PASSING EVENTS.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4307, 16 March 1901, Page 1 (Supplement)

PASSING EVENTS.

History is philosophy teaching by exam pits. —Thucydides. (From Uio “New Zealand .Mail.”) W’.vs from Smith Africa in reassuring. NVgol bilious for pi aco arc being made hci uccn Lord Kitchener and General Botha, and a seven days' armistice inns been granted. According to some leporls the negotiations have been proceeding for .Severn! days- [t is stated ill,-it Lord Ki( ehener has offered an inline.,l y Id all who surrender, as well ns I a the prisoners, excepfing the chief of lie- (,‘ape Colony I'ehels. Besides this, I in- Bril ish will assist all who now .yield lo regain their farms. These terms the [ess stubborn of the enemy ■.ill surely accept, but neither Do Wet nor Si eyn and their following are likely (o yield. Reasonable men. like .Botha realise that Ihe coniintuition of the

v.'iir is useless nay, wanton in its iTi’i'll j—mill limfc I lie ul most the Boer cun now <lo is to I brow' them;:i‘lvcs iiiiou tho clemency of tlie Bri-li-h. lUoroovcr, Sir Alfred 'Milnerwill doubtless Ijo iinxious to restore peace to Ih" tenitories that have boon devastated l<y v.pn-.-Tfie settlement of tho country is essential to its development. The Jiiirdens of the war, or such proportion the I’rilish Government may fleteriiiiiio to cast iiiiou tho Transvaal and ‘•range River Colony, cannot he borne by a region racked and devastated as I Inne countries now are. Inducements "'ill have to be ottered to settlors in Capo Colony, .Natal, Canada and perhaps Australia and New Zealand, to go om to South Afriea and take up raiiehes in the liners’ country. There is, however, no possibility of .settlers loarin'!; this country, unless the inducement is very liberal, but some of tho younger sons of farmers may choose 10 j ry their fortunes in South Africa raisin;' cattle and sheep. Meantime die Wet and Stoyn have to ho captured, 'their followers must ho dispersed, .it is quite possible for two or three hundred men under Do Wet to defy tho British soldiery for months. Guerilla warfare is another name for bushranging, and it may be remembered that the Kelly Rang defied tho police authorities of Now South Wales for over a T<‘ar. Tho recent losses inflicted by tho British on the Boors must tend to tho < 1 isintef!,■ration of Da Wet’s following, and his continuous flight before Plumer and Bothuno cannot strengthen his followers’ faith in him or encourage them to keep in the Hold.

Tho .statement that Mr J. I). Spreckles. Chairman of the Oceanic Stoynship Company, will not visit Wellington must be received with regret. Ho had previously little hope of obtaining a sub-, sidy from the Government, but since be arrived at that determination his < Inineo is hopeless. Mr Spreckles gave an Auckland interviewer "a piece of bis mind. - ' Ho assured tho public of New Zealand in this way that his relaI ions with the Government had been all that could be wished, but he wanted a subsidy for the carriage of the mails—• ■‘Now,” he says, “we only get poundage.’’ -Mr Spreckles then proceeded' to show how much, more advantageous it is to New Zealand' to have a three-weekly service than a. monthly one. Wo are ready to admit that there is an advantage. to merchants in having the San Francisco mails delivered regularly and oftener, and to tourists and others in having a smarter trip; but when that has been stated the advantages are of mo great material value to this country. Besides, the regularity of the service, if it enlarges the mails, as is stated, then the amount to bo paid to Air Wproekles will bo greater, while if more passengers travel the larger will bo tho amount Air Spreckles will receive in lures. Air Spreckles makes a point in favour of a subsidy from, the Government oy New Zealand by stating that more trips are to be made to the country every yea) - by the new service, but then for every trip this enterprising shipowner' receives from the American Government 16,000 dollars, so that it is to Air Sprceklos’s advantage to run as many trips to New Zealand as ho can. Further. ho is receiving at the rate of £1.1,000 from the Government for the carriage of mails, and as they increase in bulk the poundage payments will increase also. Indeed, tho poundage will soon bo as largo as tho subsidy Air Spreckles would ask. With regard to this, then, wo behold in Air Sprockles’s position an exemplification of tho axiom I hat ‘•'everything comes to him who waits.” .And from his own showing Air Spreckles can afford to wait. Wo will not bo able to control tho mail service as regards time, bo says, because we will have no contract, but that Mr Spreckles will manage well enough for us since it will bo to his own advantage not to delay bis boats on tho high sea;. Wo are thankful to Air Spreckles for pointing out the possibilities of trade with America, and doubtless our merchants will avail themselves of the inforAs there is mere satisfaction in subsidising British steamers and a colonial service, such as tho Union Steamship Co, offers in conjunction with the Vancouver mailboats, it is possible that the Now Zealand Government will encourage tno local company to compete with its rival subsidised by the United States. 7n this country s interests two services arcbetter than one.

Pjaguo has agaiu broken out in Australia, and tlio regulations so recently relaxed have again keen imposed for its suppression. It would appear that the attack this time is a comparatively mild one, and from the, fact that the Australians have recently put their houses : n order from a health point of vielw, and have swept and garnished their alleyways and thoroughfares, it is believed the plagno will not take a hold upon the Commonwealth, and that the danger of infection will have been minimised. With regard to infection,, it may be noted that tho medical profession has recently discovered some facts which tho public ought to know. Some time ago experiments wore made with a view to discovering a bacillus that would bo destructive cf plagno germs. It has been generally believed that the plague bacillus could only affect the human being Inbeing introduced into tho body through some wound or abrasion of the skin, or in affecting the lungs by tho bacilli being breathed into tho body. But the result of the investigations made by an Austrian Medical Commission has gone to prove that tho disease' known as the

hilhonie plague can be communicated much easier than hitherto imagined, indeed, the simple rubbing of the bacilli on sound and healthy skin is alleged to

ho a com men mode of infection. A Bombay nurse was recently infected with plague through a little of the matter on the lungs of a patient being accidentally coughed up into her eye. From this ;t would appear that those who have to attend upon plaguc-striekeu patients must exercise the utmost vigilance it they would escape contagion. If the plague can lie contracted by contact of its bacilli with the skin of a healthy person, then the authorities ought to warn the public against the risk involved. The destruction of all plague-infected matter must he aimed at, and the Governments of the Australian states ought to sue that the bodies of those who die of the disease are promptly cremated. There is no need tor alarm in this colony, but local bodies should exercise llul utmost precaution.

Tim other day a leading article in the “Times,’’ in dealing with the statements made by a deputation from me w esleyan Contorence to tile Premier, referred to the municipalisatioii of the sale oi alcoholic beverages as providing a, remedy for whatever defects and objections tho present system may possess. x rom time to time dxporiments have boon tried by philanthropic men and women at Homo, and even in several instances public-spirited boroughs have been able to make experiments in municipalisatiou or In running of boatdrie.s for the benefit of the community. The Inters: instance of success in this direction comes from Scotland. This case might he taken as being exemplary of the others, an:l shows what would happen if the reform suggested were extended. A Fifeshiro paper in reporting on the managennvm of the Hill of Beath license, says thift owing to the methods at first adopted the drawings and profits do not show a

regular progression. The drawings for the first four months amounted to Bold For tho six months ending Alarch, 1897, theiy were £745; and for the 12 months to March, 1898, £l7Bl. The drawings for tho year to Alarch, 1899, were £2210 ; and to Alarch, 1900, £2344; while fotho subsequent six months in tho year they were £1415. The profits for th.-vr periods were; —189(1, £100; 1897, £105; 1898, £447; 1899, £502; 1900, £409; and for the six months in 1900 closing with tho end-of September, £330. Tho total drawings have thus been £9Oll, and the profits £2079. A sum of £3l was spent during the celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in providing entertainments for the children andoAl folks. About £4OO each has been expended on electric lighting and the reading room, nearly £SOO on the , bowling

green and,pavilion, £lB on the singing class, £22. for a football pavilion, and several pounds on subscriptions to games, sports, and for other purposes, leaving a considerable sum in band. Jho committee new propose to provide a football pilrk for tho young, men of the village, and will provide a now readingroom, library and billiard room, which will be equipped with two tables and 1000 books. Tho whole establishment is under the care cf a manager who has i o personal interest whatever in the sale of refreshments. What has been dona in Fife is being dope elsewhere, and the more thoughtful and philanthropic people in tho community are realising tl’.ab if public-houses are honestly acquired on a principle that would inflict no injury or less to individuals and c-evoted to public purposes, the reform is fraught with immense possibilities for the future social wnll-being of the people.