Rangitikei Advocate. THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 1907. SECOND EDITION. EDITORIAL NOTES.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXI, Issue 8790, 18 April 1907, Page 2

Rangitikei Advocate. THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 1907. SECOND EDITION. EDITORIAL NOTES.

AMONG some samples of paper which were recently received from Messrs Spicer, the well-known paper manufacturers, was a specimen of a now paper blanket. Made of rough surfaced, stout paper, the colour of ordinary woollen blankets the new blanket, it is claimed, .allows a free and healthy circulation of air, and affords the maximum of warmth. The price at'.which they can bo sold in England is 8d each for a single bed blanket and lOd each for a double bed blanket. With ordinary care the paper blanket should last a winter. 'lt is used either above the sheets or iu the folds ‘of a double blanket and should ho laid flat, and not tucked iu, so as to reduce the istraiu. After a few days’ use it i becomes -as soft as an ordinary ! blanket. Such a production should, | we think, have a very large sale, es- | pscially at a time when the price of wool is so high as to make it impossible for poor people to buy anything that can possibly be described as a woollen blanket. It seems possible that in time the progress of invention may “load to the nse of paper, or of some similar material, for purposes quite different from those to which wc have hitherto been accustomed. Everyone is' familiar paper or celluloid ; collars and cuffs, hut hitherto these articles have not attained any great popularity, and it is clear that some different material must ’be used before we roach the ideal condition when the washerwoman can be dis- - paused with and clothes thrown away as soon as they have been worn. . Possibly a more hopeful, field lies open to the inventor who can make some cheap form of plates and cups which need not boused more than once. Sucli an invention would save the housewife the daily toil of washing up, which consumes so many valuablejionrs, and would-

go far to solve the problem of domestic help. Even the process of clearing -the table would be marvellously simplified'; the four corners of the table cloth would be put together aud the cloth, with all the table ware inside, would bo taken out and a match applied. Some such developments as those mentioned above seem to offer a far more hopeful solution of domestic difficulties than all the absurd schemes for employing boys as cooks and housemaids, and might even be I expected to mitigate the ferocity of i the Domestic Helpers' Union.

ON one occasion ?when proposing a reduction in taxation the famous 'British Minister, Sir Robert Peel, made use of a striking phrase. He said that ho wished to leave an appreciable margin in the hands of the taxpayer so that the money might "fructify in the pockets of the people?" We should like this prase to be written deep' in the minds of ■our legislators, as it would make them more likely to realise the evil of heavy taxation and the folly of boasting'of .record surpluses, which merely show that' more has been extracted out of the pockets of taxpayers than was necessary. We can hardly suppose that Ministers have yet reached the stage at which they would publicly state that they can make better use of the money of the people than can be made by those who oarn it, yet their actions often seem to be guided by some such unadmitted motive. Much of the money left in the pockets of the taxpayer by remission of taxes will doubtless never fructify; it will be spent uuremunerativoly and on the indulgences of passing pleasures. But something will remain; and the fruit that it boars will have more than pecuniary yalue. The growth of an economical spirit, of forethought, self denial and -thrift, are among the products of a liboral fiscal policy, and for qualities such as these" there is need enough and to spare in New Zealand.

THE Colonial Conference has at last got fairly under weigh and the preliminary causes of friction api« s. to have been safely overcome. Sir Henry Campbell-Banuorman succeeded in pleasing all parties by his businesslike yet tactful address. The wounded dignity of the. Premiers who wished the British Prime Minister to preside was soothed by the assurance -that it was not a conference between Premiers and the Colonial Secretary but between Premiers and the .British Government tinder the ■presidency of the Secretary of .State for the Colonies, which was a very different matter. On the much-discussed question of preference his words were excellent. "Preference," he said, "must hold a prominent position. The Government are fully prepared to recognise the friendly action jiaken by some of the colonies and discuss the subject in the fullest and frankest manner. I hope an agreement will be arrived at on many points, and if regarding others we are compelled to differ, we shall differ in a fiiendly way, but with mutual respect for the ground and motives whereupon the differences are based." It is fully recogm?-:ed that; British Ministers are freetraders, and intend to remain so, theiei'ore polite utterances as to the value of proposals which they are not likely to accept, would have been insincere and out of place, The conduct of Sir William Lyne who, an uninvited guest attempted to take part in the proceedings of the Conference, and had to bo requested to withdraw, will hardly meet -with the approval of the people of Australia or of any country ( where brazen effrontery is not esteemed as a desii-vble quality in statesmen.