Our Beauty Spots.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVI, Issue 8, 23 August 1911, Page 4

Our Beauty Spots.

During the pa st year 2 5.442 acres were D,<ier - the S< ' er " r . v Preservation -A. r. bringing me grand total to 65.989 acres Isays Mr. Kensington. Under-Seere-tary for Lands. in his annual report on scenery preservation. The new reservations include three areas along the North Island Main Trunk line, an additional scenic area near Waitomo Caves, and an area at Kawarau Falls. Frankton. The expenditure for the year totalled £3730, as against £5775 in the preceding year. It may be of interest," runs the reP°rt- "to note that, by virtue of past legislation, the sc-enie reserves and national parks in New Zealand are practieally sanctuaries for native birds and game, and no shooting or killing whatever is permitted in them. The greatest care is taken to keep these reserves free from noxious weeds. and. wherever practicable, the fencing of all external boundaries is proceeded with." A- an instance of the economv exercised in the administration of this Department, it is noted that for the past year, this item, including the cost of board meetings, has amounted to barely one per cent of the total expenditure, wb Ist salaries during the past four years has amounted to but four per cent. "The interests of scenerv preservation have been studied closely, and it may be confidently stated that the Dominion is obtaining splendid value for the expenditure incurred," comments Mr. Kensington.

Hereditary Titles,

The Hereditary Titles Prevention Bill, introduced by Mr Newman. provides “That d;_". : .ties and titles cf honour granted or created after the passing of this Act shall not be deemed in New Zealand to be incorporeal hereditaments, and that the issue of any person resident in New Zealand, on whom any dignity or titles of b notir shall hereafter he eon-f-rred shall in New Zealand have no other rank or privilege than he »wli have had if such dignity or title of honour had net been so conferred.*

Coronation Invitation*.

A motion by Mr Herdman last week to the effect that all papers relatir» to the invitations to members of the J.egis’v tore in connection with the Coronation ceremonies was responsible for some talk ana commen:. The Hon. .Mr. Millar, in the course of some remarks on the subject, expressed the conviction that hon. members would be perfectly satisfied when the full i n . formation came to the House of »he Government’s action. The invitations to the members of the House came too late to be accepted, and could not be made publie, but the Leader of the Vr.position was made aware of the representations. r “ -Mr. Fisher: What, the whole of the Millar: X : • .. - - in a need “private and contiJentiaf’ to his Excedeney the Governor. Those pane's could not he dealt with, but. as far as anything else went the hon. mmbers knew all that there was to know. As to the second invitati in—that to members of the Legislati e Council—Mr Miliar said he considered that, however unintentional may have been—in faet he believe! .; was done with the very best intent: n—to his mind the offer to pav th far s members who went was an insult to > people of the colony. He himself .‘-V. si-lered that to have accepted an mvitat'.on on such conditions would have ’•-ci derogatory to the dignity of Parliar and of the Dominion. There was other point, also. Although hospi:.:r was extended to members of the Bouse who went Homes there was no guarar.r ’ that any hospitality would be extent-:! to their wives or daughters. “I hare r.o doubt. went on the Minister. “tlirt when the Prime Minister returns he will be ■- ■ f nd over all the correspondence. The House was not sitting at the time. and. after it was found members eould not go. we got these replies referring to the second invitati r, and thev were very verv peculiar in Mr. Fisher: Perhaps because we borrowing «o much they thought we w--r» hard up. (Laughter.) "Well, perhaps they did." retort. ' :'.t Minister, “but I opposed spending bers of the Council Hen:--- under the tions named. It Parliament was ;■> ’ • represented they should have been -■ t Home at the Dominion’s expense. I .:? not know why the idea that any: i.'.g secret was made or intended shoul I. t about, but it is quite a mistake.” Mr. Massey explained that what :.e was informed was to be regarded a- gffdential. and he kept it so; he quite disagreed with the Minister in the t that any insult was intended by : 3 Imperial Parliament or committee. ::3 thought they should be thanked for trying to get as many representative n. a together as possible from different : '-5 of the Empire. Mr. Millar pointed out that he l.ti said the insult was doubtless unintentional, but that was how he had regarded the second offer. Mr. Arnold, who parenthetically remarked that he had no time for ■ 1 shows as coronation celebration- expressed the opinion that someone ■ blundered. Why did the Australians r - eeive their invitations six weeks scthan New Zealand hadt Let us :.avc those papers by an means, else the sition will make capital out of tt-i business for electioneering purpose-. “It would just suit their taeties, s the gist of Mr. Hogan’s comment. Mr. Forbes regretted that the matter had been brought up during the abst-es of the Premier, who. he was sure, wov.l give a thoroughly satisfactory explanation of the whole business. The motion was talked out.

Our Public Debt.

The amount of the public debt of * Zealand was on March 31st £64.272,134, but under the Public DtKxtinction Act of last year it is neee=" sary, in making the calculation seco* sary for ascertaining th? sums req'trea to be invested annually to obta a * capital sum equal to the public • • in seventy-five years, that the sum - 1 be reckoned in round millions, th* pertion in excess being reckoned as •'t* million. For this purpose, therefore tbs public debt must be considered as temj £65.000.000. It is interesting to that the sum required to be invested ca-B year at compound interest at £4 Pl centum per annum, which would in 5 years aOunt to £GS,'M)O; 1 00 l J £144,88a.

Share TrwScking Evil“trafficking” evil among specujs«ivf brokers is recognised as having reached a stage that besides being prejudicial to the interests of the legiti..broker, is a matter of serious concern to the investing public. Even the trro, who knows nothing of the guileful wavs of him who gambles in mining scr.p, has heard of those queer and e'r.sive animals "bulls” and “bears,** but not even the victims of the creatures can always appreciate the stealthy stalk bv which these devourers of innocent* gather in their prey. In view of the persistent talk of iate concerning the ne: ssity of some definite method of typing "with this “trafficking" curse our representative last week interviewed il." Hon. James McGowan, whose infinite knowledge of mines and the me i’. ’s of dealers in mining scrip gatherci ' ring his long years of association with a mining district and as Minister of Mines, renders his opinion on the s/.'. : e.t one worthy of serious consider*- ■ < an you suggest a remedy for this trafficking habit among brokers?” he was asked, to which question he replied: "I rhir.k the only practical way of dealing with the matter would l>e to pass sn Art. with a view of preventing brokers inclined to gamble from trafficking in shares. A broker should not traffick either directly or indirectly in shares at so. The legitimate broker, who follows brokering strictly as his calling, is by this trafficking system being virtually chested out of his legitimate business, whi'.- the unfortunate shareholders are uni biedly swindled by the action of th: brokers., who can traffick in shares cr. -•.'.■all margins—margins which could not : :<ssibly pay the legitimate investor.’* c;-. i .r-- i Mr. McGowan, emphatically. ‘This matter has become a serious tcir.c on the Auckland Stock Exchange, an i doubt to some extent on other ex i...:i£es." he said, "and it is absolutely te.i.'Sary that some action should be taken to prevent the gambling element cortr-.-iling the exchanges, Tnstead of the 1;: : ate business, which the responsible and honest brokers wish to encourage. The honest broker is. as a matter ot f act, being very gravely hamper:", if not actually driven out of his b-.isir.ess, by his unscrupulous colleague. X. ::bt." lamented Mr. McGowan, “the I: k-r- might protect themselves if that was the only evil, but the general public wh: are the clients of both the gambling e’ : ■ -1 of the association and the legi-ti-.it brokers, are also heavy losers—in t':.e end the heaviest losers." ‘Ar. 1 . as a specific you would suggest?'* —"1 think a law should be passed for t'_e protection of the legitimate broker sr.i ; iblie. providing that the books of say broker might be examined on deEf.ri l.y the chairman of the exchange cr a duly qualified brother broker. I t'.ir.k that the number of honest I: ’: s would l>e sufficient to make this i -- t business unprofitable for those c.__-l in it. ther matter which seems to cal'. ■ ~ - — stringent remedy is the system c: ..;:2 forfeited shares by public auc- ‘ .‘.nd this question was also put 1 Mr McGowan. les. there is no doubt about the evil S'. ng to the present system of dis

posing of forfeited share*.” he replied. "I am convinced that it is a wrong and injurious system. No forfeited shares should be sold at public auction at all Do you see. it is like this: the holder of a large number of .-hares may avoid paying calls by letting them go forfeit, and then at auction secure them again, either directly or through an agent, at a nominal price. In my opinion, all forfeited shares should either be distributed pro rata among the other shareholders, or heid in reserve by the company. "There was, by the way. an Act or agreement in fosse some 25 or M) years ago to prevent brokers from trafficking in shares, and although it may have been evaded in some instances, yet it undoubtedly had an immensely deterring effect, and did a lot of good. I think." conclmVd Mr. McGowan. "That the honest broker, who has to do the public business, has a right of protection from his gambling colleague, apart from the question of protecting the general investor. who is now fleeced so flagrantly. Mr. Poland raised the question of gambling in scrip by sharebrokers in the House this afternoon, by asking the M:uister of Mines the following: "Whether in the interests of legitimate investors in mining stocks and the mining industry generally he will endeavour to induce the Government to pass legislation to prevent the gambling in mining stocks which goes on at present amongst certain sharebrokers by the overselling of shares, and introduce legislation at the same time to restrict brokers to their legitimate business as agents between buyers and sellers?" Dominion s Iron Deposits. A return was presented to the House by the Hon. R. McKenzie last week regarding the iron deposits of New Zealand. in which some interesting information appears. The estimated amount of iron deposits, other than iron sand, in the Dominion is G 4.200.000 metric tons at Golden Bay, Nelson, Waitangi River, Bay of Islands, and Kerr Point, near North Cape. There are two leases existing over the Parapara iron deposits on Crown land. The lessees of one area for several years have kept men employed making roads and a tramway. and have also built a wharf to comply with the conditions of. their lease, and it is now understood they are endeavouring to arrange for the necessary capital io commence operations to actively develop the iron deposits. It is also reported that the lessees of the other area have floated a company in England to develop their particular area. In the event of these companies showing a lack of sufficient enterprise in giving effect to the terms of their leases it may be found necessary for the Crown to resume possession, in which case the Government will consider the advisability of entering on the manufacture of iron as a slate enterprise. The return, which Wars the signature of the under secretary of the Public Works Department, also states in reply to a question as to the amount of pig iron and steel rails the Dominion could absorb per annum, that the imports for 1910 of this commodity totalled 539.203 tons, and ‘hat the probable annua! requirements of the Dominion in the future may be taken as somewhat in excess of this above.

Democratic New Zealand. Professor W. T. Mills, after a ten weeks’ tour of New Zealand, returned to Auckland on Friday. Speaking to a "Star” reporter, he said: “My trip over New Zealand has been intense ly interesting from the standpoint of the in terests which brought me here in the first place. No other country in the world is so extensively quoted in economic and political discussions in the United States among progressive people as New Zealand. The work undertaken by Ballance and his associates, twenty years ago. and the matters inaugurated by him during the first three or four years of Libera] and Labour control of New Zealand accounts for the interest of Americans in the institutions of this country. 1-anJ legislation, public ownership. Arbitration Courts, compulsory advance of wages under the public sory advance of wages under the public authority, were particularly widely discussed in my country. A thing which promotes demo, racy, particularly as extended to industrial interests is of the greatest importance, in my judgment, in all economic and political controversies. To any student of this question who comes to New Zealand as a stranger, followed with the experience of years of ac.tive work in other countries, he cannot help but l»e profoundly impressed by New Zealand’s progress in these matters I have every reason to believe, after nearly three months’ work in New Zealand. that the useful people of New Zealand are going to repeat the same enthusiasm and the same public interest that .von the victories and enacted the legislation of twenty years ago, only that it will be possible now to extend these measures in such a way as to make fundamental and lasting changes in the nature of the institutions themselves. No other question is discussed ~o much, uor thought so much about by the people, as the question of monopoly. With the problems of land monopoly and industrial monopoly once solved on behalf of the common good, neither political nor industrial depression or exploitation will be possible. I don't think that tie working people of New Zealand will be satisfied with modifications of the difficulties arising from these monopolies. I am quite convinced they will make a straight fight for a final solution of these problems, and in doing so will again achieve the foremost position in the political thought of progressive peoples everywhere.” Air Space and Ventilation. The amount of air space that is necessary for the proper healthiness of a sleeping apartment afforded some incidental discussion last week to a new clause in the Mental Defectives Bill. The clause provides that in the case of a house being licensed for the reception of patients the sleeping accommodation tor each patient shall hare not less

i han 600 cubic feet of air Bpaee. 1 he Minister (the Hon. G. Foaldsi pointed but that the amount of air «pace la*d down bv Act of Parliament at Home was very much less than we were ever likely to approach in New Zealand F r workhouse dormitories the space set down was 3*X> cubic feet, while the model by-laws also provided for 300 feet for sleeping rooms u*rd exclusively as such. But. pointed out the Minister, the healthiness of a sleeping room wm r.ot to be gauged by the cubic feet of air space so much as by the ventilation. It was much more important to have a continuous current of air through a room. In all the recent plans of build ings provision was made for this continuous current, explained Mr. Fowlds, who added that the standard to provided in licensed houses would tie th* minimum standard to be aimed nt by the Department. The new clause ant several minor amendments moved by Mr Fowlds were adopted by the House in committee.

Anglican Marriage Service. A discussion on the words of the marfiage service took place in the Lower House of the Convocation of Canterbury (England) last month. The commit tw recommended that the paragraph beginning “First, it was ordained” should be amended to read “it was ordained for the increase of mankind according to the will of God. and that children might be brought up in the fear and nurture of the Lord, and to the pra.be of His holy Name.’’ ( anon Henson, in supporting the committee’s proposal, said the words of the exhortation as at present in the Prayerbook were offensive to many people because of their coarseness. Prudery was a Lad thing, but coarseness was worse. The l(ith century, in which the. exhortation was drawn up. was a coarse age, and in no respects so coarse as when dealing with sexual matters. What was regarded as a normal thing in the 16th century came to us as a shock in the present day. The new form of ■words emphasised the elements of the doctrine of Christian marriage which thev wished to emphasise. Canon Barnard said he should oppose all the amendments proposed by the committee. Many of those who attended fashionable marriages were sensual people who were never seen in church except at a marriage or a burial, and that was just the time when the Church s' ould give her witness \fter fur thei liscussion t >sal of the committee was agreed to. The committee proposed t graph . •mme’b ing “Secondly, it wa> ■ i- ' ’ be omitted altogetl r. Prebendary Pennefather moved an an end m ent that the paragraph should r< ad a> follow-: • Secondly, it was ordained for a remedy against sin. and that, persons might keep themselves undefiled memb rs of ( hrist’s body.” The Dean of stminstcr oppo-t J the I nfus ■ pie’s minds. The pl ra-e. “it was ordained for a remel against sin,” was one which it was very ddli dt scrip: .irally to supporr. After farther debate, the amendment wa- reject* <1 Ly a large majority, and. when tl (tee’s pr<>] sal to omit the paragraph was ? t to th Hous< it wa> adopted l>v 4S votes ;.o 6. Saud Dumps and Their Conquest. The imp >i;am e of dealing wild the sand-drift on the New Zealand coast can 1 • gauged from the statement of Dr. Cockayne that, rmi-jidy -peahing. there are 290,000 a :«•- in the N<»rt‘i Island an.l 24.000 .v-ru* in South I-dand o--copied with more or less moving -and. virtually in a de-'-rt. but capable of being turned into a -> :.r.e of wealth to th< nation. Dr. ( kayne has •i • ; tred a comprehrn-i\ •• report on the methods event serious achmeiit- made < u Gv .-«a-t bv drifting eand. His fusions reg ling the present stat< . are that, although certain owner- of dune ar-.:- a. • fully a ware h- -an I drift evil, an ] are making l>ra\- effort* to overcome it. lites e ar e in no fe,\ instan mi-dii-. te l. (i:hei- ;ua n. are doing nothing. The final treatment of dunes s Id asMin < 1 station, says Dr. Cockayne. and yet by many this is, thought to be impossible an 1. except in a few specially favourable localities, nothing of the kind has been attempted. The dunes of Xew Zealand are of sp?cial scientific importantre. Those of the old world have been materially changed by the many centuries of man’s occupation. Their reclamation was for them new and unnatural, but in New Zealand there an opportunity of observing what Nature. quite uniiindered. has lone for their fixation. The native dune plants are also of much interest, since some are endemic and al-o of quite remarkable form, while their value a- “-and fixers’* Mi by no mean- generally appreciated. Germany and Tahiti. Mr. J. L. Young, who has been a< ting-Briti-h ( «»n-u) in I’apeeti. arrived by the Nlaitain from Tahiti last week. When informed of the suggestion that Germany should occupy the Tahitian Group, he Baid he was not surprised. At the same time the anxiety felt in Australia and New Zealand was natural and justified. He did n«»t think France would be agreeable to such an idea, and certainly the French in Tahiti would not be. The group was fairly prosperous, ami an well administered as it ever had been, under the French flag.

bv the When

Examination of Mental Defectives. During the discussion on the Mental Defectives Bill last week, the question was raised by Mr Ell as to the humanity and wisdom of die taking of mentally-afflicted people before a magistrate in court, as is a criminal. “We should do everything possible,’’ contended the member, “to spare the feelings of relatives of such unfortunates.’’ He suggested that provision should be made in the bill for the examination of these people in a special house or room at the hospital. Air Jennings suggested that, instead of exposing mentally afflicted people to the < xcitement- attending their removal in trains and public conveyances, they should be taken by motor-car to the institution, or wherever it might be. He instanced several painful cases that had come under his notice owing to the excitement of a patient. The Minister (Hon. Mr. Fovvlds) pointed out that it was enjoined on'"officials to use every proper care, and severe pains and penalties were laid down for neglect to observe the rules on this point. As for Mr Ell’s remarks, provision was made in the bill for meeting such requirements. but that would not get over all difficulties, as on occasions the afflicted ones were so violent that it was hardly possible for anyone save the police to deal with the situation, especially in country districts, where the police were rhe one great help in time of trouble. He pointed out, also, that, while every care was taken of patients, in many cases they were handled before they ; ame within the purview of the Department at all. A Big Trial. The hearing of the changes against Joseph Ehrman, Alfred E. Hadden. Arthur Glover, and John Ale.xr. Mclntyre, of having stolen various cases of goods from the Auckland wharf, of an aggregate value of about £5OO. was concluded on Friday. All the at-cused were committed to the Supreme Court for trial, and bail was allowed except in the case <>f Ehrman. The evidence called was to the effect that goods corresponding in quality and description with goods missed from the wharf by importers were soli by Ehrman in Stratford, Wanganui, Greymouth. Westport and Wellington. Except in the charges in which Hadden, M.lntyre. and Glover were concerned, ev deuce was not given as to the manner in which the goods were remove fr«-m the wharf sheds. Some sensation wa- caused during the hearing by the production of a statement made to the ] <>!i < by Hadden to the effect that Mr. A. Glover. M.P.. had offered him £l5O and a Government billet to take the I lame all on his own shoulders. This statement was replied to by Mr. Glover, who made a statement in the House of Representatives absol itely denying it. At the - onclu-ion of the trial Ehrman's (i'.;n-vl -aid that Ehrman desired it to be understood that Mr. Glover, M.P.. was nut ’n any way connected wiih the alMr. Isitt Elected. The by-election for the ( hristchunh N< i th -eat. rendered vacant by the death of Mr. T. E. Taylor, took place on Thursday. in tine weather. The polling was fairly heavy. 6920 out of 19.HH) on the roll recording their votes, as compared with 7894 iT. E. Taylor 4338. ( . M. Gray 2700. R. J. Ecroyd 8661 at the last general election. The final result was: — L. M. Isitt 3814 J. D. Hall 3106 Majority for Isitt . . 708 The results were to hand shortly after eight o’clock. Our Sovereign Rights. The Governor-in-Couneil appears to present a similar irritation to many members of Parliament that the crimson »loth does to the bull, ami every time the obnoxious words appear the mutinous flag i* waved by recalcitrant ones. The term appeared in a clause of the Mental Defectives Bill last week—a clause having to do with what is usually termed the “exercise of the Royal prerogative.’’ but immediately several member* sprang to (heir feet and protested that this offensive Governor-in-Council wa.s V’ke to rob the people of their sovereign rights. The Hon. Mr Fowlds expressed the hop*' that the House would not take the suggestion to wipe out the provision in question seriously, because, if they did

so, it would be a pure reversal of a wellestablished system. Mr Ell. supported the Minister. .If they were going to abolish the Governor-inUounc-il, what hold would there be over some of those local authorities that, carried the high hand. An outside control was absolutely essential in some cases, he maintained. When the question of the expulsion from the bill of the Governor-in-Couneil was put to the House, however, the amendment was lost, the noes yielding to the argument. The Supply of Rifles "The matter of the supply of service rides, to members of rifle clubs must of necessity await the completion of arrangements for the organisation, equipping, and arming of the Territorial force, and the arrival of an additional supply of rilles now on order. All the rifles we now have are wanted for the Territorials. To organise and equip the Territorial force on thoroughly satisfactory lines must be the Department’s first consideration.” Such is the reply of the acting-Minister for Defence (Hon. G. Fowlds) to a question on this subject. Defence Officer Waylaid. Sergeant-Major Millett, of the Defence lepartment, stationed at Hutt under he new defence scheme, was admitted to a private hospital in Wellington last week. He states that the Sunday before last he was waylaid at Hutt by some young men, who beat him. One of the party also stabbed him. on the breast. He did not consult a medical man at onee, but after some days the wound became painful, and he placed himself in Dr. Elliott’s hands. As there was a symptom of blood-poisoning Millett was removed to a private hospital. Millett states that the party w'hich attacked him consisted of six youths. He was in mufti at the time, and was walking from Petone to his home. The police have the matter in hand. Travelling Libraries. The Minister for Education, in reply to Mr. Stallworthy, who asked if steps will be taken to establish a system of travelling school libraries, said: "The question of giving grants on the basis of £1 for £1 to enable education boards to establish such libraries within their own districts is now under consideration. The especially scattered character of our population makes the problem much more difficult flian it would be in closely-popu-lated districts like New York, Chicago, and other places in America, where the system has been so marked a success, but I am not without the hope that, with the assistance of the boards and a moderate expenditure oT public funds, it may be possible to evolve a workable scheme of travelling school libraries.”