IZ 



Jhe Review of Reviews. 



July 1, 1906. 



and public sentiment has hastened to a conclusion 

 most favourable to himself. The keynote that he 

 struck was a true One. His adrice to us to keep our- 

 selves apart from embroilment in Imperial party 

 politics came to some of us like a refreshing breeze. 

 There have been some at home who wanted us to, 

 and some here who have wanted to get entangled in 

 British affairs where our presence or advice would be 

 quite superfluous. Better far for us to mind our own 

 affairs, while at the same time we hold firmly the 

 hand which is ours bv ev^:'r\ tie, blood-kinship and 

 patriotism, that can bind an Empire together. If 

 the suggestion of Mr. Churchill's visit to the Colonies 

 be carried out, he will get an enthusiastic welcome. 

 iHe did well to remind us of our duty with regard 

 to our home defence:. We have been told it before, 

 but we cannot be told too often while we neglect it. 

 This is one of the matters which ought to be con- 

 sidered during this session of Parliament. 



... . Xo better illustration of the wisdom 



Stirring up ,. ,, „, , .,,. , ,. 



Uonecessarv '-^' "^^- Churchill s advice to us to 

 Strife. look after Colonial affairs and not 



to become embroiled with Imperial 

 politics that cannot affect us, can be had than the 

 present visit of the Home Rule delegates. I have 

 before said that as far as the principle of Home 

 Rule is concerned, e\-ery democratic Australian be- 

 lieves in it, but these \-isits, as well as the expres- 

 sions of the Federal Parliament upon a matter w^hich 

 does not concern our politics, and in which we have 

 no right to interfere, have created such a bitter sec- 

 tional and religious feeling that one grieves. Whv 

 can we not be let alone to live in peace? The strong 

 feeling engendered on all sides can never be com- 

 pensated by any result on the other side of the world. 

 Sores of any character in Imperial politics are not 

 any more likely to be healed bv the transferring of 

 their virus to Colonial politics. Indeed it makes the 

 possibility of the healing all the more remote. The 

 cause of ■' peace and good-will " is not advanced by 

 the stirring up of strife over quarrels that are not 

 ours. 



St. Paul's Cathedral in Melbourne 

 Unemployed witnessed a change from the ac- 

 at Church. customed subdued stateliness of 

 its service the other day when 

 about 200 unemployed marched to the church, 

 and some of them took part in the service, an un- 

 authorised part, having no provision made for it in 

 the order of service, but nevertheless a very pro- 

 minent one. Notice had been given of the intended 

 visit, and accommodation was provided. It is pro- 

 bably the first time that Archbishop Clarke has had 

 exception taken to his remarks on the Sabbath, but 

 it is not a bad experience for any public man to 

 know that there are some in his audience who do 

 not necessarily agree with him. This was a new 

 policy on the part of the unemployed. If it called 



attention to the social causes which underlie unem- 

 ployment it would do good, but the whole thing was 

 so colourless and devoid of special feature that no 

 permanent good is likely to accrue. A \isit was 

 paid to the Congregational Church on the following 

 Sunday, but it was as tame as the one to the 

 Cathedral. 



The 



Chicago 

 Meat Horrors. 



Australasians have been shocked, 

 as ever}body else has been, by the 

 re\-elations in connection with the 

 meat-packing business in Chicago. 

 The matter, however, his unexpectedly opened up 

 a new interest in another direction as far as Aus- 

 tralia is concerned. A telegram from London states 

 that the Admiralty and the War Office will stipulate 

 in future contracts that tinned meats shall only 

 be accepted from the British Colonies. Now, here 

 comes in the wisdom of New Zealand's rigorous 

 policy of inspection, and grading, against which some 

 folk in Australia rail when the policy is suggested 

 for this country. Now' that this crisis has arisen, 

 New Zealand stands ready to give the %'ery creden- 

 tials that an anxious people demand. Her system 

 of inspection is severe, her seal is a proof of excel- 

 lence, and there she is with a system, not made to 

 order for the occasion, but the settled policy of the 

 country. Every State in Australia ought to adopt 

 the practice generally and immediately. She does 

 now locallv and partially. Its value could not be 

 better demonstrated than by the Chicago meat 

 horrors. 



The New While in Melbourne Mr. Seddon 

 Zealand Old Age gave some details of the Old Age 

 Annuities Annuities scheme which he pro- 

 Scheme. p>oses to introduce. The idea is an 

 excellent one, although not new. But it is all the 

 better for that, having been tested by experience, and 

 found good. The main feature about it is that any 

 one can pay to the Government a minimum amount 

 of one shilling a week or five shillings a month. The 

 Government will subsidise the amounts, large or 

 small, and the subsidy will be greater for mar- 

 ried than for a single man, and still greater where 

 there is a familv of three, and greater still 

 where it is six or more. Mr. Seddon says that 

 his scheme is actuarially sound, and that the 

 Sim of money involved is smaller than most 

 people would think. It is not, of course, com- 

 pulsory, and to that extent the scheme will fail in 

 reaching the real objective. The thrifty will use 

 it. and they deserve all the help they can get to 

 secure annuities in old age, but the thriftless, those 

 who will in any case be a burden to the State, will 

 be untouched by it. To reach these, one could al- 

 most wish that to some extent payment should be 

 compulson.-. The thrifty could not object, as a 

 national good would accrue, while the jxiverty- 

 stricken old age of the thriftless would be avoided. 



