TOPICAL READING.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8304, 6 December 1906, Page 4

TOPICAL READING.

Mr L. T. Cookroft, who is the general passenger agent of the Oceanic pSteamship Company, line, asked by an Auckland Herald re. porter whether there wes any likelihood of the San Pranoisoo service 'being improved by the addition of new stonmi'i'a, said: "The directors of the company meet ia January, and tbpy will probably consider this matter. I have no authority for saying bo, but it is not unlikely that the question of supplementing the fleet bj* tbo addition ofjjtwo larger and faster stettmera than those at present in the- service will be considered."

Mr T. U. Kane, one of the Canadian Commissioners to the International Exhibition, ia contributing to several journals in Canada his icacressions of this colony. In the oourpe of a letter, which ts republished by the Lvttelton limes, be says: "It is a wonderful country, and just why it should bo populated with less than a million people would pnzzlo any obsatver did ho not get to understand the labour laws and conditions here. It U called fci.e labouring rtißn'a paradise, l ' but just what advantages ho enjoys beyond feo'iug that he ia cock of the walk, aud can retard >,h* progress of the country by discouraging, or even preventing immigration, I have not been able to goo. That this ouuntry ia enjoying a wonderful prosperity is evidenced on every hand."

We do not hear muoh of the plague in India now, but its ravages continue to be terrible. Aooording tu recent returns this aonurgo killed 3,263,810 people from the commencement of the outbreak in the autumn of 1896 co the end of 1904. The year 1904 was the worst, over 1,000,000 people perishing, but 1905 —for which there are no offloial returns yet—showed a decrease. A ourioas feature of the plague in India is that great areas remain unaffected. There are two main areas ot infection, one running in a south-easterly direction from the Punjaub along the Ganges, and the other in the Bombay Presidency, near the coast. There are nine small isolated spots, including Calcutta, tha only place infeoted in Lower Bengal. Some places near infeoted areas, and in constant communication with them, are scarcely touched. Among the observed facts is the high death-rate among females, and among dealers in grain, whJ are nearly always ihe first attacked.

The AuoKlaud correspondent of the Ohristchurob Press writes aa folio wB:-."iV]r MoNab'a educative

campaign in the Manakau electorate has so far failed to popularise the land prospects of tii« Government, or so convince u siußio farmer that it is better to be u Crown tenant than to own the freehold, nor has It failed to exoita soma ironical comment's that while Mr MoNab and tht> Government oandidate ere strenuously preaoblng the gospel of sixtysix years' leases, tLey eaoh possess the freehold of their farms. This glaring inconsistency has not improved the piospoote of Mr Ballard. Whatever it may be in other parte of the colony, the feeling here is strmialy opposed to any Land Bill which does not provide the option of purchase. Even Mr McNab has unw come to the conclusion that the Manakau is a freehold electorate, and, with an intelligent anticipation of the result of the election, is now minimising Mr Ballard's ohunce9 us an nntiied man against an opponent who is a tried political servant, and a man of very high character, at thw same time somewhat enigmatically remarking that "we may not get any statistical information froii the polling as to the Land Bill as a disturbing element in the ounteat." According to estimates on the Government side, Mr Lang is likely to have a majority of between 300 and 400. Opposition estimates place his majority higher, But the real interest in these hypothetical ealoulatiocs lies in the faot that both parties agree in regarding Mr Lang's election as beyond doubt."