SATURDAY, JUNE 26.. 1909, NOTES The Advocate.

Bush Advocate, Volume XXI, Issue 303, 26 June 1909, Page 4

SATURDAY, JUNE 26.. 1909, NOTES

The Advocate.

[PUBLISHED DAiLt.j OtJ>?St SfiTABUSHED PAPER OUARANTBBD LARGESf CIRCULASIOK IN THE DISTRICT.

~ — The "battle of the Biwlget" is slowly' proceediiag iu the British House <ri> Commons*, and tho Owvernment ar»' evidently very uneasy* as to the" strength of their position. In fact, we have Mi- Winston Cfetrchill's assertion tha*" a very critical period for tlie Government is apprascching, and hone© it Has been deeidktl to hold meetings in. 1 favor of tlief Budget i !-n I every constituency. It. is evident 5 that tremendous opposition: is being 3 shown to felie Hon. Lloydl-George's I scheme of- taxation, whicft lias exf'tited the bitter hostility of financial i; men. This is. demonstrated by the !i meeting held! in London on:: Thursday, |i which Lord Jtvebnry stated] was the i most remarkable he had known in j! an experience. oi some siikty years. I It is significant that at tliik meeting jj a number of prominent LitVei'als were | present, and: it would seem: that the I Government m«y- possibly- be overwhelmed in the storm ol? opposition, raised by tk«r Budget. '- Tho ex-Minister for Labor has adopted a somewtaat unusual eo.ir.rsc in adclresshig ar public meeting at Wellington bei&re taking bis; constituents at Mast»/rton into lii& confidence. Howevor,. that is a. matter which more particularly concerns himself and the people of his electorate. That Mr- _. H'ogg \W3iild l)e accordfed a large audi^ ciicc itxid a sympatkaiio lioaring was., a foregone conclusion, and it is nut surprising to find that in both tlwsa respects tbe meeting on Thursday 1 night was emiueutly successful. At tho same time, it does not appear * that the ex-Mhtister throw any new light upon the situation. The speaker claimed ho had nothing to detract from his Parliamentary - speech which paused his retirement from the Cabinet, Of course no one expected Mr Hogg to take such a proceeding. It was perfectly obvious that the in-

ciden.t h-ad developed to such an. extent that any "patching up" was quite, impossible. | 1 When Mr Hogg took the extraordinary course of propoiuidi-ag ideas to which his chief, and his colleagues, could not subscribe, it was done with a full knowledge of the consequences such an outbreak must entail. It was inevitable that such" a' serious breach of Cabinet ethics would be followed by a demand for the retirement of the offending Minister, and under- these circumstances anything in the nature of a retraction was not ito be expected. The plain fact V that Mr Hogg was like a round peg in a square hole. He was out of place, and his , a ppointment to the Ministry was a mistake. The, hbn: gentleman is. entitled "to every respect for the courage with which he has in the past championed the cause of the small landowner, and -we believe that to-day, politically; he stands higher in the eyes of the people than before his elevation to the Ministry. The wisdom of his action, however, in advocating the formation of a land and labor federation, is open to adverse criticism. There are quite enough political leagues and federations in the country already. . *