THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1906.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8273, 29 October 1906, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1906.

We are in receipt of the following circular from the editor of tbe Red Funnel Magazine:—'The announcement received from the Poet-master-Geueral of the United Slates and laid tefore Parliament by the Hon. the Premier, to the effect that lettera having one penny postage from New Zealand would be delivered in tbe United States without suroharge after November next, is of auoh vital and far reaching importance to the people of .New Zealand, who will experience a saving of many thousands of pounds per annum in the postage required on American letters, that it caila for a national testimonial from the people of this colony to the Hon. Sir Joseph G. Ward, Postmaster-General, who | has-been persistent and untiring in iis great fight for universal penny postage. May I suggest the form such a testimonial should take? A committee should be aet up in every city and town in New Zealand to collect penny snbsorir.tioES. Each subaoriber should enrol his or her name on lists that should be uniform in size throughout the colony. They should be finally bound in a volume de luxe and presented <;o the Postmaster-General, as a testimony of appreciation. The fund so created should be known as the Ward Penny Fund, and should be invested perpetuity in a Board of Trustees and used to endow one or more scholarships in the Uni versitiea of the colony." The author

of tbeoircular just quoted dogmatically asserts that Sir Jnseph Ward's "great fight" "calls for a national testimonial," but, wbilv everyone must admit that Sir Joseph has rendered toe State very valuable Services as Postmaster-General, and in other Ministerial capacities, it is, at the same time, evident thuc the people of the colony iiavo recjanised and appreciated those services by the support that the Premier lias received and the various expressions of public approval that have been made from time to time. The title which Sir Joseph Ward bears—conferred upon him when he was PostmasterGeneral—also gooa to show tbßt the distinguished services that he has performed have not been wholly unrecognised. The testimonial "rage'' is r of coarse, very prominent in these days, and one could hardly hope that even the Premier will esoape the inevitable end of all, but the proposal made by the Red Funnel's editor, if given effect tc, would establish a precedent that does not appear to be exceptionally necessary or desirable.. If the work of one prominent Minister is to be the subject of a testimonial, then all Ministers who,, in future,, may render the State distinguished services should bo similarly treated as a matter of fairness? and we should, in that case,, have to look forward to a series of testimonials to Ministers, which,, though not begrudged by anyone in fc any way, no not,, as we have said before, seem to be necessary. The fact that any man should win the very high and honourable position of Premier is in itself a most solid testimonial that the people of the country have great confidence in him and appreciation of his ability. The honours that have been deemed sufficient for our statesmen' m the past, shonld. we consider suffice for those of the present and the future. Great men build for themselves monuments more lasting and notable than those made of brass, or even eoholarahips-in-perpetuity.