CURRENT TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 230, 17 February 1913, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

TUE QUESTION OF QUESTIONS. When all the minor questions that feriouslv excite the politician but do not touch any of the living and enduringinterests of the country are catalogued and put aside, there remains but a single great subject that may seriously appeal to the nation and claim its undivided attention. Thai que^tion is the settlement of the land. It has certainly been the subject of a tremendous amount of violent, and clamorous contention by successive Governments, but all the clamor and uproar bus, comparatively speaking, resulted in very little of solid or lasting benefit to the country. Work of an effective and practical nature has been thrust aside as of 110 consequence whatever, and politicians fumed and frothed and fought over theoretical questions of tenure, while those who wanted land could get it on 110 tenure whatever. There cannot be a large population, there cannot bp industrial advancement, or prosperity, 1101' a system of national defence worth speaking of until the waste lands of the country are brought under cultivation and a contented and industrious farming population has been created. The settlement of the land must, precede all other questions. Waimale Witness.

•T.WAX'S XERI) OF AX OUTLET. Discussing tlx? White Australia policy, the London Daily Kxpress, in a recent editorial, said: Australia is a wliito mails luad to-day. but there is much more hind Mian whiie man. X'ow the Ansi niliaiH an' beginning to fenr that Mir yellow liiiillis coveting what the while man owns hut /does not use. Japan needs an outlet for her vast and ever-increasing population. Tile spirit of .Tapuu in (lie 20th century is comparable to Jjie spirit of Elizabethan England, and her necessities are much the same. Certainly .Tapan is Great OBritain's ;illy, and her loyal ally. Tfut. though it may he wrong,'it is iiiiman to covet your neighbor's and your ally's possessions when you want them very badly yourself—iind treaties are made to be liroken. Japan has overwhelming need for colonies. Australia is evidently her ideal colony. She is strong, warlike and—we say it with no offence and no self-righteousness -never too scrupulous, and always tireless in seeking her own ends. We. see nothing improbable, in the stories of persistent and thorough Japanese espionage in Australia. We do not consider it impossible that Japan may one day seok to acquire the island continent. _ The first duty of Australian statesmen, is to encourage European emigration, to attract capital, to build up their country economically and numerically. Universal service 'is already practically enforced. A nnvv must be constructed. Then the Mother Country's part begins. We think to-day onlv'of the Hennan peril. We may' one day liave to deal with the yellow peril.

THE LOAN* A heavy responsibility faced the Minister of Finance (the Hon. James Allen) when he left for London to arrange a new loan. He was faced with the'"facts that there was lit (!o prospect: of the rate of interest falling, and that the Dominion had considerable financial obligations to discharge. Li addition to obtaining funds for the prosecution of new undertakings. he had to make provision for the renewal of loans maturing during this year. They were of no Mall amount. The only amount re(|iiiring renewal during the current, financial year is one of £IOO.OOO. due on March 31, During the year 101.1-1-1 loans amounting to £1.777.300 will mature. This amount: comprises C 1.250.000 held in London. -C100.700 in Australia, and £330,1100 in \ew Zealand. Of the amount falling due in London £.1.142.000 is of the £5,000.000 not. yet converted. The New Zealand amount was largely borrowed from the P.osl Office, which will no doubt renew the loan. rt is probable that the balance of the New Zealand indebtedness and the Australian loans will have to be discharged by money raised in London. The authorisations upon which Mr. Allen would operate included a new loan of £1,750.000 for public works authorised last rear. The b'llnnee of £74.000 of the Public Works loan of 1011 is st ill to he raised, and .CIOO.ffOO

are wanted for the development of the State coal mines. The amount which the Government proposes to borrow foi lands for settlement, advance* to settlers and to workers, lias not been announced. It looks us il' the underwriters will have to carry the bulk of the loan.

A SCOTT MEMORIAL Writes- Mr. J. A. Thompson, M.P., to the Dominion: —The eloquent appeal by Captain Scott for an adequate provision of support for those dependent, on him and his gall ant companions will not, he heard unavailingly by patriotic Britons the world over, and, least of all, in Nev Zealand. While, there k no fear on this account,, there is a danger that just or account of the personal sympathy with the wives and families of the brave explorers, the scientific work whic!i Captain Scott had so much to heart will he starved for hick of funds. The collection of observations and specimens is only the first part of this work, and the subsequent working up of this material and the publication of the results in book form will cost many thousands of pounds. Naturally the scientists on the expedition will not care to raise this question at present from a fear of jeopardising Mrs. Scott's interests, and meanwhile they must work on under con siderable difficulties, and probably without any assurance of their salaries. Out first duty to Captain Scott as a nation is to carry out his last, wishes, but it is equally our duty to ensure that the valuable scientific work which he and his companions have done shall not tie lost. I would therefore suggest that a subscription list he opened for a Scott memorial, on which the first claim y/ill he the proper provision for the relatives of those who have perished, and the second claim will he the finishing of the labors that Captain Scott has begun. If any funds are left over, as there probably will be, they might ho used for erecting further memorials of a suitable nature to the memory of the gallant dead.

LATE MR. STEAD AND THE GEXEKAL. Tim current number nf the Fortnightly Review contains an appreciation of the late General Booth hy the late Mr. W. T. Stead, a curious instance of posthumous publication which would be inlcreating even if the writer and his subject did not occupy such prominent places in tlw memory of the nation. After paying an eloquent tribute to the great evangelist's work. Mr. Stead goes on to say something of the late General's personal characteristics. ''General Booth, immoderate in l'ibor, lias been most temperate in food and drink. . . Tie has all his life been an absolute abstainer. At one time in his history he made, up for ibis by the copiousness of his libations of tea. . . . Tt is said that he rivalled even Dr. Johnson in the number of cups of tea which he would consume . at a sitting. Of recent years he lias been saved from the inordinate use of tea, I have not seen him exceed a cup or two for many years past." 'Hie charge of intolerance is one that could never have been justly brought against the General. "No one ever hears General Booth say a disrespectful word of any 'other system of religion: this is especially' true of the "Roman Church. . . .

Of the poor, hard-working Roman priest, in the slums of our great cities, T have always heard General Booth speak in terms of enthusiastic admiration." Mr. Stead, as well he might, found in General Booth's keen sense of humor one of the evangelist's most useful equip nifts. "No one," he wrote, '"loves a good stpry better—no one, not even Mr. Bryan, tells a story better. He said to me at one time, with a twinkle in his eyes: 'lf you only knew what expositions I receive from some good folks because I make my audience laugh; but I cannot do without'a little hmro'- now and then.'" The two men lint! rvn/nv gifts in common, and it seems peculiarly fitting that tliev should be associated as they are in the columns of the Fortnightly.