Current Topics.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 978, 28 November 1890, Page 24

Current Topics.

The loss of the Serpent resembles that of the Captain, over twenty years ago, in some respects. Both were new ships, in the first rank of modern improvement, and from both great things were expected. A twenty knot cruiser with powerful armament, the Serpent, can ill be spared; a powerful turret ship, the Captain, was much missed. The parallel ends there. The Serpent has gone to pieces ; the Captain lies at the bottom of the Bay of Biscay, compact as the day she turned over with her 500 men. The Admiralty received some seventy offers to find her and raise her, some of which made nothing of a mile’s depth of water. The most curious of all these applications wa3 one from Mr Ackerman, of Launceston, in Tasmania, in 1871, who offered to float her, provided she were nob lying in more than 160 feet of water. His theory was that the ship, after capsizing, went down keel uppermost, and he drew in his app’ication a suggestive picture of the poor fellows on the lower decit under the keel, waiting for the imprisoned compressed air to put them and their lamps out of existence. He simply proposed to pump air into the space between the ship’s double sides, into her water tanks—between them equal to a floating power of 1800 tons—and into her Hold, after fastening up all openings. But though Mr Ackerman had “studied hydrostatics,” and though he laughed all his competitors to scorn, his offer was not accepted. The Admiralty was certainly better without a ship that could not keep upright. The episode is nevertheless curious. Of the Serpent no such reflection could be made. Her the authorities would gladly regain if they could. Nobody is likely, however, to offer to find her and put her together.

The death of Lady Roseberry reminds us of the insidious character of typhoid fever, which sometimes appears to leave its victims in convalescence only to strike them down with unexpected sudden force. It also reminds us that in the sanitary history of late years nothing is more striking than the fact that typhoid has attacked many people whose surroundings have precluded all idea of danger. The rich who live in lofty well-venti-lated houses, built in pleasant situations in the midst of well-drained districts fall victims to typhoid just as readily as the poor who live under all possible conditions of unwholesomeness. The conclusion to be drawn i 3 that defective drainage is worse than no drainage at all. A luxurious country house drained pretentiously, but badly, may be a worse hotbed of fever than the most crowded slum of St. Giles, as the Prince of Wales found out some years ago. City authorities who establish systems of drainage should be careful—(l) to have them carried out under competent supervision, and (2) to have them always under close and trained inspection.

We find that Mr D. Hunt was not the Hunt who was deported by Sir A. G ordon from Samoa, but a trader of longstanding, who has been settled in Samoa for years, and has never come into collision with any of the representatives of Her Majesty in the Western Pacific, whose first article of creed is that no one shall have the audacity to differ from the Lord High Commissioner. Sir John Thurston is not likely to mistake the one Hunt for the other, because that is a matter within the knowledge of his department. But Sir John may see in the very fact of a man’s being shot at by a native of anywhere an irresistible proof that he ought to be punished with the utmost severity of which the Lord High Commissioner is capable. It will be interesting to watch the sequel to this remarkable case.

The Bank of England having declared that it will stand by the Banks, the feeling of uneasiness has passed away. Not many hours ago it looked very black. Apparently nothing was able to save the crash. Guarantee after guarantee' was followed by deepened gloom. A committee examined into the Argentine finances, and then Lord Rosebery appeared on the scene with another committee to readjust these finances, after which it was said (hat the Rothschilds would “ take up the agency ” if allowed to control the Government. Of course, with good Government the enormous productiveness of Argentine would quickly make good all the millions the Barings have lost, and make more millions for their successors. The condition proposed by tho great house is shrewd, like everything else they do. Whether they will ever get an effectual control remains to be seen. Probably they may, for the revolution the other day was against pillagers and charlatans. The new men will be only too glad to make terms with a strong house and may keep in office long enough to put things right. In the meantime the guarantee for the Barings is general, and the Bank of England has promised to be behind the guarantors. The guarantee of all liabilities has 1 been limited by a certain date, which is a warning to the woild not to take any more of the Barings’ paper. As colonial banks have joined the guarantee it is pretty clear that the guarantee is very wide. Whether they have joined because they hold some of the Baring paper or for other reasons remains to be seen. If for the former reason the amount is

sure to be small, as cautimThakM 5 been the watchword of these instil-,n^ 1 This question is now Bank of England having made a dec^ he announcement the incident mav k 8 gamed as practically over That \ re ' arrangements are being 'mader!f Cb that struct Baring's is a „ adfitK &3T the storni having blown over Tv.*- thn come for refitting. As we an ha « members who have hived off n P patt<i fche ing to the fhm to help millions it made foi them P Tt- th ® example to the world. ’ 13 a n °ble

The lamentable effects of t-hn •, n„w being felt more aSd r f lke •» day we have to chronicle the fail Very some large body of men to regain tfc ° f ployment from which they drawn in such wholesale reckless f v th ' The Railway Commissions a ‘'“t?"' their best to take their men back hS course the process is slow Tb- f are ready enough to return, as all are but there are few vacancies fc railway service there aro of course ™ more opportunities comparatively £ ? outside that service there is Jn palliation for the misery of the me,, 8 *? have lost their permanent em p W n h ° The latest instance is the fjl former permanent empfeyeer e? £* Harbour Board here. Thev mml. . cation the other day, but the only Hfc was that there was no recommli r to place before the Board. purpose were these men called out ? n a question has yet to be answered by the leaders of the strike. It wiU nev iT answered. Perversity and thoughts® ness invariably remain silent, eS when they blame somebody else iS were to stand on their heads (to borrow the idea of a great writer) they wouldS it was the fault of their boots. The result of the strike is a fearful warning 8 g n completing these organisations of ltbour under grossly incompetent leaders. The men say nothing in criticism of their leaders. But it is hardly likely they will ; agaui trust them. In the meantime they ! % vw l° rk - ■ othin S more clear ! than that there is plenty of work to be ? had in the country, while there is but little in town.

The Agent-General is arranging to let us know all about phylloxera and the means of curing it. At present we deal with the matter by prohibiting the importation of grapes, though it is well known that the grapes do not carry the insect or anything belonging to it. The question is not of the first moment to us at pren°k aS kk® Australians or to tire I rench. Our wine production would not be lessened by very many bottles if the pest came among us. But though not greatly lessened it would be whdfly obliterated. This is one of the things they manage better in France. For instance, the Champagne vineyards aro threatened with the pest this year, and everybody is on the alert'. There is con- j solation, however, in the fact that in the { cellars there are between four and a half | years supply of wine of the good brands; and many districts in France have rooted - out the pest, and got to makihg wine again in that time. It will be well for us when we can point to such stocks of such brands, but at present we cannot do bo even in dreams. Still we do not want the phylloxera, and we can be much obliged to the Agent-General for any in- x \ formation he may have to give on the subject.

For the present Dr Macgregor’s Sat that some more information must be received before spending public money on the discovery of Dr Koch is decisivie. Dr Koch himself has, according to the last report of his utterances, disenchanted the world by the statement that his cure is one that may take years in producing its effects. As the German Emperor has placed a large sum at the doctor’s disposal, there is nothing for the world to do but to wait for further developments. But human nature is so anxious when it is in trouble | that we can understand the rush to Berlin. It is like the rush of miners to a new goldfield—a thing not to be stopped by any consideration under heaven. The subject, however, is of surpassing interest, of course, even though like the ship of the Flying Dutchman that never could the famous Cape, tho curb has receded into the distance of years. A little disappointment was felt in Paris when the German doctor made his announcement. It was in Paris that science was first put on the right track with regard to tuberculosis ny the r. searches of Laennec in the early years of the present century. In Paris again in 1865 the ’celebrate Yillemin made the discovery that tuberculosis is contagious ; after a series of fl * periments on animals by inoculation w the virus. This it was that started German Dr Koch on his voyage of i covery. Pasteur in Paris made great discoveries in inoculation manoy direction, but he gave the world his gr method. Dr Koch at Berlin discoverea the bacillus of tuberculosis in 1882. ® ■ that day he has been engaged m gently studying it, and at J ast m A.ugu he announced at the Medical CongKfL.. at Berlin his discovery. “ I * iave ’ said, after ho had handsomely . n . his acknowledgments to Pasteurs s - tific method, “at length found su !? s , which succeed in arresting the dc ments of tubercular Baciliis* no in vitro, but likewise in the bodi . animals.” He added that his res ®, : were not yet over, tho’ he cou • *

r:' bv the usa of “these substances” ’ ' Wain animals “ extraordinarily predis>y dto tuberculosis ” are able to resist iSlation, and that it is possible to cure ihase already inoculated “ without damage In the organism.” There is, it will be seen, ' v’. the words of the doctor himself, not in ,«h to iust fy the immense excitement ’that has arisen all over the civilised r]d Wo have said that Paris, the ■ home of the first discoveries, though rejoin,, at the discoveries of Dr Koch, was ' »little chagrined at .having been left behind. But two French doctors have come to the rescue of the capital. A week or «o after the announcement of Dr Koch to tbe Berlin Medical Congress, Professor Grancher and Dr H. Martin announced to t’e' Academy of Science at Paris that on the 19th November, 1889, they had deposited in the offico of the Academy of Medicine a sealed envelope containing an account of some experiments in which they had succeeded in arresting tuberculosis on a number of rabbits. Eight months before Pr Koch announced his discovery, these eminent French men of science had placed theirs on record. Dr Koch's announcement “drew” them. They said “we think we have succeeded on the one hand In giving rabbits the power of prolonged resistance to the most rapid and certain experimental tuberculosis ; and on the other in conferring upon them gn immunity against the same malady, of which we have yet to determine the duration.” The Frenchmen then discovered at least as much as Koch did, eight months before he made his announcement. Their reason for their silence is creditable to them. It is that they were afraid their remedy might, bofore it was sure, “be exploited by charlatans.” They were more prudent and more scientific than the German. That is one conclusion to be drawn from the story. The other is that there is much to be learned by experiment before the men who are undoubtedly on the right track in both capitals can be said to have reached success.

Is it so nominated in the bond ? This question is what our bondholders will say to us when we propose to make them feel the property tax. Mr Rees, among other wild things that he is laying before the electors of Auckland, has a panacea for reaching the bondholders. It is the climax of these absurdities of taxation. The bondholders are entirely outside all theories of taxation. It is not a question of the benefits they enjoy by our government. It is a question of the benefits we enjoy out of their money. It is, in other words, a question of the bargain we made with them. We agreed to pay them a certain rate of interest for the money jie borrowed from them. They lent us the money, we must pay them the interest. If we tax them we pay them less interest than we agreed—which is dishonest. It is repudiation pure aud Bimple. To put it on the lowest ground, we owe too much money to be able to afford to allow anyone to accuse us of any approach to repudiation. That is why we were all so angry with Mr Froude. That is why every constituency ought to refuse votes to these pestilent faddists who by the exerciso of too much ingenuity lose their moral sense.

Oxb thing must be scored to the credit of Mr Bryce. Old Wahanui has come forward to nominate him. That is a tribute to tho firmness and straightforward honesty of the man who inarched to Parihaka and made a journey to London at great cost and inconvenience to himself ■to take an assailant of his honour by tbe throat in a court of law. Opinions differ about the Parihaka episode. For our part wo do not think it was justified by the circumstances, nor do we accept its success as a proof of its expediency, still kss of its justice. Nevertheless Mr Bryce’s policy was entitled to the credit °f firmness and honesty. There were many other things that ho <iid which were B °t so striking as Parihaka, but they jvere not missed by the native race, "pinions differ about them too. But we '■ c S D 2jj help accepting the testimony of °ld Wahanui. It is a voice from the ®.®r side, and therefore entitled to wple credit.

ou at Catlin’s River, good, true, highly combustible, as good as anything in tho Wld-probably better, for all new things ra better than old—that is the news from ■ ~B°- “ Really for the present we have much coal in New Zealand !” wo hear imt'l° n 8 argument implies that have a large and growing export _ ue the coal industry will never do the nAn , r y that good which the enthusiastic pie are never tired of talking about in manner of theirs. Nohas h e more mistaken. There L wnr+v been no export of coal name, for the simple for jv there were no harbours . P s to carry it away from. In thn H lon ,, mines on the West Coast of Jotionnf T^ al - and were choked partly by I e ®pW,.« U TK nS and ,P arfcl y b y a °tion of [ U n ; nn^ eis ‘ There are harbours now : the I reason 8 ar *J or the moment reduced to I sufficin' the one want we have is of I ..force - fi c ° n *P e tition of producers to I The na • , cover y of outside markets. I bestin S fi 1S Amplest. The coal is tho I ihe Pa -c ai |ihc: it should command I Pacific Cl 'mJ musf command the I soonev’ i, 11101,6 mines we open the I Coma Pm- We command the Pacific. I auins, come all 1 Every one adds

weight to the pressure outwards, which is the only thing to force owners to find markets.

Little remains to be said about the Baring episode, and that little is being rapidly said daily by the cable. The spectacle of the numerous partners re turning to the House and throwing their millions into tho common purse has not only been hailed with fervent admiration, but it has also induced men of substance to join in the venture. For example, the head of the firm of Guinness and Co. becomes a partner with those honorable men who without a moment’s hesitation have come to the rescue of tho House which made them rich, and brought them opportunities of honorable distinction. There is nothing like honesty and courage to rouse the enthusiasm of an English community. The public has seen that the guarantee is followed by the reconstruction of the House by means chiefly of its old partners. The public is struck as by a gallant deed on some great battle field, as when men slaughter their horses in order to show their people that whatever happens they will remain in the fighting line. The consequence is that prices are going up on all sides with a rush. Who shall say that in business there is not after all, even with the phlegmatic English race, a deal of sentiment ?

The abolition of newspaper postage is a proposal of the new Victorian Government. New South Wales has for some years enjoyed a free newspaper postage In these colonies it is understood that the world owes a good deal to the Press, in compensation for the very heavy taxes on knowledge by which the Press was persecuted for so many years of its earlier existence. In addition, there is the fact that the transmission of information is a public advantage. The carriage of a parcel of newspapers costs the authorities nothing more than a small space easily spared in a railway carriage. What many coach proprietors do the Government of the country surely can do.

The Queen’s Speech, as forecasted in this week’s cable news, promises a busy and eventful session. It tells us nothing new about the smaller foreign complications, .with Portugal on the Zambesi, with Italy on the Red Sea littoral, with France abouc Newfoundland. Nor does it contain niore than the usual truth about the improvement in tho condition of Ireland. If all similar references had been strictly accurate Ireland must be an Arcadian Paradise. We must take these things in the political sense. What is new is the long list of large measures announced. Ireland stands first with the Land Purchase Bill, and a Bill for setting up local government ; both of which measures are sure to consume a tremendous amount of time, and to make newspaper proprietors shudder at the calls on their space. It is the countermove to Home Rule. That probably is what is meant by the criticism which describes the speech as containing a dissolution programme. The fall of Mr Parnell makes the timo opportune for appealing to the country. But Mr Parnell has retired from the leadership, appointing Justin McCarthy as his successor. By doing the right thing at tbe right time he has spoilt the Tory opportunity. The programme then may turn out only to be a sessional programme of the usual order. What are its prospects ? As the Home Rulers will not be sorry to be quit of the land question the Land Bill may pass. But as most people believe that Home Rule is coming, the other measure is pretty sure of disaster. The labour question is represented oniy by an Employer’s Liability Bill, which is less than might have been expected. Unless we may regard the Bill for facilitating the purchase of small holdings as in the interest of labour ; but in the absence of details, no opinion can be formed of a complicated subject like" that. The Bill for setting up District Councils in England and Wales is a genuine, surprise. Some such measure is wanted for the concentration of the higher work of Local Government, and the relief of Parliament from the enormous weight of local work which is far better understood in the localities. The Bill will probably be hailed as a further step in the right direction, towards which the first was taken by Mr Ritchie’s famous measure. On the whole it appears that if the Irish question does nob block the way, some useful work will be done during the coming session of the Imperial Parliament.

Mr Hutchison has settled the great libel question, as far as the election is concerned. He began by professing the utmost readiness to go to trial early ; he went on to refuse the opportunities offered him to do so ; he has ended by asking for adjournment till February; during his canvass he has repeated the charges as if they had been proved. These are the bare facts of the case. The only reason that the public can see from the published correspondence for Mr Hutchison’s protracted fit of shrinking is that he prefers his election canvass to the duty of sheeting home important charges which he ought not to refer to at all until they are proved. He has by his conduct deprived himself of the advantages of his position. A man who comments on his own case while it is “ snb judice” for the purpose of making

political capital musf\. take tho eonsequences. The chief consequence is a grave suspicion that he cannot sustain his charges. The Premier’s memorandum sent him reeling to the electors, who must now reflect that a man who is not prompt in coming to legal proof of serious charges he has made is not a proper person to send to a place where people are allowed to make charges of all kinds with impunity. The election convenience of Mr Hutchison is nothing to the purpose. If he had gone to trial early and sheeted his charges home his election would have been absolutely safe. He preferred to take the chances of the election without proving his charges. The inference is obvious.

Mr Bradlaugh’s attack on the Salvation Army is like a bolt out of the blue. The whole world is watching the Salvationiat scheme for the solution of the social problem. Money is coming in to their coffers, nnd lands are offered by the million acres. General Bcoth has declared that all he wants is money, he can with his organisation provide the rest. At this moment comes the attack from a most unexpected quarter. About Mr Bradlaugh people talk with greater differences of opinion than they do perhaps about any man living. But all are agreed that he is a Radical of the Radicals. Even upon that point they .are beginning to differ ; an opinion has been expressed to the effect that Mr Bradlaugh is at heart a Conservative, of the Conservatives. But upon one point all are still agreed. Mr Bradlaugh is accepted as a man intensely anxious to solve the social problem which disgraces our civilisation. From him, then, the attack on the Salvationists in the supreme moment of their career is unexpected. He, however, does not attack their scheme.' He simply states that they are not to be trusted with that or any other scheme involving monetary expenditure. By calling upon them to explain the discrepancies in their accounts Mr Bradlaugh has attacked the very existence of the Salvation Army. The effect must be that the Army will have to suspend its scheme for a time in order to defend its life.

Mr Parnell has not resigned. It is a danger to the Irish cause, for the strongest allies of that cause are against the leader who will not retire. Had he retired he wou’d have taken away the opportunity which is now open to the Tory Party. The appointment of a good successor would have been a master stroke at the present time, and for that reason we accepted yesterday as true the report that such a successor had been appointed. Mr Justin McCarthy, who was named as that successor, would have succeeded by what may be termed the process of seniority: He is the second in command, arid as secoud he holds the reversion of the leadership. Had the leadership fallen vacant he was entitled to the position. For that position he is eminently fitted, being a man of sound and mature judgment, whose speeches have always been courteous as well as forcible in tone, whose readiness of resource and presence of mind are well known, whose literary achievements have made him the member of the Irish Party best known in England. His “History of Our Own Time’’has made him a name for good judgment, impartiality, and tact, with a very wide circle of readers. His charming stories —one of the best of which is “ Dear Lady Disdain ” —have made him a “personage grota” with thousands of people who have an aversion to the politics which he upholds. As for his polemical writings, in the cause of Home Rule for Ireland, they have been not only voluminous, but as effective as anything that has come from Irish pens, if not in making converts for the cause, at all events in procuring for it respectful regard. In historical argument, in contemporary parallel, in loyalty to the Throne, and in strenuous advocacy, no one is beyond Mr Justin McCarthy. As a Parliamentary orator, his reputation also stands high ; just the reputation of a leader who stands high in the estimation both of his own party and the other side. He is not Mr Parnell’s equal as a leader. On the other hand the work he would have had to do is not the work Mr Parnell has done. Mr Parnell created the Party, and has held it together for years. His successor has but to hold it together for a couple of years more. No man is better qualified to do that at the present juncture than Justin McCarthy. It is a grave mistake nob to have appointed him.

Mr Deakin, the ex-Colonial Secretary of Victoria, is a man who has made his mark in many ways. A Victorian nativo, he has risen to the highest position in politics by his own unaided resources. He was assisted in his career no doubt by the independent position in which his father left him. But how many young men of independent means ever think of a useful career ? Mr Deakin was one of those who consider that the citizens of a country owe that country a duty, the heavier in proportion to the benefits they have derived from the country. Acting upon this principle, Mr Deakin went into politics, and soon came to the front. At the Colonial Conference in 1886 he was one of the representatives of his country, and he made his mark as the most original, energetic, and independent of all the representatives who attended the Conference. Since his return he has devoted himself to the task of persuading

his countrymen to prepare for the great work of federation. A turn in the wheel of political fortune threw him out of harness the other day. But he is a man of parts, and therefore in request. The “Age” has sent him to India to enquire into all the systems of irrigation in that great country of waterworks, and report for the benefit of thirsty Victoria. The appointment is creditable alike to Mr Deakin—how many politicians would we pick out of the House of Representatives for such a purpose ?—and to the newspaper that has had the enterprise to secure his services.

It used to be said that the Italian and Spanish troops in the armies of the Great Napoleon used to stand the rigours of the Northern climate better than any others. Perhaps the converse appears to the Queensland Government to be true. There is a project for bringing out Italians ani Germans to work on the sugar plantations. Mr Hogan, in his book on the Irish in Australia, declared that the sons of Ireland could live and thrive, in company with all the tools of husbandry, in any part of the great Continent. In that opinion he has been joined by many writers, who have held that there is nothing in the climate of any part of Australia to prevent the Europeans of all races from working. On the other side we have the persistency of the efforts made to introduce black labour into Queensland efforts so general that when a flagrant case of wholesale slaughter was sheeted home to some people engaged in the “ black-birding ” trade, within the last ten years, the public conscience revolted against the execution of the convicts. In this conflict of theory and practice, the practice was all in favour of the black labour. The Government is going to make an experiment with Germans"and*ltalians, probably because the Anglo-Saxon who has been in the country knows that the thing can not be done. A very crucial experiment is approaching. It will show (1) -whether Europeans can work in the tropical heat in the canefields ; and (2) whether they can earn wages there that are better than slavery.

The consumption cure is naturally receiv ing the closest attention from the medical profession throughout the world. From America, from Europe, from Australasia the accounts come thick of medical men preparing to investigate practically. Berlin is filling up with consumptive patients flocking to the worst climate in the world for their complaint in the hope of cure. "Washington is setting up a consumptive hospital, several Australian Governments are sending competent men to observe and study on the spot the wonderful claim of the German physician, Dunedin and Christchurch have applied for lymph, and medical men in Wellington have entered into arrangements to get a supply. At present no one knows whether the curative agent is the virus of tuberculosis or some distinct chemical agent. That rather startling doubt Professor Allen, of the Melbourne University, who is to make enquiries in Berlin on behalf of the Victorian Government, and has visited and conversed with Dr Koch, has given to the world. Dr Koch’s curative agent may turn out to be everything that such a thing ought to be. But as it has still to be fairly tried, we cannot but think that the world is a little too eager to jump at conclusions about it. The greater the benefit offered, the more cautious we ought to be in accepting it ; especially in the face of the dangers that have been so unreservedly pointed out by the discoverer. The promptness the world is showing in making enquiries and preparing to avail itself of a possible success is very creditable to its humanity. All honour to the medical profession for that. But the world at large must not mistake the attitude of the profession. That is an attitude of inquiry, not of eager acceptance. The one is useful, the other would be most mischievous and might be disastrous.

We are glad that Madame Burton’s talented company returned to Wellington for a couple of nights. In music we want to be, as it were, kept up to concert pitch. We want good examples of artistic skill, vocal and instrumental, worthy interpretations of the best compositions. A famous artiste once said that no great artiste ought to remain away from Europe more than eighteen months, being sure to deteriorate for lack of the wholesome influence of the best people in his lino. In like manner musical talent in a remote colony is unable to advance without good models to form itself upon. That advantage is offered by the little company in question,

and it is a pleasure to take the opportunity. When Santley came our people had forgotten De Murska and Susini ; when Madame Burton arrived they had forgotten Santley. In like manner with Willielmj, Remenyi and M. Poussard. A magnificient voice like Madame Burton’s, with her perfect management of it, her finished style and her great pathos, gives us true ideas of art; so does the great skill and line tone of M. Poussard ; so does the all round excellence of the little company which Mr Smythe brought us.

Some of the citizens were exercised on Friday because our German visitors were exercising about the harbour. One of them has written to us to denounce them for taking stock of our defences, and pitch into the Government for allowing them. We do not feel it necessary to do any thing of the kind, for we feel sure that our visitors, who have been cordially welcomed, understand the duties impos: d upon them by courtesy. The entente, cordiale, moreover, which has lately been estab'islied between the two nations makes it less than ever likely that they will ever be at daggers drawn. One is supreme on land, the other is supreme at sea. The occupation of the remaining waste places on the earth has been arranged between them. There is no fighting ground for them. The squadron has come here in friendship, aud lias b:en received with warmth. It would bo discourteous to our most welcome visitors to suspect their movements. When your friend comes to your bouse by invitation and walks about your garden you do not thins he is arranging for a burgle. When our visitors cruise about our harbour we should be glad that they are amusing themselves.

A great fall in Broken Hill shares apparently all round is a most unpleasant commentary on the announcement of an enormous new find of ore. We had all the particulars in the usual complete fashion—breadth of vein, length, depth, and value in millions. The shares of all the Broken Hill mines ought to have at once gone up with a rush. Instead of going up they have gone down. Time was when there would have be?n a boom, in the course cf which thousands would have changed hands, fortunes would have been made, and moneys embezzled in the disappointed hope -of repayment be f ore detection. That time is no more. . Tho days of faith are gone. When a man talks of a big find in hi 3 mine, the public unloads shares at any sacrifice.

The Broken Hill shares have gone down, we are now informed, because the price of silver has fallen. We do not object to that. We never said they had not. The point of our remarks was that in spite cf the allegation of a vast increase of silver, which once would have caused a tremendous boom, the shares went down. If people had believed that story the fall in silver would never have affected the price of shares. But there is a class of writers who have never seen a mine or dreamt of any mining episode of any kind. In their dense ignorance they are like putty in the hands of brokers who mould them to any shape they please. After a little flattery or a little something more substantial—let us say a little libati. n —-they write that it is blasphemous to doubt the truth of any report that comes out of a mining district. Those are the people through whom these unholy booms that demoralise mankind are worked. The brokers bring their flattery or their libation to bear, or they tickle the jealousy of their literary brethren, and at once they write up anything. If a mining manager told them there was gold in one of the joints of the tail of his Majesty the Devil they would advise their readers to invest in all the claims that might be pegged out on the other joints of that famous appendage. Naturally they are uneasy when they are told that the public has ceased to be gullible. The public only laughs now. We repeat that the fall in Broken Hill shares shows that the flaming account of the last find is generally discredited. It may be true, of course. That is the saving clause in all mining affairs. But the truth has yet to be proved.