The Week in Review.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVIII, Issue 11, 11 September 1912, Page 1

The Week in Review.

Gold and Prices, ROR most people the value of a sovereign is twenty shillings. But this leaves undetermined, the further question as to what is the value of twenty shillings. Gold rises or falls in value the same as everything else; This fact was emphasised by the Cost of Living Commission. Now that gold is plentiful prices are high; when gold was scare prices were low. To a very large extent the value of any article depends on its scarcity. For 300 years the annual produetion of gold averaged £1,600,000. and from 1801 to 1840 the average was considerably under £2,500,000. Then came the great discoveries of gold in America and Australia, and by the middle of last century the annual- output of gold had risen to £27.000,000. Then came a fall as the alluvial fields began to tie worked out, and ■by 1886 the annual production was ■under £20,000,000. Then came the •Rand discoveries, and by 1896 the output was double what it had been ten years earlier. To-day the output is double what it was in, 1896. and fifty times: what it was three centuries ago. To be exact, it is a little over £96,000,000 per annum. Currency and Prosperity. When gold is scarce prices fi"',. That is to say, the sovereign being scarce is worth more in the shape of wheat, foodstuffs, -and other necessaries of life. When gold is plentiful, it is worth less in the shape of goods. So, a .sovereign will buy less goods and prices rise. This has a bearing on national debts. During the last twenty years the price of all Government securities has fallen. Consols have fallen 24 points, and French, German, and Italian securities have fallen from 10 to 15 points. Tli>debenture stocks of the best English railways show a similar decline. This is largely due to the fact that the money paid as interest will purchase less than it would twenty years ago. It takes £3 7/6 now to purchase what could have been bought for £2 10/ then. In the case of our own -debt we are the gainers. our goods fetch more gold, while the amount we have to pay in gold and interest remains fixed. It takes less produce to meet our public liabilities. Thus, if high prices increase the cost of living they also enable us to get more for our goods, and we have to send away less of our produce to pay ow debts. & Northern Railways. During the conference on railway affairs held at IVhangarei. the question of linking up Whangarei with the North Auckland Main Trunk line was fully discussed. The W’hangarei Chamber of Commerce favoured the construction of a short connecting line between Nioreroa and the Main Trunk. At first the Kaipara representatives were inclined to regard this proposal with disfavour, but after the matter had been discussed in all its bearings the outcome was the unanimous adoption of a series of resolutions urging the Government to push on the Slain Trunk line to Kaikohe with all speed, and at the sxtme time to connect the western district by a short link line with the 9R miles of the Whangarei system, which now ministers to the needs of the East Coast. When the work is completed the whole of the peninsula will be brought directly into touch with Auckland, and settiemeat

will proceed apace. At present * . ge expanses of splendid country are entirely untouched, and the opening up of this country will add materially to the prosperity of the whole Dominion. <3« <3« Egypt and Turkey. Italian papers report that negotiations are proceeding to transform Egypt into a kingdom under a British protectorate on the termination of the Italian-Turkish war. In the. event of the change being made it is suggested that T urkey would receive an indemnity of £20.900.000. Egypt is only nominally a part of the Turkish Empire, and England acts as a guardian and protector. The fact that the suggestion for the forming of an Egyptian kingdom emanates from Italy means that the Italians would be glad to see England permanently retain her paramount. standing in Egypt so long as she raises no objection to Italy's annexation of Tripoli. If Egypt is formed into a kingdom it may be a step towards the collapse of the Turkish Empire. At present Turkey is threatened by Servia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Montenegro, as well as by Italy. Her one hope lies in the jealousy of the different Balkan States, and in’the fact that it is to the interest of all the Powers to prevent war as long as possible. For these reasons it may well b? that the inevitable Balkan explosion will be delayed for several years to come. But it seems certain that the Turkish Empire must eventually g » down before, the forces opposed to it. <3B & Varieties of Football. None of the different kinds of football as played at the present day are so exciting as the games played at the beginning of last century. At that lime village played against village, but all the able-bodied inhabitants of the rival places took part in the game hi many .counties these contests wore annual af fairs, and the favourite day for such games was Shrove Tuesday. Early in the morning the combatants assembled at a place midway between the two villages. After the kick-off the players endeavoured to kick or carry the ball towards their opponents goal, which was generally the village churchyard, or some other well-known landmark. The goals were often miles apart, and the field of play offered many natural obstructions, ■such as hedges, brooks, and ditches. Women seem to have played as well ns men in some places, for we read of a •contest at Inverness between the married and unmarried women of the place. One of the most famous of these early matches took place on December 5, 1815, between the men of Yarrow ami the men of Selkirk. The match was memorable from the fact that the famous novelist. Sir Walter Scott, who was then county sheriff, took upon himself the leadership of the men of Selkirk. In '•peaking of Hie match she said: “The appearance of the various parties marching from their different glens to the place of rendezvous, with pipes playing and hmd acclamations, carried back the coldest imagination to the old timed, when the foresters assembled with a less peaceable purpose of invading English territory or defending their own.” It sometimes happened that the goals were h mile end a-half apart, and the players on each side num bered more than « thousand. With si many players the games generally ended in a free fight, in 1897 the inhabitants of Dorking cmleavowre<i <o revive the old style of play, but such a tumultous scene

occurred that t-lie Surrey County Council had to send a hundred policemen to quell the disturbances. Modern football would have seemed very tame to these old players; v <3B The New Labour Party. Mr. Fowlds has accepted the presidency of the United Labour party, and in the course, of his presidential speech he referred to the prospects of the party in New Zealand. He explained that while he was fully sensible of the honour done him in electing him to the office.of president. he had been chiefly influenced in accepting the post, not. by the personal honour, but by the hope that be might be of use to a party which was rapidly Incoming the most potent political factor in the country, in speaking of the Liberal party, he said that it was dead and gone beyond redemption, and it would in a very short time disintegrate into its natural elements. He thought the Conservative element would join the Conservatives. while the Radical element would support the United Labour party. He urged active organisation .and concerted action, and predicted victory for the party at the next general election. <3B <3B The Civil Service. The report of the Public Service Commission comments favourably on the high type, both as regards character and ability, of the departmental heads and those holding responsible positions In the Service. The report goes on to st ate that there is a tendency for each department to magnify and glorify itself, and to run its affairs as a distinct and separate concern, instead of looking upon itself as a branch of one large business. A number of the younger men are kept year after year at the one class of work instead of being put through as many diflerent kinds of work as possible, so that they may l>ecome capable all-round men. Many temporary hands hud been made jieriuaiienl members of the public service, and were now on the same footing as those who had passed the regular examinations. The regular members of the start looked upon this as a great grievance, and the Commission thought that their attitude Was justified. <3B <£ Pay and Promotion. In dealing with the matter of pay and promotion the Commission is of opinion that there is room for great improvement. The report says:-—There is no uniform system for making promotions in the Service, and there arc considerable difference; in pay between different departments, sometimes duo to the head or Minister being economical or generous. Merit does not count as it should. I'he

passing of examinations, either depart mental or outside examinations, such as solicitors and accountancy examinations, do not carry weight and bring the pro motion that might reasonably be expected. The result is that many more able young fellows finding their advance ment slow, get out of the Service at the first opportunity, and it is quite a common occurrence to find young men in the Service studying for law, accountancy or other examinations, not- with the object of getting on in the Service, but with the object, of obtaining degrees that will enable them to get out of it. The Commission found that “in many cases the salary paid has no relationship to the work done. When increases in pay arc going they are usually doled at so much a head all round, but when the heads of departments allot the work to be done in the lower grades of the Service it is generally given to those who have the capacity to do it, regardless of the pay received. We could hardly say that the salaries as a whole are either 100 hign or too low, but they badly need adjust ing, and men should be paid for the work they do, and not for the time thej have been in the service.” 38 <5B A Board of Management. The Commission lays great stress cm the need for efficiency, combined with economy, and to effect this it suggests that there should be one controlling head to hold the whole service together, and make it work as one efficient machine. “This is the most important matter of all,” declares the Commission, which goes on to say: “We think that a Board of Management should be set up which would be the managing head of the whole Government service. We would suggest that this Board should be com poSed of three men, one of whom should be the ablest ins.n that could be obtained in the service. This position on the Board should be the prize, position in the .whole public service, and carry a higher salary than any other with the possible exception of that of the general manager of railways. The two other members of the Board should be chosen from outside, and they should be men of wide business experience who have had training in large organisations and are accustomed to the handling of a large staff. One of these two should be. chairman of thr Board. This Board would, therefore, have as its members two men of llior ougli business training, chosen for their organising ability, ami one from the pub lie service, who would know its require uients, and be thoroughly familiar with all its details, and who would possess a good working knowledge of the personnel of its officers. The members of the Board should give their whole time to their work, and have no other duties.”

Imperial Preference. Sonic idea of the value of Imperial preference to the British colonies may be gathered from the fart that Denmark alone sends to Great Britain tl4.04)0,000 of dairy produce every year. The Argentine supplies o\er 11.”>.000.000 worth of frozen mill ton. wheat, am! other agri cultural products. Cheese is sent from Holland. baron from America, fowls from Russia, am! pork from China. 'I he imports from Germany, Holland, and Belgium alone have more than doubled in the last twenty years. The policy of admitting the produce of foreign countries free has had the effect of throwing out of milt hat ion 13.000.0(1(1 acres of arable land. Thus (heat Britain suffers by the decrease of agriculture. The colonies have made substantial concessions to Britain, but failing the adoption of a policy of mutu il preference between I h«* United Kingdom and the colonies, tla latter are under continual pressure to miter into reciprocal arrangements with other countries, which may ultimately undermine the political unity of tin Empire. J* Railway to Taupo. The petition of the Taupo Totara Timber Company asks for the right to purchase 200.000 acres of native land, on the distinct understanding that it is to be mit up am! sold within a certain time. The Company oilers, to sell to the Government its sixty-five miles of line, equipped with rolling stock, for £lBO,OOO. There are thirteen miles needed to complete the line to Taupo. and it is computed that the total cost of the seventyeight miles of railway will be about .1200,0110. ’l'he C ompany has compiled a statement which shows that the annual return of the working of the line should provide interest at. 4 per cent, on this capital. If the Government takes over the line the Company is prepared to pay for freights o\ er sixty-live miles, a sum ave raging t’ll,ooo per annum. It is claimed that the advantages to the country through the completion of the lint* would be considerable. The cost of carriage of goods to I'aupo would be reduced by half, an area of over 1,4X10,000 acres of Crown and native lands now practically isolated, would be rendered accessible for occupation, and an opportunity would be afforded for the first time of testing the value of these pumice lands for cultivation ami settlement. I he petition is supported by the settlers in East ’Taupo County, ami the main objections to the petition have come from the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce, ♦he Wellington 'Trades and Labour Council. and certain natives. The Company seems to have made out a good case. Militant Miners. A strong posse of police has been marshalled at W’aihi and Waikino to give engine-drivers and arbitral ionists something like adequate protection from niolestat ion. Ihe aggressive miners, resentful at tin resumption of work with outside labour at the Horahom scheme, have continued in a more or less organised way to intimidate- the workers and harass the engine-drivers, whose from the Federation of Labour pre. -ipitated the strike. The presence of tin police in the district has had a. rest raining infiuence on the strikers, and. with the exception ol following-up tactic-: ami the use of objectionable language, there has been no outbreak of violence. Police proceedi ng-, however, are to Im* taken against a number of the. strikers on various charges. Further developments are possible. Two Independent Members. Messrs. T. \l. Milford and A. M. Myers have respectively niadi important announcements concerning their attitude, towards the party now in Opposition. Mr. Wilford -ax - that In is a Liberal of moderati view*, ami an opposer ol fails, and has formally withdrawn from the (ippo-ition for the reason that the views held l>\ a nmulM-r of memlteis of the party are totallx opposed to those he has always held. He reserve* full liberty to criticise all bgi-lalion introduced, and vill siqqiort all mea-iiK- which, in his opinion, are ‘for \ew Zealand.” Mr. Myer- say* that before the present Op-po-itjon executive wa- appointed he intimated that he intended to revert, to his old |Hisition a- an Independent Lils*ral. Il< explains that in the course of his election campaign In made it |H*rfectly dear that so long a- the Government maintained a true Liberal policy

would siip|M)rt it, but otherwise he held himself free to act in the best interests of his constituents, and the people generally. He took office in the Mackenzie Ministry because they fulfilled these requirements. The Refroni party had outlined an advanced and democratic policy, and the measures will receive his support. u* u* The Origin of Life. Professor Schaefer has been somewhat dogmatic in his assertion that life is purely a matter of chemical inter action, though the theory has for long been held by many eminent scientists. Chemists have been searching for means by which they may be able to produce a living Substance similar to that from which, they assert, all living organisms are evolved. But in the experiments which have been made in this direction it has always i>ren found that germs of life were present from the<start. or that they found entrance at some stage in the o|wrations. Then is no known evidence of not-living matter giving origin to living organisms. But it is possible that living matter may have been evolved from not-living matter, that it is now being so evolved, and that the conditions <>f spontaneous generation may bo artificially reproduced. That protoplasm took its origin from not-living matter was held by Huxley, Haeckel. Nagell, Pfitiger, Ray Lankestcr, ami others, llelmotz ami Lord Kelvin, on the other hand, held that the germs of life were brought to earth by meteorites from elsewhere. The discussion has gone on for a long time, ami, at best, Professor Schaefer has only stated dogmatically what many have held to lie a plausible theory. But he has not adduced any fresh facts in support of his theory. The practical value ot the discussion on the origin of life has been great. It has brought to light many facts of great importance in connection with the preservation ami improvement of food-stulls, the occurrence of parasites. the use of antiseptics, and the nature of many diseases. The Professor asserts that the theory of supernatural intervention iiijthe first production of life is devoid of. scientific foundation, but the theory ot abiogenesis is equally devoid of scientific proof. It may be many years before chemists are able to produce living from nofc-living matter,- It. may be that they will never be able to do so. But the attempt;4o solve the mystery of the origin of life has been of incalculable value in the additions made to our knowledge of the nature of low organisms. Prize-fighting and the Law. Mr. Justice Cooper made a lucid statement of the law as affecting prizefighting, in the course of a charge to the grand jury at the Hamilton Supreme Court, in dealing with a charge of manslaughter arising out of a bare-knuckle contest for a wager between a European ami a Maori. It was a definite criminal ofi’em e for anyone to take part in a prize-fight, and he reduced hi* opinion on the matter to writing: “When one person is indicted for inflicting personal injury upon another the consent of the. person who sustained the injury is no defence to the person who inflicts the injury, if the injury is of such a nature or is inflicted under such circumstances that its infliction i* injurious to the public as well as to the person injured. But injuries given an.l received in prizefights are injurious to the public both because it is against the public interests that the lives ami health of the combatant* should be endangered by blows, and because prize-lights are disorderly exhibitions and mischievous on many obvious grounds. Therefore, the consent of the parties to blows, which they mutually receive, does not prevent these blown from being assaults, and in my opinion this principle of law is not confined to prize-fight*, for every light in which the object ami interest of each of the combatants is to subdue the other by violent blows, is or has a direct tendency to a bleach of th? peace, ami it matters not whether such light be a hostile fight begun and continued in anger, or a prize fight for money or other advantage.” It was against the public interest that the lives of combatants should be endangered in fights of this description, while they also tended to promote a breach of the peace; also, in a sense. they were disorderly exhibitions. “I do not want my remtu'k* to be misunderstood. so ns to indicate that boxing ur sparring matches with gloves are necessarily illegal, *’ added his Honor. “That depends on the circumztaneez.

If in cased of that description the matches are really prize-fights—and in that r<*spvct many recent exhibitions with gloves are really prize-fights in the ordinary sense —even lights where gloves are used may be, and very often are, within the law'. When exhibitions of boxing and wrestling take place where the element of prize-fighting does not obtain they are not breaches of law unless they take place under such circumstances that necessarily a breach of the peace may be provoked.” Profits from Test Matches. The “Pall Mall Gazette” says that the Australians received approximately £7BO as their share of the gates for their test matches against South Africa, and £2,130 for tin* English tests, the final match at the Oval leading with £1,120. These figures seem exceptionally high, as G. H. S. Trott declared that about £l5O was netted by each of his men in the 1893 tour, a little more than £IOO in 1890, and that he himself only made a profit of £BO as the result of nearly live months’ < ricket in 1888. But it must be remembered that the expenses connected with test matches are always high. Professionals—including the “twelfth man” — swallow up £2O apiece per match, each umpire pockets a £lO fee, the amateur gels his first-class fares—including cabs —to and from his residence, and an hotel allowance, not exceeding 30/- per day, for a maximum period of five days each match; luncheons and teas are generously provided by the Board of Control for the players at a cost of £lO a day. Every player or man employed on the ground has to b<* insured against acci.dents, advertising takes £2O per match, and then there are payments to extra policemen and attendants, card-sellers, etc. These expenses, however, are not allowed to affect in the smallest way the. visiting train's appropriation of one-half uf the gross “gates”; and then, from what is left, the club on whose ground the match is played takes 30 per cent., the first-class counties and the M.C.C. divide 00 per cent, among them, and the other 10 per cent, goes to the second- ( l.Yss counties. ■ I udbuhtedly, as a general rule, test matches do not pay—some have paid enormously—but, as in all things; one must take the average—and the risks. Absolutely wet weather, of course, quite ruins a. match; . dull and doubtful weather keeps thousands of wouldbe patrons at a distance; dull play on the first day of a match means very meagre attendances on the second ami third days; and yet, if one side's superiority over the other be very marked, there may be no third day’s play, as was the case when the Australians beat the South Africans at Manchester recently. Yet no matter what may happen to a match, all the expenses are practially the same. Players, ground staffs, etc., have to be paid according to their engagements, whether it rains or snows. In just the same way, any big profits which the visiting team may derive from a test match may be largely swallowed up by losses in previous county and other games. For example, the total expenses of an Australian team touring in England average about £125 per match played—over £2,009 going on steamship ami railway fares alone —and this means that, with a sixpenny “gate,” supposing the Australians take half, an average attendance of 10,000 for each game is necessary to cover mere out-of-pocket expenditure. In some county matches the attendance falls considerably below this figure; other matches are ruined by weather, though the expenditure of £125 per match has to be made good just the same; and. therefore, a very great responsibility rests on the shilling “gates” of test matches to ensure an ultimate profit! Solving the Servant Girl Problem. Domestic servants are so scarce in New Zealand, so hard to get, and. so hard to keep, that one does not wonder that the moth rn mistresses make use of wireless to engage girls coming out from England. In the ease of one of the more recent emigrant ships, which brought out a small batch of girls from Home, the mistresses who thought to Is* in good time by being on the wharf to meet the vessel were surprised to find that their more enterprising sisters had already engaged most of the girls by means of maironigrams. There is. however, one woman who claims to have found no difficulty in getting servants. Mrs. John H. Flagler, of New York, says that she has solved the servant girl problem, and aa

she has twenty-seven servants we may admit that she speaks with authority. Here is Mrs Flagler’s plan of campaign as described in her own words: — 1 never cheat a girl out of any pleasure has has planned by asking her to work when she has expected to get off’. When I entertain I notify the servants at hast two days in advance, so that they won’t make any engagements for that day. When I give big entertainments 1 employ extra help. My servants arrange among themselves so that some of them have Sundays off. My servants have access fo my library, and they take advantage of it, too. They like to read, and they have the time to do it. I should feel conscience-stricken if I thought persons in my employ slaved all day long. 'l’he work in my house is so systematized that tiny arc not compelled to do it. I urge them to go out every .afternoon ami get the air. if they only remain out an hour. I do not know who ever started that half-day-a-week rule. I do not know why women, supposedly intelligent and l sympathetic, should continue to practice it on their servants. One-half day a week is not enough to popularise a mistress in the eyes of the maid. Of course, this is all very nice, but that it should be considered exceptional goes far to show why girls should prefer the shop to domestic service. Of course, the shop does not as a rule provide libraries, but it does provide a certain fixity of duty and regularity of hours not to be found elsewhere. In other words, it permits a girl to call her soul her own, which is a kind of liberty quite beyond the powers of comprehension enjoyed by the average mistress. The VSTaiiing fiirtlirate. The birthrate for England and Wales for tiie quarter ended .June last was 3.7 below the average of the second quarters of the ten preceding years, and is the lowest on record for any second quarter. It is the same all over Europe. Germany is the latest of the European nations to deplore a waning birthrate. The full census returns are not yet completed, but in Prussia and Bavaria tin* figures are unsatisfactory. And at last we have an authoritative voice to ask why Europe should regard depopulation as an evil. Octave Mirbeau, speaking in the French Senate, disputed the claim with energy and fervour. If the people were only logical, he said, they would hasten the process of depopulation instead of retarding it. Why, he asked, should there be so much twaddle about a decreasing birthrate? What is that you fear? Do you dread the day when there will no longer be enough men to send to their death in the Sondan, in China, and in Madagascar? You dream of population only that you may have a violent depopulation later on. But no, thank you. If we are to be born only that we must die on the battlefield, under the rigors of military discipline, in camps and barracks,. we prefer not to be born at all. Octave Mirbeau naturally made a great sensation by his speech. But in view of the. enormous growth of armaments* throughout the civilised world, one cannot be surprised if many people are to be found who take a similar view. Women and Academies. The Spanish Academy has refused to open its doors to the Countess PaidoBazan on account of her sex and in spite of the fact of her eminence as an author. A few years ago France was in a turmoil over ii somewhat similar disability inflicted upon Mme. Curie, and perhaps it would be well for these dignilied institutions to see to it lest tin* weight of intelligence be found outside their doors rather than inside. We are reminded that Spanish conservatism seems to have increased rather than waned with the lapse of time. In 1785 a woman was admitted to the University of Alcala, and by a special decree of Charles IF. 'The favoured one. was .Maria Isidra de Guzman y La Ceida. and she was duly invested with the doctor’s degree. The lady was then seventeen years of age, ami she passed brilliantly in “languages, philosophy, metaphysics, ethics, theology, geography, physics, and astronomy,” and she also wrote a thesis maintaining “tho aptitude of the educated woman for teaching subjects sacred and profane in the universities.” But there is no record that Maria ever made much use of her prodigious erudition. It often happens that way. The world receives leabt wheio it expects most.