NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1266, 4 June 1896, Page 31

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

It is announced in tho London papers that "Daniel Mela (Mela and Co.) has been fined .£SO for selling American bacon as English." Wo aro sorry for Daniel, who seems to have come to judgment in a way he did not count upon. But what magic is there in American bacon wo should like to know? Tho whole Judas fraternity of the West End butchers sells colonial mutton as English, pockets Gd a pound by the transaction, and no one is fined. To palm off American bacon as English is a crime. To swindle people, into buying colonial mutton at English prices is a virtue. In this connection we remember to have read that the difficulty of distinguishing between the English and colonial article was insuperable. That is tho main objection to the Branding Bill. That fine of £SO ought to relegate all such nonsense to the Parliamentary waste paper basket.

We republish from the Times, of London, tho following account of a colliery accident :

A disastrous colliery explosion occurred late on Monday night in the Brancepeth pit, county Durham. The explosion, tho cause of which is not yet known, occurred at a considerable distance from tho shaft. at a time when there wore 27 men and boys in the pit. Of these, seven were rescued alive and five bodies have been found. Mr John Wilson, M.P., of the Durham Miners' Association, went down into the pit early on Tuesday and again in the afternoon, and expressed tho view that no hope could he entertained for the men s-fill missing, as the air was in a bad state.

It was a large enough accident, nearly 30 people killed, and much anxiety in the neighbourhood. Yet one inch and a half is all the space accorded to it in the Times newspaper. As for subscriptions, on a scale national or otherwise, there is not one word anywhere about such things from cover to cover of tho weekly edition. We are built differently in New Zealand. Or is it that wo have something to learn about colliery explosions ? Give us an explosion once a month for a year and wo shall have some authorities who understand the national purso and its keepers the national heart-strings.

The Easter manoeuvres aro fully described in the newspapers of Britain which have just come in. Thoro was much criticism as usual. The Britisher everywhere thinks that for twopence he is entitled to c .erything. Here is a reply to ono critic :

Colonel Sir Howard Vincent, M.P., says that in four days the force had " at least 31 hours actually under anus, and when to this one takes account of the fatigue and baggage parties going in advance to prepare and remaining to clear up, 1 say as a representative of taxpayers, and as a taxpayer, that Ihe country has full '■dims for Urn feu: shillings allowance to meet tho heavy expenses. . . Far from wanting to go to ' the pleasant seaside,' what tho Volunteers prefer is Aldershot, or othor Regular camp. But time after time the answer comes, ' no room at Aldershot'—none at, Faster, none-in tho summer, none in tho autumn."

Tho italics are our own. The words of the colonel are a biting revelation. " The country has good value for the fow shillings allowance." That means that if a country wants a proper force it must pay the proper price. The Empire, and every dependency of the Empire, must make up its mind either to do without armaments or to pay for them. To pretend to have them for nothing is the supremest folly.

Mary Anderson is a memory fresh, green, beautiful, so far as the stage is concerned, Naturally, her memory has taken the shape of memoirs. The beautiful presence, the gracious manner, tho pleasant diction, the simple narrative, all these make tho memoirs of Madame Navarro very charming. In all this galaxy the pleasantost page is that in which tho lady's talks with tho late Laureate are described. "J*hat sweet woman walking and talking with the rugged old poet, who spread his best stores for his dainty companion a;; f hey walked together, is a picture worth looking at as we read, The following gives some idea of it.

In subsequent visits to the Laureate's homos at llaselmcre and the Isle oi Wight, J had the happiness of joining him in the two hours' walk which, rain or shine, he took daily. His tender interest in every " hud and flower and leaf " was charming. How many pretty legends he had about each ! The cliifs, the sky, the so i, and shrubs the very lumps of chalk under foot, ho had a, word for them all. I'le.' things he read in Nature's Look were full of the same kind of poetry a, his own ; ;ui 1 the " sunbeams of his eheci lid spii it " flood a II my memories of tho c delightful walks. Though nearer 80 than 70, his step was so rapid, he moved so briskly, thai il was with dilhculty I kepi up with him. The last 20 minutes of the two hours generally ended in a hind of trot. Weather never interrupted his exercise, lie scorned an umbrella. With his long dark mantle and thick boots, he defied all storms. When his large brimmed hat became heavy with wafer, he would stop and give if a great shake, saying, " How much better this is than to bo huddled over the lire for fear of a little weather!" His great, strength and general health were due, no doubt, to the time he spent so regularly in the open air. Another example of the wonderful effects of systematic exercise is. Mine. Schumann, whoso mind is as fresh as her complexion, and whose energy and vitality, for one of her years, are truly wonderful. I was delighted to hear Tennyson praise tho work's of my groat favourite, Kit Marlowe. He believed' that Shakespeare had him to thank for some of his inspirations. We spoke of many poets living and long since dead, and of all he had something 1 appreciative to say. His conversation was often int.ersper.sc-i with illustrative stories, many of them comic, alio number he had of th so was inerouib!". Hi.-, friend James Russell Lowell, he said, had gve:i him some good ones. Mr Lowell prided himself on his quickness in seeing a point. "Nothing," he oueo remarked to mo, "enrages mo so much as to have some one tell mo a good story, and then explain it. if is an open insult to my intelligence." I luvo

never met any one more perfect with whom to exchange anecdotos than Tennyson. At ono timo I made it a practice to put down and remember the many good ones I heard, for tho selfish pleasure of repeating them to him. His broad sympathies mado him understand one in all moods, and brought to light one's truest and best meaning. Ho was'not a faddist in any sense of the word ; but saw tho beauty of the field daisy as clearly as that of the rarest orchid.

We hear much of the virtues of antitoxin, We hear something on tho other side of tho account. We read what a famous physician has said, and wo think there is something in it. Dr Lennox Browne declares that tho recent report on anti-toxin does not prove that the decrease of mortality in diphtheria is due to that drug. The mortality has been falling for seven years, largely owinjy to the much more viligant medical and nursing care all patients have received in recent times. The report, in Dr Browne's opinion, is not sufficiently candid.

" There is hero no such thing as a sharebroker pure and simple." It is the opinion of the New Zealand Journal of Insurance, Mining and Finance. in support of its very sweeping assertion, the journal declares that " wo have never yet been able to discover an agent who does not from time to time buy and sell on his own account." It is a challenge to the whole profession, which the profession no doubt will have something to say about shortly.

The same journal has in its last issuo fired a short at certain banking arrangement?, the effect of which shot will be watched with interest by the public. It is, of course, indisputable that the banks overwork their clerks scandalously. Tho Journal gives an instance for which it vouches :

Wo may here record the work done in a branch bank in the Colony from April Gth to 11th exclusive. The (ilh being Faster Monday was kept, as advertised, us a whole holiday. Tuesday, 7th, was also advertised as a wholo holiday, but the whole of the staff were directed by the accountant to return, and kept at work from nine to six, with half an hour off for lunch, although tho doors wore closed. We venture to characterise this proceeding as a deliberate and disgraceful fraud. Wednesday, the 7th, the clerks were at work from '.) a.m. till 10.30 p m,, with half an hour off for luncheon and an hour and a half oil' for tea,. Thursday, (lie alii, 10 a.m. till <i mm. Friday, the 10th, from 9 a.m. till 11.30 p.m. Saturday, tho 11th, from 0 am. till G p.m. When it is remembered that the week' wo have cited began four days alter tho half-yearly balaneo, which had necessitated a week's close attendance until 10 o'clock every night, tho balance night ending at I o'clock the next morning, and when we add that in the branch of which wo are speaking tho rule is to finish work at 10 o'clock every night, the clerks being allowed one, or at, the most two nights off every week, our roadors will, wo think', admit that it is about time headquarters took tho matter into serious consideration and issued peremptory orders to stop that kind of illegal nonsense.

There is only one objection to be taken to the above vigorous utterance. Tho oferenoe in if to headquarters is infantile. The, wholo trouble is caused at headquarters of course.

We all remember Kinglako's "Great Elchi," the British Minister Lord Stratford do h'edeliu'o, who held absolute sway about the time of tho Crimean War at Constantinople. The, " Great Elchi " is one of tho prize characters in tho once famous, now little known, history, which men have forgotten in far less timo than if, took" the author to write it. Tho whole of the diplomatic papers of the " Field's" record of 50 years have recently been given to the Public Record Office by his daughters. Stratford Canning began diplomatic life at 23 as Minister Plenipotentiary at the Sublime Porte, and left Constantinople in 1859, somo years after tho Crimean war. The papers, wo read in an appreciative and very workmanlike description recently published —"Tho papers cover almost the entire period, and constitute a documentary history of diplomatic relations, not only in Europe, but in the United States, during half a century. The Minister generally happened to bo on the spot during some eventful crisis. At Constantinople he negotiated the Treaty of Bukhuresf between Turkey and Russia in 1.812, just in timo to release tho Army of the Danube and enable it to fall upon Napoleon on his retreat from Moscow. In 1814 he was in Paris with the Allies, hi 1815 lie was a Commissioner at the Congress of Vienna, and was present when the news of Napoleon's escape from Elba fell like a bomb info that august conclave. Early in the twenties he was Minister at Washington when Ouiney Adam; was working President IMonroo up to tho proclamation of the now famous 'doctrine.' In 1825 he settled the North-west Boundary dispute at St. Petersburg, and the next year witnessed . the massacre of the Janissaries at Constantinople'. After that, the emancipation oil Greece, a diplomatic journey across Europe in the, ' Year of Revolutions,'the protection of Kossuth, the long struggle for reform in Turkey, and the Crimean war sufficiently mark out the range of his experience. For the internal history of tho countries to which ho was accredited, and, of course, especially of Turkey, a- prodigious series of Consular reports, interpreters' minutes of interviews, and other local information will some day prove of inestimable value. There are few mimes in diplomacy and siutesiuxnship which do not find a place in this enormous correspondence, and the total number of documents i; estimated at a round million." in the Soudan r,a,: suspected when lie) Cable, afior aunoi ..\-.d..g th ■ it;'■.■;•'..sit ion o\'. il. lierUieloi, ;■[;, aii'y u.nm inieod his resignation. The account sent by M. Blowitz to his paper leaves no doubt on the sub-

ject:—" After the declarations read in the Chamber by M. Berthelot on the 19th March, which positively defined the attitude of the Cabinet on all the aspects of the question, the Kussian Ambassador in Paris communicated with the French Government, and after formally declaring that he had always scrupulously abstained, and would continue to abstain, from intervening in any sort of way in French domestic politics, pointed out that the present question was oue of absolutely external interest, in which was involved the common action of France and her ally ; that tho co - operation of Russia would naturally be sought; and that consequently it seemed surprising that such a declaration as M. Berthelot's should have been made in tho Chamber without having been communicated to tho representative of the allied Power, which was no longer able freoly to express its opinion. Prince Lobanof subsequently approved tho attitude taken up by the Ambassador. Tin's was announced by M. Bourgeois in Saturday's Cabinet Council, whereupon M. Berthelot, after announcing his intention to resign, proceeded directly to his private residence, and has not since made his appearance at the Foreign Office."

More Monroes ! They are springing up all over the three American continents. The latest hails from the land of Cortes. Tho Moxican President, in opening Congress, stated that tho revenue from July Ist to December 31st had been 2,000,000 dollars more than tho expenditure, allowing for tho reduction of taxes. The octroi ditties will bo abolished on July Ist. General Diaz referred to President Cleveland's Message, and declared in favour of tho Monroe doctrine, but ho thinks tho United States ought not to be left alone in their role of protectors, and that all tho American Republics should pr< claim principles similar to those of the Monroe doctrine, and should protect each other whenever necessary.

Mr Carroll at Gisborno inado one of the best speeches of tho reco«s, if wo may judge by the condonsod version supplied to us. Who are tho men who want to pull down the trusteos and to bo made trustees in their placo ? They are, Mr Carroll showed, of tho samo order and history as tho men of tho Hall Government, for which they havo claimed tho title of Liberal, as they are claiming the title for themselves also. Tho turning of tho tables was excellent. That sketch of the gradual progress from occupation of tho lands to monopoly—tho " Pake's progress," or " From industry to idleness" would bo a good title for the story—with the powerful side-light of tho education reserves, tho only good one having been made by tho Maoris themselves, tho sketch of that remarkably bad story is one of the best we havo seen for some timo.

Has Sir Eobort Stout over heard of a certain famous occasion when " tho funeral baked moata did coldly furnish forth tho marriage tables." If so, he will understand tho position ho got into at Wanganui the other night; with an important difference. Tho funeral baked moats wero there in plenty; they did furnish the tables, very coldly; but thoro was no marriage. Sir Robert's wooing of Wanganui met with a frigid and neglectful "No." Ho used to receive big and numerous welcomes at Wanganui. But tho other day ho landed unfriended, solitary and low; and at tho outskirts of tho station the Opposition champion, Mr Carson, shook hands with him. Only ho and no one more. Time 3 aro changed.

There is a cry of distress from tho coalminors at Newcastle, who aro urging tho Promior to try onco moro to mediate. Tho cry is wrung from them, as everybody knows, by distress. Now, to deliberately arrange a great strike, and to havo to cry out in repentance within a few weeks, is a very ridiculous exhibition. It is worse, because no body of men has a right to tako such an extreme step unless able to sustain it, at least, for a substantial period. To strike without means is to try and shoot a bullet without powder. The leaders who have brought the miners to that pass ought to bo impeached and punished for absurd incapacity and stupid'misbohaviour.

Is there anything hi the oft-repoatod jibe that Iho working mill will only honour men who are sub ervienl ? The case of Mr Champion, who got very near the bottom of the poll the other day in Melbourne, will be quoted as an example. It is true that Mr Champion spoke his mind very plainly during the great strike of 1800, and when he got homo he wrote very strongly against tho mismanagement and misleading that brought about that lamenlablo event. Hut that is not the reason why Mr Champion did not get the Labour vote tho ofliei day, Mr Champion is a very lionet Labour advocate, but his methods of speech are often violent and tactless, and there are other men in Melbourne who uudei'o'-aud tho Labour enu.-e better than he, and aro more in touch with it therefore.

Tho Czar's coronation was a great pageant, of course. We can imagine it easily from the day (a mouth ago) when the Crown jewellery went through St. Petersburg on tho way to Moscow surrounded by brilliant uniforms with orders and decorations, and all the pomp and circumstance of pageantry. Sala, tho veteran journalist God rose his soul — when he was here the other day onabled us to realise that part of tho scene by his description of the stately palaces, tho gilded domes and the marvellous vistau of the city on the -Neva. A description so glowing with light and life and colour can surely never bo surpassed. The final scene in the vast Kremlin was evidently splendid. The cable has picked out for us its most striking incident, tho culminating incident, typifying the

self - reliant spirit of the Imperial House of Russia. The Czar signalised tho occasion by an amnesty, of which one can only say that it is partial and indiscrimiuating. There must be poor innocent sufferers who ought not to be detained a single day, and many brutal ruffians who are not fit to be let out of prison at all. But to amnesty all alike partially is a relic of barbarism. It would havo been better to have announced constitutional reforms, such as the right of trial, of immediate trial and of fair trial, the extension of personal freedom, tho abolition of religious persecution. These would havo been welcomo to humanity at large. But there is no hint of any yielding to justice and freedom, lho Czar has given back some of tho cost of the enormous pageant by remitting arrears of taxation and diminishing one tax by a half. But reform without the pageant would havo been a better opening for his leign. On tho whole tho coronation ceremony is in most of its details worthy of tho barbaric days in which it originated. Of course tho war of Nihilism against a system that never improves while the world progresses will recommence.

■'Subscriptions, .£2680; expenditure, £3 19s tid." Bravo, Bruunor Collecting Committee ! That is how a practical, sensible people does its business when it means to be kind. You have preached in one act at onco tho shortest panegyric of the best system of management, aud tho strongest condemnation of tho system in vogue, honeycombed with Bumbles and other voracious and oxpensivo parasites.

More light! This timo it comes to us not from the usual contemned of our street system. But it comes from tho streets also, and is agonising in its intensity. How many bicycles are there in the town, and how many of them carry lights at night ? Wo have been informed of things many and harrowing. For example, an unsuspecting old lady was nearly driven across tho Jordan in one bound by a ghostly bicycle, sailing stealthily along tho footpath, without light or bell. As a matter of fact, the poor old lady did make a bound, but it didn't happon to bo in tho direction of tho Jordan, or she would certainly havo gone over. Item; two ladies coming round a corner from different directions, after dark, without lights, sailing their "bikes" with their customary elegance, justshaved one another's pedals in passing. Bach thought it was lightning,and made noise enough for thunder, only not quito in the same key ; and tho moro noise they made the faster they flew away into tho darkness, to tho awful danger of pedestrians and vehicles and themselves. But why draw any further on our stock of information received ? Tho practico of cycling after dark without a light is dangerous, unwarrantable, against every law, municipal, sensible, written and unwritten. Tho ladies, wo aro informed, aro among tho most confirmed offenders. We feed sure wo need say no more to induco the police to relieve tho monotony of life on the beat by an occasional interview with a charming rider. Tho law will thus learn the lady's namo and address, and tho public will bo protected from dangor of death, wounds and damages.

Hero is a fragment which reads as if it belonged to an ancient treatise on tho gamo of football written in tho days of our Saxon ancestors.

Now that chill winter is upon us, tho young man rises joyfully from his desk in tho city, puts on a zebra-striped jersey, and goes whooping off to the football ground to kick his friends' shins. At evening tho unmanned minority return home through crowded streets on top of 'buses, searing horses with loud shouts of triumph, and hurting tho public ear with hoarse and uninteresting choruses. The ambulance outlook on football grounds is very encouraging this year, and persons who havo got themselves familiar with tho principles on which first aid is rendered can look forward hopefully to having a lot of practice if they follow the game up.

You will bo surprised to learn that though clever it is not older than tho month of May of tho present year, tho author being "Outis" in the Sydney Daily Telegraph.^

Mr J. R. Hill, president of the Lank of New South Wales, at tho semi-annual meeting hold in Sydney on the I'.Hh inst., drew attention to one ol the great obstacles that. sta:i 1 in the way of the slice's.; of tho Australian moat-fnvziug

and exporting operations. This obstacle is tho methods of doing business in the Old Country. Tho practice i> to pty commissions on the wcighl of moat, instead of on the sale value, Uy this system tho agent has no motive for the exercise of energy in obtaining good prices. His commission is tin: same, no mat tor what the price. It is an utterly antiquated

system and altogether one-sided; certainly it..-1 in harmony with the bu methods of the prosi-n't time. President Hill's . poorli will be found in another column, and deserves attention for this aud other subjects touched upon. The Bank of New South Wak*, by the way, has declared a dividend of '.) per cent, per annum, a remarkable good showing lor comparatively dull times.

A plain-spoken man was Mr Tom Maim always. It is usc-ful, therefore, to turn to him when you want to find out what the Labour Party is thinking about. Wo cannot, for reasons which need not be particularised, interview the famous labour leader, but we can interview his latest report, which will do just as well. For example : —" Mr Mann, we see a great deal about tho doings of tho Labour Party, and tho necessity that it should coalesce with the Liberals; we hear that it mado a show

ot some Liberals last general election, and has taken up lately tho altitude of 'a plague (>' both your houses.' Would you mind telling us, as secretary, exactly the strength of the party in the Kingdom ?"

To this Mr Mann's report answers as follows :

Thero aro branches of the party in 221 divisions, with over 20,000 member?. The party is represented in public bodies by four county councillors, 35 town councillors and aldermen, three vestrymen, 27 guardians, '.','.) members of school boards, 13 district councillors, 40 parish councillors, and about a score of miscellaneous elective officers. The indebtedness of the general accounts amounts to £2l"> ; but the amount in hand on the Parliamentary Fund, account is .£217. At the general election last July the party ran 28 candidates and polled 44,593 votes, at a total cost of £5502.

And about tho prospect of coalescing with either the Liberals or Tories can you throw some light on the feeling of the party towards the two great parties? We are informed that it is hostile. The report leaves us in no doubt, as thus —

Tho £55!)2 Cs 9d raised in tho behalf of Socialism represent sacrifices on the part of the democracy for great principles and ideals ; tho thousands of pounds lavishly squandered by Liberalism and Toryism represent, on the one hand, the price of titles sold to wealthy snobs, and, on the other, the tribute which wealth ever is willing to pay for the maintenance of privileged monopolies.

Another authority, writing on a branch of this subject, discourses thus pleasantly of Lord Rosebery :

" So far from having any ill-feeling against Lord Rosebory, we fully believe him to be a most amiablo and accomplished gentleman, with well-marked, if somewhat dilettante, leanings towards Liberalism, and possessed of a gift for elegant chaff and gracelul persiflage endowing him with a perfect mastery of the art of post-prandial oratory. On all sides the so-called Liberal organs are crying, To arms, to arms ! Organise, organise !—but who is going to enlist under a general that they utterly distrust and disbelieve in r . In calling for volunteers for real war it would bo useless to urge that the general, though ho had muddled the last campaign, was a charming fellow, a perfect dancer, with a magnificent tenor voice ; and so in these our civic campaigns it will bo useless to call for volunteers because Lord Rosebeiy happens to be a dear, good fellow, and has a pretty wit in '-peaking. Stubborn facts —seashore ploughing and o'her fatal blunders in tactics—coupled with a total want of dash and daring, nro against him, and his continuance in tho leadership inoxns a continued paralysis of many important members of our body politic."

Whore do tho Abyssinians get their arms? Russia has sent supplies, but Russia has not been alono by any means at the gamo. Tho French havo on tho Bed Sea two ports, Obok aud Jibuti. In May of last year, according to tho correspondent of a London journal, "M. Lagarde, Governor of Obok, wrote to Ras Makonnon asking for mules for tho expedition of Madagascar, informing him that they would bo paid for in war material. Ras Makonnon, with tho authority of Menelik, ;>ent 1300 mules, and in August a steamer of the Campagnio Nationalo deposited at Jibuti powder and cartridges enough to load 50 camels. In February ono X. received gold to buy arms for Abyssinia, and this was sent to Jibuti to the care of M. Lagarde, X. receiving from Makonnon 5000 francs as a gift. In March, 1595, a French mission, composed of two officers, arrived from Obok at the Court of Menelik, bringing with them 30 camel loads of powdor and cartridges and five mitrailleuses. About tho beginning of last month (March) another consignment, was expected from Marseilles of about 10,000 rifles." The French, in fact, traded arms for mules. Tho bargain, however, looks so bad that it is impossible it can be anythingbut a blind. Franco has been dealing underhand blows at Italy. If England had to pay three millions for fitting out two cruisers, what will Franco havo to pay for arming several armies? It may be an interesting international question.

Who finds the cork for all tho lifebuoys and lifeboats, for those comfortable bootsoles, that warm matting, and those fine squares which ought to bo in ovory bathroom ? Who corks all tho bottles of tho world? Why, Spain of course, everybody will say at once. True; but thereby hangs a tale. Hero is the latest and the most authentic information :-

Cork is the thirl mobt important of Spanish exports, and our Consul at Barcelona.says that in the province ol' Corona alone it is estimated that I'.'-:.'l'M acres aro devoted to the

cultivation of the cork trees, which proic.ee about 20,(1t',0 tons valued at £],lili),o'jO. The machinery for cork cutting coos mainly from France, although some of the machines are of Knglish mannfictiire, "and in this industry thoro is pos-dbly an opening for British trade a.ad enterprise, but. only by the personal at tendance ol capable men."

Now Spain is .a country of temperate climate, and so is New Zealand. Secondly, tho industry is valuable, without being in any way mysterious. Why not establish it in New Zealand ?

There i; in tho la ;t number of the [-Vioii capital article on the American people- ■

flu: American ; not necessary to explain which. The writer has, of course, a great deal to say about the manners of the people. How lie can pretend to show a close similarity between people of different climates, D iwn Eastoiv, Westerns, Southerns, it is not easy to understand. But as he has described good manners with a ma tor hand, we give his description:—

Such limners ,-s have their root ingenume unselfishness; in principles of conduct strong enough to control temper and to resist the wear and fear of familiar fretting circumstance ; in the desire to bo pleasant-such manners as are considerate of minor needs, and give sweetness, elegance, and grace, to life, can hardly be said to be characteristic of the American people. Gennino courtesy

and refinement ate rare in almost all parts of tho world ; they aro certainly rare in America, lho deficiency does not exist in tho lower classes alone. It is conspicuous among thoso favoured by fortune. At tho same time let us add that the

concluding remarks apply to tho whole world. They mean that good manners aro rare because selfishness abounds.

When he gets to the subject of tho children of the United States the writer is very interesting. This, for example, must make us all reflect: — But a more serious, because a moro wide-

spread and permanent exhibition of the lack of due regard for manners, is the neglectcommon to all classes of society—of the proper domestic training of children. The frequent and notorious self-sufficiency and impertinence of the American child betray the indifference of parents to tho essential and most common-place considerations of domestic discipline and parental responsibility. Tho spirit of unchecked independence and of selfish -wilfulness permitted in childhood develops into youthful lawlessness and resistance to restraint. The hoodlum of the street corner and the rough loafer of tho village find their mates among the students of our colleges. The differonco between them is only one of circumstance and of degree.

This is startling. No discipline, no reverence, hoodlums everywhere, not only in their own well-known haunts, but in colleges and all respectable houses, only with a thin veneer of politeness. Now, it religion is banished from the schools and there is none of it at home, what sort of savages will the American people be presently ? It is a question for parents all the world ovi:\- to fake serious thought about, for it is not only America that possesses a system of education purely secular. Mr Fliot Norton, who is the author of tho article, is a writer of repute, well known iu the States.

Our own Imperial Government should taka a lesson from President Krugcr in the matter of the treatment of political prisoners, and release the men it has now held for nearly ten years —some of them convicted on very doubtful evidence, too.

Tho most notable announcements lately made in connection with tho Soudan are of tho arrival of Indian troops at Souakim, of the decision Li tho case of the financial arrangements made, and of tho departure of tho Marquis do Mores for Khartoum. Tho first of these is the* first sign of the assembling of the contingents for a grand advance in the autumn. If required these troops will bo able to march across the desert to Berber. 'Tho financial decision cannot have any effect unless the decree is disobeyed. In that event there will, of course, bo international complication. It is not likely, however, that want of money will bo allowed to baulk the plans of the richest nation on earth. As for tho Marquis do Mores, ho is to be sincerely pitied. Thero was another enthusiast of this order, M. Olivier Pain, who in 188 G started for tho Soudan with a similar intent, lie reached the Mahdi somowhere in Kordofan, and unfolded his plans. Hut the Mahdi was distrustful; set a watch over M. Pain; starved him, neglected him, and compelled his people to do ditto. The result was poor Olivier Pain got weak, sickened, and died. The Quixotic Marquis may turn out to havo moro pluck, perhaps ho will call it patriotism, than discretion.

Thero is a stir in musical circles about: tho music at tho Exhibition. At present two proposals seem to divido our musical people. One is to combine and get up a big festival, tho other to encourago the various sociotios to use tho Exhibition flail for festival programmes of their own. Both have for their object to avoid the miscellaneous concert, by organising under tho most capablo leaders. Their differonce is a question of degree; one side being for combining all tho societies, while the other is for letting tho societies take the work in turn. For tho latter there is this to be said, viz., that the various societies are in a much better position to present good works than fhoy wero 10 years ago. For tho former thero is tho very powerful argument that thero can bo nothing so good as the combined work of these improved societies. As the improvement is not general, but confined to some of tho societies, while others are weak, tho plea for combination is unanswerable. The musical people ought to meet together and talk matters over. Who will lead '■!

A correspondent, struck by our reference to the value of tho cork trade, sends us tho in format ion that t he |\ew (J anions authorities have staled that the North island of New Zealand is the finest country in the woih.l for growing the cork oak. lie adds that a bushel of tho acorns can bo bought in Franco for 2 francs 53 centimes; and thai, the firm of Velinoriu, Andrioux and Co., of Paris, will be glad to do business with anyone wauling to plant.

by the Kitson-Playfair case, to -tthich we have referred several times lately, was being well threshed out in London when tho mail left. Tho doctors, of course, figured largely in the correspondence, and they put startling cases. For insianco, one asked what about secrecy if ho found infectious disease among the people of a dairy. Another told tho story of what happened to him onco in the course of his practico. He found that a patient who consulted him was suffering from heart disease which might prove fatal at any moment. As the man was a signalman at ono of the big railway stations, ho advised him to give up his situation. The man ref usod —ho had a wife and family. " Sorry," said he, " for the passengers, but my first duty is to my wife and children." Tho doctor was puzzled; sacred etiquette pointed one way, tho daily danger of thousands of women and children pointed another. He solved the problem by telling the cc.se to ono of the directors of tho Company, suppressing the name, and ho obtained a promise that if the man reported himself he would bo given ether "work. This was done, and the doctor's mind was safe. That certainly was an extreme case, and the doctor is to be honoured for tho way in which he got out of tho difficulty. But the ease is not on all fours with Dr Playfair's, and it shows that a way may bo found out of a difficulty without violating confidence. Tho other case is, of course, provided for bv law.

A practical person in Berlin who admires the extraordinary versatility of tho German Emperor said recently ho should address himself to the relief of some common human ills and daily wants. For instance, let him invent a specific for pneumonia, a magnetic latch-key, an ether gun for cats, a collar button that plays a tune when lost, an X ray opera glass, showing tho stage at matinees through a woman's hat, a flying-machine that tlies, a cure for sea-sickness, and an intoxicant that has no Nemesis. Tho Emperor may be able to think of other claims on his versatility, but if ho will attend to these minor matters in intervals snatched from his Imperial ami international duties his name will be gratefully remembered when his "Song of yEgis " is selling as waste-paper.

Talk about the modern woman, the now woman, the woman of fashion, and so forth ! Woman has not improved a particle on her primal mother, Eve. And here comes an antiquarian who has discovered that tho oldest medical recipe in tho world is that for a hair tonic for an Egyptian Queen. It was dated 4000 8.C., and directs that dogs' paws and asses' hoofs bo boiled with dales in cil. This may bo a good tonic yet.!