CURRENT TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 261, 14 March 1911, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

THE CORONATION PAGEANT. On the day that King George is crowned there will lie in London an unexampled display of the physical might of Britain. On every previous occasion of the kind the greatness of the country has not been emphasised in procession by evidences of-tlie constructive capacity of the people, but by the destructive element. State pageants, not only in England but in other countries, generally resolve themselves into gorgeous military displays, arid it is evident that King George's Coronation pageant will follow precedent. In colonial contributions to Coronation pageantry there is no attempt at anything but military display. The National Peace Council approached the Earl Marshal suggesting that the display of peaceful arts in the pageant would be as worthy as the display of martial power. Although the power of Britain has been won by force of arms, it is Britain's incomparable trade and the peaceful arts she follows which have given her her place in the forefront of the nations. It is a little incongruous that at the Coronation of King Edward the Peacemaker a warlike display was the only permissible demonstration, and that in honoring a still milder monarch the nation sticks to ancient precedent and makes London an amied camp. The Earl Marshal has decided that it is impossible to permit the power of Britain in the peaceful arts, showing that they are considered to be insignificant in comparison to military magnificence and opulent aggressiveness.

COUNTING THE PEOPLE. On April 2 the census will be taken. At the taking of each successive census improvements are instituted by which the State obtains voluminous information of immense value. The average householder is a little appalled by the number of questions he is asked to answer in a census paper, but the statistics tabulated under the complete system now in operation are of the first utility. The householder has to set out in the various columns the names of the people who passed the night of Sunday, April 2, undei; his roof, or arrived there on the Monday morning without having been included elsewhere. lie must also state their sex, age last birthday, whether married, widow or widower, divorced or never married, how long he or she has been married, the number of children living and dead, the occupation of the various inmates, whether they are employers or employees, if they have been unemployed for more than a week, if he or she is totally blind, deaf and dumb, imbecile or feeble-minded, the country of birth, the degree of education, whether receiving education, aud if so, at what class of school. As to religious denominations, the householder must not, lie is told, simply describe anyone as a Protestant, Methodist or Catholic, for instance. He must give the exact title of the tfcnomination to which ttu buloiigs, and write against the thUIH'S of children the religion in which it is intended they arc to be brought up. If the person is a Freethinker, or of no denomination or religion, he must say so. If he object to state to what religious denomination he belongs he need merely write "object." The householder, who is responsible for the filling up of the form, has also to give a description of the dwelling, the amount of rent lie pays, the number of geese, ducks, fowls, turkeys, or other poultry that he keeps, the number of beehives, and the honey and beeswax produced during the year. Which, it will be admitted, is formidable enough, and will probably worry many folk not used to the filling in of exact documents. It would indeed be a kindness if the State varied its rule of leaving but one paper on each householder to lessen his despair should he spoil the terrible document. LARGE SALARIES. The decision of the United States Steel Trust some weeks ago to reduce the princely salary of its president from £20,000 to £IO,OOO a year gave rise to a good deal of discussion among financiers both in America and Great Britain. Some interesting opinions on the question of salaries were given to the Daily Mail by men connected with very large financial undertakings in London. One of them said that £IO,OOO or even £20,000 should not be regarded as the limit of value of the services of an organiser and controller who had to direct the operations and secure the profits of a business in which millions of capital were involved. Each case should be judged on its merits, because the ability and the foresight demanded varies very considerably. Another representative man expressed a different view, Under present conditions, he said, he thought £SOO or £OOO a year would be a reasonable limit to a man's earnings in the shape of salary. When his skill" and his efforts become worth more than that they sliould be remunerated, as they often were, by a percentage of the profits of the business lie controlled. The man who was worth a salary of £IO,OOO a .year was a man who for the sake of .the business should be one of its proprietors. In England salaries of £IOO,OOO are very few, though the number of large salaries is increasing steadily. Last year 202 employees in England received more than £SOOO each. Their total income was £ 105,000, giving them an average of over £BOOO. The managers of some of the great shipping concerns receive salaries ranging from £SOOO to £IO,OOO. Last year the shareholders of Messrs Vickers, Son and Maxim agreed to pay a pension of £OOOO for life to Colonel T. E. Vickers on his retirement from the position of managing director. Cabinet Ministers are among the highly paid men in Britain. Nine of them receive £SOOO each. The Lord Chancellor receives £IO,OOO, and the salaries of the Attor-ney-General and -Solicitor-General, both of whom receive large additional sums l are respectively £7OOO and £6OOO.