The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, January 28, 1915. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1353, 28 January 1915, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, January 28, 1915. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Accordin'!', lo reports appearing in our Wellington contemporaries it appears that there are a number of young fellows with criminal leanings in the reinforcement contingent at Treutham. Several have been arrested and charged with more or less serious crimes and handed over to the military authorities to be dealt with. Over-indulgence in liquor is responsible for a good deal of the mischief wrought. It naturally follows that out of two or three thousand young fellows there is a percentage of the blackguard element and these should, as far as possible, be weeded out. A young fellow who cannot control Ins Immoral instincts in such grave circumstances is better at home. Self-control and discipline are indispensable qualities for effective service in honour of the Flag and Empire.

An important judgment, as touching totalisator investments, was given at Christchurch on Tuesday by Mr Bailey, S.M. The case was one in which William Fenwick sought to recover from Keith Gunn the sum of £2u 9s, alleging that he gave Gunn £2 to invest on a horse at the New Brighton trots. The horse won, but Gunn only paid over the dividend on one £1 ticket, returning the remaining £1 to plaintiff. Defendent contended that the matter was left to the owner’s discretion, and the latter had only invested £l. Mr Bailey held that it was established that only £ 1 bad been invested, and plaintiff could not succeed. He also held that as the transaction between plaintiff and defendant was illegal, plaintiff could not recover under section 53 of the Gaming Act, 190 S.

A gkowinc; confidence la the outcome of the war is manifest in the utterances of writers, and some ot them even venture on cautious speculations as to the nature of the peace Europe may look for in the uear future. Mr Sidney Whitman writes in the December Fortnightly Review, under heading of “ The Blight of Prussian Autocracy.” Nopatcbednp peace is possible, he declares ; there is no half-way hailing house ou the road into which we have been forced. It is a struggle for ideals representing standards of life and conduct that are absolutely irreconcilable. In the American Secession War the double issue of Southern domination aud slavery was at stake, and the war only ended with the complete annihilation of the pretensions of the South. So also will it he again, the end is either the triumph ot Germany and the strangulation of Liberty, as conceived by the Anglo-Saxon race, or the emancipation of Europe from intolerable pretensions to be carried through with uuparalled deceit and brutalities aud the dawn of a new era of sanity aud goodwill towards our fellow men, whatever be their creed, clime, or level of civilisation.

WiiATiiVKK is said of the Australians may be takeu as true of New Zealanders (writes Captain Bean, official reporter with the Australian Expeditionary Force in Egypt). I have closely watched both. In physique one can see no difference between their men and ours. Both are much bigger than most of the Territorial regiments, and the cavalry being far bigger than the city-born infantry. In drill our men are perhaps smarter than the New Zealanders—'Certainly as well trained. In neatness and general appearance when on leave in town the New Zealanders are excellent. It is partly a matter of uniform. One would say the New Zealand cloth is probably even better than ours—a wonderfully good brownish woollen khaki. Their tunics fit fairly closely, and they retain their bright brass buttons and a streak of red or other colour in the hat bands and facings. ; These things are of doubtful military value, but possibly their effect on some of the men wearing them is worth reckoning with. Certainly the New Zealanders give the impression of keeping their uniform well. As to discipline, I have heard statements made on very high authority both ways, but I do not know that any real distinction can be drawn. The New Zealanders are mentioned on all hands as having looked particularly well. “ Well turned out, smart, splendidly mounted,” were some of the words used when they marched past General Sir John Maxwell, the commander of the troops in Egypt, to-day.