CURRENT TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2273, 23 September 1897, Page 3

CURRENT TOPICS.

A few days ago 5a referring to (he riots afar

Bombay we eaid that tbe (-ediincendiaby tioud placard published ju tha plots. vernacular had 'a famili&r ring,

and that there were good grounds : for the opinion seems moderately certain from ; the following extract; from Morning of July 8 : '• " The ravings of homicidal imbcihcs are, as s j rule, passed by hi this country with a cop- : t.omt,ituous uhrnjr, but we have ttcjived an iuti- ,' m&tiou from a man riame.l Hyudmau thtt ha, ( »viil .publish in. ink next issue of an obscure, \ Socialist paper an article which calls for very ; serious notice on the part of tha authorities.,; This, toau, from < he police-guarded security of, • an English offi.ee, is about, to , pouc out, ' a scream of the vilest • abuse on cur i countrymen in India who are -devoting ) their lives to the .good government of the j people of India, and is about to tell the bad i characters of India that a section, however \ intellectually and numerically insignificant, of ! Englishmen is with them in their murdorous i attempt's on the lives of official! and soldiers. ! Tbi« mata Hyndman brings the most insaue • accusations against the Government of India, ) and says that he ' would gladly see the \ villains banged, from Lard George Hamilton •' upwards, who have created this famine I and have murdered the natives by the ! million.' Moreover, he goes on to say that if ever rebsllion was justified in the history of the world ifc is justified in British India today. And all this garbage is printed in spite of the plaia fact that many officials have laid j down their lives in the struggle to preveat the people of India from suffering from the i consequences of their own insanitary folly, and that the Lord Mayor's fund for the starving in ludia was the most generous ever collected in the history of the world." Other newspapers referred to the infamous { intention in similar terms, and we should nob { be at all surprised to learn that the very placard to which we referred emanated from this or an equally discreditable source. That he should use a Socialist paper for the purpose is likely to | bring discredit on Socialism, which ia thus ostensibly identified with treason and bloodshed.

A report has just been published which shows the extent and nature of the irrigation public works designed for India in india. in order to alleviate the effects of draughts and prevent as far as possible the recurrence of famine. The Qodavery works furnish a typical illustration of such enterprise. In 1832-33 a terrible famine ravaged the district, and the country had only partly recovered from the effects of this disaster when three unfavourable years 1835 36, 1836-37, and 1837-38— were followed by the calamUiis of 1833-39 and 1839-40., »ad

the almost rqually calamitous saascn of 1840-41. Thedecreasingpopulationunddwiadlingrevenue now forced the Government into actioD, and ia 1843 it tent one of its ablest servants, the late Sir Heniy Montgomery, to inquire is to the causes of the rapid decline of the district and to advise ss to remedial measures. When he sent in his report Sir A. Cotton was assigned the duty ef projecting vrork* on the lines he had so eucceapfully carried out with regard to the Cauvery River, by which he bad converted tbe " Tanjore district into the garden of Southern India, - when _ it had been almost ruined by the neglect of Its rivers through f*heffr mismanagement. Into the details of Sir A. Co'.iton'ij project and recommend*tion* ib is unnecessary to enter at present; everything he proposed was entirely and cordially approved of by the Government of the day, and the works were sanctioned for construction in 1847. The works hare been very successful. The population increased from less than 600,000 in 1842-43 to 2,011,982 by tho census of 1891. People live in the greatest security and prosperity, delivered from all fe&v of famines or scarcity by the knowledge that till crops eau certainly be raised by means of tha water, iudependently'of the local r*inf»ll or- it's variableness. Tho irrigation works hare move than repaid the cost of their construction, and the revenue of the district has increased fourfold. The canal*3 ; tilHo s&rve foi 1 means; of com» munication, and.it is eaey to recognise 'that itia by bku&ncent public ■Kouke such as these thab tbe real power of the British in India ib maintained.

We have received from the pub'ieher, Mr A. D.

Sligo (now of Zeetaau, T*s"west coasx roaoia, but formerly of Dun- - of edin), a copy of a pamphletTasmania, setting forth "ngorouely tbft

I claims of the west coast mineral district of: Taiituatiia upon the Government. What is specifically wanted is th» deepening of the Macquarie Harbour bar, andib is suggested ' that this could be effected by building a mole similar to that at Taiaro* Head, which is quated, together with the cos-; of construction, and an x account of the efficacy i of its operation. Mr Sligo ia secretary of x movo- ! ment t>et on foot to urge the Government to do ! its duf,y iv the matter, and a delegation hma | been f armed to interview the Mininter, *nd urge the, matter personally. The arguments are backed up by an a>/r*y of figures, which prova their cfise up to the hilt. Incidentally the pamphlet, ahcu's tin..', the Z^nltan district, about which l>ttloi«noi» heortl outside, has made' cos-,, ' siik i'-»bltt progress I'aviug the last few je»rs. Tha - ! pvpili-tion of the district has increased tot • 13,500 fiincc-. 1891, and it is estimated that at- ! Quwnstowt), where tho Mount Lyell works aro I Bitustw?, fchtft-n will be a permanent population ! of ah lfcasfc 8000 within tho neitt two years. | Darios Jha last 12 months, i>ev 300 new | bousos fiave been erected at Seeiv*n, i.n>i • the Wuuu?l valrte of -prop ?ity -mib/.n (•.&« town bctm-Uiy Is rfrPOOO. 'X'h*ti r.i fch* ; tn,v,iij" la which it L* «itu«t«.l i« £10.000. of ! Quetii-ji'own £5000, while char of Strahau is ; £3*124. Tee cnipJai^fc is tbas -^ogress is ; impeded by wanfc'ol' facilities for vei-sels otkeir ! th-*n ti:« .inialloab uteainers to enter fcb.e hacboar, | a:;rt b'ue deanmd of thft residents will have'thfc '■ sympathy of all who h»T«'*exee/si}i«cecl tha | neglect with wliloh GavermaerM fcreaf; sfsmote X localities uulcs? powtcfal «ofln.eaeu i« brought ! to bear. " .' '

Major-general Luke' O'Gonaor wjms * pirate ra the Welsh Fasilisrs," end when jiisen from the ifegimtot l»adsd ia tha the hanks. Crimea was colcusMuvgeaut afe

the age of 23. When tha battalion went into action, »,'; thtvbat&le of the , Alma, Lieutenaat AostruUier ran forward and planted the Queen's coli-urs on the Rtmian „ redonbt, and was instantly killed. Jast btfore Sergeant O'Connor had falleu severely w.ounded, thot in the breast. Bub seeing tbe offices down, with a greab «f£oct he got up, rushed forward with the colours, and planted them on the Russian parapet ; and, although urged by his officers to go to the rear ou account; of his wound*, he insisted on his right to carry the colours to the cud of the actiou t which he did, when they were found to hare been hit in 75 places. For his services on this occasion he received on tho field the thanks of Sir George Brown and General Codrington, was awarded the V.C., and given a commission. In the subsequent attack on the Redan he behaved with equal gallantry, and was shot through both thighs. He received the Vio« toria Cross from the hands of the Queen. O'Connor also served through the Indian Mutiny. He was at the relief of Lucknow, tha defeat of the Gwalior contingent at Cawnpore, ' the operation under Outran), and several minor? actions. - He was also in the Ashante« war ofc 1873. Yet this man, one of the brightest ornn.-,' ments of the army, who had borne the British,, flag and sustained the national honour from the frozen wastes of the Crimea to thi baruing plains of India, U left neglecUd, and when tha Jubilee honours ware distributed w<b denied a poor C.8., thus proving the truth of the saying that modeit merit it passed over whil^ vocifcrom mediocrity succeeds. ':, "'

Farinelti could sing 300 notes without dtlw-» iofi bre*tt», wUW 50 vxhjwt. pit &BWk^ "~