"4 



The Review of Reviews. 



F*wmry St, im. 



dition obtained with girls. It was also found that 

 the teeth of the children were very bad. Seeing that 

 is so, it is hoped that something in the way of action 

 similar to that of New South Wales will be taken, 

 and that the children of the State schools will be 

 treated by the local authorities or by the Govern- 

 ment. Nothing has so much influence upon digestive 

 faculties as the condition of the teeth. Nothing has 

 so much effect upon the physical condition of the 

 nation as the quality of its people's digestive powers, 

 and if the State Government wishes to find an avenue 

 of useful work, it cannot do better than take this up 

 at once. It is interesting to note that, comparing 

 Great Britain with Melbourne residential suburbs, 

 the weight of the boys between 12 and 13 years of 

 age is 78.0 lbs., as compared with 76.7 in the Old 

 Country; while the height in inches is 56.2 in Mel- 

 bourne as compared with 55.0 at Home. In the 

 industrial suburbs in Melbourne, the weight was 

 73.8 lbs., and the height 52.2 inches. In the girls' 

 class the industrial suburbs of Melbourne showed 

 77.1 lbs. as against 76.4 in Great Britain, and 56.1 

 inches as against 55.7 in Great Britain, while the 

 residential suburbs gave 75.1 lbs. and 55.8 inches. 



Mr. Seddon has been speaking to 



Mr. Scddon's his own constituents, and delivering 



intentions. what is practically a policy speech. 



He could hardly be blamed for in- 

 dulging in personal gratification at the election. 

 But when he was speaking of the great vote which 

 he has received, and he expressed the belief that the 

 law should be amended to prevent what are practi- 

 cally dummy candidates, he must have forgotten 

 that at the last election dummy candidates were 

 simply nominated by the No-license Party, in order 

 to secure a poll. If Mr. Seddon will amend the law 

 to provide that as regards the carrying of a Local 

 Option poll, it shall be the same in any district 

 where there is no Parliamentary election as it is in 

 others where there is an election, he need have no 

 fear of dummy candidates. Mr. Seddon had one in 

 his own electorate, purely a dummy, nominated as 

 such, and not with the intention of opposing him. 

 With regard to prospective legislation, Mr. Seddon 

 announced his intention to check monopolies, 

 to settle the land more rapidly, and to make 

 the ballot for land more satisfactory, to settle the 

 5,000,000 odd acres of surplus Maori lands in the 

 North Island, and at the same time to provide for 

 the Maoris. He also says that half a million acres 

 should be reserved for educational purposes, and a 

 quarter of a million acres for charitable aid. 

 This is a wise step to take. The question of educa- 

 tional means should not be subject to the difficulties 

 which arise from paying expenses out of ordinary 

 revenue, and education is far more likely to be well 

 provided for if some arrangement of this kind is 

 carried out. Mr. Seddon took an excursion into the 

 regions which other countries have been afraid to 

 walk in when he proposed that men should be pre- 



vented from selling or mortgaging their homes with- 

 out the consent of their wives. Upon the question 

 of land tenure he was very emphatic. The aggre- 

 gation of large estates will probably soon in New 

 Zealand be not only looked upon as a social crime, 

 but it will be a legal crime. He proposes that a 

 limited area of land for a settler should be fixed. 

 The freehold to settlers under the Land for Settlers 

 Act, he said he was not prepared to grant. He 

 would have a good deal of sympathy when he re- 

 ferred to the fact that New Zealand's mutton and 

 lamb is sold cheaper in the Old Country than it is in 

 the colony. This is a condition of things which 

 obtains all over Australasia, and ought to be 

 stopped. It is ridiculous that, living next door to 

 the producer, the consumer here has to pay more for 

 his meat than the consumer in England pays, even 

 after refrigerating and freight expenses and re- 

 tailers' profits are paid. 



Bulletin.} 



The British Tory Politician's Burden. 



The 



British Liberal 



Victory. 



Australasian eyes eagerly watched 

 the tremendous rout of the late 

 Government in Britain. In the con- 

 test the keenest interest was evinced 

 all over the States. The newspapers daily devoted 

 columns of space to the reports of the elections, 

 and every contest, large and small, was duly reported, 

 together with the figures in each case. It is safe to 

 say, too, that a sigh of relief went up when it was 

 found that the late Government had suffered such a 

 well-deserved defeat. Its policy had, as far as the 

 Colonies were concerned, been exceedingly unac- 

 ceptable, and great things are looked for from the 

 Campbell-Bannerman regime. 



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