NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18244, 10 November 1922, Page 8

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

THE DAMAGE IN IRELAND.

A debate recently took place in the Irish Provisional Parliament on a motion, which was subsequently carried, declaring that the local authorities and not the National Government should be responsible for compensation for damage to property inflicted after a certain date. The president, Mr. W. T. Cosgrave, said that in tho old pre-truce days the people were engaged in a national war, and rightly compensation for damage during that period should be a national charge. In the post-truce period circumstances had been different, and it. was indisputable that much of the IOS 3 that had occurred had resulted from acta which had nothing to do with the military operations. Ho held it would be inequitable to make the residents of counties ..which had been peaceful equally liable with those counties which had been disturbed.. It was estimated the amount required for post-truce compensation would largely exceed that of pre-truce days. The raising of the money would present a serious problem, aggravated by the injury done to their credit by recent events. Unless better order was observed or imposed in the immediate future the Government, and even the local authorities, would not br. in a position to raisa the necessary funds. He urged that local authorities should assist in checking exaggerated claims for compensation. The losses to be met would be bitTreen £20,000,000 and £30,000,000, aKd the interest and sinking fund would cost £1,500,000 a year. What tax were they to impose to raise it? Localities would want for their share of the malicious injuries an average of £1,000,000 each. It was unreasonable that they should contribute nothing to meet these. j claims.

THE OLDEST ENGLISH HOSPITAL.

Preparations are being made for the celebration, next June, of the 800 th anniversary of St Bartholomew's Hospital. The hospital is believed in some quarters to have been actually founded in the month of March, 1123, but June is thought to be a more favourable time of the year for holdine a celebration of so much interest and importance. It was in no spirit of jest, but rather of intense human interest, that Rahere, a Court jester and minstrel of Henry 1, «et Koing, this wonderful institution. In the middle of the Smithfield front is a gateway having upon it the inscription, "Founded by Rahere." Through this very opening Rahere himself passed, and since his time have gone in and out scores of great physicians and surgeons, thousands of students, and hundreds of thousands of stricken patients during 800 years. No institution of the kind has such a record, for "Bart's" is said to be the oldest general hospital in Britain, though ancient Rochester claims to have a hospital of a little earlier date bearing the same name. ,R*here, besides having a turn for wit and tune, was devout—per. haps more devout than humorous. Hi it was who founded the Prioiy of St. lartholomew, and was himself a prior, and this great hospital was originally made an annex of the Priory. So comes about the still existing and historic association between the two great Christion institutions—hospital and church, "Bart's." and St. Bartholomew's the Great, church of the priory. The priory was dissolved in 1537, and the hospital and its revenues passed into the possession of Henry VIII., but on the petition of the Lord Mayor, Sir Richard Gresham. tho King restored it, and granted it a new charter and re-endowment. Grateful for this act. the City Corporation undertook to pay for all time an annual sum toward its maintenance, and that contribution is loyally made at the present day. The hospital was rebuilt in 1729, and since then its progress, both in size and in usefulness, has been continuous.

THE DEBT TO AMERICA. A member of the commission appointed by the United States Government to deal with the funding of the Allied debts to America, Mr. Theodore H. Burton was recently in London, and in an address before a gathering of banking and commercial representatives, discussed " the overwhelming sentiment of the people of the United States to require the payment of those debts." He said there was a feeling that international credits, especially the debts of nations, had a certain degree of sanction—of sacredness.. Credit was the great moving force of the commerce and industry of the world, and anything which' overthrew this delicate structure would not only cireate distrust and demoralisation, but would be a serious handicap to the future development, not alone of the industrial life of nations, but to the activities of the nations themselves. This applied with particular force to England, whose currency and obligations had been for centuries a synonym of stability and of assured payment. Common fairness dictated that that record for meeting obligations should create no discrimination to the disadvantage of the British Empire. The second reason was that, th«x loans made to the Allies were not made from abounding revenues and overflowing coffers, but were obtained by loans from the people. The burden of taxation in r the United States was extremely heavy, and in proportion to tho burdens existing before the war the increase in national, indebtedness had been far greater, and in taxation quite a* great, if not greater, than in the countries of Europe whose obligations "they held. There was a burning desire in America for the maintenance of peace. In case of cancellation what assurance was there that the resources Which otherwise would be applied upon payments might not be utilised for the expansion of military ancl naval establishments, and thus create an ever-present threat of future conflict Jind destruction? There was still another point in this connection. A considerable fraction of the advances made were after the actual, close of the war, and at ihe time those loans were made the legislation authorising thein and the popular expectation both alike contemplated -payment*