DAILY NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7688, 24 April 1903, Page 2

DAILY NOTES.

X The stowaway evil has st.mvaways. grown so rapidly that it has forced its presence on th- attention of the authorities. During the last few days, they Premier has publicly admitted that steps ought to be takew to cheek the evil, and, if possible, to suppress it. If this statement is to be accepted as aa assurance that the Government intends to ipov- in the direction indicated, Mr Sed«lo» may rest satisfied that in any action he may toko, he will, have the sympathy and support of tho great mass of the public. \lthou"h New Zealand has no objection to offering rcn asylum to legitimate sufferer* desiring to escape from the present depression in Australia, there are many reasons why she Phoulcl keep * strict watch on immigrants without cither tho means or the inclination to pay their passages across. We have received from I.ETTKR more than on© quarter com- ! deliveries, plaints concerning the late hour at which the- morning ! mail deliveries are made in the city. In many instances these complaints certainly seem to be justified. Some parts of the city are well served ; that is to say, if a householder is well served, he receive* his letters at about nine o'clock ; but others are by no means so fortunate. Quite a number of streets within a few minutes' walking distance, of the central Post Office ere not reached by the postmaw before ten o'clock, and in some instances the distribution is not made .before eleven o'clock. No doubt, if the position were made clear to the energetic Postmaster-General, he would be the first to confess that a remedy was saryBy a coincidence which, j st george's at least to us, appears day. strange, we received yesterday a circular, enclosing a copy of the annual report of the Royal Society of St George. The objects of this Society are patriotic, and foremost among them is one to attain the observance of St George's Day by Englishmen, on similar lines to a Scotchman's celebration of St Andrew's, and an Irishman's of §£ Patrick's Day. For some unexplained/ reason, St George's Day has never been observed in New Zealand, except as a bank holiday, and, judging from present appearances, it never will. But we think Englishmen in this part of the world might at least take a hint from the concluding portion- of the circular, which says: — "It may not in. every case be possible for your readers to form a branch of this Society, but it will be possible for them, by ' the wearing of the Rose;' dr some other outward sign, to proclaim their love of country and of their kindred in the dear 'Home-land.' May they, with Shakespeare (who was born, and who died, on St George's Day), say, 'Wherever I wander, boast of this I can — though "banished," yet a true bran Englishman.'" It is too late to make any\ response to this appeal this year, but if it were borne in • mind, something might be done twelve months hence. N Mr-B. R. Wise, the Atcloser torney-General for New friends. S6uth Wales, who was in--1 terviewed in Melbourne yesterday, on his return from England, was able to shed a little additional light on tho Attacks which have been, made at Home on colonial finance. Perhaps Mr Wise told us nothing jxvr, when he attributed the attacks to dislike of. our politics, rather than mistrust of our finances, and added a warning to the colonies to refrain from borrowing until the heavy demands for money from South 'Africa and elsewhere had been satisfied. But he broke fresh ground when

hei pointed out a means of allaying the illfeelin'g towards us which pervades English financial circles. " Get to know one another better " is, briefly, Mr Wise's remedy, and to achieve this object, he suggests the cheapening of cable communication between England and the colonies. Such a course would encourage-' the London newspapers to ' pay more attention to Australasia than they do now, and, in turn, "would give the colonies a better understanding of events and- representation of views."