HERE AND THERE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 59, 15 May 1907, Page 4

HERE AND THERE.

A rag-picker was recently arrested at Versailles (France) for having kept his wife for two years chained in a mall hole in the Forest of Versailles. The hole, which was thatched with Sifitw' was two feet deep, four feet broad, and six feet long.

The Hon. J. A. Millar, speaking at a banquet at Auckland, deprecated the cry "North v. South,'' and declared Unit the settlement of the North ws only one-third of what it should be. Further, sctilement was in the interest of the whole colony. Referring to the large surplus, Air Millar said be might be asked why the Government did Hot do more with the money. The Government had to take care that the expenditure did not exceed the revenue. There was no reasonable cause for apprehension as to the falling-oil' of the prosperity ot the colony. Referring to the Imperial Conference, lie said ii was highly satisfactory to know that this little colony could s.'iul a man who, mixing with the master minds of the Umpire, would yet be referred to by the leaders of Hie Umpire as putting forward more practical suggestions than any other. Respecting'trade with Great Britain, lie said if the liri-ish Government did tv.t wake up it would iind colonial trade. going into other channels.

A thrilling story of the privations of. a wrecked ship's crew is contained in a mail story from Singapore, which has been received in London. According to the story, a vessel with a crew or' eight Chinamen sailed from Singapo'-e about live weeks ago. The vessel was badly damaged. in a terrific gale, and for three days the sailors clung to the rigging to save themselves from being i washed overboard. On the third day the vessel went to pieces on a barrai uninhabited island, where there was uo food but shellfish. The crew spent three week there, enduring great privations and suffering intensely from hunger and thirst. When death seemed certain if they remained, three them constructed a raft of bamboo, and put to sea in the chance of being picked up by a passing steamer and bring help to their comrades. They drifted live days without seeing a sail, and on the six'th day they were picked up more dead than alive by the Nan Sang, ot Hongkong. They could not then give any coherent instructions which would lead to the discovery of the island on which their companions were cast away. It is feared all help of saving these will

A London payer remarks:—"The New Zealand Premier's daughter is becoming <(iiito a globe-trotter. Last year Miss Ward accompanied her father to tile Postal Conference in Rome, this year she lias come agan with her father ami mother to take part in the Colonial Conference festivities. Last year, when returning by way of America, Miss Ward came in for as great a share ci attention from American newspapers : s her distinguished father. Her charming looks and manner afforded columns to the descriptive reporter, and her photograph was published in innumerable American journals.,

Flax owners ad others who objected to the Chief Fibre Expert being ssiit an nn educative expedition to St. Helena may not be uninterested in the following paragraph from the Melbourne Argus:—"As satisfactory progress i- being made with the cultivation of experimental plots of New Zealand flax by the Department of Agriculture, it lias boon determined to test the possibilitie.- of the industry on a larger scale, and to day the director of agriculture (l)r Cherry) with the departmental expert (Mr Knight) and the trustees of the l.eongatha Labor Colony, will pay a visit to the colony, to select an area ol 50 acres, which it is intended to cult ivate. A block of 10 acres, put cultivation last year, is reported to tie looking very well. Tua crop off the larger block to be sown with youag plant* this year will, when the plant is ready for cutting, give a test on a commercial basis of the vane of the industry. If it proves as successful 'tis hoped, there is said to be a considerable area in different parts of the Slate which may be made more productive than at present. It will bo three or four years before the crop can be taken oil.''

Wild dear and chamois aiv licing captured in the canton of (Irison , Switzerland, like tame sheep. Tin; deep snow that lias fallen in tin- Alps thiyear li;ih deprived the unfortunate animals of food, and tlicv are entering villages in a starving condition in search of food, in and around the villages '-:r Prattigan, liusserein, and SurauHiack, the peasants have walked up to the famished deer and chamois, lifted the minto sledge, and taken them home. Dozens of dead animals have been found on the skirts of the villages. The cantonal authorities have issued an order prohibiting the shouting or the killing of the animals, otherwise they would be exterminated. Sportsmen, however, are buying hay and having it placed in (he mountains whereever traces of the animals can be found in the snow.

An electric tram, crowded with passengers, was seized in Forty-second si.. New York - , recently h~ John Kaivtendiek, a runaway thief, in the hope of cscapting capture by the police, lvirstendiek, who was being chased by an excited crowd of police and pedestrians, jumped on the car, swept aside the conductor, tumbled the motorinan overboard, and started the car at full ipetd. Several passengers tried to interefere, but were beaten Oil' with the controller handle by Karstcndick. Several men jumped oil' into the snow, and the women passengers screamed. Suddenly the ear was brought to a violent halt, cra-hing into a snow-carl. The pas sengcrs were thrown jnlo a heap on the Moor, and Karstcndick was hurled from the motor. Though, .-.everly hurt, Karstcndick made a desperate effort to escape but wase ap;i,is b,- three policemen after a hard light.

Kui' Of the heroes of the hour in N'ew York, Ui-trie. Attorney William 'l. Jerome, is one of those marvellous men which America produces so richly lor the consumption of wonder lovers elsewhere. According to his latest bio grapher, he eclipses all living spellbinders. Ceopl,. are told tint 'this new Savonarola, this pnrger of modern jomorrah, onlv needs (~ <. n tor ;l |,.,-.| where other "spell-binders are at wo'i-k in order to reduce them i 0 'silence. The audience iu-dst on hearing him alone "The man," says the biogr.ipher. "for whom the people have been waiting to speak. He dues not wear til" frock - coat of ora.ory, he does not "csliuv and his hands are probably i„ hi, ~„,. kels. But he looks straight „i !iiau'licncc with a pair of wniidcrfuilv cool and steady eyes behind his glares.His words, it is said, come rather sl-i,v-l.v with a "sort of'iiensitv-that has ho. thing to do with the trek's of the plat, form speaker. As {,,. approaches tl„. parlfcciilir message which In- ins fulthat evening, his words come -ilmosraspingly. lie is giving his hearers'.', few minutes of the plainest kind of talkon some vital point which evervboilv else is dodging. And when he has put inio words >ome.liin;; which nine oir of ten of his hearers have felt in their hearts but never voiced, (hey respond Willi such cheers as all Tammany's.,,,,,, glemen could not have organised before "' It seems that -the District Attorney j s the present moment riding on the top ()f a moral wave that is sweeping virtue into the place of vice in Ilie 'iigi, ~ii l(, , j of New York.

ANOTHER LAND PROPOSAL.

"Mil UASSEY'S CTTEiIANCJi At New Plymouth Hie other day Jlv \V. ]•'. -\las-oy, Leader of tlie Opposition, revived mi old proposal with which Jlr (Job-man Phillips, of ihe Wairarapu, lias been closely identified for a score ot years. Shortly, -Mr Massoy desires to "see New Zealand copying this French law, by which the estate of a man is distributed, at his .loath, in equal shaveamong his children. • .On .Saturday, Jlr Hiillips gave his opinions on this subject to a Post report t. He explained that he had brought his ideas about family sub-division of land before all the Premiers who had held oliiee ill -New Zealand during the past twenty years, and hud also eommunicat o'd witli'jlr Jlassey on this subject. ''l am glad to see that the propo-al has been brought before the colony,'' remarked ilr Phillips, "because in my opinion it will be a way out of the-pre-sent embroglio upon the land uucslion. The Hon. If. JlcNab's proposals are nor ! understood by the people of -New Zealand. The French ystem is simple, and will lie readily understood when I say tiiat r-ince J7!W landowners in Frame have lucreised from i.511,0U0 to ."),500 000. The principle of peasant proprie.orship i is ihat land is divided eompiil-oi-ily ui niong tile deceased holder's children, share ami share alike.

"It may be thai France has made the mistake of too minute a sub-divbiou; the complaint is chat tin: areas of land are too small. In New Zealand we should not have this complaint for three generations or a hundred years, because the land here is in areas too larg. Sir John Jk-Kcimc and the late Mr tieddou, in my opinion, made the mistake of not taking the French precedent, into -recount. I sent both of them my Bill for compulsory subdivision on the French model, and had they followed my course of historic reading, J dont think they would ever have introduced ihe Land for Settlements Act. By reducing matters to an absurdity, we can see in the Australian States how badly the Land for Settlements Act is working by the Government increasing the price of land against itself. Jt would have been much better had compulsory subdivision at death been placed on the Statute Book in place of compulsory subdivision during life. The price of land must rise against auy purchasing body which goes into the market with half a million of money to buy. "I have never proposed to divide any

areas into see:, ions below a hundred acres in New Zealand. In that direction I should limit the French law. As to the case of bacelllors holding a area, say up to £50.000 or .tIOO.OOO limit, that need not trouble ihe public. Areas so held will prove safety brakes

against the too intense sbdivision whien the iron law of compulsory subdivision at death brings on any nation. They will l)e ihe reserves for Ihe next gen-'r-ation to subdivide.

"Regarding freehold and leasehold tenures, history takes very slightly into consideration cither cry. We cannot trust the Stale with Ihe lands, neither can we trust the people. Unlimited freehold means the grasping of individuals; State ownerships means ihe enslavement of a nation. It is absolutely neces ary, as the leaders of the great French lievolution realised, to place the subdivision of the land apart from the State and apart from the people. No harm can conic from a mans children taking the land at his death, and no better means can be found of subdividing the territory of any people. It was the law of Anglo-Saxons for six hundr.n! years before the Nonuiin Conquest, and the great I'ope Gregory (Uililcbiand) has really brought all our troubles upon us by instituting feudal owner.-hip, ami the law of primogeniture by which lauds have accumulated as we iin-d them in England, Ireland, and Scotland. It is the antithesis oftlie law of subdivision at death, it is something to prevent the right of one to inherit, and so 10 accumulate, that we want in New Zealand. It is to curtail the power of capital 111 it compulsory subdivision at death must come in. Directly Yandcrbilt sub divided his money among his children his power to do immense evil was lessened 1 greatly doubt whether the power ot capital in trusts and business undertakings will not also be limited by any legislation instituting compulsory subdivision of a man's money among bis children. 1 once i bought of allowing pi rent the right of retaining their control ov-ir their children by limiting tile subdivision to a certain number, but imfoiu.,,. ately the eo-t of living has so increased in New Zealand Unit families are being limited—hi many cafes tit av are onl'v one or two children lo inherit. Therefore compulsory subdivision mus. n iic at death without limitation, except as to area. Ju tie. Australian continent J would limit this iron and admirable law to the water districts, not to desert lands.

"lii Kngland this i iUV nns ~„],,,, fov 1000 years in Kent, ami is known as gavelkind, i n the jaw which ruled the Germanic nations and tribes far centuries before the Anglo-Saxon conquest of Britain."