TOPICS OF THE DAY.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 5598, 26 May 1905, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Democracies are so often accused of being forgetful and ungrateMBMoniALS ful that it is pleasing to to public hear of proposals being bene- made in this country to paotohs. perpetuate the memory of men who have done the State some service. Hie suggestion of a correspondent, that the public services of the late Mr George Fisher should receive some such recognition, will be welcomed by many admirers of the deceased ; and if these take up the idea with enthusiasm, there should be little difficulty about realising the object aimed at. Mr Fisher was always a strenuous friend of Wellington, and despite his defects of character, deserved the confidence that was to the very last reposed in him by the people. If the project is taken up, wo would suggest that, instead of a monument over his grave, the memorial should take the shape of a bust, with suitable inscription, in the vestibule of the House of Parliament, near -the scene of so many of his battles in the popular cause. Another proposal that deserves public support is one to keep alive the memory of the good work done by the late Mr Thomas Brydone, an Otago settler, who is -recognised as the pioneer of the frozen meat and dairying industries. Some time ago a movement was set on foot to perpetuate his memory by raising £IOOO to found_ a Brydone scholarship at Lincoln Agricultural College; but subscriptions are not flowing in so readily as was expected, although an old friend of the deceased in the North Island has collected over £IOO towards the praiseworthy object. There seems, indeed,'"to be a lack of unity of purpose in the matter. The Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Association, which was appealed to for support, proposes to raise £2OOO as a Brydone Memorial Fund, to be spent in erecting a special hall for the winter show of the association. This is an admirable idea, from an Otago point, of view; but when a movement of a national kind is on foot, it savours of provincialism to ignore it and seek to make the memorial a purely Otago concern. With the sum of £2OOO, it would be possible to create two agricultural scholarships in Mr Brydono’s name —one in the South Island and one in the North—and this would be a most appropriate method of keeping green the memory of one who did so much for the agricultural and pastoral interests of this country as Mr Brydone undoubtedly did, Mr Brydone’s work benefited the whole country, and settlers everywhere ought to be ready to take up the proposal and carry it to a successful issue. Mr W. F. Aplin, of Christchurch, who has been agitating the question in the South, would do well to enlist the help of the Farmers’ Union in the matter. With the help of that organisation, it should be an easy matter to raise money to found the two scholarships suggested, which ■ would benefit the sons of settlers. r

Tho news that a successor has been appointed to Mr Gerald sin u.u.rorn Loder as Junior Lord of cLiimiNo the Treasury in tho Britdown. ish Cabinet looks like a “climb down” on the part of tho Ministry, and may therefore he regarded as another indication

that the star of the Balfour Administration is on Hie wane. The other day a remarkable demonstration by tho Opposition was witnessed in tho House of Commons, when the Colonial Secretary vainly endeavoured for an hour to obtain a hearing, and there was sucli serious disorder that tho sitting had to be suspended. Mr Loder’s appointment to tho Ministry was made last March, when a partial reconstruction was necessitated by tho resignation of Mr Wyndlu.m, Chief Secretary for Ireland. In accordance with time-hon-oured custom, Mr Loder wont before his constituents at Brighton for reelection before taking office. Young, rich, clever, and popular, Mr Loder had represented Brighton for sixteen years, and at every poll had triumphed by largo majorities; but this time he was defeated by nearly a thousand votes. The result of tho election caused a sensation in political circles, Hie unanimous opinion of the newspapers being that it was the worst blow the Government had yet received. Tho Liberal and successful candidate, Mr 13. Villiers, regarded his return as a protest against the Government, not as a personal matter, for while he considered Mr Loder as popular as ever, he said it showed that the Government had sunk in public estimation. In spite of this set-hack, however, it was announced in tho House of Commons that I, r Loder was to retain his office as Junior Lord of the Treasury—Mr Balfour, in justification of this course, instancing Mr Gladstone's-retention of the Secretaryship of the Colonies for half a year without a scat, after being defeated on his appointment. Lord Edmund Talbot, who is to succeed Mr Loder. is a soa of. the fourteenth Duke of Norfolk, -nd brother and heir to the present Duke. He has sat in the House of Commons in tho Conservative interest since 1891. In 1899 ho went on special service to South Africa in connection with tho Boer war, and acted as a military press censor.