NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1638, 3 January 1913, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

; The visit oi tho English team of tennis' players ■ has served bo show thai; New Zealand is'a long tf&y be;' hind England and' Australia just; now in first-class tennis.' Ab a matter of fnct/NewZ&alandhaaalways lagged behind somewhat in this veryfine game,'notwithstanding tho fact that it can claim Wilding as a product of its tennis courts. Wilding, however, good player though ho was when he left New Zealand on his travels; 1 improved out of;, sight abroad. The_ reason is very plain: he was able in England to get the first-class practice necessary to bring him into the front 'rank of the game. Ho could not get that practice in New Zealand. The Weakness of New Zealand first grade tennis at tho present time is not so much that we nave not' tho class of: players available as that • they cannot .get beyond a Certain stage of proficiency owing to the absence'of opportunities for meeting/ players of the highest girado, .such, .for instance, as our presont visitors. It is doubtful if any- of our present first flight inch would under any circumstances, equal the performances of but given the opportunities he enjoyed most _ of' them' would; probably make a fairly' presentable showing even against the crack players of England and America.' 'TnotoUif Of the - Davis' Cup winners will iib doubt leave ito mark \ipon New Zealand tennis.- Our best players will benefit directly through , tho 'play they have had against the visitors, and through noting the • points of their game ahd their methods: and they will pass bn much bt that knowledge to their club mates in future games and matches. '

t In one of tho southern cities there is going on a newspaper, dispute concerning the action of Sir' Joseph War!) last autumn in getting, just before his forced resignation; a prorogation' of. PaHiamont. It is a very short-sighted policy on the part of the Spoils reactionaries to maintain their trivial attacks on the Heform Government, but it is more ■than that—it is simply foolish of them to defend the conduct of the old party on . that famous Occasion. What annoyed the; ftnti-Befofm newspaper concerned in the quarrel was, apparently, ft passing/remark that ; the "Liberal .party had "strained i the Constitution in. order .to avert its expulsion froni office:" The special nastihess of this observation lay,: apparehtly, in the fact that it was said at New Year. when, it is the duty of everyone, to ■ Say only kind things.' Silt Jobeph Ward's unwise presumption upon tho Governor's good-natured reliance On his unreliable advisers is not defended by argument: there is,: of course, no aefenoe.'! for -it. Many people—ccrtainly a majorityfelt at the time that LoRD IsllncJtoN should not have allowed this trick to be played upon him., Tho foint is dealt with interestingly in the Decenibor number of. The Bditnd Table. After recounting tho circumstances, tho writer Bays :—

It is not intended to express any qpinion as to whether .Lord Islington's ill these Very difficult circumstances wrts correct or not. Tho matter is raised rather with the object of pointing out that tho old protest against Downing Street Interference, and its obvious effect. on thb Colonial Office, is in danger bf destroying one of the few safeguards which tno lleoplo still possess against thb seiztiW) bf power by a party cabal. • It will bo ft grave mistake if tho Colonial Office fcarl'ieS tho doctrine of non-intervention too far, and if the position of Governor is regarded as devoid of power, or responsibility. For an occasion may arise, as this episode suggests, When the people look to the Crown to preserve the people's rights by listing _ the Usurpation .of porfer/ or tho straining of their authority, by rbprosent&tives who iio longer possess public confidence. This ia very triio, and is well put. Thero is no need for a Governor at all if he la merely to be the inanimate executor of the decrcea of whatever Ministry may be in power. It is, after all, natural enough, that it should be a Radical Ministry that violated Constitutional prafctico here. .. .

The offer of the Malay Stateß of a firßt-clasß armoured cruiser for the British Navy emanated from the native rulers, and their remarks in connection therewith display a fino spirit of loyalty to the Empite. His Highness tho Sultah of Pcrak moved the necessary motion in tho Federal Council. According, to tho Malay Mail his Highness, spcakiiig in Malay) said ho was deeply Bensiiblo of tho benefits of remaining under tho protection of the British Empire. The offer was made,, he, explained, not because the United Kingdom was in urgent need of sUch a Vessol, but it wns ft sign of tho loyalty of tho Malay States. His Hlghhoss the Sultan of Selancor, who Rocoiitlo;! tho motion, tho Yum Tam of Negri Sembilan, and tho,

Dato Imang Prang, of Pohang, the other native members of the Council all endorsed the remarks of the Sultan of Pcrak, itttd expressed their pleasure-at the_ opportunity, afforded them of showing their loyalty to .Britain. Mr. Stuart Grensill. a New Zealander now resident in the Malay States, writing to The DOMINION) remarks:— You frill hav<s seed. that the Malay Sultans have voted ,£2,250,000, to provide a super-DrCndnoiiiiht for the British Navy. X'erlinps the average man in thft street does not exactly realise the iniMftatico of these States, blit when it is known that about GO per ter.t. of tho world's supply of tin comes from those ports,' qtid that thd country is one .of the largest fubber»producing centres ih the East, it; will give a good idea of the financial -possibilities of the country. I think there would be no exaggeration' in saying that the Federated Malay Status ar6 tne most prosperous of the eountrjes under British administration j th6y are Protected States, and the whole of the administration' ,is controlled from the Colonial Office. During tho Inst 20 years a trunk lino has been completed from Penang to Singaporo (about 500 miles) througli the Malay States, besides ml: morous branch lines, all paid for out of revenue.

It is interesting to note , that tho Federated Malay States are amongst th 6 - very 'few countries without a national debt. Indeed. are able to lend, money to their neighbours. Furthermore, it might be utattid that his Highness, the Sultan of Pcrak, in speaking to his motion to present Britain with a Dreadnought. exprcßsed the opinion that it would be possible to pay off the cost (£2,250,000) in five years, presumably out of revenue. In tho Malay States apparently the# do not mako gifts ana leave posterity to foot tho bill. ' : ;