CURRENT TOPICS. "MUCH OBLIGED."

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 122, 1 September 1910, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

"MUCH OBLIGED."

j VOLUNTEER EXEMPTIONS. | A correspondent kindly sets us right in ; regard to ia suggestion made that citizen 1 soldiers are exempted from jury service | because it may (be necessary to call onj them for service during the sitting of a Court. He explains that the volunteer receives no pay, that he gives ranch time and some money to the State, and that the State in return grants him the very small return I>y way of exemption from jury service, fftie other benefits to the volunteer (who to secure them must he 111 uniform) are that he need pay no fees on a public wharf, a public ferry or at a public tollgate. In all, the returns by way of exemptions to the volunteers, as a recompense for service, are not large, and the correspondent points out that volunteers who understand the reason of their exemption fj-om jury service regard the exemption with some pride as a recognition of their services. As a matter of fact, there are always a sufficient number of men available for jiwy service I without calling on citizen, soldiers. '

Lord Kitchener's refusal of the post of . Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean has set history-hunters at work searching for other instances of great men who 1 have refused responsible positions. Some of their discoveries are interesting. ! Among them is the case of Lord .James of Hereford, who refused the Lord High I Chancellorship of England simply be- ! cause he disapproved of Mr. Gladstone's i policy. Dr. Randall Davidson, from pure modesty, declined the Archbishopric ofi Canterbury on the death of Dr. Benson, Jand in 1880, when Disraeli resigned, both] Earl Granville and the late Duke of ' Devonshire—then Marquis of Hartington '—refused. the office of Prime Minister. The position of Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland is generally regarded as one of the fashionable plums of the service, but when Lord John Russell offered it to Lord Palmerston it was declined with contempt as being ibeneath his dignity. I Even the splendid prize of Viceroy of I ! India has ibeen refused. The adverse ■ criticism by the suggested appointment ■ I of Sir Henry Norman led to his stating | that lie would not accept it. Colwlen rei fused the office of President of the Board | of Trade and a sea t in the Cabinet, and !Dr. Lingard, the eminent Catholic historian, waved aside the offer of a cardinal's red hat because he was unwilling to sacrifice his independence. George Washington, long after the hatchet incident, ' could have been King of America had he 1 liked, but he preferred a troubled de-

moeracy. At least one great Englishman has been superior to the charms of a dukedom. The late Marquis of Salisbury would not accept the strawberry leaves when they were offered to him on his laying down office for the last time. l Gladstone, too, refused to be an earl, and' Thomas Carl vie shook his head when Lord Beaconsfield pressed him to become a Knight Grand Cross of the Bath. He' preferred to remain plain "Tam." Further baelc in history there is the story of Oliver Cromwell refusing to accept' the kingship for fear of offending the republican party. It would be possible to multiply almost indefinitely the cases of men who have refused to have "greatness j thrust upon them," and it is gratifying to find that in a majority of cases the refusals have been due to either diplo- j matic or conscientious scruples, and thati many of those concerned have not hesi-l tated to sacrifice amlbition for the wel-j fare of their country. |

OUR PRODUCE AT HOME. | Discussing the National Dairy As-' sociation's marketing scheme, which was' referred to by Mr. Mills in his address here on Saturday, the Hawera Star asks, ''Should the change be made?" The paper then proceeds to say that so far as the existing system is concerned it appears as good as can be devised, except at the selling end. It seems pretty clear that since some factories sell outright consigning companies have the benefit of the outright buyers' influence at Jlome, for it is to the benefit of the latter to get the very highest price. On the other hand houses through whom consignments are sent naturally strive to do as well (or a fraction better) for their clients as other factories which sold outright, for agents naturally desire that they should be employed from' year to year. The firms which come here and make straight-out purchases really create a standard up to and above which houses of consignment must work' if they are to maintain their business,' so that the direct buyers, no matter what profit they may make over and above the price they give, act in a sense as value governors for the whole in-j dustry. Of course, discrepancies in the returns by various factories do occur, but it is obvious that if those discrepancies continued from year to year with-. out compensating and adjusting themselves, the great bulk of the trade would fall to the direct buyer, or to the con- j signing house as the case might be,'ac-l cording as either could show a sustain-! Ed advantage. That some factories al-l ways sell outright, while others regular-j Jy ship their produce Home on consign-! ment, suggests that the experience of; the past has been that neither form of disposal afforded any permanent and manifest advantage over the other. If trade hostility between buying and con-| signing firms were at all bitter, it is conceivable that the agent through whom the consignments were sent might] be prepared to deal rather liberally! with.the Home trade in order to prevent a rival from making a big haul over his shipments from New Zealand. . .It is very well known that the kind ol 1 tiling to which we have alluded very often happens when big concerns are I fighting for commercial pre-eminence.' Would co-operative selling avoid such a contingency? Could the selling end be co-operatively conducted as satisfactorily as the producing end? Is there enough evidence to show that the producers themselves could do as well as the established merchants who have their fingers firmly on the pulse of the Old World markets? There will still be selling costs. Would those costs be less than the agents' commissions and buyers' profits with which we are now familiar? In New Zealand, we will say, there is no competition. Would it be possible, as Mr. Mills suggests, to fix a standard price, week by week, in the! great centres at Home (where there is competition) as we now do in New Zealand? These are .questions which need careful consideration.