CURRENT TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 180, 9 November 1910, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

THE BEAUTIFYING ASSOCIATION. There is no more worthy "hobby" than , that of catering to the aesthetic side of human nature. We are all insensibly influenced for good by the beautiful in nature. With a little assistance nature is willing to work for us surprisingly. New Plymouth is specially favored by nature, and to the person who cares to ask her assistance she is infinitely kind. There exists in this town a small body of devoted citizens who, because they understand the essential need of catering to the human passion for the good and beautiful, have set about assisting nature. The achievements of the Beautifying Association have notably catered to this craving. The beautifying of Baines' Terrace, formerly a by no means attractive place, is a monument to hobbyisni." The use of this attractive place is the reward the devoted citizens who were responsible for the metamorphosis desire. The work that is at present being undertaken on Marsland Hill is due to the enthusiasm of the Association, and it is especially admirable that this commanding hill should have engaged the attention which it will repay to citizens and visitors for all time. The beautifying of any portion of the earth is a noble work, and the Association's decision to turn its attention to Fort Niger is highly commendable. It is especially appropriate that the garden party which on Thursday is being held to augment the funds of the Association should be held at "Aotea," one of the picture spots of the district. A commendable admiration of nature's handiwork is the reason why the Messrs. Sole have spent so much "time and care in preserving the beauties of "Aotea." The example of citizens who cater to the natural instinct for the beautiful is worthy of imitation and praise. Because we know that the people of any town which is naturally and artistically picturesque are influenced for good by its beauties, we cordially commend to the public the name of the Beautifying Association, and heartily wish for the success of Thursday's function.

A BLACK OUTLOOK. The labor outlook in Great Britain is unsatisfactory, some very extensive disputes bein™ threatened or actually in progress. The trouble between the shipbuilders and the boilermakers has not been settled, the rank and file of several of the big railway companies are muttering threats of strikes, the spirit of revolt] is developing fast among the Welsh coal miners, and Lancashire is in peril of a general lock-out of cotton operatives. The situation is made woTse by the fact that many of the labor unions are showing a j tendency to ignore their agreements with the employers and to repudiate arbitration awards. "Perhaps the most serious danger," writes the London correspondent of the Lyttelton Times, "lies in Lancashire, where a local dispute between the Cotton Masters' Association and the Card-room Workers' Amalgamation threatens to bring forth a general lockout. The matter at issue between the parties appears to outsiders to be far too trumpery an affair to cause such a catastrophe as a general lock-out, but unfortunately it would suit the books of many mill-owners to close down for a month just now. The industry is in a terribly depressed state, and the price of raw' cotton to-day is nearly as high as it was when Mr. Seelly startled the world with his cornering! opera-tions in 1904. A general stoppage for a month would, it is said, be -quite /agreeable to the majority of mill-owners, and the fear is that if the card-room workers prove obdurate the masters will find it inconvenient to make a mountain out of a molehill and declare a lock-out." In Wales, adds the correspondent, the coal miners are ripe for a quarrel, and only the influence of certain tried arid trusted leaders has kept the men in several of the leading collieries from striking. There seems, in fact, 'Jo be a general unrest in labor circles in the Mother Country, though the reason why it should appear at the present time is not obvious. Apparently the infection is in the air.