TOPICAL READING.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXVIII, Issue 7946, 23 January 1906, Page 4

TOPICAL READING.

An attempt of President Koosevelt to restrict the giving of information to newspapers in regard to Cabinet disoussions, bas caused much amusement in the States. The President wrote a letter to his Cabinet officers, adjuring them lo beware of speoial correspondents, and not to show any "weakness" in dealing with them. The futility of the scheme to put a check upon the newspapers was shown by the faot that withiu two hours after.the letter had been received by those to whom it had been addressed, the oommunioation had been printed, and papers containing it were selling in New York. Pull and free reports of the discussion of the letter at the Cabinet meeting

were also promptly published by some of the New Fork journals. The members of the Cabinet wer»jrepresented as beiug about equally divided as to the wisdom of the President's plan of forbiding information, half of them holding that as the news wa3 sure to be obtained by the alert correspondents, it was as well, for the sake of accuracy, that they should be allowed to obtain it from the authoritative sources.

It is understood (says a London paper) that tho Commission which has been sitting for nearly a year to decide the future disposition of the Royal Marines has at last come to au agreement. That the Marines will in the near future be withdrawn from the ships, seems to be generally admitted, and it is probable that Dover, Gibraltar, Bermuda, and other large coaling stations will be garrisoned by this corps, both the Blue and the Red Marines thus becoming practically Garrison Artiliery. This innovation will be hailed with joy by most Marine officers, as at present theii position on the ships is, and always has been, more or less anomalous one. Among naval officers themselves the consensus of opinion seems to be that the Navy will suffer a great loss if it is deprived of the services of the most highly-trained, well disciplined, and efficient marine from ships' companies.

One of the most radical naval reforms announced in the recent memorandum or Admiralty policy beems to have escaped attention. And yet there could scarcely be anything which was a surer index to changes in the Navy than the bald statement: "No more contracts for supply of salt beef have been entered into, as it has been decided to abolish this article of diet." Almost ever since Britain bad a Navy salt beof atid bard tack or biscuit have been the mainstay of sea rations. Now, that pretty nearly every vessel, apart from torpedo-boats and submarines, possesses cold storage, there is no longer any necessity for feeding Jack on preserved provisions. His menu has gradually been brought up to the level of that which Tommy Atkins enjoys ashore, and this last step will complete the process.

A despatch has been received from the Secretary of State for the Colonies pcinting out that British and uolonial traders may be placed at great disadvantage owing to tho provisions of the trade marks law in the Argentine Republio, and exporters of goods will do well to lose no time in securing the registration of their marks in that country. According to the law of the Repub lie a person, not neoessarily being the real owner of a particular trade mark, but having registered that mark in the Argentine, can lay an embargo on any goods that he may find bearing that mark, although such goods may have been made by the original owner of the mark, and have been legitimately introduced into the country. It is stated that a Canadian firm, which has been selling for some yeais under a special mark, now finds that it may not import its own goods into the Argentine [under that mark, beoause it has been registered by a firm of importers in Buenos Ayres, and no remedy appears to exist for the original owners except to buy up the local registered owners or invent and push another mark.

People are apt to think that plants, and GBpeoially vegetables, were found by mau when be first made his appearance on the earth just as they are to-day. This is, of course, an entirely erroneous idea, for in no sphere have science and evolution played a greater or more important part than in the gradual development of flowers, fruit, and vegetables. This is fully shown in an article in the English Illustrated Magazine. In the kitchen garden the changes have been equally astonishing. Of all cultivated vegetables cone exhibits so : remarkahle a range of variation as the oabbage. Few people are aware that a common British plant, still abundant at many spots along the south coast, is, practically speaking, the direct ancestor of every known variety of cabbage. Another example is to be found in asparagus. By what means this inconspicuous plant was raised to the status of a dainty and highly-prized vegetable, or to whom the praise for the inception of this remarkable feat of horticulture is due, can never be known. It is a ourious fact that the majority of the highly-.prized vegetables, certainly the potato, the oabbage, the asparagus and the beet, were all originally maritime species. The members of the Federal Tobaooo Commission have had to lis ten tosome weird oritioisms of the colonial cigar (says a Sydney paper). In Adelaide one witness said two of them would kill an elephant. An-\ other witness narrated how, when he was employed in a faotory, he was asked by the Government expert to make some oigars out of colonial leaf, for submission to Mr Sydney Smith, who was Minister for Agriculture at the time. .Resignedly, because he foresaw the hopelessness of doing himself justice, he set to work and fashioned a "weed." The expert asked hira to smoke it, but he declined, explaining that he had a wife and four ohildron, but as the expert was a Civil Servant, with full pension rights, it would be less of a hardship if he took the risk. The expert wasted a box of matches on the cigar, and then gave up aDy further avtempt to keep it alight.