CURRENT TOPICS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXIX, Issue 9969, 23 February 1893, Page 5

CURRENT TOPICS.

Russia shows a curious .readinessencourage the highereduoation of womoil» an d a corresponding willingness to use f em ale labour in the higher departments. In this one direction at least she takes the lead of the rest of Europe, Already she welcomes many female doctors and lawyer*, Now one of her Universities, Chsikow, haf offered to bestow* certificate forveterinary, surgery on a lady. The lady in question* Miss Dobrowoileksja, is the daughter of * landowner in the Government of Cherson, and has studied veterinary surgery at Zurich and Odessa. She intends to pro* sent herself for the State examination, and not only has the Syndicate of Obatkow promised her a certificate if she aatisfisa the examiners, but the Zemstvo of another department has-offered to appointthe lady district veterinary surgeon. Endeavours are being m&de to havw* statue erected in Adelaide in hononrof tM poet Barns. The Caledonian Society initiated the movement, the Eon John Darling, M.L.0., Chief of the Society* having agreed to give .£SO towards the object, and if necessary to augment this amount. Mr Hugh Fraser will send olrcte lacs to Scotchmen throughout the Colony inviting help for the project. Advices have reached Sydnoyfrom DiHy, in Portuguese Timor, stating that in thS recent earthquake there two or three o! the shocks were so powerful that it was impossible for people to stand upright, and they were thrown their full length on th« ground. The island of Gamby, just opposite the town of Dilly, was seen to be cot in two, and it was further reported that in the island of Timor itself great gaps in the earth extended from the mountains right down to the seashore. Most of the public buildings in Dilly were either «tnsss-ol ruins or seriously damaged. Captain B. E&rdloy-Wihnot dslsres,4o the United Service Magazine, that the Navy of Turkey may almost be considered non-existent. The Empire still possoseel some ironclads, but they are antiquated* and lie idle at their moorings, the Saltan relying on them, we believe, lor a defence against any rising within Constantinople itself. The crews are allowed to live otii shore, and are rarely even exercised. S 6 complete, indeed, is the neglect, that H, Tricoupis ia believed to hold the opinion that the Greek fleet could defeat that of Turkey, and so regain all the islands of the Eastern Mediterranean. All this while, according to Captain Wilmot, the Russian fleet in the Black Sea has beett; steadily and silently increased, until it: could transport an army to the neighbourhood of Constantinople, and thenceforward keep it supplied even with reinforcements. It would have no need to capture the se* fortifications, on which £6,000,000 sterling are to be spent, or make the smallest effort to force the Bosphorus. All that is undeniable; bat it must bo remembered that against such an attack Constantinople possesses not only her own garrison of picked troops, but the aid of sixty thousand very well trained Bulgarian soldiers.

Cassell's Saturday Journal is responsible for the following :—“Tin gents " is a word that was entirely unknown to us until a few days ago, when we accidentally heard| it used by an assistant in a well-known fancy shop in a midland town which fa noted for its textile fabrics. Being desirous to know what the word pieant, we consulted all kinds of dictionaries, both orthodox and slang, but in vain. However, a quantity of “palm oil," dexterously applied to the right hand of the assistant in question, elicited the information that the word referred to money earned by employees for overcharging customers—in plain English, for cheating them. Thus, if a lady's fan was privately marked to sell at one guinea, and the enterprising salesman induced a confiding customer to purchase it for twenty-five shillings, the assistant would be credited with half a crown for “ tingenta," the remainder going to the employer. It was calculated that such gains were seldom or never less than an aggregate sum of 20a daily, while in summer they amounted to 60s or more. The salaries paid in houses where these proceedings are encouraged are, our informant said, remarkably low, " tin gents " having been introduced not only to encourage activity among Hie young people employed, but to make up to them for deficiencies in their regular pay. The system appears to work admirably for. employers, if one may judge from the extent of their business, however it may be for the patient, long-suffering public. The assistants, too, practise a system of espionage, constantly watching each other to see' that customers are properly dunned and' worried into purchasing at “ tingent"; prices. The result of this is that if, by any chance, a “muff" is engaged; his fellowworkmen soon contrive that he shall receive bis marching orders. The practice is, happily, not a common one. It is only; to be met with, when found at all, in what, are supposed to be high-class establishments, for few tradesmen would presume' either to take such liberties with their customers, or to compromise their own; characters in the eyes of those whom they employ. It is a vicious custom, neither business-like nor honest, and it is to be hoped will not come into general trade use. There is, perhaps, something to be said for "spiff,'' or allowances made to those who are able to dispose of old or. injured stock at reduced prices, bat nothing can be said on behalf of a corrupt business system which induces badly remunerated servants to cheat confiding customers, so that they themselves may manage to eke out their own starvation wages.

The Sydney Morning Herald writes EB follows :—That was a noteworthy declaration made a few days ago by a member of the New Zealand Ministry, who, speaking on behalf of the Government, said that “it did not intend to borrow in London, believing that by abstaining money would find its way to the Colony." Taking this as an announcement of policy, it must be recognised as a definite and courageous one. Nothing could be better fitted to develop the self-reliant energies of the people. Such a declaration must at once improve the credit of the Colony, and by putting an end to the growth of State debt it checks the process of piling up burdens on posterity as a result of the extravagant expenditure of the present. As to the anticipation expressed, that the refusal to resort to the English money market for loans would cause money to flow to the Colony, presumably through the channels of private enterprise, it must be admitted that such an expectation is by no means an unreasonable one. And if to this it is said that this process would after all be but an incurring of liability in another way, the answer is that we may assume that money so invested would on the average earn its own interest, without the Colony having to be taxed to make good deficiencies. Iq any case this is a definite, unmistakable policy. It shows that the Government and also the country have a clear conception of the position, its dangers and its safeguards. Adherence to this method has already done much to improve the credit of the Colony. It stands in the relation of strong contrast to the attitude of the Australian Colonies, which, if they, are not presenting themselves as borrowers, are watching and waiting for the first opportunity of doing to, with the result that their securities have no chance of recovering. New Zealand, in its time, has known that stage, and has passed through it, and by its resolute selfdenial and its diligent application to the work of developing the resources of the Colony, it has supplied an example which, all of the Colonies" would do well to lay; closely to heart. If we could receive the declaration of a non-borrowing policy made the other day by Mr G. D. Carter, the Treasurer o! Victoria, as showing that, under a similar course of discipline that Colony has learned similar wisdom, and that the spirit of self-reliance is gaining ground, that would bo all the more satisfactory.