TOPICAL READING.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9098, 26 May 1908, Page 4

TOPICAL READING.

THE MAORI CONGRESS. An important Maori Congress is to be held in Wellington in July next. The congress is being held with the object of demonstrating that the native race has entered upon a period of progress along various industrial and social lines. There is certainly a good deal of truth in the statement contained in the circular which was issued convening the congress, that the people of New Zealand as a whole are ignorant of the advance which has been made by the Maori race during the past ten years. Naturally, in consequence of this ignorance, the Maori suffers from prejudice, misconception, misrepresentation and false judgment. It.is sought to put the position of the Maori in a better light, thereby helping to right these wrongs. It is to be hoped that this congress will bear good fruit, and will be the means of creating a healthier public sentiment than X3w prevails as far as the Maori of the dominion are concarned.

THE DEFAULTING SUBSCRIBER. The annual balance-sheet of the Wairarapa Employers' Association shows a small balance of liabilities over assets. "This, however," it is pathetically remarked "could be got over if all members would pay their subscriptions promptly when due." Speaking generally, when were subscriptions paid when due, and have many of them ever been paid? It is surprising the large number of pecple who join societies and associations of one kind and another, and entirely "disremember" to pay up. The privileges, whatever they may be, are readily accepted, but the subscriptions —alas, thß collecting of them is one of the chief of secretarial worries. The wretched conduct of defaulting subscribers is really an example of the pernicious extent to which the credit system has permeated the Dominion. No .matter what the society or association may be no member shouH be finally admitted until he had paid his subscription After all it is the system, or the practice, that is followed that is the chief cause of the trouble.

COFFEE-GROWING IN AUSTRALIA. The Commonwealth import duty of three pence per pound on bean coffee, and the proferred assistance of the Queensland Government to the coffee growers in preparing the product for the market, has created increased activity on the coffee plantations and an enlargement of the area cultivated. Some of the finest cuffee is grown in the districts of Queensland, and a successful grower in Maryborough has by the request of the Government forwarded an exhibit to the Franco-British Exhibition of samples of Queensland coffee, from its parchment condition to its roasted and ground state. It is quite possible that the industry could be developed sufficiently to supply the demands of all Australia and an export trade created as well. A small plantation that can ue worked mainly by the owner and his family, or a group of small plantations combined generally ensures the most profit. A well-worked plantation may bring in over £3O to the acre. There are openings now for the ready sale of the raw bean and also an increased demand for the preparation of ground coffee, chicory and coffee essences, which should have a beneficial effect on the industry.

WHERE WILL IT END? The extreme scarcity of domestic servants in the country is a question of real and vital importance. Unless something be done to ameliorate the present somewhat extraordinary and

completely unsatisfactory state of affairs our national life must be injuriously affected. It may seem to be going very far indeed, to make such an assertion, but it is not one whit too strong to present the case in such a way. The public, if it be sufficiently patient, will stand anything, but though it may patiently grin and bear what it does not like it cannot control the effects that certain conditions create. The scarcity of domestic workers is militating against the proper development and maintenance of home life. Home life, in the true sense of the words, is supremely important to the real welfare of the youthful individual, either male or female, and it is essential to the genuine happiness of those of older years. But the seriousness of the position does not end here. The birthrate now is not such as to cheer the heart of the intelligent and patriotic, student of politics; and there is no denying that the result of mothers and wives being unable to obtain that measure of assistance which they should properly have will show in a decreasing birth-rate in the future. The whole question is a grave problem, and a Government that is partial to inertness stands in the face of it, almost actionless, and entirely speechless as to its intentions.

THE STATUS OF MASTERTON. It must be a source of extreme pride and gratification to the inhabitants of Masterton to observe the strides that the town is making, and the position it is assuming among the inland centres of New Zealand. Evidences of its improving status are becoming more apparent as the months go by, and even at a nenod when somewhat of, a financial depression prevails throughout the Dominion, the town and district is able to provide funds foi such large undertakings as the erection of a technical school, the purchase of showgrounds, and such minor objects as the holding of the Fire Brigades' Conference and a Park Improvement Carnival. Those who have watched the progress of public matters in the town during the past few years cannot have failed to notice that the resources of the district have proved to be such as to warrant the belief that we are even yet only at the beginning of great achievements. There are not wanting those who hold the opinion that the town has outgrown its sphere, but such people must not forget that close settlement in earnest ha 3 yet to come, and that the opening up of hundreds of square miles of country to the north and east of the town by railway communication is one of the inevitable evpnts of now rapidly accelerating approximation. At a time when the Borough is contemplating momentous works dependent on the public sanction it is as well to remember that Masterton of to-lay ii not tre Masterton of over a year or two ago, and that the preservation of the spirit of progress means that progress must ensue.