WELLINGTON NOTES.

Hokitika Guardian, 7 January 1918, Page 4

WELLINGTON NOTES.

RAILWAY SERVICES

hopes op improvement

(Our Special Correspondent)

Wellington, Jan 4

Many people here are taking Sir Joseph Ward’s guarded statement in ro.ard to the resumption of a more convenient train service between Christchurch and Lyttelton as an indication that the “ cnttiug-down ” policy of the Railway Department is going to be revised. The discontinuance of ordinary excursion trains, though causing a serious monetary ’loss to the State, has produced no very vigorous protest from the general public. It is, after all, only a comparatively small proportion of the community that takes a burning interest in shows and races. But during the holiday season thousands of people who previously looked upon the Department’s “economies” with indif ference, have realised that they mean greatly decreased travelling facilities as well as largely increased fares. The result is a large accessiou to the ranks of the Minister’s critics and a feeling of uneasiness, so it is said, on the-part of his colleagues.

PENNY WISE. It has been whispered about fora long timo that Mr Massey and Sir Joseph Ward are by no means satisfied by the results that have been obtained from the railways since the institution of the “ cutting-down policy Sir Joseph, everyone remembers, pursued quite au opposite policy when he was in charge of the Department, holding that the aim of the management should ba to facilitate travelling and encourage settlement, and Mr Massey, though he never has administered this particular portfolio himself, lias always urged that the railways should be popularised with the object of making them pay.

If the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance should insist upon a inversion to these sound business principles neither the Minister of Railways nor his responsible officers will have any occasion for complaint. Their experiment lias been tried long enough to involve the country in a very considerable loss and to demonstrate beyond all question that high fares and inadequate services have nothing to recommend them either as war measures or as aids to public morality.

THE AUSTRALIAN EE IT, 1! END CM. A great deal of indignation has been aroused by the publication in the “ Dominion ” of extracts from a leaflet widely distributed in Australia during the recent conscription campaign, purporting to show the effects of compulsory service in New Zealand. Probably before this the leaflet has been seen in other centres in this country and in any case one paragraph will be sufficient to indicate its character. “ Well on towards five thousand of our young men,” it runs, “ are fugitives in their own couniry, or, maybe, some other country. “ They are pursued from place to place ; they are hunted through the hills and tracked down in the towns.” This is one of the mildest of the gross misrepresentations contained in the leaflet. Many of the others could not be printed, without giving offence io every decent thinking person in the Dominion. And this precious document was prepared by a resident of New Zealand, who poses ns the leader of a school of political thought aud employs such talents as he possesses in villifying the community that harbours him.

NATIONAL EDUCATION. The educational confeieuce that has been sitting in Wellington during the holiday season have got through a. vast amount of very useful work which will bear good fruit—after the war. When teachers meet in this “annual parliament,” with the trials and experiences of the previous year fresh in their minds, iliey assume a. distinctly critical attitude towards traditional customs and regulations, and even towards the high heads of their Department which is quite refreshing to their lay friends and doubtless to themselves.

This year there lias been no exception to the genei'al rule. Evidently the more thoughtful members of the profession are still unsatisfied with many of the details of the national system of education and with much of its administration. They refuse to accept the system as the summit of perfection and they continue to agita’e with the truest loyalty and patriotism for its improvement. The Minister and his responsible officers have good reason to pay close and serious attention to the representations that have been made to them by the various conferences.

BEVERAGES FOR THE HOLIDAYS That many of the non-alcoholic drinks sold to-day are manufactured largely from chemicals is a matter only 100 true. Blit the beverages of one firm may lie cited as an exception these being those of Messrs Thomson and Co., whoso trademark and watchword is “Purity,” and in the preparation of whose drinks real fruit juices and fruit extracts are used, and these arc the best and purest obtainable. In addition to super-excellent materials, Thomson and Co utilise water from an artesian spring, and machinery lined uitli silver to prevent contamination; while their factory is a model of sanitation. As additional safeguards, all cordials are pasteurised after being hermetically examined at intervals to further ensure absolutely purity. When celebrating the festive season it behoves you, then, to se« that you get Thomson’s Waters and cordials. For use at home in the camp, or elsewhere there’s nothing purer in the world than Thomson’s Ginger Wine Thomson’s Raspberry Vinegar. Thomson’s Limejuice Cordial, or Thomson’s Carbonated Waters.