CURRENT TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2232, 10 December 1896, Page 24

CURRENT TOPICS.

We have received a copy of an appeal from

the committee of the Dunedin the city City Mission for active symmission. pathy and help. The missionary,

Mr Duncan Wright, visits on week days five of the State schools with the riew of readiDg the Scriptures, and the total ittendance for last month was 1883. It might with reason be urged that this is an excellent opportunity for parents whose sympathies are with the introduction of the Bible to the ichooh to contribute to this objeot. Mr Wright holds mission serviceß at Russsll street and slsewbere, and cottage meetings are also held. Consequently Mr Wright comes into contaot with between 2000 and 3000 persons every month. It should be remembered also that the mission is not »n innovation. It is practically a resuscitation of the mission represented so capably many years ago by Mr MThee. It slashes with no other institution, and fills a want recognised in every city, where, unfortunately, such missions are necessary in , the cause of religion and humanity. The treasurer is Mr J. A. 1). Adama, Exchange Court, Dunedin, and the secretary Mr D. Booth, George street. A ease that may have some interest in its developments for commercial •the western men has been instituted in the pacific. . High Commissioner's Court at Suva. Captain E. D. R»id, of Sydney, is executor under the will of the late William Graig, of Fanning and Washington Islands, and by the terms of the will is al-o guardian of two infant children. Mr 6. B. Greig, son of deceased, is co-executor with Captain Reid, and between these two a dispute lias arisen. The case came before the court by way of a petition from Captain Reid asking the court to order G. B. Greig to file an account of his administration of the estate, in 1 which he has a benefic>ary interest, and to give directions M to the custody of the estate papers and provide for the management of the estate by the appointment of a receiver or otherwise. The respondent in turn charged the petitioner -with interfering in the . management of the estate, to the entire control of which respondent had been appointed, with the consent of all patties, in 1892, and he also alleged that petitioner had carried away various cargoes of copra and guano from the island, »nd never accounted for the same, and was believed to' have converted them to his own use. Respondent also stated that he Tiad intended to take steps to demand an inquiry, 'and was quite willing to file his accounts to the order of the court. His Honor Sir H. S. Berkeley said he could not without data decide whether the estate had been' properly managed or not, or whether either claimant was a suitable person to manage it. He therefore ordered ,that both executors should file statements of their accounts, that Captain Reid should return -the books he had taken away, and recommended him to refrain from t&king away any produce from the inlands in the meantime. Captain Reid declined to give an undertaking to that effect, and the other side asked for an injunction to restrain Jbim, which was immediately granted, and Captain Reid was warned that if he attempted to set the court at defiance he would come under the strong arm of the Executive. A report of the case hat been sent to us from the High Commissioner's office, for the information of commercial men. Tte Registrar-general has sent ua a batch of returns in advaccs of the full industrial cecsus ' particulars, and some compabisdns. of these furnish interesting matter for consideration. For ' Instance, the industrial value of breweries to the community is frequently commented upon anf&vourably by platform speakers on prohibition. Among the returns, we have referred to 'is one giving sundry particulars about the breweries in the colony, and another giving the same particulars about butter and cheese factories. In the colony there are 170 such factories and there are 85 breweries, or just half the number. In order to institute a ccmJarifon we. shall double the number of ..breweries and double as well all the other •items ;— Butter and Cheese Breweries. Factories. Number ... .„ ... 170 170 Hands employed 930 548 Wages paid ..£114,651 £ 40.157 Value of material used ... 251,412 336,743 Value of product &TJ,i(H 501,274 From an industrial poict of view, therefore, breweries are more profitable than dairy Factories. They employ more hands relatively >nd they give higher wages. They also produce an article of greater monetary value from materials that cost less. •.waiting attention for some days owing to the press of oelection0 election matters has the been a proof slip containing a saltation summary of a pamphlet reaemt. * cently issued by Commandant Herbert Booth, who is head of the Salvation Army in Australasia. The pamphlet takes the form of a 16-page War Cry, which was to have been issued on November 21, and it was termed a manifesto setting forth a humber of projects contemplated by the Army. , It is proposed to extend the work of the Army to the islands of the Southern Seas. 'We are told that Java has already ' been entered, and somewhat grandilol fluently Informed j "They are with us In ■■ the Southern Hemisphere, and Australia is I llhe natural bass from .which the Southern Salvationist; should push the battle and spread Ihe operations of his order among the under Wf of the globe. And so it will come to pass chat many a real gem will ba won for the - Saviour's crown from the dusky millions of the pastern Archipelago by the consecration of Australian e&terorise," Mb doubt the Army

authorities know best, but we should have thought there was work enough for it in civilised countries, without entering upon new fields, for which the Army equipment may not be suited. It may be, however, that the commandant is impelled by that fantastic desire for novelty that characterises the Army, and that .batches of Javans, SumatransPhilippine Islanders, Marquesans, and others will grace colonial processions and help to roll the chariot along. Great extensions in colonial work are also contemplated. Among these may be mentioned industrial farms and colonies, day nurseries and "creches, young women's reformatories, and generally a great and ambitious scheme of social reform. In these efforts every philanthropist will wish them success.

A witness in a New Zealand court the other

day felt some hesitancy in some new describing a man as a habitual definitions, drunkard, though he admitted

the person in question got " regularly drunk." That witness would have been much assisted if he Had been provided with the rules issued by Sir Edward Walter, X.C.8., who founded and now commands that very useful corps in London known as commissionaires or messengers. There have been many facetious tests recommended. Walking a chalk line is said to be a sure tost, and one exasperated publican on the West Coast who had been fined for supplying a drunk person wiih liquor registered a vow that in future he would supply no one who could not balance himself upon an empty porter bo!tle. Not long ago a Liverpool witness told the stipendiary that the only sure test of a man being drank was when he tcied to light his pipe at the pump. A defendant told the earns magis'ra f e that a man should be unable to walk before he is charged with drunkenness, while alt in the coloniss have heard of the man who was said to be intoxicated because he was lying down and holding on by the grass. But Sir Edward Walter's test is simply this:— " Scch charges as • being under the influence of drink,' 'having been drinking,' &0., are not recognised by the regulations. A commissionaire who would bo unfib for duty in a powder magazine in consequence of his intemperance in drinking is equally unfit for any service as a commissionaire, and unlesa the evidence is quite satisfactory on this particular point the charge of drunkenness will be considered as proved ; in short, a commissionaire who is not perfectly sober, in the most unrestricted eenbe of the term, is drunk, and will be treated accordingly."The penalty for drunkenness is dismissal. Sir Bdward'a definition of a temperate soldier is :— " One who never drink* anything stronger than tea or coffee till his- midday meal, and never touches spirits at any time till after 6 p.m. (though, in this particular any man would probably be much healthier if he abstained altogether from spirits). A commissionaire cannou be considered a 'temperate man' who takes any kind of beer or spirits except at his meals. The practice of taking • nips ' is equally fatal to the constitution and character of a member of the corps." And there seem? a great deal of good common sense in these definitions. News from Victoria stares that the Government bave abandoned their A State Banking Bill. This GTATE bake bill, stripped of technicalities, in aimed at establishing three Victoria. se»arat9 institutions — (1) An amalgamated Savings Bank ; (2) a Crsdit Fonder ; (3) a State Bank ; and it was so drafted that the clauses referring to any one of these subjects could be retained with merely verbal alterations even if the other two were dropped. The fuue. tions o£ the proposed State Bank were — (1) To keep current accounts and t3 invest the money so received ; (2) to have a monoply of the note issue ; (3) to ba empowered to make emergency advances to the ordinary banks ; (4) to exerc'ss the prerogative of the Crown under peculiar and extraordinary conditions ; and (5) to attach unclaimed, moneys lying in the ordinary banks. These main objects were supplemented by some subsidiary functions. In the current accounts division it waa provided that all money in the possession of the bank over and above the reserve against the note iisue might be applied in makjpg temporary advances (without interest) to ■ the Treasurer to a maximum amount of £500,000 per annum for revenue purposes, and to make advances to him for works authorised by Parliament. It might also be advanced to municipalifcies, to ordinary banks, used in tho purchase of Government securities, or deposited in other banks. The Treasurer estimated that two million pounds of current accounts would be transferred to' the State bank, and the proposal was promptly nicknamed the " wrecking proposal," because if successful it would mean the depletion of the strong banks which have survived the banking troubles. '• The bill provided that bank notes should ba withdrawn and that State notes the note should be issued to the extent of circulation. £2,000,000, unless the Governor-in-Couocil should think it advisable to increase the isaua. This would practically mean that the issue would be without limit, for the Governor-in-Council in such a matter acts upon the advice of the Ministry of the day. The notes were to be payable in gold at the iieid office of the bank, but otherwise they were to be legal tender within Victoria, and to be received at par in discharge of all debts and obligations. -The not^s were to be secured in gold up to one-fifth absolutely and to one-fourth when practicable, and the balance of the security was to be secured by Treasury bills. The whole question of State monopoly in notes has necessarily come under review, and the Argus in discussing it produces come interesting figures. It points out that for many years the bank note has been losing its attribute as an instrument of credit, while evea as circulating I

money it has bscoma of less importance than formerly. The proportion of notes to the whole liability of the Victorian banks is now less than 3 per cent., while in 1881 it was about 6J per cent. Farther, in 1881 the banks held £2 Us 5d in specie against every £1 note in circulation, and now they hold £9 7s 61 The note issue has always been a first charge against the assets of the banks, and there is no doubt of the soundness of the security. Therefore it was assumed that the monopoly of issuing notes was desired for the purpose of inflating the currency and the increase of indebtedness, and on these grounds it was bitterly opposed.