CURRENT TOPICS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 224, 16 January 1911, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS

A GREAT MEAT INDUSTRY. The discovery tnat the "Tantanoola tiger," which has made flocks disappear during many years, has only two legs and carries ii butcher's knifc/is of interest for many reasons, and serves to indicate the vastness of the pastoral lands in Australia, and the fact that one might wander for years and not find u secret slaughtering camp. It further is useful as showing that men may disappear just as easily as sheep, for the great backcountry of Australia has innumerable mysteries, hundreds of which are never revealed, and never can be. Australia is a land that lends itself admirably to those pursuits that are wild and lawless and dangerous. The hunted criminal may gain the sanctuary of the bush, the defaulting business man may disappear from the ken of the-police (or his creditors) ; the discredited- of all nations push into the interior far from the haunts of man, and are no more seen. The lack of curiosity in the bushman of the backblocks is helpful. As a rule he does not enquire into the life's history of his mates, and he frequently does not even know their names. Every circumstance tends to draw a veil over past events. The work of the "Tantanoola tiger" is a strong reminder of the curly pastoral history of the Commonwealth, the great old spacious days before fences came, before tracks came, before rabbits arrived. The "tiger's" work reminds one that those "who left their country for their country's good" did not always reform on release, that the fortunes of many nowaday wealthy Australians came as a result of the annexation of "clear-skins" —and that old: habit is difficult to overcome. Indeed, the gentle annexation of "clearskins" is not an unknown business even in 191'], and many a. small ''selector" dummying for the big squatter could not readily explain how he obtained his income. The only wonder is that cattle, horse and sheep thefts are not more numerous than they are, for the days when the horsestealer was hanged out of hand are gone, and Australia is just as big as it used to be and the increase of population has not been overwhelming. Maybe for the next fifty years the industry of beast thieving will thrive, for it is easy enough to lost' a mob of sheep in any oi the States, ami-will continue to be. Even in New Zealand, which is not as extensive! as the Commonwealth, relatives of the '"Tantanoola tiger" may exist, and may defy capture for some time. The chief necessity for the success of a "tiger" is to hare a well-stocked station belonging to somebody else close at hand, and to be out of the beaten tracks of police officers.

ALL IS VANITY. It has been suggested that Auckland exsoldiers (always referred to for some unknown wnson as "contingeiiters") who served in Africa eight or ten years ago should ask the New Zealand commandant to accept them as a separate corps. Th? telegram giving this information mentions that a similar "'offer" made some time ago was taken no notice of. We sincerely hope that Mnjor-Oeneral (lodley will take no notice of the new offer. There can he no other reason than advertisement in the fresh move, the obvious idea being self-glorification over an incident that is ancient history, and much better forgotten. The assumption of these ex-soldiers is that they are of a superior brand to the ordinary volunteer, but we do not hesitate to say that any ex-soldicr who is too conceited tfl throw in his lot with an existing corns should not be allowed to serve at all. In a weak moment the Defence Department once accepted the services of the '"Dominion Scouts," a corps of horseless "mounted" infantry. The Dominion Scouts were a failure and an insult <to the service which weakly admitted, in giving them what they asked, that general service was not good enough for these exalted personages. Of course, the "Scouts" duly diminished and wore chiefly instrumental in demonstrating the use of spurs without horses. The man who wants to serve his country do.es not demand a special corps to demonstrate his patriotism. He simply rolls up and says: "Here I am; take me." There is but a small proportion of men who served in South Africa now in the volunteer service, and it would be well that the type of person who now demands a corps to himself, so to speak, should be told that he is not necessarily a better soldier than the last joined recruit. AYhy any m-.in who has had the good fortune to see active service should assume that he is a better man than he who has not is hard to understand. We sincerely hope that the commandant will point out to these men, whose present action is mere swagger, that they have always had the chance of being absorbed into the forces. If they have not taken it, it has been because the limelight is of inferior power and their vanity superlative. We confidently predict that Mnjor-Oeneral Ciodley wall have nono of this class of conceit in the forces.

THE MONEY MARKET. The current issue of the Trade Review remarks:—"There is very little change noticeable in iiininciiil conditions here since our last issue. The import and export returns to December SI are not yet available, but we expect to see a decided increase in imports for the quarter, while on the other hand our staple products are going forward freely and realising, on ine whole, sati*f;v.-torv prices; from the lea [let published by the Department. of Agriculture and Commerce we see that the exports of our principal lines of produce for the December quarter show an increase of nearly £"2,(lo.ooo—between 5 and 0 per cent.Ais compared with the same period a year ngo. SI ill the December quarter is a comparatively light one for exports, and considerably affected by the state of the season, ivhich, in this ease, is a little backward, and it is usual to see an excess of imports, which is likely to be the case on this occasion also. The hanking returns for the December quarter are not complete, but, 'from partial particulars before us we see that in three out of the five banks tin re is an increase of advance-; of a little over a million on the September quarter, and some on the previous D-.cem-bnr quarler. tin th" nlher band dci'ivdls, though showimra. slight -hrinkarje in the quarter, as i- u-ual at this time of the year, exhibit an increase of some £1,1a1),000 iu the year. The supply of capital

profitable investment is plentiful, .but there an; still complaints of want of coulideuee. Interest rates for loans on mortgage on first-class securities rule from 4'/. to ii ]>er cent,, but lenders arc cautious as to the valuation of properties."