TOPICAL READING.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXVIII, Issue 7983, 12 March 1906, Page 4

TOPICAL READING.

Speaking at Te Aroha, on Thnrsday night, the Premier said that tav--ation Bhould be on the basis- of equality of sacrifice. Farmers-were now beginning tu realise tha* their best friends wore the ment They must still go »n tak-ing large estates and oivn.ng down lauds* Referring: tn ters, the Premier said that returnsshowed that they were taking/too much from, the neople, therefore he hoped that next Parliament would authorise'reduction of indirect tax* atibn. If money was wanted, they should: iuoreaae the graduated"land tax, .Referring to the New Hebrides question, the- Premier saidi he-was afraid that some day Britain wouldi be giving France the New Hebrides, and for that/ reason he did not think a Droteotorate would- be of advantage to Britain, or this colony. Personally, he preferred, udministration of some of the New Hebrides by. France, and some by Britain-, rather than a joint protectorate over the group. He; trusted that the present entente oordiale would oontinuej but it was better never to run the-risk, of strained' relations. In future, every opportunity should bo- embraced: to> bring the islandß iuto the Empire. A "Greater New Zealand"' was the settled policy of the Liberal Party..

■ Commenting on the Island ' Ftmt Trade the Auckland Herald says:"The geographical position of Auckland makes it the natural emporium of the Island Trade, which it has become by merit alone and without any artificial or extraneous assistance. In spite of this, it ba&for years been the aim and purpose of a certain group of Wellington merchants to divert this trado to their own doors. As it is quite hopeless for them to think of doing so by any fair competition, they have always planned to take the Island Trade from Auckland by securing the assistance and oountenance of the Government. That is to say, they want to make the colony, including Auokland, pay the cost of making profitable to them a divertion of trade, which diversion in itself would be very unprofitable and would infliot serious loss upon this port and city."

Mr H. Rider Haggard, speaking at a meeting of the Lowestoft branch of the N.5.P.0.0. recently, said he had seen a good deal of savage life, but he bad never heard among savages of such cases as wore daily presented to the readers of the reports of their society, "i never beard of the maltreatment, starving, or beating of children among the primitive classes of mankind," he added. "I fear we must say that the truth is that in some ways,oivilitauion is a failure in this respect." The law of Englaud, he continued, favoured property more than the person, and should be changed. The life of a child should be regarded as worth more thau an article snatched from a shop window. /

In a recent report of the British Commissioner of Prwous, it is stated that iu many instances vagrants appear to prefer prison to the casual wards; and it is suggested, as a reasou, that the diet in the wards is inferior and the work heavier than in prisous. The systom of the casual wards is repressive, but it cannot be said that it has been successful in reducing the numbers of vagrants. The great difficulty in the way of success lies in the iaok of uniformity; for, while one union strictly enforces the regulations, another neighbouring union imposes ho restrictions on the vagrant. It has been sugge-ted in many quarters that some distinction should be made between the working man in search o'f work and the habitual tramp; and that, while the former should be helped on his way the latter should be dealt with severely. Attempts to help the working man on tramp have been made by the way-ticket system, whioh has been tried in different oounties. Under this system a pass is issued, which entitles the bolder to obtain lodging and food on hva route; but, so far,

little suuoess has attended. 1 the experiment,, as only two or three counties haveadopted-it at a. time.

The proposal of Mr Grigg;.aimemi ber of the Canterbury Ai and P. Association, togivea county cbam. pionsbip prize in connection with the Show,.at Exhibition.time,, to be awarded to the county making the most points in stock, and produce at the Show, wilt assuredly add to theinterest felt in the Show throughout New Zealand, and if: Canterbury stockbreeders aocede to the suggestion that they should make dona* tions- towards the prize list, there will be an additional, inducement to breeders outside the province to send forward stock.for competition. It is understood'that some North Island' breeders have' offered Ao contribute towards the sheep prizes. But outside exhibits- themselves can be takeu as a fair contribution toward* the success of the Show, andas Canterbury breeders are not put to the same expense' or risk in ex-: bibiting as those from a distanoe, it is only right that.they should equalise matters by doing something to increase the attractiveness of the competitions- by adding: ta the prize ■ moneyj

Cbristcburch is so very apathetic in matters pertaining to the health and comfort of its citizens that we scarcely dare to hope (says the Lyttelton Times) for any definite reform as a result of the Health Deparfcment'sreports on the fish markets.' We have asked again and again for a municipal fish market, but no one seems to have energy enough to take in band the necessary amendment of the law. The City Council might build a market, but inthe present state of the law the auctioneers and buyers-may please- themselves-where they oonduot the sales. The-Gity Inspector sees that the sales are conthat no. obvi* oasly bad fish is exposed for sale, but there is nothing like a proper organisation ; of the supply, and the means of conveyance from the boat's side to the market are primitive in, the extreme. The present lack, of system in the marketing of supplies is little short of a disgrace to the city.