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Taranaki Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 144826, 2 November 1915, Page 2

The effect of the transfer of a number of post and telegraph offices in South Taranaki from the Wanganui postal district to that of New Plymouth is very marked. As a result of representations by the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce, it will be remembered, the southern boundary of the Now Plymonth district was extended on August Ito Mokoia. The following figures show tho effect: Postal revenue for September quarter, 1915, £5541, as against £3995 for September quarter, 1914telegrams and miscellaneous, £3287, as against £2277; telephones, £2646, as against £6O; total post and telegraph revenue, £11,474, as against £6333. Wanganui shows a corresponding rodocr tion. The savings banks figures are, of course, affected by the transfer of accounts from Wanganui to Now Plymouth. Tho deposits during the quarter amounted to £273,115 as against £75,328, and tho withdrawals to £94,715 as against £83,952, Wanganui again being correspondingly affected. There are now 32 money order offices, 30 savings hank offices, and 111 post and telegraph offices in the New Plymouth district, as compared \rith 18, 18, and 81 last year. Of course the change only covered two months of the quarter, so that a full quarter's figures will show an even greater effect. Prom tenth position among the postal districts of. the Dominion New Plymouth, has been raised, -to_oighih,position,

The devil, it has been said, can quote scripture for his own ends, and the Kaiser possesses the same power in a really remarkable degree. His reply to the congratulations of the Prussian Cabinet on the 500th anniversary of Hohenzollem rule seems to us a masterpiece of hypocrisy, but a man like the Kaiser, who believes in divine right as firmly as did Charles X., may reasonably use language which would seem irreverent for au ordinary human being. The Kaiser looks proudly back on the achievements of his family, who for centuries past have exhibited qualities which, in a less exalted sphere, would have earned for them to-day long terms of penal servitude or in rougher times the attentions of the common hangman. In 1640 the Elector Frederick -William ascended the throne of Brandenburg and of him a historian writes: “He it is who is the real founder of the State of Prussia. Centralisation of government, military rule, constant territorial aggrandisement have been the characteristic of the Prussian monarchy.” . “To him,” says another, “the aggrandisement at homo and abroad of tho House of Hohenzollem was tho one and only end.” Iu 1713 Frederick William I. became Elector. His one object in life was tho building up of an army, which was disciplined with a rod of iron, a policy that has prevailed to the present day. His son, Frederick the Groat, utilised tho army formed by his father (u seize Silesia from Maria Theresa of Austria, and later joined in the first, partition of Poland. He was absolutely without scruples of any sort and in a private diary cynically relates the lies ho told to attain his ends. He perfected the system of spying on his enemies which has been brought to such a pitch of perfection in late years. The advent of Napoleon for a time reduced Prussia to a state of dependency, but some great men, among whom were Stein, Scharnhorst, and Gneisenau, assisted in restoring tho national vigour of Prussia and enabling her to play her part in tho final overthrow of tho dreaded conqueror. During the latter half of last century Bismarck continued the work of aggrandisement. Throe wars were needed to secure his ends, against Denmark in 18G4, Austria in 1866, and France in 1870. Tho smaller Germanic States wore then absorbed in the Gorman Empire, with Prussia as the leader of the confederacy. Forty years of steady preparation then began and onoo more Pru.ssia is attempting to repeat the policy of brutal conquest which has marked her career for centuries. Tho Kaiser claims- that divine guidance and protection have enabled Prussia to triumph os she has dono in tho- past, but her successes have certainly been attained by a total disregard as a State of every on© of tho moral laws which guide men in their private lives. It is probable that at last Prussia will learn that States which neglect tho common laws of morality are doomed to suffer just as severely as men who disobey them.