provisional series, and may have to send out more before the Turks can - issue a new series made at home or in Germany. Switzerland has issued three provisionals, because she has had to raise her postal tariff to help pay for the defence of her frontiers, and the three stamps of new denominations were required urgently. Apart from occupation stamps or military service stamps, the British Empire has only produced four provisionals as a consequence of the war, and these, which were issued in St. Vincent and British Honduras, were, it is stated, scarcely necessary. Turkey alone among the combatants has issued commemorative stamps, seven of them, to mark the national rejoicings over the abrogation of the Capitulations in October. The armies in the field have had stamps for their use, 33 in all. Ten of these are in use with the Indian Expeditionary Forces, two varieties of the 3-sen military stamp have been issued by Japan for her army and navy, and the Bosnian military stamps (21 of them) have been overprinted for the*" Austro-Hungarian forces in Poland. In addition to these new issues, 159 occupation stamps have been in circulation, but of these only 15 originated from enemy sources, in itself an indication of the results of the year's worldFinally, a considerable number of stamps have been issued on behalf of charities.

MORE GERMAN ATROCITIES.

The public have been authoritatively informed by the report of the Bryce Commission of . the atrocities committed, in Belgium and Northern Franco by the German troops. That equal atrocities have been perpetrated* on the Eastern front has been more than once - alleged in general terms; but precise statements have been few. Occasionally, however, the Russian General Staff has made public some of the 1 * facts which had come within its cognisance. ' The most recent of these official reports, which is quoted by a London . paper, embodies the evidence of an Austrian officer, who was taken prisoner a few weeks ago. According to this statement the German soldiers, acting under the orders of their officers, have deliberately and brutally tortured Russian prisoners, even burning them alive. These cruelties, it is said, have been committed so often that the practice almost amounts to a system. According to this Austrian witness, the Germans actually defend the practice on the' ground that by teaching their soldiers to bo cruel they encourage them to fight well. Such a doctrine is so revolting to all British conceptions of humanity that many people will hesitate to believe the statement. Unfortunately this story does not stand alone. The weapon of cruelty is as fully recognised by the German military authorities as are such material weapons as machine-guns and howitzers. Many of the crimes committed in Belgium can only be explained on the hypothesis that it was the deliberate policy of the Germans to terrorise the Belgian population by acts of cruelty which would strike horror into every heart, and there seems to be some justification for believing that it is possible for the German military authorities coldly to calculate that by stimulating the lust of cruelty they may make their soldiers more terrible as fighters.

PATRIOTIC STREET COLLECTIONS.

The British Commissioner of Police, with the concurrence of the Home Office, recently issued stringent regulations in regard to street collections. In the Old Country, as in other parts of the Empire, the war has fostered a form of appeal to the generous which, unless under strict supervision, is singularly liable to abuse. It has also been made a cloak for the nefarious practices of dishonest people, " Specific days for purposes which are beyond reproach or suspicion," says a London paper, " can be, and have been, made to serve the best charitable ends. They are useful in that they gather up on a widely organised plan countless small gifts which would otherwise not be made. All these collections, however, are rightly restricted to one set day in each year, and the public is perfectly safeguarded against fraud. But other collections of a suspect nature are becoming so common that it was fully time the authorities intervened. That a permit must be obtained well in advance of the date on which the collection is to bo taken, and that such a permit will not be granted unless the Commissioner of Police is satisfied as to the bona fides of the object in view, wilt bo recognised as wise regulations! By fixing a minimum age of 16 for the collec tors something will be accomplished towards stopping this begging by children, while the elimination of the animal adjunct and the warning against importuning to the annoyance of the public are innovations which will be heartily welcomed. Offences against the Vagrancy and similar Acts will, of course, remain punishable, for that proviso is an ultimate safeguard against the public being robl-» J in the na%ie of the war,"