What the Papers Say

Observer, Volume XXI, Issue 1180, 10 August 1901, Page 3

What the Papers Say

THE worker must live at a cheaper rate tliaii he is at present doing. Therefore lie should be provided with cheaper houses and not taxed so lieaviiy through the Customs — the duties on the necessaries of life must come off. And why should not this be done when we hear so much about the boasted surpluses ! — Palme-ratou Standard. «. *r -..»#; All the peace and anti-war societies are just war-breeding associations, and cadet and rifle corps are the real peace promoters, for nations, like bullies, go for those they think are afraid to light.- -AY aihi I'dcf/fa/ilt. ••• •*• ••• This gentleman (the new Commandant) will be brought out to the colony to teach New Zealanders methods of warfare which the New Zealanders are teaching the British regulars in South Africa.— Southern paper. ••• ••< ••• The present term of prosperity has resulted in the (loverninent of the country going too far with labour legislation, and the time may not be far distant when this will be -brought home to us with^considerable force.- „ (Jreytown Standard. ••• ••• ••• A local -man says that not one of those members of the House who are opposing the Farmers' Union are practical agriculturists ; in fact, not one of them could distinguish between horse radish, a parsnip, and a dock root.— Feililing Star. .*. .». .«. If the British abandon the bayonet , they will' live to^nie the day. — Sydney Sunday Times. ••• ••• ••• Many of the so-called labour disputes are engineered by some political loafer in search of stray crumbs he is too lazy to earn by honest work, as it always will be in large cities. — Southern exchange. ••• ••• ••• A -strong union of farmers, who are in reality the backbone of the country, would by> no means suit our present Dic(k)tator. — Opotiki Guardian. ••• ••• ••• A good deal j. of this night-work might probably be avoided if clerks gave greater diligence during the day to the performance of their employers' business and devoted less of their employers' time to the arrangement of plans for their private pleasure. — Dunedin* Times (Shops and Offices Bill). ••• ••• ••• In the long run this^ colony would not only actually save money by the establishment of a training ship in the place of private industrial schools, and largely relieve the state institutions, but also the system would amply | justify any reasonable expenditure in outlay Parliament might sanction. — Nelson Mail. hvhhv ••• ••• ••• The assumption that womankind is the weaker sex is unsupported by fact, and has held its ground simply because women have found their advantage in deluding their fathers and brothers and husbands into believing it. — Napier Herald. ••• .#. .*. If Wellington and Auckland were connected by railway to-day, as they would be but for the mess and muddle the Government have made of the work, the main trunk line might have ■ been lined with homestead selectors, each one bushman and roadmaker, ready and willing to do his allotted work in the forest behind him. Instead, we have years of waiting yet to endure, a few broken-hearted pioneers in advance of the railway that never comes, the fusionless co-operatives, and the bungled and incompleted Makohine Viaduct. — Wellington Post.

We.do not remember having come across, in- our historical reading, a single instance of a w>imtry.77fehat treated treason so leniently as Britain . has treated it in South Af ricaJ-Cprom-well Argun. " A. •■','', ••• '•■': ***. ;'..••• . If : there7 is any. qla«Boi employee to whom the charity of U»s hours should be extended, that class is composed of the chemists' assistants, t Jp : ;to, ; now they have worked and murmured not, theyghave put in perhaps half as many more hours than their more favoured brother-assistants in other pursnits, and have certainly: not benefited in . proportion financially. — Wellington Lance. •••'"" ••• •*♦ Sam Hordern recovered £5000 in money from the ruins of his warehouses on Saturday week last. It was not until Tuesday that any trace of the men who perished in the flames was discovered. Boodle before bodies, naturally. — Sydney Truth. The Minister of Lands and Agriculture is, unfortunately, a weak creature politically and officially, who just does what he is told by his chief, and does not aspire to individuality of thought. — Oamaru Times. ••• ••« ••• The Beferenduin Bill is the most Democratic measure that has ever come before the Parliament of New Zealand, and anyone who opposes the measure is a genuine Conservative, and an opponent of progress, whatever his pretensions may be.— Carterton Timea. ••• ••• *. Members kiiew the rate of payment when they were elected, and therefore should abide by it. At the present time they are well paid, and there are hundreds uf honest men, of no mean attainments, who would be glad of the billet at the same salary. — Waimate Witness. ••• ••■ .«. Another detachment captured in ('ape Colony — and yet the war is over. De Wet ought to invade England per a Y. and O. mail boat, and make a dash on London ; it would be a fitting end of his sensational career.— Sydney Truth. ••• ••• ••• If a man solicits a job in a jam factory, bootshop, or newspaper office, his proposal is accepted or declined with measured gravity, or it is gravely postponed for consideration. But if he presents himself for a Parliamentary seat, he must let himself out as a butt for all and sundry. Even youths have the right of knocking his hat off, and malodorous individuals may pelt him with bad eggs.— Melbourne Punch. —. .*. ••• If Protestants as a body were as earnest and enthusiastic as Roman Catholics, there would be nothing /to fear from the political influence of the latter. — Waimate Advertiser. ••• .*. .«. Property may have its duties nowadays, but it has lost its rights. Soon it will be a crime, punishable with pains and penalties of the law, to own any property at all. — Christchurch Truth. ••• .*. ... There is need of a redistribution of seats in the Parliament of this Colony, as at the present time the population of the North Island is over 8000 above that of the South, practically as much as is required for a siugle-member electorate, yet the North has but 30 members, while the South has 32. To put matters right the North should now have 33. — Tauranga IHmes. .«. •«. <•« Nothing of a unique character should be allowed to leave the colony, and the State should devise a means of keeping all such treasures intact for the entertainment and instruction of the future descendants of the Maoris and pakehas of to-day. — Wellington Post. ••• ••• , •#...- The costly proceedings of the Con- • ciliation Boards savor somewhat of an informal and rambling inquiry, taking voluminous evidence, jotting down a sentence here and there as some particular point is noted, having no official records, adopting no fixed course of procedure. The result is a decision based principally' on fleeting and casual impressions, with no official records for purposes of referenoe. — Thames Star.