CURRENT TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 144, 27 September 1910, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

FACING A PROBLEM. The torrent'of people who pour from tih'O country to- the city, and therefore leave fewer folk to supply the needs of the world, constitutes a problem that all countries are facing. The reason why country youngsters leave the country for the town, is thait in the past, life in remote regions has spelt dullness and drudgery. There is no question that lack of social life, lack of modern facilities, lack of expert interest in tillage have all contributed to the decimation of the' countryside. In countries where the urgent necessity is for tillers of the soil it is essential that the potential farmer should be caught young, and the general movement nowadays is to so interest the youth of the country in the greatest of'all pursuits—the production of necessities—that they may recognise tihe nobility of the calling and be convinced that nothing promises a better return for thie expenditure of money, knowledge and enterprise than the land. Australia is only , now 'beginning to realise that it must not produce merely a population trained to town pursuits, and the Mother State has already instituted splendid schools for the thorough training of the sons of farmers.. The boy is being made to see the beauty and wonder of production, to understand that it is a business in which as great."eminence may be attained as in any other calling on earth But better still than this, city youths are 'being garnered in, for distribution of people of the vast spaces of Australia is the great need of the Commonwealth. At the State farms there are to be schools for apprentices. At each of those schools provision will be made for twenty-four boys, and at the viticultural stations, and in the fruitgrowing departments, there are to ( be ten boys each. Many of the apprentices on these State farms will Ibe boys from England), brought cut under tihe various ..fchemes now in operation, and the idea is to give the lads such a grounding in the working of farming _ that they may be turned out efficient workers, able to command a higher price for their services than they could otherwise expect to do* But this, of course, is not the only thing essential to make life on the ' land more attractive ■to young people. America wants farmers badly, and therefore provides rural facilities that partially —except in remote parts—make social life possible. Farmers' institutions are common, and the system of rural ' telephony is spreading rapidly. Postal and parcels delivery of a dependable kind is considered 'to be a remarkable help, and in this regard New Zealand is miuoh in advance of what might reasonably be expected in a sparsely people country, dose settlement dissipates most of the inconveniences common to country life, 1 but the obvious need is to induce /the 'children of settlers to take so much interest in the land as to regain on it, for their own benefit and the benefit of tihe country in which they live. THE CHEESE OUTLOOK. ' We think the prospects for New , Zealand cheese for the coming season are favorable (says Dalgiety's "Review"). The popularity of this article in the trade has increased considerably, and there is now a much widter outlet for it than ever before. The improvement in quality and flavor, the generally satisfactory Condition, and the uniformly high standard of the great bulk of the arrivals during the season just closed have won over many buyers who 'hitherto had given Canadian a strong preference, and the Convincing proof of the favor in wihich New Zealand is' held is the fact that the exceptionally large quantities received found a ready sale at good prices, although, on the whole, tihe enquiry for cheesie has not been active. The statistics of tine 1i909-10 seasons are:—Total receipts, September-August, 1006-7, 147,211 orates; 1007-8, 203,273 crates; 1008-9, 265,420 crates; Septejn'ber ito dtote, 1909-10, 350,774 crates. On the other 'hand, shipments from the United States have concurrently fallen eon: siderably, from Canada haive also shrunk slightly, and the general . indications point to a further decline in shipments from these .two countries, especially from ■tihe United States'; consequently tihie out: look for New Zealand exports is certainly emcoturagMig. The exact figures are: United States, 1907, 125,358 cwt; 1008, 138,492 cwt; 1009, 64,-617 cwt. Canada, 1907, 1,687,789 cwt; 1908,, 1^08,565 cwt; 1009, 1',56f1,54fl cwt.

A DISHONEST PRACTICE. A dishonest practice, common to many legal firms, should ibe made 'illegal. Many people place the collection of accounts in the hands of lawyers. The .lawyers' letters of demand contain the following:— "Unless this amount, together with 6s Bd, my costs, be paid," etc. The average periston does not know that this is pure 'bluff, and! that if the "oasits" are paid sheer robbery. The person who is written 'to has not employed the lawyer, and is therefore not in his debt. The lawyer charges his client for the letter of demand, and therefore quite dishonestly endeavours to obtain 6s 8d for keeping his typewriter employed for thirty secondla. If the letter of demand contains a threat of Jegal proceedings, which is reasonable enough, to -withhold these proceedings the lawyer desires to charge someibody else's debtor 6s Bd. We have no hesitation in stating that no le>°ul luminary who goes in for this dishonest practice deserves to shine.