CURRENT TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 294, 6 May 1911, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

CONTINUOUS TELEPHONY. A petition is in local circulation, which, if signed bv telephone subscribers, will give New Plymouth a continuous telephone service.. The advantages of a continuous telephone service are patent to all, except those who ordinarily have no use for a telephone after business hours. The institution of the service, however, would merely raise tre price per subscriber . per year £l—a few pence per week. Every person has at some time had urgent occasion for instant communication during the hours when telephones are not available. The man who may not require to use a telephone at night very frequently will admit that the system would be of great use to many other people and occasionally to himself. At any rate, the institution of local continuous 'telephony would a distinct advance, 'to secure which selfish considerations might well be' set aside. The extra charge is so 'trifling spread over a year that it could not possibly be a serious consideration to any person or firm able to afford the installation of a telephone. New Plymouth promises to expand greatly, and the extension of the telephone system will ultimately become imperative. It will be a pity if now that a chance occurs of. introducing continuous telephony, objections to a trifling increase in the annual subscription make a very much needed extension impossible. As for the subscription itself, there is no doubt that the., present rates are altogether too high, and should be reduced to a point that. would permit almost every house being connected. But this is another matter which we may refer to again.

FISHERMEN AND LOYALTY. . Some time ago Britain woke up to the fact that tlie organisation of its fishermen, the hardiest and most fearless type of men the nation has, would be useful. The War Office wanted some mines laid, so that when the enemy came "nosing" round he would be blown sky-lugh. The War Office, in its wisdom, said that the best men for the job' were fishermen, and suggested that 300 of them should enrol as mine-layers. The War Office presupposed that the loyalty of these fishermen would make them rush to undertake the billet, leaving their fish to swim, and their families to look after themselves while they were loyally engaged. The point is that the fishermen have decided to keep on fishing and to let the mines "go hang." On which text a sermon about loyalty might be preached, but all that is going to happen is that the mines will be laid by navy men or coastal artillery. A definite and generous organisation and payment of coastal seafarers in Britain wouid give magnificent defence results, but there is a cheese-paring economy practised which suggests that service to one's country should be considered before service to one's family. The absence of compulsion in Britain robs it of its best material. In time of real stress the country calls on civil experts of all kinds to aid it, and pays them with the greatest generosity, but in time of preparation it expects the individual to impoverish himself and his dependents. Britain is better able to pay for skilled help than any country under the sky, but has so incurable a belief that the humble worker should be badly remunerated that her coastal boats are largely run by cheap foreigners and her harbor jobs arc refuges for tlie alien. New Zealand, which claims to have solved the defence problem, has never yet taken the advice of one of its disgusted commandants who strenuously advocated means for enlisting the numerous amphibian young men of New Zealand. In days to come there will be urgent necessity for men who can handle boats, and New Zealand will want such men as urgently as Britain.

OUR MOST IMPORTANT CROP. It is inferred that the complete New Zealand census returns will show a grave decline in the birth-rate. No means the State can adopt can be of any use in checking such a decline if individuals are determined that the race shall die. No one has yet given any satisfactory reason for the decline cither in Europe or Australasia. Preaching has effected no cure, and so nations which fear ultimate decay, knowing that no measures can assure an increased birth-rate, concentrate on saving the children they have. In New Zealand, as elsewhere, it has been necessary for science to come to the.aid of mothers in an endeavor to revive a disappearing instinct. Everywhere in this country devoted people are trying to teach civilised women the tilings the uncivilised woman has never forgotten. ISo it is cheering, seeing that the necessity for instruction exists in order to save babies, that Lady Islington has thrown herself into the work inaugurated by Lady Plunkct. Lady Islington lately remarked that she would rather praise her baby than be proficient in Euclid. It may be presumed that the average woman would rather

know how to save her baby's life tluin know all that Euclid, or anybody else, ever wrote. In a country where "equality of opportunity" and compulsory education are much prized institutions, it, is a little surprising that there should be any ignorance about thp most naturaland necessary of all functions and duties. The people who clear away the mists will do more for the nations than all the Parliaments of aid the King's dominions.