CURRENT TOPICS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4577, 23 February 1893, Page 3

CURRENT TOPICS.

Endeavours are being made to have a Btatue erected in Adelaide in honour of tee ; • poet Bums. The Caledonian Society initiated the movement, the Hon John Darling, M.L.C., Chief of the Society, having agreed to give J250 towards -the> object, and if necessary to augment this amount. Mr Hugh Fraser will send o-rcu-laTai to Scotchmen throughout the Colony inviting help for the project.

Advices have reached Sydney from Dilly, in Portuguese Timor, stating that in the recent earthquake there two or three of 1 the shocks were so powerful that it was impossible for people to stand upright, and they were thrown their full length on the ground. The island of Camby, juat opposite the town of Dilly, was seen to be cut in two, and it was further reported that in the island of Timor itselE great gaps in the earth extended from tbe mountains right' down to the seashore. Moat of the public* buildings in Dilly were either a mass of' ruins or seriously damaged.'

Caßsell's Saturday Journal is responsible for the following : — "Tingents " is a word that was entirely unknown to us until a few days ago, when we accidentally heard it used by an assistant in a well-known fancy shop in a midland town which ia noted for its textile fabrics. / Being desirous to know what the word mjiant, we - consulted all kinds of dictionaries, both orthodox and slang, but in vain. However; a quantity of "palm oil," dexterously applied to the right hand of the assistant in question, elicited the information that the word referred to money earned by employees for overcharging customers —in plain English, for cheating them. Thus, if a lady's fan was privately marked to' sell at one guinea, and the enterprising salesman induced a confiding customer to purchase it for twenty-five shillings, the assistant would be credited with half a crown for " tingents,'* the remainder going to the employer. It was calculated that such gains were seldom or • never less than an aggregate sum of 20a daily, while in summer they amounted to 60s or more. The salaries paid in houses where these proceedings are encouraged are, our informant said, remarkably low, "tingents" having been introduced not only to encourage activity among the young people employed, but to make up to them for deficiencies in their regular pay. The system appears to work admirably for employers, if one may judge from the extent of their business, however it may be for the patient, long-suffering public. The assistance, too, practise a system of espionage, oonatantly watching each other to Bee ' that customers are properly -dunned and worried into purchasing at "tingent" prices. The result of this is that if, by any chance, a "muff" is engaged, his fellowworkmen soon contrive that he shall receive his marching orders. The practice, is, happily, not a common one. It is only to be met with, when found at all, in what are supposed to be high-class establish* ments, for few tradesmen would presume eitner to take such liberties with their customers, or to compromise their own . characters in the eyes of those whom they • employ. It' ia a viciouß custom, neither: bnsiness-like nor honest, and it is to be* hoped will not come into general trade i use. There is, perhaps, something to be said for ."spiff," or allowances made tb' those who are able to dispose of old or injured stock at reduced prices, but nothing can be said on behalf of a corrupt business system which induces badly remunerated servants to cheat confiding customers, so that they themselves may manage to eke out their own starvation wages.

The Sydney Morning Herald writes as follows : — That was a noteworthy declaration made a few days ago by a member of the New Zealand Ministry, who, speaking on behalf of the Government, said that "it did not intend to borrow in London, believing that by abstaining money would find its way to the Colony." Taking this as an announcement of policy, it must be recognised as a definite and courageous one. Nothing could be better fitted to develop the self-reliant energies of the people. Such a declaration must at once improve the credit of the Colony, and by putting an end to the growth of State debt it checks the process of piling up burdens on posterity as a result of the extravagant expenditure of the present. As to the anticipation expressed, that the refusal to resort to the English money market for loans would cause money to flow to the Colony, presumably through the channels of private enterprise, it must be admitted that such an expectation is by no means an unreasonable one; And if to this it is said , that this process would after all be but an incurring of liability in another way, the answer is that we may assume that money so invested would on the average earn its own interest, without the Colony having to be taxed to make good deficiencies. In any case this ia a definite, unmistakable policy. It shows that the Government and also the country have a clear conception of the position, its dangers and its Bafeguarde. Adherence to this method has already done much to improve the. credit of the Colony. It Btands in the relation of strong contract to the attitude jpf the Australian Colonies, which, if^ they are not presenting themselves, as borrowers, are watohing and waiting for the » first: opportunity of doing so, with the result that their securities hay* no chance of recovering. New Zealand* in its time, has known that stage, and: has passed through it, and by its resolute self* denial and its diligent application to the •work of developing the resource* 5 oJMjhft' Colony, it has supplied an example ythioh all of the Colonies would do well to lay closely to heart. If we could receive the declaration of a non-borrowing pol* 0 ? made the other day by Mr G. D. Carter, the Treasurer of Victoria, as showing, that under a similar oourse of discipline, {that Colony has "learned similar wisdom* '«nd that the spirit o£ self-relianco is gainipg ground, that would be all the morel Batjs* factory. - ; ;•■!!■.. :.".■: - ■■.!r vi-o *Hi: (■