To-Day.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5310, 15 July 1895, Page 2

To-Day.

♦ Opposition tactics are changing, "according to the nature of the animal." The Colonial Treasurer and his colleagues having, in the course of Friday night's debate in the House of Eopresentativeß, literally smashed the charges of wilful and corrupt misrepresentation made against Mr Ward and the Agent-General, there is an immediate change of front. At the outset the main charge was that the securities asserted to be arailable in London were not there; now the silly contention is that they ought not to have been there. Another senseless argument is that asseta nominally in the keeping of given Departments of the State, are not assets belonging to the State. And yet another is that in the system of State book-keeping it is wrong to bring forward into the current year's account* the I credit balance from the previous year; although, by the way, this obviously desirable and necessary plan was perfectly* correct when a Conservative Government waß in office. The foregoing practically embodies the new line of argument adopted by the Press this morning, in its determination to throw ad much mud at the Government as possible, in the hope that perchance some of it may happen to stick. But whilst the Conservative journal continues to be guilty of such virulent attacks upon the probity of able and honourable men, it continues also to belie itself, and to insult the intelligence of its readers, through the medium of its London correspondent. It does so in a marked degree in this very issue. Our contemporary's London correspondent, writing underjdate May 31, belauds j the Colonial Treasurer to the skies. Ee- | calling at the outset his warm commendaj tion of the financial ability shown in t.ho flotation of the 3 per oent loan and the big reduction effected in the cost of loan management, the correspondent points to a third triumph on the eve of accomplishment — the floating of .£750,000 in 4 per cent debentures for the Bank of New Zealand Company. He goea on to say:—" By means of the various operations just carried out, Mr Ward calculates that the Bank of New Zealand will save ini'interest and other expenses fully £56,000 per annum. This will be a very nice little ' Christmaß box ' to the shareholders, who should bear in mind that the operation has largely been rendered feasible through the various steps taken by the Colonial Treasurer during his stay in England— the 8 per oent coup included." Thus, then, while the Press would fain curse, its London correspondent can only bless. And there ia a good deal more of the blessing than we have indicated. The correspondent goes on to tell of the arrangements completed by Mr Ward for loan conversion, "and the operation will go on quietly but steadily until New Zealand has no other Government stocks than 3 per cents." Then the readers of our egregrioualy inconsistent contemporary are treated to highly eulogistic comments culled from leading journals, and, not laafc nor least, they are told how even that peculiarly reticent official, the Governor of the Bank of England, " paid a high compliment to the New Zealand Treasurer for the remarkable financial ability he had displayed during his stay in London." Verily the ways of Conservative journalism are peculiar. The afforestation and deafforestation of the country constitute a twin subject of practical importance whereto the Government would do well to devote practical attention. It is one thing to cut down trees ; it is quite another to plant others in their stead. It is one thing to adopt energetic measures for the development of the timber industry j it is quite another to ensure the absolute permanence of that industry and therewith to conserve the climatic conditions of the country. It is an easy matter to find, in the statistical information concerning Nevr Zealand, the number of sawmills in operation at a given period, the number of men employed thereat, and the number of thousands of feet of "timber produced ; but if any person were to make search for afforestation details, showing what areas had been planted, and with what kinds of trees, he would find his task long and resultless. We have on our Statute books State Forests Acts, the ostensible purpose whereof is not only to regulate the felling of timber and prevent undue waste, but to "provide timber for future industrial purposes, and to provide for the proper conservation of climatic conditions by the preservation of forest growth in elevated situations." Granted that the felling "regulations are carefully administered, and that the forests in elevated situations are being as carefully let alone, what of the implied direction to the Government "to provide timber for future industrial purposes?" True, some encouragement has been given to plant trees, but the atrips and clumps that have bo resulted are comparatively infinitesimal, and the Arbor Day results are yet more insignificant. I "We remember to have seen, some four or five years ago, a statement that had been prepared in connection with a United

States Forestry Congress, held at Boston, wherein it was shown that the forest area in Amerioa was decreasing at the enormous rate of fifty million acres annually, without taking into account the loss by fire and other destructive agencies. One would like to know what is the proportional rate of decrease in New Zealand. A comparison of this sort has recently been made with a view of showing that the climate of the United Kingdom, has been seriously changed by the deafforestation of the country, while at the same time tbe non-exißtencß of tree-planting on any appreciable scalo has placed tbe people at an industrial disadvantage. Jn connection therewith interesting reference is made to what has happened in Austria. When the Karst mountain range was bared of timb&r, rivers were replaced by dry vallays, and smiling meadows vanished from the lower ground. But the Austrian Government has now its Byßtem of forestry well in hand. Fire, which grow I rapidly and need but little nourish- , ! ment, are planted in .thousands, to >be succeeded after a few years by trees that will furnish wood of greater ' commercial value, whilst larch is exten- ; Bively cultivated' because of its quality of hardening in water. In Switzerland, also, ' systematic work is being done, and official : inquiry would disclose the fact that in . some of the districts of India rich repay- j ment is already being won in return for • well-planned planting on an extensive [ scale. There is much land in New Zealand ' that is comparatively useless, but whereon , some kinds of timber trees could no doubt ■ ibe profitably grown, for when once the ; ; planting has been done, but little after- < | care is needed, and trees grow while men sleep. "I nevhe knew," sighed the plucked 1 Civil service candidate, " I never knew ! how far Pegu was from the Irrawadi." But i the wealth of literature that is poured i out now-a-days makes us more or less | familiar with all lands and all peoples, and { we can, at least in imagination, join ! Tommy Atkins "on the road to Manda- •; lay." From a pleasantly-written account i of life conditions in Barman, we are able •to look closely at some of the manners ( and customs of the people. Oar lady readers may be interested to learn that Burmese women do not marry so early as their neighbours in India ; the usual marriageable age being from sixteen to I twenty, though very often it is even later. > It depends entirely on the wisheß of the girl herself. A remarkable institution of the country is recognised as the " oonrting time." It is from nine to ten o'olock, ! and moonlight nights are preferred— \ " those wonderful tropic nights when the whole world lies in a Bilver dream." There is in front of each house a verandah, perhaps three feet above the ground, and here the girl will Bit in the shadow of the eaves, sometimes with a friend, but usually alone ; and her suitors will come and stand by the verandah and talk softly, in little broken sentences, as lovers do. There may be many young men •come, one by one if they mean business, with a friend if the visit be merely one of courtesy. And the girl will receive them all, and she may give them cheroots; and if a very favoured suitor come, she may even light his cheroot for him, and thus kiae by proxy. Of course the girls' friends are within call in the houne, but she is left free to carry on her love-making herself, and she may make her own choice of a husband. All that her family demands is that he should be of good character, and able to maintain his household, together with the assistance of hia wife. Existence in the " Land of the White Elephant" iB rendered eaay by the small* ness of these people's wants and by the bonntifulness of Mother Nature. Often, if there is any delay, the young souple elope, and only return when they are assnred that all difficulties are removed, and that preparations are being made for the marriage feast. As a wife, the Burmoße woman seems quite ideal. Her girlhood's strength, courage and devotion, are redoubled in intensity, and although theae women are the chief retail traders of their country, it iB a very noteworthy fact that through all their busineßslike relations they retain that innate charm of manner which is more marked among them than among the women of any other nation in the world. Divorce, as might be expected with such a highly-developed womanhood, is remarkably rare. As there are no statistics on the snbject, it is not easy to find their proportion, but Mr Fielding thinks that one per cent would probably be over the mark, and very often quite a third of the divorcees marry again. It has been often noted that Burmese women make good wives to men of other nationalities besides their own, and to all alike they bring happiness.