Current Comment.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXIV, Issue XXIV, 16 June 1900, Page 1116

Current Comment.

COLONIAL AMNH NTTION. The question of securing a regular and adequate supply of reliable ammunition for defence purposes has been under consideration in various Australian, colonies durjng the past few mouths, chiefly in connection with the proposal to establish a Federal factory. At present the colony draws its supply of rifle cartridges from the factory of the Colonial Ammunition Company at Auckland, having contracted to take two million rounds n year. We are not immediately concerned with the affairs of the company , which may or may not close its business in the colony should the Government refuse to enter into a further agreement. It is essential, however, that we should be independent of the Mother Country and of Australia for our supplies. for. apart from a crisis like the present, when it would have been practically imj>Ossible for Great Britain to meet colonial demands, the advent of a hostile fleet to these waters might cut us off completely from an Australian factory. To our mind the Government might very well engage in the industry itself, bin it has hitherto shown no inclination in that direction, anti the next best thing would be to offer the private company sufficient inducements to remain in ihe colony. . . The public must insist on the need for local supplies of ammunition, and we should be very glad to see the whole question discussed during the coining session of 4‘arliamvnt. — Lyttelton “Times.” d-4-4-1T G HTIN G THE I'KO- BO E R PROPAGANDA. Me beliexe that what lias brought Gt eat Britain and rhe colonies round to our side is the mass of private corn <po»;dence that has gone on with ptopie from ail parts of the Empire and their friends in the Transvaal. It is easy to say . though not to’preve. tha: ihe Press is br bed by “the capitalists.'* but when un Australian on tin- Rand writes privately to his friend in Melbourne. telling him h -w things go vn in the Trans.vaul there can be no suspicion of undue i-iliuenct. Private correspondence is a powerful weapon: and we -would uge upon all South Africans who haw friends with influence in the Old Country to spare no (lains in keeping before them the true issues of this struggle, and particularly to insist 1 < m *. se points which would not strike anyone not living in the \ ry peculiar social environment of this country. Such influence finds its way to the Press and the platform. and must avail in the fiual settlement. All that we beg of our readers is. not to suppose that everything is done when Lord Roberts reaches Pretoria. The public men of this country nave before them some of the greatest opportuu’lies of "Constructive statesmanship in our fjpneration. anti we only trust that they will rise io them.—< ape “Times." ABSI RD EXAMIN MUONS. The theory of t-xaminations is all right, hut the actual working out of them sonierimes secm> rather peculiar. I have a friend who whs. elected to leach Lal-in--a nd I i reek in-a certain High School. She was to leach nothing e**r. Ihe schdol rules required her to an examination in order to secure her certificate of competency. Was -he examined on Latin or Greek, the branches which she wxls to teach? Not at all. Not a question touching either language or its writers was put tn her. although she was examined in arithmetic, history. and a dozen other things. She was asked concerning the digestive apparatus of a grasshopjier. ar.d the nervous system of a cral>—two essential things for a teacher of the dead languages to know. She answered the former by fraying she had never dissected a grasshop|»er. but she inferred from the reports from Kansas that the digestive apparatus of the insect was a Tnaminoth haycutter, which a-s--frimilate*! a ton of green —r»ifT a minute. and until the question wn> put Vo Uvr il hud never occurred 10 her

that a crab was nervous. The questions asked her are a very fair example of the usual aptness of an examination of an applicant for a position. Any examination to be of value should be special and in reference to the position for which the person makes application. This seems axiomatic. but evidently is is not. or gardeners would be expected to know a rose from a geranium. + + + THE MAIL SEUVICE BATTLE. The San Francisco route will be favourable for passengers, says our Wellington contemporary, but as a ui'.'l service it will be worse than ever it his been. Commercial houses in Auckland and Wellington doing business with Great Britain—and threefourths of the colony's trade is with London—will receive correspondence by she incoming steamer to which they will be tillable to dispatch replies inside of twelve days. If the Government ignored the .American service and granted a subsidy to the I nion Steamship Company to put on fast connecting service between Wellington and Sydney, the mails by vt av of America from Loudon mighr be delivered with as great despatch as if thev reached the colonial towns b;> way of -Auckland. Such a subsidv to the I nion Company might be made to develop the Sydnev-Suez service, which would then be as quick as far as receipt and despatch of mails would be concerned, -as the American serv.ee with nearly a fortnight between the incoming and outgoing steamers. 55 + 4« 4. health refokms in the new parliament. When the plague was at its height, the Health Acts of the colonv vvere found to be very defective, and it is evident that onr sanitarv machinery is not adequate to cope with a serious epidemic. Sundry reforms are urgent,4 ' f ’’ .' * ' the direction of strengthening the central authority, tor our own part vv c slioald be glad TO S .• created a Department cf Health, iin amp.o powers of supervision the local bodies, which are so apt to neglect their duties. In case of emerY'a' 1 h,r r 5i,0,li <’ some final aut ontv which can act for the community without promptness ami without ■ car. Ihe Colonial S«eeretarv (Mr Hartl) seemed inclined a short while ago to f.iv; nr legislation upon this subject bn; Of we havr hf . ar(l fitt.e absut it. and the Premier, we believe, has even gone so far as to state that the present law is sufficient on al! occasions. We trust, however, that rhe Colonial Secretary will remain faithful to his first convictions, and crown hi s energetic precautionary measure.- with an amendment of the ' u,llre benefit of the HOW ORDER WILL BE KEPT ON THE RAND AFTER THE WAR. •' look most to Volunteer organisat oi.. Tile Rand, in th.- country where the greatest danger will obviously l>e centred, will have, in a very short time, an enormous European population. Volunteering, to accept for the moment a contradiction in terms, will have to be compulsory. That is to say. that those who control the mining inciistry wilt have to recognise Defence a- just as much an essential part of their business as crushing the ore or am; 'gam.ating the gold. There will be ro place on the Rand for those gentle, simple souls who. when trouble came protested "Vs don't want to tight; us only wants to make our wage- in peace.” That may be an .-xc.-ll.nt attitude in certain stages of s-.-iety; all we know is that it will not do for the Rand. The splendid services cf Colonel Seymour and the Railway Pioneer Regiment, not to speak of the Imjterial Light Horse and other regiments, show bow capable the Rand is of taking care of itself if only it ha.-, as Bishop Wilberforce said of religion, ‘"a fair start.” Every working miner will lie a private; every foreman a sergeant; every manager an officer. When the Rand has its dozens of Volunteer regiments there will lie pence in the Transvaal. There will be constabulary forces, la which

we shall- hope to see young loyal Afrikanders side by ' side with Britons and Canadians and Australians. Far from being hojveless, the question of Defence tn South Africa opens up the most magnificent possibilities if only it is taken up in the right way.—Cape ‘'Times.” IS LIFE WORTH LIVING? ou know the question. Is life worth living? and have doubtless answered it to yourself; but perhaps you did not give the same answer that some wise man did who had puzzled over it. He says that to make life worth living you must see a fine picture, hear some good music, and think or read some noble thought every day, and then life liecomes one grand, sweet song. There is an element of selfishness in that arrangement, or perhaps it is merely a disregard of all but self that may tend to happiness; for it is true that in just the measure that one cares for another one loses a certain equanimity of spirit which, if not happiness, is a fairly good substitute for it. If one gets daily the three things advised by this writer quoted he is sure to have gathered some good and great pleasures as his days pass along. Nor is wealth needed for the possibility of such enjoyments. Beautiful pictures are about us everywhere. The sky is full of them. The very smoke. as it floats away, forms more of them. Nature gives them with a liberal hand. In the city the art stores provide some, though they are not as beautiful as those which nature paints. The good music may be had if you play at all, for the best composers have written easy as well as difficult compositions. The nobie thought is to be had from ali ages of mankind. Nor to have a thought noble must you have it reminding you that man is a poor thing anyway. He is not. Man is the last and best work of God. and it has always seemed to me queer that good Christians should cast reproach on the work of the Lord, made in His image if we are to believe the Scriptures, by speaking of it as a poor worm, et cetera. Except in the rare instances when man is nothing but a two-ieggt d beast, he is not so bad as he gets the credit of being. Man seldom gets so low that it is not possible to find traces of the divine in him if yon seek it. Possibly if he had not been assured so often that he was a vile sinner, in whom was no spiritual health, he might appear at his best always.—“ Beacon."