CURRENT TOPICS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 6745, 17 February 1909, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

TOO SECRET. The secretary of the Trustees of the Benevolent Institution frequently asks the Trustees at their meetings to take certain cases "in committee." In tho majority of cases it is not in the. public interest that these matters should be heard privately. The reporters who habitually attend these meetings are as a general thing not tyros. They are as capable as is Mr Truebridge of understanding what should and what should not be told to the people. As a matter of decency and public interest it is unfair to the people to allow any case before the Trustees to be taken in committee. There is no doubt that much relief is granted that should not be granted, and contributors should have some indication of the manner in which their money is spent. BANKING CHARGES. Banking charges were discussed briefly at the Wellington Provincial Industrial Association's meeting last night, when Mr W. A. Hobart, author of "Dominion Banking," wrote, asking if he could address the association upon banking methods. The secretary stated that Mr Hobart was formerly assistant accountant in the Bank of New Zealand. Mr Thomas remarked that legislation was. passed some years ago. preventing additional banks from commencing business in New Zealand, which resulted in a ring. Mr H. H. Seaton referred to what he said were very high rates of exchange on cheques. In England his experience was that practically no exchange was charged, and the annual payment for keeping the account was unknown. Several of the members expressed the opinion that the banks differentiated between their customers in charging exchange.- Mr Hobart will be invited to lecture to a general meeting of tho association. MOTHER-IN-LAW'S RIGHTS. Here is news on the legal status (in America) of the mother-in-law. The New York correspondent of the London "Daily Telegraph" states that in tho New Jersey Supreme Court on December 31st. Judge Stevenson decided that Mr John Kerry must either pay his wife alimony or oust his mother. If MiKerry decides that he loves his mother more than his wife, the Court will fix the amount of the alimony, but if, on tho other hand, he ousts his mother, who is a vigorous middle-aged woman and an excellent cook, able to command the American wage of ,£5 r>er month and her board, the wife must return to her husband or forfeit the alimony. In elaborating his decision, Judge Stevenson said: —"Home is not home where there is a mOilier-in-law. If a man installs his mother in his home when she is able to provide for herself elsewhere, it is not such a home as a wife must accept, and in the eyes of the law such conduct on the part of a husband is abandonment of his wife." THE UNEMPLOYED. The Minister of Labour, Hon. A. W. Hogg, speaking at a complimentary banquet tendered to membßES of the CosmopoliSan Club at Wanganui on Friday night, with regard to unemployment, read figures showing that there ■were 559 people on the books of the Labour Bureau, and he regretted to find that of these no fewer than 141 were on the books of the Wanganui Bureau* that place having the second largest number of unemployed of the towns of tho Dominion. Besides that there were some who did not register. Tim was most deplorable in a young country. The question was, "What is going to be done?" The Government was doing" its best this year by obtaining fresh funds for Advances to Settlers amounting to ,£I,2SO,tKJU, but at the same time it could well have lent .£3,000,000, which could be. spent advantageously in feeding the labour markets and improving the country. The banks and money-lenders were calling in the money they had loaned out, and were exacting heavy interest for loans, and the Government could well advance three or four millions at i per cent. The settlers were of a splendid class, and the Government should come to their assistance. THE MISSION OF SIR CHARLES LUCAS: "I think it is an excellent idea," said the Premier of New South Wales. Tliis remark was made wttfi. reference to the proposed visit of Sir Charles Lucas, As-sistant-Under-Secretary, and head of the Dominions Department of the Colonial Office, to Australia and Now Zealand. "When the Imperial Conference was held in 1907," Mr Wade continued, "the various States of the Commonwealth preferred a request to be allowed to be present and discuss matters that directly affected the States, rather than the Commonwealth, and, although the requesft was strongly- urged, the Secretary of State for the Colonies did not see his way to consent. The danger that was anticipated actually resulted, and several matters peculiarly of State interest were brought up ,at the Conference, and dealt with .-n the absence of that'information which State Ministers alone could suppiy. Moreover, I have Been told on more than one occasion by visitors to England recently that the relations of the States to the Commonwealth was entirely misunuerstood in England. The Secretary of State uas taken a very wise course m sending out an experienced official like Sir Charles Lucas, who will have the opportunity of coming into personal contact with the Ministers of the various States, and ascertaining on the spot the wants and aspirations of the iStates, and the attitude towards the Commonwealth. I am sure we shall all welcome tne opportunity of making known directly to the Colonial Office our views on many matters in respect to which we have hitherto not been pro-

perly heard. I have no doubt that this trip will also , have tho effect' of improving the relations between the Commonwealth and the constituent States, and the Colonial Office, by an attitude of sympathy, will do a great deal in tho direction of harmonising tho interests that seem to conflict. It can also widen the breach by failing, perhaps through want of knowledge, to give full consideration to all sides of the question." Our cable new** this morning mentions the itinerary mapped out by Sir Charles Lucas. THE BRITISH MUSEUM. January Sill was the 150th anniversary of tho opening of the British Museum. It originated in a bequest of Sir 'Hans Sloane, ill accordance with which his extensive collection of objects of natural history, works of art, books, 'and manuscripts was offered in 1753 to the Government for the sum of JiL'o,ooo or twoJifths of its original cost. The offer was accepted, the necessary funds were raised by a lottery, and the collection, along with the Harleian and Cottonian Libraries, was arranged in Montagu House, which had been purchas;*! for .£10,250. The new institution, thenceforth called the British Museum, was opened in 1759. It is said that there are twenty-five miles of bookshelves in the Museum, and in tho printed books department, which is the largest in the Museum, thero are about two million volumes. Tho annual increase of volumes under the Copyright Act is roughly 50,000 volumes. In the manuscript department there aro upwards of 60,000 volumes, not taking into account the Greek, Coptic, and LaCin papyri and the charters and seals. Then there are departments for prints and drawings. Oriental antiquities, coins and medals and British and mediaeval antiquities and ethnography. The natural his:ory department, which includes botany, geology, zoology, and mineralogy, was removed to West Kensington in 1881. The cost of the new museum there very nearly reached the sum of .£400,000. NEWS NOTES Tho Arbitration Court oonoluded . its sittings alt Dunedin yesterday morning. The Court will sit in Christchurch on Monday. The gang of men working at Pencarrow endeavouring to unearth the body of the man Massey, who was buried by a fall of earth on Friday last, had not been successful in their efforts yesterday. The atmosphere of the. offices and Board room of the Trustees of the Benevolent Institution has vastly improved siiioo the "Times" called attention to the absolute lack of hygienic precautions formerly obtaining. . The. windows of tho building are now kept open, and from the improved smell of tue place it is obvious that the advice to spend a shilling or two in disinfectants has been acted on. The S.P.C.A. yesterday acknowledged receipt of, the following subscriptions to its funds:—Ross and Glendining, Ltd., £1 Is; Professor M. Richmond, and i'iudiay; Dnlziel and Co., Ltd., 10a (id each; Young and Tripe, IDs; Mesdaines Scutt, It. M. Simpson, Miss McLeau, Messrs J. W. Joynt, J. p. Firth, J. G. Harknees, and "J.," 5s each; Messrs I). Tregear, J. Caldwell, and Charles Ridding, 2s 6d each: total, M Ms Od. At yesterday's meeting of the S.P.C.A., the chairman (Mr Jamiesoii) drew attention to the fact that drivers of carts were still frequently seen riding on the shafts of loaded vehicles, contrary to the provisions of a city by-laiv, Only that afternoon he had seen the driver of a. State coal dray, going up Boulcott street, sitting on the shaft, thus adding several stone to the already heavy load. Tho inspector of the society will kee.p a sharp look-out in' future for thoao who practise this form of cruelty. The Shaw, Savill, and Albion steamer Athcnic. which is due at Wellington next Sunday from London via Capetown and Hobart. has a grand total of 678 passengers for New Zealand ports, comprising 9 saloon, 73 second class, and 596 thirdclass. The passengers are booked to the following ports: —For Wellington, 254; for Auckland, 116; for Lyueelton, 100; for Dunedin, 55; for Napier. 28; for Westport and Greymouth, each 22; for Gisborne, 13; for Wanganui, 11; for New Plymouth, 9; for Tiniaru, 8; for Bluff, 5; for Picton, 3; for Nelson and Oamaru, each 1.

Already. stops are. being taken to arrange an "industries week" upon similar lines to the successful display of last year in 'Wellington. The Provincial Industrial Association intends ascertaining from various large shopkeepers their usual "sale" dates, so as not to clash with them, as this would interfere with the displays. The Ckristchurch proposal to have a number of outside attractions during "industries week" was not favoured, the secretary's .opinion being; thalfc it was hardly worth while working up interest in the matter so that some theatrical companies could come along and scoop up the dollars. An old friend of the Trustees of the Benevolent Institution paraded at yesterday's meeting. She was most voluable, and in a long conversation with* various trustees touched Widely on her life's history, her troubles, tribulations, hopes, plans, joys, and other evolutions. From grave to gay and back again she wandered, and bursting into tears said that she wished "She had been in the Penguin." Then she mentioned that "God is everywhere, but mostly in Heaven," and resented a proposition that she should go to the Christchurch Home. One trustee, in coaxing her to be a good old soul and go to Christchurch, mentioned that he would be in Cbjistchurch at Easter and "would call and see her." The applicant xeplied: "My days for sweethearting are past," and amid the general laughter that followed the facetious trustee was silent.

Tlio Attorney-General, although naturally optimistic in a general way. is not one of those who sees in every settlement consisting of two or three whares, a public house, and a blacksmith's shop the nucleus of a thriving, hustling, bustling commercial centre. Pleading in, a case yesterday, he laid it down aa axiomatic that "a town will only grow up to the fair needs and reasonable requirements of the district in which it is situated." After musing for a moment Dr Findlay went on: "Why, I remember I commenced practice in a small country town more years ago than I care to remember.. We all thought that in twenty years' time that town, would have grown into a large and populous city—now there are ■ fewer people there than when I left." "But," he hastened to explain, naively, "I don't suggest that this was a case of cause and effect!"

The troubles of a member of the Kilties Baud were heard by the trustees of the Benevolent Institution at yesterday's meeting. He desired to return to Mew York, of which city he is a native. Incidentally he alleged that twenty-five of the members of the bajid were citizens of the United States of America, and not of Canada. The applicant had been giving a wrestling exhibition with another member of the band in a southern town, and had dislocated « knee. He had, according to his own story, been cast adrift by the. management, and desired the trustees to send him back to his home. This, after much discussion relative to "esprit de corps" and the lack of it, the trustees decided they could not <io. It was stated that the. manager of the band would be written to in connection with the injured and stranded member (who is using a crutch), and in the meantime the trustees will afford him temporary relief.