NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1959, 16 January 1914, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY.

; Nelson is fortunate in possessing such a public-spirited citizen as Mn, Thomas Cawthron, who has made a number of generous gifts to the town which has been his home for many years. The list of gifts and bequests made to the public throughout New Zealand, at various times, is already a fairly long one, but while it would be ungracious to indulge in invidious comparisons it imtst be said that Mn. Caivthhoj} takes a high and honourable place amongst public benefactors of this class, both an account of the liberality of his gifts to the public and the sound sense and judgment which he has shown in selecting them* A few months ago it was announced that Me, Cawthron had agreed to ■defray..-thoi cost.. of ■. establishing -a Solar Physics Observatory, which is about to be erected rioa* the City of Nelson. On top of this comes the news that:he has. agreed to contribute £15,000 towards the cost of anew hospital at Nelson. This aniount will carry a Government subsidy of £18,000, so that Mr. Cawihron's generosity will enable the Nelson Hospital Board to erect a building of which the eity will have every reason to be proud. Needless to say Mk. Cawtkiion'S munificent offrr has been gratefully accepted. His previous gifts to Nelson, include Cawtuhqn' Park (an area some thousands of acres in extent of beautiful mountain and woodland country), a fine organ in the Nelson School of Music, and a handsome flight of. granite steps. It will be seen that Mr. Cawthron, in selecting objects for his generosity, has exercised sound judgment and good taste as well as liberality. The care of the sick and suffering, the advancement of science and art, the promotion of healthy recreation, atid the adornment of the city in which he lives, have all claimed his attention and benefited by his gifts. To that it may be added that his contributions to the public, welfare are made in such a form ns will benefit not only this generation, but the generations to follow. In that way Mr. CAWTflßox's benefactions will provide him with a more lasting memorial than is granted to tho common run of men, whether they are rich or poor. There is an element of reward in this, but probably reward is the last thing such men as Mr. Cawthkon think about, when they loosen their purse-strings to mako some tangible contribution to the public welfare.

. Fob some time past there has been a strong feeling in Britain and among British residents Of India that the. Indian Government should adopt more vigorous methods for tho suppression of sedition and ov-hc* forms of crime. There have been many disquieting signs lately, and unrest has become acute in many parts of the country. The authorities have found great difficulty in discovering the perpetrators of outrages, and this immunity from punishment has been an encouragement to others to resort to doetls of violence. Too much liberty has been allowed as regards incitement to crime and the publication of seditious writings, and it. has been thought advisable to t\ike moro effectual steps to check this method of spreading disaffection. A cablegram, which appears in another column, announces that the newspaper Hemindar has been suppress?'! This paper has been advocating tht ideals _ of Piui-Isiamisra, a movement in favour (if a union of all Mohammedan nations with the object of freeing themselves from alien rule. The trouble, however, has not been confined to the Mohammedan population. Some of the Hindus have! also been showing signs of disaffection, and in a recent article the London. Times went so far as to statu' that there are districts where British law, does not now run, and where security of life and property can no longer,. b<v>, guaranteed. "Teeming mill ion's of."the uneducated arc taught ty hate the"., handful of British ofii'cials"''.;and residents." .■ There are ■'secret;'forces at-work with-tlie object' of British;' authority, and-it is very 'difficult- to.' , 'grapple effectively \.v, itlv this undercurrent'of sedition. ■ The authorities ■'realise ■the seriousness'of the situation, , and 'thatfirm and resolut- sctionis neces■.saj'Vi&to-. maintain , British prestige 'aiVdPput.'iui ; Wfec.'.t?.l.. check on the ; gr'owth'^pf ; ' : ?wiliiion-';inavcrimcs v -c-f violence.v;!; The,, recent' authoritative

stiitemchf?.thatV'Lo«D Kitchener is io/succeed,: Lona Hardinoe as Vioc-■.i-0.v.-is^geiftrallH regarded as an in- ■ British. Government" rocugnisesi.thc: need of a strone :hand.. in; India.at, the present ju«ctiiroyjantl. tbe'.announwmcnt has'been the ssub,J!'ct?of; favourable, comment byj the. J3j itisli Press. : ■

#':TtiE;:ylmperial.;. Government : will shortly be cnllccl upon to determine whether the British South Africa Company shall be allowed to continue the administration of Rhodesia or. whether another form of aiiministration shall be substituted for the Chartered Company's rule. The term of twenty-hve years for which the charter was originally granted expires this year, and the Imperial Government has power either to terminate it, renew ;it in its present form, or,.vary its provisions. The prevailing opinion, both in Rhodesia and in London,'seems to be that the charter/will be renewed, Although an influential body of South African opinion favours the incorporation of lihodesia in the Union this course is strongly opposed by the llhodosian settlers themselves, nearly all of whom.are of British stock. At a large .meeting held at Salisbury a .low-weeks ago a resolution was unanimously adopted emphatically reasserting., the inadvisability of Rhodesia joining the Union' and strongly resenting "the South' African Partys attempts to intervene in lihodesia s domestic affairs." A subsequent meeting at Bulawayo enthusiastically : endorsed this attitude. In the past there have been serious dissensions between the Chartered Company and settlers who found its administration irksome, but at tho moment Rhodeaians appear to regard the renewal of the charter as the best available solution of tho problem by which they are faced Ihe smallness of the white population in comparison with the size of the country and with the swarming negro population puts responsible self-government out of Court for the time _ being. An overwhelming majority of Rhodesians, it is stated are opposed to placing themselves under Colonial Office control. This rules out both a Protectorate and Crown Colony Administration. The only alternative left is the continuance of the present system for another ton years or until a largelyincreased population, or some organic change in the state of tthodesia, necessitates the introduction of a new form of administration. The Chartered Company is at present putting forward proposals for immigration and settlement on a larger and more comprehensive scale than anything hitherto attempted in its history. Some difficulties nave been raised in reference to the ownership of land, and a meeting at Bulawayo rejected the Chartered Company's proposals on the ground .that .their acceptance would involve an admission that the unalionated land of Southern Rhodesia was the private properly of the Chartered Company. In view of the ample powers possessed by the Imperial Government of modifying the terms of tho charter, it i? hardly hkely. however, that this question will oppose any permanent obstacle to the settlement. and development of the immense areas in lihodesia which m now Iving vacant.