CURRENT TOPICS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1266, 4 June 1896, Page 34

CURRENT TOPICS.

! ARBITRATION VERSUS AVAR. "We publish cm another page this week the full text of the appeal issued on Easter Sunday by the Cardinals of (.Treat Britain and America. These are the Cardinal Archbishop of Baltimore, the Cardinal Archbishop of Armagh (Primate of all Ireland), and the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster. They have addressed a strong appeal to thepublicopinion of all English-speaking peoplo. It is a powerful remonstrance against tho war spirit, it recoguisos tho diilicul ties in the way, and it- sketches a reasonable method of dealing with them. It does not recommend anything in the nature of an ecclesiastical tribunal, though it points out that for centuries such a tribunal did great service to mankind. Every student of history knows how many wars between great nations were prevented by that tribunal, and how greatly tho industry of the world was indebted to it in the days of the savagery which followed tho collapse of the Roman Empire. The tribunal the Cardinals recommend is different in character, but destined to work for the same object, viz., the avoidance of the terrible evils of war. Upon those they touch, but they ground their appeal on no material grounds. They speak as representatives of the Prince of Peace, in words at once simple and forcible, woids which must find an echo in the heart of every man of good-will, upright conscience and sincere desire for consistency of conduct, in making their appeal they recognise tho great fact that Governments are the representatives of the desires of the peoples, from whom they derive their power, for which reason they have directed their appeal to the people, and urged them to agitate and bring pressure on their Governments. It

is the noblest and most eminently Christian project, in which every church can join without fear of doctrinal differences, on the fundamental basis laid down, lie would lie. a sanguine man who would predict complete succ'si! for such an organised movement ; because overy one who has any knowledge of tho world knows that sometimes war is an affair of uncontrollable popular clamour. It was so in Europe in 1553. iu ] s.jfj, in LS7I and in L-S7S ; and m the Hailed States in 1.502. It was nearly so iu Uritain and in the United States the other day, alter tiiu Transvaal and Venezuela affairs. If may bo so again any day. But on such occasions, as their Eminences have pointed out,theexistence of an international tribunal would always give reason, common-sense and Christian feeling tho opportunity to be heard with effect. And as for the vast number id' subjects tho discussion of which brings Governments within measurable distance of war, such a tribunal would dispose of them with ease, certainly and despatch. The mea uru of success such a tribunal would command must be enormous, and its early magnitude- would in all probability make the success complete, universal and unbrok--n. The establishment of that tribunal would give tiie' twentieth century a l noble l i"gilining. The public opinion of the liugii. :■. . p- aking peoples has only got j to insist, and the thing must be done. \

THE PREMIER AT NAPIBR. Mu Skwwon'k tour through tho enemy's country seems to lose nothing of the brilliancy of succo;:;;. Another voteoc confidence* wa.) added o.i Tuesday week' to tho long roll of these substantial tokens of support which spring up in his path through tho electorates. Wero it not that Mr Soddon is generally a very practical-minded man, we should confess to feeling a shade

I of astonishment at his condescending to return to tho absurd claim of Captain Russell for credit for the cardinal Liberal measures ou behalf of the Ministry of Sir John Hall. To the men of his own district wdio knew Sir John Hall and followed his career stop by step such a claim is too preposterous for any more serious treatment than a derisive laugh. They know that only a political dummy could bo expected to claim tho credit of Liberalism for t'le man who devised the gridironing clauses in one of the earlier Land Acts of Canterbury, in order lo prevent the land from getting out of the iron grip of the squatter monopoly, contrary to the generally recognised understanding that tho land was only allowed to bo squatted upon at a nominal rental until required for settlement. It was at the same time clearly laid down that the land should be open for cash purchase at £2 per acre at any time. That sum was selected in the certain hope that no man would bo foolish enough to give such a price. But when men camo forward and freely put down their money, the men in possession of the run-;, who also had possession of the Legislatures, provincial as well as general, invented the gridironing system, and got it sanctioned by law, so that they practically got their lands by purchase at half tho public rates. That power they used to acquire large tracts and commanding situations. These mon, moreover, wero the formidable opponents of settlement from the first. Nothing could have been fairer than their words on the subject, and nothing clearer than their acts against its best interests. To take one instance, the large rivers being unbridged prevented the spread of settlement. Mveiybody admitted unreservedly that bridges must lie provided. But things were so arranged that when tho estimates of tho engineers, distinguished si rangers brought over at considerable cost, were submitted, it was found that tho cost was prohibitive. There is a leading instance of a Canterbury bridge estimated to cost £150,000, whereas a bridge was actually contracted for and put up on the same silo by a. shrewd artisan for £12,000, and is in good case to-day. To claim Liberalism for men with a history like that is evidence of extreme weakness But as we have before observed tho Premier is a man of practical mind. He has seen the necessity of taking up this line of defence against Captain Russell's weakness, and ho has been justified by the reception he has met with. He was speaking to a people who are unaware of the ancient history of the Conservative leaders, and who have failed to see the points iu the history of the franchise and triennial Parliaments. Very weak the claim of Liberalism is on behalf of these men, and it is made weaker by reference to this latter history, every step of which, it is notorious, was forced upon them, until in the end they sold their convictions for their places. The people in the country districts are beginning to understand the history of their own country a little better.

PEACE AND WAR. They present many contrasts to which men of poetic temperament possessing command of language have devoted much attention in times past. Of all these contrasts not tho least striking is presented by the different manner in which these two great conditions of human life deal with inventions which affect human life. Those which save life command not even attention, while tho inventors of destructive agencies are rewarded by wealth beyond the dreams of avarice and honours sufficient for the most vaulting ambition. Take the great works of ivrupp, tho cannon - maker, at Essen. From them have issued the death warrants of hundreds of thousands of men, Frenchmen, Russians, Turks, Italians, Germans, Servians, Bulgarians ; and it may not bo long before a largo field of Anglo-Saxon dead may bo added to tho mighty cemetery which has been so skilfully and industriously built" up by the harvest of formulated metals, which has been sent into desolating consumption from the great Essen establishment. It is a mighty hive of industry, in which thousands are settled iu comfort under the patriarchal rule of their great captain. Everything that mechanical ingenuity can uiggest is there; nothing

that judicious, comprehensive cmtorpnso can thin!; of lias been omitted ; tho great

gnu factory has its own iron mines, its own I ecu] mines, its own forests, its own ruil- ! ways, as well as its own workshops and its I own town: and nothing can exceed the comfort, order and municipal advantages —quite up to date—to be found in the place. There can bein the eyesof thehunianitariaii why not at once say Christian ?—onlyono possible objection to this vast organisation uf industry. Tho black flag floats over if ; peace is only possible within its walls so long as there is war outside ; tho content and prosperity of its artisans aro based on death, suffering, waste, disappointment, agony, calamity of every kind. In order that these men may livo other men must die. That is the first law of their being; yet these men live well, and the organism- of their industry who devises tie; means to enforce their law of existence has grown enormously wealthy. Something similar may be said, though nowhere in so great degree, of tho Elswick yards; of those equally famous at Poplar, whence the fast, torpedo-catchers go racing to every part of the globe in a hurry to sink something with human beings aboard of it; of many establishments in which coming slaughter is proclaimed daily from dawn till dark with sound of hammers, with deafening- clank of ponderous machinery, and the hissing of moulten metal. Over all these flies the black flag. Mankind sees its heavy fold.-; accented with great volumes of smoke lying liko u pall over valley and town, and mankind, instead of shuddering, hurls money into the noxious dens of perverted industry. Then there aro the inventors. An electrician of Melbourne, a young fellow bora

and living in a country whore war has never been heard of, and ought never to be heard of, a young fellow of brains and enterprise, one day invented a torpedo i which remained under control, before that it was the fashion of men to launch torpedoes into the open sea, and it was the fashion of torpedoes to launch themselves in any direction they pleased. Mr Brennan j clapped a strong bridle over the head of j the torpedo, put a powerful bit into its mouth, and sent it oil' to sea with a long pair of reins, of which ho kept firm hold. It is now quite certain that this invention j is still more theoretical than practical; it j certainly is not invariably successful ; the wild torpedo of the ocean prairie still does things that are unaccountable, ducks and dives, flies oil' at tangents, breaks the reins, and is often generally unsatisfactory. So much was evident when M. Breiinan exhibited his first broken to"pedo colts. But the men who live under the black flag with the j Death's head and Crossbones rushed at the J happy inventor, forced a hundred thousand sovereigns into his astonished purse, gave him a captain's commission in the Royal Engineers, set him to lucrative work, in fact provided him with pay and honours for life. It is only an instance typical of many. Now wo turn to the inventions for saving life. There was time when men—it is now said—wero sunk in barbarism— in which defensivo armour was worth something; so much that no fighting man ever thought of being without a complete suit, and many a one lived to die in his bod in consequence But to-day, though we still cling unwillingly to the practice—which we know is nearly obsolete—of making cuirasses for ships, the idea of making a cuhass for a man is enough to set every- i body laughing and talking about the lunatic asylum. But these are defences which belong to war; their object 8 to save life in order that it I may destroy life and everything that j makes life worth having. In the matter of ; saving life for its own sake, and for the | sako of all that life implies, where are we ? I Take navigation. One of the leading facts in navigation is that in "the matter of saving life by taking people out of a sinking or burning ship the world is not GO years ahead of Noah's Ark. Inventors have from time to time turned their attention to the subject. Inventor., are like litigants, they have often a passion for ruining themselves. Even now they swarm with their lowering tackle " guarantee:! for any sea at any speed," their boats, their rafts, protected, uusinkablo, nncapsizable, provisiouablo for months, some oven dazzlingly lit for a voyage anywhere in the lap of luxury, lint they hoar nothing but words, and those mostly of their own coining. Nobody pours moneys into their purses, nobody gives them place, pay or honours. A poor inventor who throws a boat oil' a jetty to show how easily life can bo saved tinder dillicult conditions gets a small _ crowd to look on, one - tenth with pity in ono averted eye, the rest with ridicule in both, rudely staring. A man shows his models, his lowering apparatus, and the captains ami tall admirals say " there's nothing in it" and "it's all been done before," and "nothing ever can, will or ought to lie done." Even when a Cospatriek gets on fire, and it is plain that 300 livos aro gone for want of boats, or a Northfloet is run down, or an Elbe, the voico of the inventor is no hotter heard. The swimmer goes " with bubbling groan " to his death ; the diver comes back from the ocean caves telling of " the many men so beautiful and they all dead did lie"; the painter and the poet take their inspiration, but nobody cares for the saving of the lives. AN r o have safer ships nowadays it is true. But that is because it is profitable to build them. When men are ablo to pay handsomely for being saved at sea, the inventions for saving life will be taken up: but not till then. Such is one of the contrasts between peace and war. It will onduro until tho arbitrament of reason is i substituted for the explosion of gunpowder. !

THE GERMAN DUEL. There is a hardship about tho Berlin duelling caso which, being decidedly ridiculous, is in character with the whole proceedings from first to last. The imprisonment of HeiT Xul/.e for two years in a fortress recalls the whole wretched story. Herr Von Kotzc was a soldier and a high court official. Certain scandalous letters, with obvious blackmail object, were sent to various people. The Ilerr was accused of being the author, suspended without any form of trial, and thrown into prison. His accusers were Baron Schrader and others. When he was released—a thing as mysterious as the arrest—German military etiquette insisted that he must fight his accusers, lie began at thebeginuing of the list, took the first with plucky determination to stand the fire of the whole lot. But the fire of No. 1 sent him to grass so severely wounded that he got cool about the duello, and, having recovered, went at wolf No. 2 with a libol action. The poor fellow thereupon found himself out of the fryingpan into tho fire. He was haled before a military Court of Honour, which declared him guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, and adjudged to suffer tho severest penalty attachable in such cases. Ho appealed to tho Emperor, who assembled another Court of Honour, which came to precisely tho same verdict as the first. Tho Emperor modified tho penalty into an official " warning," and tho unhappy culprit was left to take up his list of duels. Ho accordingly took the next man on tho list, Baron Schrader, and, going out with him, shot the Baron through the abdomen, and the Baron diod. At this point the civil law stepped in, soizod the man who did not want to fight and had been forced to, even with the consent of tho Kaiser, tried him for murder, and shut him up forjtwo years' " hard," which is the equivalent for a fortress. Jn the meantime the caso has taken a

new development. Ilerr Von Kotze in the beginning of his troubles was defended by a young advocato of Berlin, by name Friedmann. Now, baing a man of enterprise, the lawyer, who had in his client's interest access to the anonymous letttors, is said to have copied them. The innocence of his client was established, but he wanted to make money. Consequently, he wrote a book, and, having advertised its special feature, viz., the letters, found himself obliged to flee the Fatherland. No sooner did he arrive at Bordeaux than the German authorities demanded his extradition on two counts: Ist, that of embezzlement; and 2nd, that of fraudulent bankruptcy. _ The answer was—lst, that embezzlement is not among the offences specified in the Extradition Treaty; and, 2nd, that Meinhcer had paid his creditors and had lived since in Berlin unmolested by the police, and that when he had como to grief the Law Society had only complained of gambling on his part. Result—" France will be anxious not to refu.se her protection to a foreigner who lias como to seek a refuge upon her territory mainly from political persecution."

Here wehaveapeculiarcombination of circumstances. A man who has been proved innocent of a charge preferred against him is forced to risk his life in a series of duels, and sent to penal servitude when ho reluctantly obeys and kills his man ; though nothing was done to the man who injured him in his first encounter. At the same time there is an extradition claim which will not hold water to get hold of the copies of tho letters with which the hero of all these duels never had anything to do. And nobody seems to ask- where is the guilty scandal-maker 'i There is a hue and ciy and a persecution of the most abominable order after two innocent people, and no attempt whatever is made tobringthe guilty to justice. This is one of the things "made ill Germany." Its chief absurdity is derived from the official and social upholding of the practice of duelling. Such a ridiculous story would have been impossible in any country where the absurd and illogical practice of duelling has been stamped out.

Tilt: MASK OFF. " I am profoundly moved," tho Czar said the other day, when speaking of the celebration of his coronation by the French army with rejoicings. That was one of the many signs we have had lately of the alliance cemented between the autocracy of tho North and the only Republic in Europe. It may bo strange that soldiers whose adored rey'unc dates from the overthrow of the unscrupulous Second Empire, and keeps its chief feast on the anniversary of the destruction of the Bastille, should bo throwing up their caps in honour of a tyranny which has many Bastilles and Sibera to boot, and is based on the narrowest and most corrupt of autocracies. It is true that tho thing is not unprecedented. It happened at Tilsitt, on which occasion we must remember that the victorious French army had coased to be the arm of a Republic, and had become the l.'retoriau guard of a military despot who by its use at Eylau and Friedland had forced the strongest Bower on tho Continent to recognise its master's conquests in Germany, and the titles of his three brothers to as many European thrones. The French army which acclaims tho Czar is the army of tho third Republic. It is a distinction which emphasises the difference greatly, proving to the world that the alliance between the two countries, though it may bo informal, is very strong. The fact throws light on the shameful surrender of tho Tory Administration in Armenia. For eighteen years Great Britain was in theory the protector of the Armenians. Cyprus was tho guarantee, the Sultan's promise increased the warranty, Croat Britain's undertaking to fight Russian aggression on condition of Armenian reform, couplod with the undertaking to see reform carried out under any circumstances, left no doubt in anxious minds. That was "peace with honour." Its sequel is peace with dishonour. We have the humiliating spectacle of a British Minister of the Crown—to be sure he is only the Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs repudiating this treaty because other people have done the same. France did not understand tie: game, could not realise that the great Tory Administration had been paid to run away from honour and humanity, failed to realise that the price .vas a free hand in Africa, and the French Minister remonstrated. Ho was promptly reprimanded by the Russian Ambassador, and forced to apologise and retire. And now the French army acclaims the Czar, and the Czar is profoundly moved. The master has spoken and the mask is off. A. more miserable, wretched tiling than this shambling surrender by a great reputation is not recorded in history. [j |Tho Government supposed to be tho only firm Government, so far as foreign affairs is concerned, that England has over had, apparently likes tho sensation of being without tho mask of virtue. If there is one thing more than another which the British flag protects, it is freedom. Slavery is tho abomination, the deck of a British ship is a (portion of the free British soil. Yet wo have this Government, that is so strong abroad, declaring that for tho present it cannot abolish the legal status of slavery in Zanzibar and Pemba. When asked why, Mr Curzon told the Commons that a rebellion had prevented the Government from fulfilling its promise, that if abolition was proclaimed the slaves might leave the plantations and disorganise the labour market in tho towns, and that, moreover, free labour in the country might constitute a grave difficulty. But in time, of course, yes, as a matter of course, tho Government would keep its promiso and abolish slavery within the British territories. Was ever anything so boneless and pulpy ? The strong Government —strongest abroad ever known —

stopped by a paltry tribal insurrection on the path of duty and frightened by imaginary difficulties from the performance of a party promise ! It was a nice Government for the Armenians to lean upon. Tin- Armenians are disappearing and tho masl: is off.

THE BANK OF NEW SOUTH WALES. Tins Bank deserves congratulations for many reasons, but chiefly because it has since the Australian banking crisis shown more evidence of progress than any other banking institution in Australasia. Time was when popular opinion regarded this Bank as having nothing between it and reconstructive destruction ■ — phrase invented during the bank crisis, and intended only for temporary and Australian application—except an Act of the Legislature suddenly passed through all its stages. But the steady growth of business and the really vast accumulation of coin have in tho interval that has elapsed a salutary interval—told a very different tale. The dividend that has just boon declared is not like the dividends of old, but it is more real, and for that reason has more to recommend if as a sign of the Bank's real progress. Frankly we admit that the Australian recovery is not only good, but sufficiently unexpected to be marvellous; and tho host feature in the recovery is the progress of the Bank of New South Wales.

There is a difference of opinion about tho great accumulation of coin. The Bank authorities having more than doubled their store of gold, certain critics have come down upon them with an outcry about locking up their resources. It is now contended that they have, in this respect, gone to the other extreme, tho extreme of caution. There may be some truth in this, for mankind is apt to behave like sheep and pendulums. Sheep rush after ono another after change, and pendulums after having been carried far in one direction sweep as far back again when left to their own devices, unconsciously fulfilling ono of Nature's laws. Without entering into any discussion, wo confess wo cannot understand this accumulation of coin. It ought to be invested in liquid securities so as to bo earning its keep while remaining available for sudden use as a bulwark against unexpected emergency of panic. The president explained that the directors had been discouraged by the high price of colonial Government securities from investing ; fearing, indeed, that at any moment the inflation might cease and that contraction would send prices down below recent values. That is an excuse too shallow for credence. Tho bed-rock value of liquid securities is the value of Imperial Consols. Thus invested all moneys are liquid, and while liquid an; earning between 2-i and :$ per cent. It is obviously better to be liquid at any interest than to be liquid in a sterile coffer where all the financial enterprise is summarised in a count of money bags. We should say, if asked for advice, invest your coin, gentlemen, in liquid securities. The policy has paid you, so far as the colonial securities aro concerned, and you require no inducement to take up consols.

There is in this hoarding a lack of enterprise which is eloquent of the awi'ulness of the crisis of LSD:;. It is more, it is proof of the demoralisation of spirit which that crisis; has left. The authorities have been dragooned by events into caution sufficient to make them provide liquid funds, but they have been so demoralised by the process that they feel obliged to depend on nothing but sterile gold. And, great Heaven ! they are bankers ! However, it must be' far from anyone's intention to be hard on prudence even when it outruns discretion. The pendulum theory may bo relied on to put matters straight. That it is doing its work quickly tho recent report and balance-sheet prove pretty conclusively. When that consummation is complete, the Bankauthorities will cease to talk about political changes and their consequent uncertainties. The iH'Csident's remarks under this head wero directed at this Colony principally, but the plain fact is that since 1891 there has been very little uncertainty, and since 1892 nono whatever. It is time for bankers to discard politics, which fascinate thorn because they aro incomprehensible, and seek tho causes of depression and failure iu tho right places.

The president, while recognising tho general advance in prosperity along tho whole line of production, gave some good hints as to the better conduct of business lines. That is a thing which deserves tho general applause, and as an evidence of commercially sound sense will do much to help the evidences of this Bank's progress to commend themselves to public opinion.

TARANA KI IRONSAND. Mn E. M. Smith having apparently succeeded in getting his project to the company stage or very near it, nothing remains to be done but to congratulate Mr Smith. What tho economic conditions of his process are we do not know. All that anyone, outside a very narrow circle, knows is that Mr Smith has been working a process, that he has extracted some remarkably good looking metal from the ironsand of Taranak', and that the sight of specimens of his smelting has helped him to get into touch with good people in the trade in London. That thero aro difficulties in tho way of successfully smelting this sand is not asocret. Thoinitial difficulty is tho tendency of tho sand to choke tho fires. It is the difficulty which has broken most of the attempts to establish the industry, in some the choke was complete ; the fire went out, and there was no result. In others tho choke was partial, and according to the degree of partialnoss so was the amount of tho iron. Many attempts were made to get over the difficulty by making the sand into bricks, and piling them on the fuel of the furnace. But among practical men tho opinion was formed that the secret of success must be sought in a specially - constructed furnace a furnace designed with special draught appliances. Whether tho energetic member for Taranaki has got a special furnace, or whether ho has got over the difficulty in any other way, we do not know. But that he has been ablo to prove to the satisfaction of exports that he has got over the difficulty is tho thing that is just now apparent. For tho sako of the enormous value of the industry—could it be only established on a sound economic basis —wo very sincerely hope that Mr Smith has succeeded as completely as ho thinks ho has. The industry established, the Colony immediately becomes a large exporter of steel; and should that consummation ever be reached, Mr Smith and his company will by no means be alone in the field. Then; 'are others who are working away at this branch of metallurgy, and who aro firmly convinced that they have succeeded, too. Tho cheapness with which iron is produced and carried all over the world is tho serious part of tho hill which the New Zealand history has to get over. But nothing ever succeeded that did not have difficulties to get over. Let us iiope that all the difficulties will be got over by the ingenuity and determination of our inventors ami investors. LIBERALS AND LIBERALS. There was a linn when Sir Robert Si our, was very strong against the Conservative interest. That was when lie was following Sir George Grey, and fighting the cause of Liberalism under the flag of the Liberal leader. He himself occupied a leading position in that struggle, and he fought well, as all must admit whose memories carry them back so far. A very uncompromising fighter he was, leaving no one in doubt as to his meaning or his intentions. There was one thing on which he always insisted, viz., that tho lino between Liberals and Conservatives was very sharply and clearly defined. A Conserative was then what he is now, ono who wished to stay where he was, who was content to regard whatever was as best, who in this best of all possible worlds resisted change and cried out upon innovations as mischievous to the best interests of the State. All that was very well put, and tho lieges wore accustomed to be asked as a result of agreement with those orations to uphold the cause of Liberalism by trusting no Conservative.

Time, however, is the great changer of all things. Even Sir Robert's views about tho Conservatives have undergone a change with the Hying years. At Wangauui ho told an audience his views tho other night. Ho began by " hoping they were not so narrow-minded as to think that only Liberals had the welfare of tho country at heart"; he went on to say that there was

no danger of a Conservative reaction ; iu fact, " the goal at which Liberals and Conservatives aimed was the same." That " ho took to be the welfare of tho race, and theendeavoiuito make their country better in tho future than it had been in the past." So it appears now thattherois no difference between Liberals and Conservatives. Tho two great parties have become fused, tho line of demarcation once so sharp and clear has faded away into the nowhere which is the home iff invertebrate politicians, nonparty Government, and that only possiblo engine of rule, tho Referendum. When this remarkable fusion took placo Sir Robert did not say. We have heard a commentator suggest that the great harmony was operated by degrees during tho years JSSt, \SS, 'BO and 'B7, during tho peaceful and problem-solving period known by tin; joint name of Stout-Vogol j but of that we do not profess to see any trace in tin; oration now before us. We accept tho fact, of this great transformation, and wo have to trace the consequences flowing from it. Firstly, the principal parties having disappeared thoro can never bo any Party Government; secondly, everybody being Liberal, it is a crime to accuse anybody of being a Conservative ; thirdly, therefore, let us turn out tho Government, and put at tho head of affairs men who have more respect for tho opinion of their fellow-creatures; fourthly, Mr Ballauco was a groat Liberal, and made great speeches—Captain Russell is also a great Liboral, and makes great speeches for tho welfare of the race, &c.; fifthly, but Mr Ballanco is death, therefore Captain Russolt must sit in tho place of the Liberal leader, and bo the ruler over tho united army of Liberals; both those who originally wero Liberal, and also thoso who have been converted; sixthly, it is not impossible that on second thoughts the united army might como to tho conclusion that the welfare of the race requires tho leadership of Sir Robert himself, in which case Captain Russell would have to be content with subordinate Cabinet rank, all of which conclusions everybody will accept, when he has subscribed to tho only premise which favours tho return of air Robert Stout to power. That will benever.

HANSARD. If thero is any good in tho Hansard reports of the Parliamentary proceedings, then tho more frequent and punctual tho issue of these reports tho better. Tho only people who can object to the proposal to have tho Hansard published throo timesii| week are those who object to Hansarct altogether. Wo cannot subscribo to that doctrine, holding, as wo do, that these reports aro necessary, and that with attention to certain details they can be made very valuable. Thero is a great deal of rubbish in Hansard; rubbish of two kinds, that which is intended to be rubbisl, afl*<2' that: which is not. To the first category belong columns of the dri/el which is talked for the simple purpose of wasting time. That may bo a recognised Parliamentary tactic, and it may bo defended on many grounds, but thoro is no earthly reason why a speech which has wasted tho public time should go on to waste the public money. Tho second division is mado up of orations which only tho orators imagine to be great, tho repetitions which the time limit cannot stop, and tho misunderstandings which aro the result of lack of brains. If Hansard could bo kept free from tho rubbish of these two categories, Hansard would bo a very readable publication indeed. As containing tho best thoughts of the most active minds, and the result of research and study by the ablest, it would be instructive and valuable as well as readable. How the Government Printer will per-, form the feat of bringing out HansarSk three times a week wo confess we cannot see. True, his task will bo mado easier by the now regulation requiring members to correct the type-written not the printed; report. But who will make tho members return their copy, with corrections, in! time ? And who will guarantee that they will be able to make their corrections on the type-written sheets ? They can cut them up and paste them on sheets of foolscap, leaving room for their amendments, but will they do it? Tho Hansard proofs, under the present system, aro often very curious and wonderful things to look at,

The question arises as to the necessity for allowing members to correct their speeches. If the practice were put an end to there would be no difficulty in bringing- out a daily Hansard. On the other hand some members complain that the reporters misreport them terribly. On the other, there are many men who, as a rule, practically rewrite their speeches in correction. Moreover, there are many members who never correct their speeches at all. We are not goino- to deny that the complaints made havo foundation, any more than wo expect anyone to deny that the privilege of correction is extravagantly abused. But wo think it possible that the reporters will, when they Jo their work on the floor of tho House, tot be liable to those errors which are due bad acoustic properties of the Chamber. That there are no otner errors in their reports we will not affirm. On that point the mw departure will tell its own tale. We shall then havo light on tho great question of the reliability of tho whole staff. Many members, as it is, are satisfied with the reports. \\ hen tho new position has boon tried we hope all will be equally sati-mod, except those who want to read iu Hansard not what they havo said in jtho House, but what they ought to have said there, or meant to havo said. All things considered, therefore, it would baa good thing if the privilege of correction could bo taken away. Wo believe tho consequence of tho new departure will bo that correction will be no more required than it is alter a public meeting. It correction is not given up it will be impossible to publish Hansard three times a week.