CURRENT TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 218, 14 March 1914, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

TWO PICTURES. Says the London DaHy News:—Mr. Sydney Holland is to be congratulated on the fact that he has succeeded in raising the £IOO,OOO for which he appealed to "meet the most pressing needs of the London Hospital." Theie are various morals that might be drawn. It throws an interesting light, for example, on such contentions as that the Insurance Act would destroy charity, ot the Budget of 1909 make it impossible. But the most instructive point about it is perhaps the extraordinary contrast between Mr. Sydney Holland's success and the Olympic Fund's failure. There can be no question about the reason of the latter. Mr. Holland raised £IOO,OOO with comparative ease, because the public thinks the support of hospitals are an essential public service. The Olympic Committee, with the most strenuous efforts, eould not raise more than £II,OOO, because the public thinks the encouragement of a sort of semi-pro-fessional athleticism is not worth while at all.

ARBITRATION. His Honor Mr. Justice Stringer, who has been appointed to succeed Mr. Justice Sim as President of the Arbitration Court, made a pronouncement on Tuesday which may be regarded as an indication of his views on the general principle of arbitration. He said that he fully agreed with Sir Joshua Williams that the Arbitration Court was a powerful instrument for the amelioration of the workers' conditions, and for'thc prevention of oppression. "But," he said, "you will agree with me that the mar. with the responsibility of controlling that instrument must be very cautious indeed, lest in his desire to ameliorate the workers' conditions he brings disaster on the industry on which the workers are dependent and causes ruin all round. I think the true principle for the Court is to give the worker the fullest benefits under the Act which are consistent with the healthy and uninterrupted progress of the industries of th« Dominion."

BUSH-SICKNESS. The experiments that are being conducted by Mr. C. J. Realces, of the Veterinary Division of the Agricultural Department, on the bush-sick country of the north, have arrived at an interesting stage. In the current number of the Journal of Agriculture, Mr. Reakes gives details of the experiments lie has made during the last couple of yenrs. These show that the most susceptible class of dairying cattle, viz., first-calf heifers can be kept healthy and made profitable for dairying purposes, for, at any rate, a considerable time, when grazed upon paddocks suitably top-dressed. Syrup of phosphate of iron in solution has been proved a valuable curative agent when given daily over a sufficientlv long peril., v has alao been demonstrated that breeding ewes grazed upon suitably top-dressed paddocks will remain healthy over a much longer period than those animals will do when kept upon land not top-dressed. Although conclusive results have not yet been attained, the prospects are very encouraging. 'lf Mr Reakes can turn the millions of acres of bush-sick country to profitable account, he will earn the gratitude of tho whole Dominion.