The Daily News THURSAY, MARCH 21. MATTERS OF MOMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 59, 21 March 1907, Page 2

The Daily News THURSAY, MARCH 21. MATTERS OF MOMENT.

Now heaven bo praised, for Alfonso King of Spain has got over his attack of influenza! A week or so ago this liionareh, wlio isn't of the least consequence to ns, had "a slight indisposition, supposed in be influenza." This tremendous news was cable.! all over the world, juso like that other famous news item last year, which said that the Prince of Wales was suffering from a boil. Now we are expected to throw up our arms and sing "Viva" or some other joyous word' because Alfonso has recovered from his royal "llu." Then consider the enormous importance of the cabled news item informing the earth that a British peer had been guilty of a fraudulent trick by wh:ch lie is alleged to have swindled a iirm of pawnbrokers. As all evidence of the d'ecay of the nobility the item may have some interes:,' but why « "noble" lord's little swindle should come to us per cable, when Wi'lium Sykes might break into half-a-dozen l.oiidon houses without any attempt being ina.de to cable (lie tie\i>. i-* one of those tilings not understanded ot the people. The importance of any act is apparently determined by the import - mice of the person pertorming the act. Mellia sprains her ankle. The only persons re-illy concerned are (he folks who

have paid a very large sum of money to hear the diva siug, Mclba can t sing per cable, so why inflict her foot on us'; John .Jones may'fall oil' the dome of St. Paul's, but we don't hear about it. It doesn't matter to us. Jlcllia's ankle, the Prince of Wale's boil, or the influenza of the King of Spain do not matter to us. Another cable, evidently of vast importance to tue colonies in the opinion of the cable man, is that one which states that the Kev. Thomas Spurgeon lias resigned his place in the London Tabernacle, presumably because he has had dissentions with his congregation. What do we want to know about the rowa in a London church? We have rows in many churches in New Zealand, j There have been rows in churches from the dawn of Christendom, and the condition is almost as common as ragwort

or briers. Why don't we inflict our little parochial squabbles on the London public? Then we hail yesterday morning particulars cabled from Melbourne of the working of the domestic question there. House-boys and house-men arc taking the places'of female servants in many private and large boarding houses. How momentous! This infliction is bad enough, fo be sure, but we might have been spared (lie cable-man's own opinion of the question expressed in the following sentence:—"The contention is often heard that every Australian should lie a citizen-soldier, but what kind of a warrior would a man make who, when the trumpet called, rushed from the bed-making and the dusting to meet the enemy knocking at his country's gates!" What have we done to deserve the treatment continually meted out to us by the cable people?