A recent article in an American magazine on the ethics and amenities of place names seemed to me to make some very good points and to indicate principles by which we might profit in New Zealand. Most of our nomenclature has already been fixed, but there is always room for improvement and reform in some directions, and every now and again new townships are founded and new schools and post offices established. The U.S.A. writer scarifies his country for over-doing the “New” this and that as a prefix and the “Ville,” and the “City” as affixes. We have several unbeautiful “'villes” ourselves, and sundry imported names, such as the two Palmerstons, for which there is no reason or excuse whatever. It has often been urged that “Palmerston North” should be discarded in favour of the rightful district name, Manawatu, which would be an excellent name for the city of the fertile plains. Some day the change is bound to be made by an enlightened community which has come to realise the incongruity of such names.