Notes

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 30, 24 July 1902, Page 17

Notes

4 ln the Wake of the Rising Sun.' Our readera will be pleased to hear that the graphic and scholarly articles, descriptive of a tour in Egypt and the Holy Land, by ' Viator, 1 which appeared from time to time in the column* of the N.Z. Tablkt within the past two years, will probably be published in book form. The articles were repoblished by the Belfast Irish Weekly, which, in its issue of June 6, makes ,the following: announcement : 'We have hai numerous anxious inquiries reepeoting the very interesting series of articles by ' Viator ' on a visit to the Holy Land which have appeared in these columns, and which have recently been brought to a close, as to whether they would be preserved in a form more enduriag than the ephemeral newspaper sketch. We hope shortly to be able to make a definite announcement, which will be gratifying to our readers, that the articles are to take permanent form.'

The Thermal Springs.

The enormous activity of the Waimangu geyser, chronicled laat week, might be superstitiously connected with the arrival of the new balnealogist, or hot springs expert, Dr. Wohlman. It was of this gentleman, it will be remembered, that the wired that notwithstanding the foreign flavor of his name, Dr. Wohlman was of an unimpeacheable British descent of four generations. But at that particular moment a certain class of the public were aflame with anti-Continental resentment, and would have scouted the appointment of a foreigner even though his credentials were as long as from Dan to Beersheba. The new expert has been duly interviewed by the ever alert reporter, and the verdict is highly favorable Thedoctorisabout36yearsof age. and ' comes to this Colony with a reputation as a balnealogist. For the last nine years he has been practising at Bath, but on receiving information of his appointment visited the principal European watering places for the purpose of bringing his knowledge as much up to date as possible. His conversation indicates that ho nowhere observed model conditions, but he has obtained a great deal of knowledge, which he hopes will enable him to place Itotoru.l and Hanmer in the first rank of sanatoria. Dr. Wohlman is insistent on the virtues of advertising. He say« the attractions of this Colony cannot be too widely known, ai.d the money spent in the process will, he feels sure, be handsomely reproductive. He does not anticipate that we shall entice many visitors from the Continent for various reasons, but very large numbers of people can be attracted from England, America, and Australia (particularly Australia). Dr. Wohlman drops a hint albo that mineral waters are not so expensive to handle aa frozen meat, and he thinks that something may be done in that direction.'

The Tourist Traffic.

Readers of the newspapers are continually reminded of the valuable asset which the Colony possesses in its scenery, and of the vast advantage likely to accrue from the influx of tourists, who are expected to shower gold in a Pactolian fiod into expectant hands. There can be no doubt that a continual stream of sightseers, all of whom would presumably be possessed of wealth, and pot afflicted with a sordid tightness of the purse, would stimulate trade along the different tracks to and from the innumerable eights the Colony has to offer ; but we question whether anyone haa yet considered the geneial effect which would probably ensue. There is nothing derogatory in a fctage-coach proprietor taking advantage of an invasion of tourists, nor in the keeper of a hotel or other place of accommodation making special preparations for it and benefiting by his enterprise, But in the wake of an extensive traffic of such a nature there must arise a horde of hangers-on, who will depend for their

iPey and Deb Streets

existence not upon their own exertions, but upon the bounty of the visitors, and who will hibernate during the winter months, only to emerge in the spring ravenous for prey. We look for something better and more manly in the colonial youth than to see them anxious to perform menial services and ambitious of nothing higher than to act the part of cioerone. It were better that New Zealand possessed no ' wonders' at all than that each of them should be infested with a crowd of idlers like those that haunt the continental holiday places and become the sure progenitors of a race of mendicants This it? a matter that must be attended to at the very outset. Tee matter of guides should be placed on an intelligible and reasonable footing, and a certain number of them licensed to act, and at stated fees. Otherwise, the beauty spots will ere long beoome the refuge of the lazy and unthrifty, who will levy backsheesh upon grumbling travellers, and live in alternatives of riotous plenty and squalid starvation. It would be much more easy to exercise foretight and prevent the creation of such a clasß than to exterminate them after they have gained a foothold and reached formidable numbers.

Superannuation of Railway Servants.

The Government Railways Superannuation Fund Bill, introduced by the Aoting-Premier on July 4, and referred to a committee, met with a most gratifying reception from both sides of the Houce, the chief opposition to it coming from the Government benches, and voiced by the senior member for Dunedin, who expressed the fear that the Bill was opening up a very large question without attempting to settle it. For, as he said, the other branohes of the Civil Servioe will be clamoring immediately for similar superannuation schemes, as, indeed, the teachers are already doing, and the total liability will become a serious one. It ia difficult to understand from Mr Millar's remarks what the Liberal opinions on this Bubjeot really are. If a contribution to the funds is demanded from the employee, that is considered unjust, and if nothing at all ia asked, but a sum at the age of retiiing is suggested, it is immediately replied that such a system would be one of pensions, and there could in Liberal earß be no more hateful word. The Government proposal is that the State should contribute one-half of the necessary amount, and the employes the other to the extent of a 3 pet cent, deduction from their salaries. This proposal looks very fair, and is much more liberal than the terms given in connection with the police superannuation fund established a few years ago, where the nucleus was mainly derived from a fund which had accumulated out of fines and from other eourees after many years. No one will for a moment contend that it is not desirable that public servants should look forward to some provision for their old age, The only question is as to the most equitable method of providing it. We are told that the average Balary received by railway servants after 25 years of service is £180 per annum. That is not a munificent sum out of which to make provision for old age. The preeent haphazard system of making compassionate allowances haa the elements of neither justice nor permanency. Men should not be called upon to accept as a favor that to which they are entitled aB a right. The feature of compulsion, to whioh objection seems to be taken, is minimised by placing the control in the hands of a board, to be eleoted by the parties jointly interested.

It is above all things desirable that the public service should attract the best class of men. They are called upon to surrender their individuality to an extent not demanded in any private employment. From them ia expected a high quality of efficiency, and a degree of ability that would frequently in outside employment gain for them more liberal pay. The one attraction about the publio service is the certainty of employment during good behaviour, and the regularity of payment without deduction for loss of time. In the railway service the calls upon an employe's time are specially exigent. It is when other people are enjoying themselves that his work is the hardest, and Mb annual holiday of •even or fourteen days, according to hiß grade, is not commensurate with the 52 weekly half-holidays and about 13 full days besides that the outside employe enjoys. Above all, he is weighted with a never-ceasing sense of responsibility for the safety of those who travel. The managers plan, but it is the employes who hold the points, wave the flags, and display the lights. Even the humblest subordinate may in a moment of forgetfulness disorganise the most skilfully arranged plans, and the best part of a lifetime spent under Buch enormous responsibility is poorly rewarded with a pittance to keep the wolf from the door in old age. Even the coldest-blooded actuary might be excused for straining a point in such men's favor. Similar schemes for other branches of the public services may follow, and when all have devised plans to suit the peculiarities of their services, it may then be possible to amalgamate the whole into one comprehensive scheme with different branches according to circumstances, as is done in insurance companies every day. That

being accomplished, the goal of universal insurance is brought appreciably nearer.

Imperial Expenditure.

A correspondent sends us the following paragraph dipped from * a North Island newspaper :: — • Ireland pays only £2,200,000 a year towards Imperial expenditure, while Scotland, with a very slightly larger population, pays almost £10,000,000.' The Imperial revenue is derived mainly from taxation under the following heads : Customs, Excise, Stamps, Land tax, House duty, Income and Property tax. These six sources of revenue produce about 85 per cent, of the whole. According to a return (the latest to hand) for the year ended March 31, 1898, the amount of revenue, under the head of Customs and Excise, collected in Ireland was £5,361,000. From this our correspondent will see that the statement in the paragraph is inoorreot.