TOPICAL READING.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9675, 14 December 1909, Page 4

TOPICAL READING.

THE DEFENCE DEPARTMENT. The Prime Minister will agree with us that above all things it is desirable that this Dominion of ours should be safe, says the Auckland "Herald." We can afford to differ upon internal matters with the bitterness of brothers, provided we held fast to the fundamental family agreement that no stranger shall be allowed to interfere with our affairs. And we are pleased to be able to say that Sir \Joseph Ward has done well and is doing well for the national safety. His systems for naval and military defence are sound. But to get the best results from sound systems it is necessary that they should be intelligently, and, sympathetically and popularly administered. THE STArE MINE TROUBLE. The demand of the miners at Point Elizabeth that they should have a special share in the profits of the mine is on the face of it, unreasonable and indefensible, says the "New Zealand Tablet," but, as far as we . can judge, the men are making an arguable, if not an absolutely just, claim iu axking thac they should be relieved of trucking and jigging, which, as the mine is developed, becomes every week a more and more serious item for the hewers. We are not among those who consider the fact that the miners are averaging the handsome-looking wage of 14s a day is of itself sufficient to settle the question. This high average is doubtless attained during the busy season, but a substantial deduction must be made for the time lost when things are slack. . . . . If, however, the miners have a measure of justice on their side, it makes the action of their leaders in refusing to submit the question to arbitration all the more culpable. ... As to the moral of the incident-in its tearing on the whole question of State ownership and control of industries—it will be time to speak o. that when the issue of the contest h determined.

AN ORIGINAL IDEA

We were recently informed by cable of a remarkable method of encouraging the German birth-rate which had been introduced by the German Government, and of which j the Kaiser himself is the author. Dr. Uelbruck, Minister of- the Interior, has issued a circular note to the local authorities in all parts of the country informing them that the Kaiser will stand as godfather to the eighth child in any German family, rich or poor. A supplementary circular note contains instructions by which the local authorities are empowered to pay to needy parents the sum of £3 on the birth of their eighth child. Germany's high birthrate has been one of the great factors in creating her dominant, position in Europe, inasmuch as every male infant is a potential soldier. The increase of the German population by approximately 1,000,000 births per annum during the last decade has compelled other European countries to expect to have to deal with a population of 100,000,000 Germans within the next half-century, this rate of increase being considerably in excess of that of the population of Western European countries, Ueceutly, however, »he German birthrate began to show signs of dimunition, and it is known that the Em-! p r&r, in connnoii witih Mr Roose'

velt, regards any tendency in the { direction of smaller families to be j. a national evil. The decree issued by the Minister of the Interior announcing the bestowal of Imperial favour on parents with large families, as well as of a subvention to those fathers and mothers who stand in need of it, is the outcome of the feeling. LOCAL GOVERNMENT. Some protests made by members in the House on Saturday morning against the multiplication of county councils induced the Prime Minister to make an important statement respecting the question of local government. Sir Joseph Ward said | that whila he would this session j support the whole of the Bills ere-| ating new counties, he thought that the tendency to multiplication was an undesirabb one, and would have to be stopped. The whole matter of local government, which presented a very difficult problem, had been under consideration by the Government for some time, and he hoped next session to submit a comprehensive measure dealing with it. The matter was being dealt with now by the Law Drafting Department. As a very searching investigation into all its phases required to be made it would take nearly all the time between now and next session to complete the Bill It would also take a considerable time'during next session to put it through properly. He hope! that in the interval those urging a perpetuation of the multiplication system would-be ablejto see the absolute necessity for the demolition of a good many small counties if they were to have a proper local government scheme. The Leader of the. Opposition, Mr W. F. Massey, said that he was delighted to hear that next year the House would have an opportunity of considering an up-to-date Local Government Bill. The present system was absolutely out of date.