"WHAT THE PAPERS SAY"

Observer, Volume XVI, Issue 921, 5 September 1896, Page 4

"WHAT THE PAPERS SAY"

*Wx axe not at all surprised that the Government desire to evade an inquiry into the co-operative system, especially on the eve of a general election. If such an inquiry were searchingly and impartially made, we venture to Bay it would result in some remarkable revelations as to the cost to the taxpayers of this Ministerial ' fad,' and also as to the small amount of benefit which the working classes of New Zealand are getting out of it. — Christchurch Press. ' Already the loan companies have been compelled to pull down their interest and other charges where the small country settler is concerned, and now that other properties come under the provisions of the Advances to Settlers Act, down will have to come the rates of the lending institntions on town lands also — Napier News. While the party of prohibition are cultivating a panacea, they are fostering the growth of vices more reprehensible than the one which specially takes their attention ; because there are growing up a distinct set of informers and spies, and a bitter and venomous spirit. If ever Prohibition is famed, the law will be broken on all sides ; ecause the reign of hypocrisy will be ushered in while useful legislation and real needs are to be ignored — Marton Mercury. It has become the fashion with Maorilanders to testimonialise all and sundry, and it frequently happens that those who can very ill afford it are called upon to contribute to the purchase of a costly present for & man who has been in authority over them, and who, daring that time, has done his level best to make their lives miserable. Really this presentation business is becoming a perfect nusiance and a serious tax. — Christchurch Spectator. Our education system may not be perfect, but it is not responsible for the misdeeds that our colonists, young or old, may commit. IE our youths would only carry out in their lives the ethical teaching given in out schools, they would be good citizens. — Wellington Post. The regnlation by which recruits for the police force must be drafted from the ranks of the Permanent Artillery is a most mischievous one, as it is the thin end of the wedge of militaryising the former force, and eminently calculated to destroy its usefulness. — Wanganui Yeoman. The police force of every country except New Zealand has a pension fund ; the best men in every country are, in other words, attracted to the police service; everywhere else the service is regarded with the honour and consideration due to the men who Etand between order and anarchy, in whose hands are the great issues involved in keeping the public peace. In this respect New Zealand is decidedly behind the age. — Wellington Times. Like any other spendthrift, the Liberal Government pours money out of the bunghole and seeks to recoup the loss by blocking the spigot. — Christchurch Truth. Tbe fact that in some districts the halfcastes and the children of half-castes are healthier than the Maoris tends towards the conclusion that the Maori is destined, as the Aztec and the Peruvian did, to find refuge in mixed blood. But at present, the Maori race is on the down grade, contrary to the expectations of our most thoughtful men. Fortunately, if such a word can be used in such a connection, the speed of the descent is slow. But the fate of the Monori stares us in the face at the bottom of the hill. — Wellington Times. A good deal of adverse criticism was launched against the proprosed appropriation of £50,000 to make more accessible and attractive what may be called picturesque and sanitary New Zealand. But in this we are quite iv accord with the opiuion of the Minister, who thought it would prove one of the most quickly reproductive of all the votes. This country has all the good gifts that Nature can bestow to make it a very paradise for the tourist and the sanatorium of the invalid, and the world of leisure and of pleasure may be almost said to know nothing of it. The Americans would boom bucli a country the world over, and find in an endless procession of tourists a mine of wealth, the bottom of which would never 'fall out-' We 'ive in an advertising age, and the moneyed tourist will not visit us unless he be constantly reminded of what he will miss if he remain away. — Wellington Post.

In New Zealand, where small-pox has never found a permanent habitat, there seems little reason for a compulsory vaccination law, and as it is not enforced it might well be repealed, so that parents should not have to face the unpleasant alternatives of breaking the law.or subjecting their tender offspring to the danger of inoculation with the virus of some disease. — Canterbury Times. The amount of calls made by four Victorian banks alone totals up £3,400,000, more than half of which has been paid, and the irony of the whole affair consists in the fact that, whilst large sums are being dragged from struggling shareholders, the banks are complaining that they have -no outlet for their money ; therefore, cash that might be put to reproductive purposes is being gathered in to rust in vaults and safes. — Melbourne Punch. While it is true that we have laws for the suppression of gambling and other foibles in which some members of all commnnities are wont to indulge, it would seem as though the aim of all legislatures has been to harrass the occasional indulgence in the more innocent forms of these amusements (?) rather than to suppress the habitual ' black-legs ' who make them their study and meaus of living. If such persons as these were removed from the Colony altogether, the gambling vice and many others would soon disappear. — Nelson Star. What the New Woman wants to learn is to bay a larger shoe and a smaller hat. — Melbourne Exchange. In Wellington the 'sweatiug' of bank and commercial clerks has become a positive scandal. Go along the streets at night and you will see warehouse, bank, and other oiiiceß all lit up, night niter night, right up till 11 and 12 o'clock. Sometimes the clerks get what is called 'tea money,' but in nine cases out of ten they don't receive an extra sixpence, and overtime — overtime withont any compensation in the shape of over-pay — goes on for fully six months in the year. Go up one, Mr Piraui, for suggesting reform, and more power to your elbow, Mr Seddon, in your promised amendment of a disgraceful system. — Wellington Times.

Those who know the Police Force know very well that it is labouring under a burden of maladministration. ' Deny it, who can !' — Marton Mercury.

Drunkenness is decreasing — but not as the result of Prohibition oratory. It is decreasing because people are growing wiser, and, thanks to the spread of education, are learning to distinguish between use and abuse. — Chri3tchurch Spectator.

The effects of overwork are beginning to show themselves upon the robust form of Premier Seddon. The previous bright countenance becoming haggard and wearylooking, tbe bulky stature more shaky every day, and the frequent occasions on which he is confined to his bed, are unmistakeable signs of a physical breakdown. — Maßterton Star.

The present slump in kauri gum is said to be the worst experienced for many years. Nearly all the gum-dealers of the North have been in Auckland lately inquiring into the slump, but have only learnt that the market is even worse than anticipated. The primary cause is the pending Presidental election in the United States, which paralyses trade in the meantime. But beyond that we are to blame ourselves. We allow the Austrians to over-run our fields and glut the markets. This valuable product is entirely in our own hands — it is only found in the province of Auckland — and if the Government would make a State monopoly of gum and regulate its export, there would never be another slump. — Northern Advocate.