DAILY NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7996, 27 April 1904, Page 2

DAILY NOTES.

The Board of governors of the mtjsettm.' Canterbury College took a wise step on. Monday, when it-decided to approach the City Council with a request (for a subsidy,for the Museum! The present sum available for- the maintenance of the Museum is altogether insufficient to do justice to the institution. It does 1 little more jfchan provide for the upkeep of £h e Museum, and leaves less than £200 available for the purchase of fresh exhibits. This is clearly insufficient. For many years past the Museum has been justly regarded as second to none., in .New Zealand, and in some features, the superior of any in the Australian colonies. 1$ is plain then that if this/high standard °* r—^Ueace jg t 0 fa »/ •- )■■ '' ' ■ •■'■■ '•. . :

maintained, the present expenditure on ex 1 hibits must be increased. That it ig the Council's duty to come forward with the necessary funds few will dispute. The credit of the city and of a fine institution alike demand it. \ For ourselves, we should A SUGGESTION, like to see the- Council go further and take over the Museum on behalf of the city. The- Museum is essentially a public institution, and for its own welfare, as well as for the benefit of j the public, it ought to be managed by the wiiunicipality- Such an arrangement would be merely following out the system existing in, England, where most of the principal museums are under municipal management. We should imagine that the Board of Gov- ' 'enters would only be too pleased tc- be relievied of its charge. It would then be in, a posii tion to devote more of the Museum, technical science and school of engineering en- | dbwment to the two other institutions mentioned in the endowment. — — _ The views on evangelism "too much given expression to by the of a Rev Dr Gibb at a meeting good thing." of the Wellington Ministers' Association, will find a ready endorsement among commonsense people. Under certain conditions evangelistic missions are no doubt very excellent things, J but there are missions and missions. Few j of the so-called evangelists who have visited New Zealand in the past have done any lasting good, and son^ we believe, have done harm. The missioner who, by legitimate means, cndeajvours to awaken, publio sentiment to a sense of its religious responsibilities is following a reasonable and 1 praiseworthy course, but the gentleman of the " tub-thumping " persuasion simply plays on the hysterical weaknesses of his audiences, and deserves no encouragement. The railway accounts tfor ' thk the year, which have now railways, been made up, show that the results fully equal the anticipationg of the Minister. The revenue amounted to £2,180,641 and the expenditure to £1,438,723, leaving a credit balance of over £700,000 to be transferred to the Oonsolidated Fund as interest in the capital sunk in the railways. These figures are most gratifying, but the full measure of their significance only comes to be realised when the revenue and expenditure are compared with the revenue and expediture for the preceding year. This comparison discloses the pleasant fact that whereas the revenue has grown by £206,603, the expenditure has increased by only £95,308. No wonder the Minister of Railways is pleased. These figures bear emphatic testimony to the sagacity of his railway policy and the soundness of his administration. At the sa»e> time, they constitute an argument in (favour of still further enlarging the usefulness of the railways by reducing rates and extending the present transit facilities.