TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2684, 14 December 1909, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

‘Sir Arthur Wilson, who is to succeed Sir John Fisher as The Head of the First Sea Lord of Navy. the Admiralty entered the Navy in 1855 at the age of 13 years. He saw service in the Black Sea during the Russian War, and in the Chinese War. (He was captain of the Hecla at tli,e bombardment of Alexandria, and was present with the Naval Brigade at the battle of El Teb in tbe Sudan on February 29, 1884. The act of gallantry for which Sir A. Wilson 'has been brought to notice was described by Sir lledvers Bullet- .as one of the most courageous he ever witnessed. There was a .gap in the square, and five or six of the enemy seeing it rushed forward, attempting to pierce the ranks. Then Captain Wilson advanced to meet them alone, and breaking his sword in his effort to cut ono of them down, would not retire a step, but held his ground, knocking them down with his fists. Either by a miracle or the surprising nature of his attack, he escaped with a few wounds, the square closing up and resouing him. For his bravery he was awarded the V.C. Sir Arthur Wilson attained flag rank in 1895. In “With the Flagship,” M/ C. E. W. Bean refers to Sir Arthur Wilson as “a man that had a horror of advertisement, a man of whom nine-tenths of xis have never heard; a man of whom you will be told more in a wardroom than of all the rest of the powers that be :put together; a man that was beyond all question the greatest English sailor since Nelson; a man that a fair part of the service believes the .greatest seaman there ever was ; a man who in the manoeuvres, year after year, since the later ’Bo’s, when lie took his fleet unseen in a fog into an Irish harbor through the very midst of a blockading fleet, <has invariably found by some strange instinct the one thing to be done, and has always done it; the man and the only man who has handled immense modern fleets as though they a four-in-hand, pulled them, tugged them, swung them within a bis-cuit-toss of each other’s rams, apparently bv sheer intuition; the man who has drilled them, dressed them down, sweated and thrashed them, stopped their leave, and cut short their holidays till they ended' by almost worshipping him; a man who did not praise overmuch, but whose praise was worth getting.”

We were informed the other day by cable that the Expensive Politics general public in England is not taking a .great deal of interest in the coming election, but it is certain the trading community -will soon wake up to the fact that the campaign is in progress. Business has not been overbrisk during the past summer and with the approach of winter unemployment is certain to be prevalent. The election campaign, it is esfpected, will give employment to thousands of people, put .money into circulation and stimulate trade of all kinds. It is estimated that fully £3,000,000 will change hands in the British Isles during tlie campaign. Still the expenses of°candidates alone at the last general election in 1906 aggregated £1,166,857. The total for England and Wales was £996,861, for- Scotland £138,381 { and for Ireland £31,615. Expenses incurred in uncontested elections are not included an these figures. Outside the actual expenses of candidates there is a vast expenditure. There are the Liberal organisations, the Budget Defence League, the Tariff Reform League, the Union of Conservative Associations the Unionist Council, the Budget Protest League, the Free Trade Union, the labor organisations, the women s suffrage organisations, temperance societies, church associations, and many other organisations and institutions all likely to°spend money liberally on behalf of their interests. “Literature will bo distributed broadcast. Solicitors, (printers, bill-posters, motor-car ao-ents, petrol merchants hall owners, railway ‘companies, cab-drivers and a score of other trades and professions will benefit directly and .indirectly. In 1906 printing, advertising, Plages and telegrams accounted tor of the expenses of candidates. The cost of public meetings was £BO,OOO, of committee rooms of agents amounted to fclerks and messengers £I29,xUU. ana, returning • officers’ charge,> 'P9ofi 334 There can be no aoum;, •Store that a general elytron .does •put a vast amount of money into cir culation. -