TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14978, 21 May 1914, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Through Eastern Eyes. To sco ourselves as others see as is always instructive, even if it is frequently unpleasant. Americans will doubtless admit the truth of £his when they read the original and amusing review of American life which has been written by Mr Wu Ting Fang, formerly Chinese Minister at Washington. The author directs a good deal of quiet, good-humoured criticism at the fashions, tastes, and amusements, and at some of the most cherished principles of the Western World. Ho discusses the democratic American's love of titles in an original way. "'Mister , is too \ tame and flat for the go-ahead Americans," ho observes, ,: honco half of j the people whom you meet daily have some prefix to their names, such as general, major, president, judge, etc." The magnates of the business world look over to Europe and 6eo dukes and other peers being created, and the partners in big wealthy firms being called 'merchant princes," so thoy arrogate to themselves tho still higher title of kingship; they aro "railroad kings," "copper kings," "tobacco kings," and so on. Mr Wu Ting Fang remarks on the incongruity of tho members of a nation possessing higher titles than their chief, and suggests that the name of president should bo changed to that of emperor. This, ho says, would clearly demonstrate tho sovereign power of the people, for "a people who could mako and unmake an. emperor would certainly be highly respected." This is only one of many topics which tho ex-Minister deals with, Ho treats of music-halls, dinner-parties, 1, dress I fashions, the inquisitiveness of American women, and all kinds of subjects. With, regard to the stage, he expresses the opinion that "the human form divine, with few exceptions, is a devilish spectacle unless it is properly mad© up. Some twenty years from now theatrical managers will discover what audiences found out months ago, that a chorus girl's bare leg is infinitely less beautiful than the samo leg when duly disguised by petticoats and things." Fashion is pronounced by him to bo"the work of the Devil." European clothes he found too cold in the winter and too warm in the summer 3 and ehoos gave him the most distressing corns, which disappeared when ho returned to China and resumed hie national costumo. Dinner parties he evidently found very trying, for ho recommends tho hiring of public entertainers "to preserve tho guests from the boredom of dull conversation." The critio concludes his review by remarking that China, possesses manners, art, and morals,, and has managed a large eociety for thousands of years without the bitter class hatreds and divisions of the West. "We have not enslaved oxir lives to wealth. We Jike luxury, but we like other things better. We love life moro than chasing imitations of life."

Begging Frauds. Tho strong comments made recently by a London magistrate on a. flagrant caso of begging for a bogus charity hare served to draw tho attention of the public to the risk it runs of being dupod in. this way. It was estimated by tho late Earl of Shaftesbury that between £300,000 and £-100 000 a. year was obtained by means of street collections by bogus charitable institutions in England, and according to a woll-in-formed member of tho Charity Organisation Society, quoted in tho "Standard," the evil, despite tho Society's work, ,Is.on tho increase. Street collectors for bogus charities, ho states, can, if expert hands, collect between £3 and £4 a week and make a regular income of between 30s and £3 a week. Tho terms of remuneration vary. In some cases tho institution expects its collectors to work for nominally no salary, bufc allows tho "out of pocket" expenses, an elastic term which includes omnibus and railway fares, luncheons and dinners, part cost of clothing, boots, etc. In other cases collectors aro paid regular salaries, lady collectors for an alleged orphanage being paid £1 a. week and commission, making a total of about 30s, and a Children's Free Meal Society paying 3s a day and "travelling expenses." For another "charity ,, six women are regularly employed emptying station-ary-collecting boxes at 18s. a week and "travelling expenses," and a bogus Blind Aid Society pays women collectors 6s a week and 25 per cent, commjssion on tho takings. Many of the collectors are innocent dupes supplied through the Labour Exchanges or obtained by advertisement. When tho finances of a certain "orphanage" were disclosed in the police courts it was found that put of £1200 amassed by street collectors only £70 oould be traced to the official account at the bank. The books showed extensive turf operations. The promoters of a society with 10,000 collecting boxes in restaurants and public houses lives in affluence , and sernt his sons to the university. and in another caso a man paid collectors £1 a week and'so per cent of their takings, himsolf pocketing £1 a week and 25 per cent, of tho total sum collected. It has been suggested, to remedy this state of affairs, that no charity shall have more than one street collecting day annually, or that a written application to the London County Council, accompanied by bona fides, should bo made a necessary preliminary to a street collection. Cortainly some steps ought to bo taken to protect a too carelessly generous public from such frauds. Saving Labour and Time. The output of commercial motorvehicles iv America is enormous. A writer in "ScribnerV , . cays that last, •year they were Wns'buii't at the rato

to 1 , "" of 1000 a week, and that this rat« Ijjj be far Gxceedei this year. But cans have found, says this writer, tho high initial cost of lorries Rnd^j, 0 heavy running expenses necessitate moro systematic methods of loading and delivery if advantage is to bei <3e_ rived from their greater capacity higher spsed, and bu&iuess men Have thought out such methods with characteristic ingenuity and thoroughness New types of bodies subdivided by decks like the hull of a steamer havo beea evolved, nnd these are loaded by packers as scientifically as tho stevedores load an ocean liner. Heavy ai tides are stowed on the lower decks, I and stowed so that they can be un-1 loaded with a minimum of effort. This is rendered possible by tho packers being supplied with the itinerary for every trip, so that each article can be placed in the order for whi?h it is required for unloading. Better still is tho idoa of a demountable body for a lorry, the body being, packod in tho warehouse and then lifted by a crane ou to the chassis. When the driver returns to his warehouse he simply backs the lorry against a high ramp fitted with sliding ways, and tho empty body is taken away to be re loaded, and a full body put in its place. Some establishments havo lorries with fixed bodies, into which cages fit. These cages, which are divided into decks, are pushed, fully loaded, into the body as a cartrideo is pushed into a gun. But the £1000 lorry and these labour aud timo-saving dovices may be nullified by a lazy pr incompetent driver in the crowded streets of an American city, so moro is expected of the driver than before. To keep him on the path of duty an instrument, called a "graphical guardian" , hae been devised. Tho

'"guardian" records every thing—time, speed, length of stop, and distance travelled. The mechanism works all these things out on a chart, and everything is boxed in and locked up so that the driver cannot blot out any sin of omission or commission. It is claimed that tho "graphical guardian" has not only put many dollars in tho pocket of tho employer, but that \t has done much in strengthening tho moral fibre of the employed.