Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, FEB. 6, 1900. Duty.

Manawatu Herald, 6 February 1900, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, FEB. 6, 1900. Duty.

Jh'fßS* public mau, every n*9W:**pa;r~, and evei'y public body appears • have caught the war fever in a ye bad form. Patriotism is undoul? edly a fine feature, and we are -r ceedingly well pleased that the Pre mier seized the early and. pror* opportunity foil proposing that t'olony should seirl a oitin^eul _.< South Africa. The proposal was accepted with tlnaniniity and alacrity I and tho first contingent was for- j warded with commendable prompt! - ! tude. _ In this every oqp was entitled to praise as it showed a willingness on the part of the colonists to take their share in the deeds necessary to secure the integrity of the Empire, and it was an object lesson of very , much value to the world at large. j To our mind this Was as far as it wa? wise to move in the depopulation of the colony, and 'all other efforts to show not only our loyalty, but out intense interest, in the success of the British Forces should have been displayed in contributing money for the relief of the distressed, arwe are also doing, and in finding nursing and attendance on the wounded. The I checks received by our forces again raised the excitement and the second ' contingent was agreed upon, but now the martial ardour of old and young colonists have risen beyond reason and the Rough Riders are to take 800' mor,e of the mainstay of the colony away, and it is further urged that a force of 1000 infantry should also be despatched. It is time that this movement should receive the most careful consideration, as a drain of 1700 sound young men is more than we can afford and will be out of all proportion to the number sent by Great Britain. Though aur interest in the preservation of the Empire is great it cannot be pretended that it is greater than that of the Mother Country and what was of value -in the despatch of the first .contingent becomes but inflated folly if proceeded with as proposed. The old colonists we are pleased to see are ready with their means to help the good old land they came from, but I these are also the men who have | ungrudgingly home the cost of the ; introduction of the parents of a I number of these young men who desire to go to the seat of war. We have had doleful accounts of the decrease in the birth-rate, and this i • admitted as being a particularly weaV spot in the progress of any country and it is evident the more of tho marriageable men we send away the more this decrease must tell in the next few years. We know that jus* at this moment it may be an unpopular statement to make that may in any way damp the military ardour aroused, but it must be evident to everyone that a limit must be come to in the numbers that can be spared and the question should be determined at once what that limit is. If Great Britain was in dire necessity then there would hardly be s man who would grudge making any effort that was needed, but we arf quite sure that time is not now, and half the anxiety raised about the question of British success against the Boers has been absurdly aroused by the stupid and penny-a-line newr we have sent us of the conduct of thf war. We have only to mention thr ridiculous cables that told us the troops and inhabitants of Ladysmith sent pathetic messages about the fight at Spionkop and were depressed at the result. The next day we got a message that Ladysmith was not now depressed and were expecting relief. We also got a cable that the London Times looked upon the losp of Ladysmith as very probable, and the following day a cable informed us that General Buller told his troops that he considered they had secured the key to Ladysmith and he expeoted to be there in a week ! If General Buller is anywhere near right the position in Natal is not anything like the Times would have us believe, and we would rather acoept General Buller's opinion of the two. The urgent need of the colony being denuded of its life-blood cannot be shown, and men can hardly be required, as information has been sent us that over 180,000 troops will be in Sonth Africa within a week or two. Holding these views, without wavering in our loyalty to the throne or in our duty to the colony, we do think no more men should be despatched, at any rate for a season, after the third Contingent has' gone. For the men who have volunteered we can give only the greatest credit and we gladly admit they have shown a desirable spirit. We trust that success may be always witb them, ; and if spared we hope they will return to the home of their youth. ' Hero we shall be glad to welcome

fihem and shall show them we appreciate the action they have taken. •Ye must however* 1 be careful and not >verrate the action of the volunteer's, ts the numbers of young men wh*.*> 'einember their duty to their familiar md have successfully resisted the ?lamour of the moment are doing 'heir duty, as important, and pro)ably more considerately than those vho have chosen the path of the soldier. A slipshod phrase has been tJ ed in regard to the contingents by lying they were composed of the >9st of our young men, of course *iis is nonsense as there are plenty ■f much better young men left in the )lony, or the colony would be a oor place to live in ; what has pro- ' ably been nieatit is that the mem '• *. i of t'j***- contingents were aa gzzl '■■• health and strength as any, an" '3 hope and believe this so, anc icy will unfortunately need all tl c with they possess to fight the try ig climate they are going to. T. lose young men who have approved the difficulty of resisting th •pular warliko feeling we woulu omind them that One of our popular writers has said — " Commonplace though it may appear, this doing" Of one's Duty embodies the highest ideal of life and character. There may be nothing heroic about it, but a common lot of men is not heroic. \nd though the abiding sense of Duty upholds man in his highest attitudes, it also equally sustains aim, in the transaction of the ordinary tffairs of every day exibtence. Man's life is ' centred in the sphere of common duties.' The most influential . of all the virtues are those which are the most in request for daily use. They wear the best, and last the longest."

' MIL '■»'»'.. H.MIJI It has now been definitely decided hat the contingent shall leave Lyttel:on by the Knight Templar on Saturday; February 17th. Sir Redvers Builer used to be a •rjreat smoker, but it is said to now imit himself to one pipe a day. Aftet .*i fight it was ahvays his habit to ••"•Mre into solitude and smoke a pipe Ottti There are three varieties of the dog that never bark — the Australian dog the Egyptian shepherd dog, and the I " lion-headed " dog of Tibet. In Berlin they have automobile labs provided with automatic devices tor calculating fares. Their pleasing tame is " automobiletaxameterdroshken." We question this statement: — Japanese ladies are said to be the, •nost talkative of their sex. The English Government has given an order for the supply of 100,000 woollen suits of khaki colour. The New Hebrides and Loyalty Islands have been proclaimed plague infected, All vessels arriving from those parts will be quarantined. It is said that President Kruger, of the Transvaal Republic, is worth £5,000,000, all of which is well invested. Strange to say his wife does all the family cooking and makes the beds. The Admiralty has decided to convert Gaya, a port on the north-west coast of Borneo, into a naval base, a-? 1 counterpoise to the naval station, established by France at Saigon, in ? :v>m. at the opposite side of the China Sea. The latest Parisian toy on sale in London shops is a model of the globe with the figure of a British soldier sitting astride it. Between the man's legs appear a map of the southern part of the once " Dark Continent,' with the word *" Afrique " in large letters. Mr James Coley is a capital gardener and owns a rich piece of ground, which is easily verified by the growth of the vegetables he has for sale. Some ot the beans we have sampled measured over 10 inches in length and broke clean, and were thu? splendid eating. The Cape police have captured a thousand head of cattle belonging to rebels in Dordrecht district. An extraordinary story of ill-feeling persisted in after death is told by a Hokitika paper. The brother of a nan who had died in the Kumara Hospital waa asked if he would like to take a last look at the deceased before the coffin was screwed down. Thereupon he walked up to tbe head ->f the coffin and struck the deceased a blow on the side of the face exclaming : — " There, you, , take that : now I forgive you." Another scene* it is stated, took place at the grave. The suggestion of our contemporary that the outrageous behaviour was due to mental defect seems to be the most charitable one under the circumstance. During the debate on the Address-in-Reply in the House of Commons on Thursday night, the Hon George Wyndham, Parliamentary Secretary of the War Office, stated that by the middle of February there would be 180,600 British troops in South Africa including 7073 Canadians' New Zealanders and Australians, and 26,000 Natal and Cape men. The total number of mounted troops would be 37,000. There would so be 452 guns, no of the number being heavy guns, and the .rest field pieces. The Boers had 60,000 men and no guns prior to the ultimatum presented on 10th to the Imperial Government. The Agricultural Department has arranged for an examination of all the vines in the Foxton, Palmerston and surrounding districts. Mr Harnett, Government Vine Inspector, is now in the district and is making a house to house call, and a thorough examination of all the vineries and vineyards • with a view to eradicating the dreaded ; vine louse Phylloxera. So far no trace • of Phylloxera has been found in the •district.

The Mayof has asked us to mention that in compliance with the request of the Mayor of Palmerston, he would be prepared to receive anj' goods for the Auction Sale of Gifts fot 1 the Reiief Fund which Mr Montague has undertaken to Bell on the 24th of this month. Th'i Ro-j'ctnr J has Obiigh'f'ly furnished v-> with the following stati9tios j— For the quarter ending 31st December there! were 15 births, 3 deaths, and 3 marriages; fof the nonth of January there were 4 births, z deaths and 5 marriages. A reward is offered for the return of a sack containing portmanteau and 'lo f t>"<; list on the road between Foxton and Shannon.