NOTES ON CURRENT EVENTS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IX, Issue 31, 7 January 1885, Page 2

NOTES ON CURRENT EVENTS.

There is a story current which goes to show that there are various ways of raising money for church purposes. Two church officers, m a locality which shall .be nameless, it is said, headed the subscription list with very handsome donations, the understanding being that they were not to be called upon to pay them. The faithful, of course, could not. do less than give m the spirit of bo noble an example, and bled freely. Some person who did not uuderstand business, with a zeal without knowledge weut to the above liberal donors, and wanted them to •♦■ stump up," and this demand brought about a denouement. A worthy church officer m Auckland some twenty years ago, adopted a less clumsy plau thau this. He headed the list m pensil, with a respectable amount, and when it had been returned filled up, carefully erased his name and contribution from the list. A good story is told about thn Duke of Cambridge, which possibly must be taken with a little salt. His name used to fignre to numerous public subscrpition lists, always £50. Some indiscret treasurer to a charity, who did not " know the ropes," applied at once for the £50. "What! "was the reply of his Grace, '• would you kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, and then it dawned upon the treasurer that he intended, unwittingly, to kill the " decoy bird."

, Although hundreds of women hold positions of financial trust m the United States, we (Albany Journal New York) have yet to hear of one of them being guilty of embezzlement or defalcation. The evidence clearly sustains the,position of those who believe that women are qualified— morally, physically, and intelectually—for the handling of money m stores or m banks. General Spinner, who first introduced a women into the United States Treasury, left on record a striking testimonial to the efficieacy and iutegsity of the sex, and no one ever had a better opportunity to study tho question than he, who at one time had one thousand women under bid direction engaged chiefly ia handling money. He testifies that they count more accurately and rapidly than men ; that their ability to detect counterfeits proved to be superior m almost every test ; that they were without an exception, honest, and were invariably more careful and painstaking m their work.

In the House of Lords recently, Lord Northbrook made a statement with respect to the strength of the British Navy. He said that it was intended to gradually increase the strength of the navy, so as to utilise- the most modern inventions, and -several new ironclads and new torpedo vessels would be commenced almost immediately. Earl Carnarvon characterised the proposals of the Government as wholly inadequate. Lord Sidmouth referred to the ; Russian designs upon Australia, and condemned the Government for ret'nsing to recognise colonial warships as a portion of the British navy. .Lord Northbrook, m reply, denied that the Government had ignored the efforts of the colonies with regard to the naval defence force. In the House of Commons, Mr Chaplin, the Conservative member for Midlothian, denounced the proposals of the Government as stated by Lord Noithbrook, and pointed out that the experience of *the Victorian torpedo boat Guilders on the voyage from England to Melbourne had proved that such boats were unfit for long sea voyages. !