The Week in Review.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLIII, Issue 10, 8 September 1909, Page 1

The Week in Review.

NOTICE. ’The Editor will be pleased to receive for consideration Short Stories and Descriptive Articles illustrated With photos, or suggestions from contributors. Bright terse contributions are wanted dealing with Dominion life and questions. Unless stamps are sent, the Editor cannot guarantee the return of unsuitable MSS.

The Chinese Consul. ZTTX R. YOUNG-LIANG HWANG, the ill Imperial Chinese Consul, was .ill honoured by a large and repre- / sentative attendance at the banquet tendered to him by the Chinese Residents of Auckland. The Mayor presided, and those present included the consuls and vice-consuls of France, America, Germany, Sweden, Portugal, and Italy. Amongst the Chinese present there were Ah Chee, Jfh Nam, Gong Wong, Lee Wah, Hee Tong, and many other wellknown residents. Judge Button referred to Chinese Missions, and declared that the civilisation of China had gone hand in hand with the Gospel. Mr. G. W. Patterson spoke highly of the courtesy and hospitality of the Chinese. He had travelled 1400 miles inland, and had always been well treated- Mr. Hwang deprecated the idea of the Yellow Peril, and declared that the Chinese were a peaceable people, and averse to -war. He touched on the question of laundries, and pointed out the heavy handicap imposed On his nation of the £lOO poll tax. He did not think Europeans had anything to fear from competition under such circumstances. Mt. Hwang impressed his audience most favourably. He is a scholar and widely read, he speaks with

fluency and ease, and he is posssessed of great tact and courtesy. China has every reason to feel proud of her representative.

The Wellington Girls’ High School. The question of admitting free-place pupils to the Girls’ High School in Wellington has been definitely decided at last, and the pupils are to be admitted as far as the accommodation will allow. Dr. Findlay, in advocating their admission, said that the spirit of the existing legislation was, or it should be, to gain another step in the direction of removing all the species of class distinction which every democracy tried to get rid of. A good deal of the opposition to the legislation was due to the idea in some quarters that it was best to. preserve the class distinction, hut boards, by administering the law, could do much in the direction intended. Mr. Brandon, the chairman of the Board, put up a very plucky figbJ for what he believed to be the preservation of the original purpose of th e collegeHe thought the admission of the freeplace pupils would break down a class distinction which he honestly felt it was to the interest of the community to maintain. He said that there were classes and classes of all kinds, and there were certain members of the community who had their own traditions, and no amount of democracy would wipe out those traditions. It was his opinion that the stability of any nation depended, not upon the mere extent of its education, but absolutely on the traditions of the country and the traditions of its families. If those traditions were done away with there would then be a mere struggle for existence—no nation and no family. Mr. Brandon’s attitude recalls Matthew Arnold’s famous phrase about those who give themselves to lost causes and forsaken beliefs, and impossible loyalties. It was inevitable that he should be defeated, and that the forces of democ

racy should be too strong for his resistance. Free-places, however, are not likely to be the democratic dynamite for bursting up society that some people imagine, for even so great a believer in schools as Dr. Percival was forced to admit that the home and not the school was the dominant factor in a child’s lifejg J* The Otira Dispute.

Everybody will be pleased that the Otira dispute has been satisfactorily settled. It affords another proof of ths value of conciliation. The conference sat for six hours, and eventually came to an amicable settlement that seems to have pleased both parties. The union has undertaken to indemnify the employers for any wilful damage or loss that, might occur in connection with the company’s lamps, so far as members of the union were concerned. The contractors agreed to provide the necessary carbide. The question of short shifts on Saturday and Monday was referred to the Arbitration Court. Both parties warmly congratulated Mr. Hally, the Conciliation Commissioner, on the tact he had shown in bringing the parties together, and in conducting the negotiations. They both at-

Madha Lal Dhingra, a young native of the Punjab, who murdered Lieut.-Colonel Sir W. H. Curzon-Wyllie, political adviser to Lord Morley, Secretary of State for India, at the Imperial Institute. The murderer was sketched in court as he was using the British naval panic as a Justification for his 1 own act. Sir Curzon Wyllie was one of the most brilliant of Anglo-Indian officials. The assassin, as he saw other guests rushing to disarm him, put a bullet Into the head of a well known Parsee physician. Dr. Cawas Lalcaca, who died in an hour.

tribute the termination of the dispute to his good offices. The conduct of the men throughout has been admirable, and it must be a matter of congratulation to all concerned that what threatened to be a serious dispute has been thus amicably settled.

Prosperous Feilding. From all sides we hear the opinion expressed that the depression is passing away, and that good times are at hand. The Feilding farmers are all agreed that the outlook for the season is a golden one, and they say that the farmer was never in a better position go far as climatic conditions are concerned. A local reporter gleaned some interesting information regarding agricultural prospects in the district. “The winter season has been one of the best,” said Mr. Usmar, of Waituna West, “and we have had plenty of grass. The district has been well supplied with dairy stock, mostly of the best kind, and there may not be any numerical increase this year. I have now a herd of 30 grade Jerseys, the breed which is, I think, most suited to the district. Mr. O. Russell has a very nice herd of thirty Jersey shorthorns. Mr. P. Rutherford has an exceptionally good herd of shorthorns, and Mr. E. Welhelm’s herd also comprises shorthorns. All these cattle, with others in the district, are looking their befit, and there should be a good time ahead for the dairying industry. Mr. Cunningham, of Beaconsfield, said that they had had one of the best seasons on record for both sheep and cattle. Grass had been plentiful through the winter, and the flocks and herds were in tip-top condition. Lambing was now pretty general. A few lambs had been lost, owing to the snowfalls a week or so back, but the rough weather had come a little too early to do any serious damage. “We have,” he concluded, “a splendid season and a splendid district.” Mr. T. A. Bryce, of Kimbolton, said: “The prospects are undoubtedly good so far as dairying is concerned. We have had a fine winter with abundance of feed, and I am of opinion that, with the low price being received for frozen mutton, the farmers will be compelled to cut out the sheep and go in for dairying.” As showing, however, that the eheep man is sharing in the general prosperity, Mr. Mitchell, of Colyton, gave his own experience as follows:—“12,000 of my ewes have dropped lambs,” he said, “and so far I have lost only one ewe. In a large number of cases there are twin lambs.”

Cv aagauv.i Caledonian Society. The first annual banquet of the Wanganui Caledonian Society was a pronounced success. Over 100 members and guests of the society were present, including the Hou. T. Mackenzie, Minister for Agriculture. The gathering was presided over by Mr. Donald Ross. The national haggis was put on the board with all the honours, being played in by pipers in full tartan, and addressed in the customary manner. Mr. Bruce made an excellent speech in proposing the toast of “The Imperial Forces.” Mr. Bruce said the term included the forces of all parts of the Empire, as well as the regular army. Graphically depicting the national characteristics of the English, Irish, and Scottish soldiery, with special reference to the latter, the speaker said, so long as the British soldier

drew his sword in the cause of justice, so long would he inarch, in the words of President Grant, of the United States, with the “ swing of conquest.” The term also included the navy, and here Mr. Bruce said the British nation was living in a fool’s paradise. The age of steam had changed the character of naval warfare, and if the first line of defence were broken down, what then? Albion, the cradle of all that was good in the world, would lie prostrate, and imagination "would fail to grasp the result. Yet Britain was content to lie down trusting to the navy. He thought every man between 16 and 65 should be trained ready to go into action, and the school boys drilled so that in time of danger, they would have a nation ready for defence. He scouted the idea that there was no need for a second line of defence. It was a mischievous argument, a mere excuse for doing nothing.

Mr Mackenzie, replying to the toast of “ The Parliament of New Zealand,” said that the Government was going to see to the vigorous settlement of the land. He was surprised that the settlers were suspicious of the Government, and believed they did not understand what was being done for them. Much of this alarm and lack of confidence on the part of settlers was clue to fancy theories scattered broadcast. He wanted to tell them that the Government was a band of resolute men, determined to promote settlement, and prevent aggregation of states. He advocated the optional tenure, and would not be surprised in the near future to see that policy enlarged. "With the vigorous system of laud settlement which was going to be carried on, with the prosperity now in the country, though there were many who refused to admit it (when he announced recently, for instance, that there was a surplus of five millions of exports over imports, he was taken to task), we were on tire up grade, and if we believed in ourselves, we would all see continued prosperity in this magnificent Dominion. The singing ©f “ Auld Lang Syne” terminated a most successful gathering.

Climate and Crime. Invercargill is to be congratulated on the fact that no criminal case was set down for hearing at the present sitting of the Supreme Court in that city. Mr. Justice Williams, in congratulating the people on this fact, pointed out that Southland was not blessed with such a soft and luxurious climate as the North, and he went on to say that the further North one went the greater the amount of crime. The hotter the climate the more dishonest apparently the people. Statistics are not at present available, but we can well believe that tne regions round the Poles are singularly free from the more dangerous type of criminal, but then there is also nothing to prove that the denizens of the Equator are sinners above all men. Most people attribute a large percentage of crime to the influences of drink, and a warm climate naturally induces a greater thirst. But then wo also hear of people taking a nip to keep out the cold. The question is an interesting one, and after this judicial pronouncement we may confidently expect to hear criminals pleading the weather in extenuation of their acts.

The Art of Speech-making;. Few things are more disconcerting to the ordinary mortal than being called upon suddenly to make a speech. People who feel nervous on these occasions will therefore be interested to learn from an article on “Speech-making,” by Sir John Byers, in the “British Medical

Journal,” that all great speakers are afflicted with nervousness before the delivery of any important speech. He quotes Lord Dufferin as saying that — “No great orator has ever lived who did not feel very nervous before rising to his feet. I have often seen the legs of one of the most effective and heartstirring speakers in the House of Lords, to whom that assembly never failed to listen, shake like an aspen leaf during the delivery of the first few sentences of his speech.” Lord Dufferin told Sir John that this was Lord Derby. Lord Dufferiu himself was always nervous about speaking, and in his later years the thought of having to speak lay heavy on his mind beforehand. In this respect he resembled John Bright. Lord Dufferin was wont to insist that no very good speech was ever made without a considerable amount of preparation, at all events until long practice had so cultivated the speakers faculty as to render" the art of thinking aloud with fervour and precision as second nature. Even so, he said, he had heard a Lord Chancellor break down and a Prime Minister lose the thread of his dicourse. He explained that by preparation he did not mean learning a speech off by heart, but the saturation of the mind with a knowledge of the subject and then the construction, not necessarily in writing, but in the mind, of a well-knit skeleton of the argument cr exposition; finally, when out walking or in the solitude of one’s own room the language in which the ideas may most fitly be clothed should be considered. Speakers differ gieatly in regard to the manner of preparation. Some write out the whole speech, and deliver it, like Sir James Paget, “paragraph by paragraph, sentence by sentence, word for word, commas and all,” as Huxley' once said in his presence. Others, like Huxley himself, •will write out a speech and then deliver something which, in wording at least, is wholly different from the manuscript. Others, again, jot down a few headings, and speak from these. The rule which the “British Medical Journal” impresses on speakers is to have a message to deliver, to do so as briefly and in words as simple and direct as possible and to sit down. J*

Trade With China. The Chinese Consul is of opinion that there are many things which New Zealand could supply in large quantities to China, and that our merchants are neglecting their opportunities. Tinned milk would seem to be one of them. According to an American consular report, there is a growing demand for canned milk in Southern China, and the German and Swiss products are becoming keen rivals for the trade, which was at one time almost entirely American. The Chinese have never used any great quantities of milk. No dairy farms exist except in the various foreign settlements and colonies. In fact, among the Chinese, fresh milk is practically never used, owing to its scarcity. There is every indication, however, that the Chinese are beginning to realise the value of milk as a food, and when once the use of it becomes general the manufacturers of the canned product should find a large market in this country. A German brand of natural condensed milk has been in the n -.rket for about two years, and finds a good sale. An Anglo-Swiss condensed milk is growing in popularity among the Chinese, and large quantities are now used by them. This brand is probably the greatest competitor the American product has. It has been in the market for several years, and by continued advertising has gained a good hold on the market. A matter worthy of note regarding this brand is that the directions, etc., are also in the Chinese language on the label pasted around the can.