TARIFF REFORM.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 222, 7 February 1913, Page 4

TARIFF REFORM.

CIV JO LAXITY. A novi'l proposal which should serve to hearten the interest of pupils in the welfare of their school has been made by the director of the local Technical College. A meeting of householders will be held shortly for the purpose of electing three of their number to act as members of the Technical College Advisory Committee, and when the school gets going Mr. Gray proposes that the students should he asked to elect one of their own number (a fellow student) to represent them on the advisory body. This representation should impart a sense of greater responsibility to students, give them a. voice—however small —in the administration, and. above all, tend to make them take a lively interest in their work. This increased in- | terest on the part of the students should make up for some of the apathy on the part of their parents who, while not blind in a general way to the excellent manner in which the college is serving the community, are somewhat backward in helping in some practical connection. This was illustrated last year when a meeting of householders convened for tlie purpose of electing three representatives on the advisory committee lapsed for want of a quorum. Such laxity does not run in double harness with'publie-spiritedness. and it is to be hoped that there will be greater evidence of civic responsibility when this year's election takes place. Doubtless, if the privilege of appointing a quota of the members of the committee were denied to them the householders would be loud in complaint. They should arouse themselves from their lethargic inaction, even if only for the purpose of defending the principle of democratic institutions.

NOT FAOUGH GOLD.

There is a record demand for gold coins, and workers at the. London mint have had to put in extra time. Bank managers see in the remarkable withdrawing of gold from the tfanks signs of the habit of the age—the habit of spending money. "Never did pesple withdraw so much money," said a bank manager, ''and never, I feel sure, did they spend so much at Christmas as they are doing this year. Saving is very nearly a lost art; everyone considers it a duty to .spend and spend. A man's earning capacity remains unimpaired much longer to-day than formerly, and so long as a man is making money he will spend it. The sovereign and half-sovereign have ceased to bo regarded with reverence. Money simply exists to be got rid of. and those who have it make it fly."

LUCKY XEW ZEALAND!

Xew Zealand is a wholesome, clean, safe country. Hero we have no plague of flies, such as continually worry the patience nf the people of Sydney. Battalions of flies await around every corner, come at you in the open, and even pursue the tender-skinned all the way. Over here we have no blizzards or icestormings in mid-summer or terrific heat waves or months without rain or yearsold droughts. Our bush is secure from the poisonous snake and the stinging spider. Over here, too, we are not only living in a well-watered land: but we are well-papered in the best sense of the term. Paper for paper, New Zealand readers are much better served than Australian, readers. The result, is that the Xew Zealander is better informed than his cousin on the other side of the Taauian Sea. Our people need to take a course of reading Australian city and country newspapers to fully appreciate the service given them in every city and town from Auckland to Tnvercargill by the Xew Zealand Press Association in its cable and telegraphic services. Over here we are kept in daily touch with Australian affairs; over there it is the surprising exception to see even the tiniest item of Xew Zealand news in the daily papers. Decidedly, it is better to be a Xew Zealander and in Xew Zealand stay—most of the time. —Tom Mills, in Auckland Herald.