The Bruce Herald. "Nemo me impune lacesset." TOKOMAIRLRO, MAY 12, " 1891.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 2264, 12 May 1891, Page 3

The Bruce Herald. "Nemo me impune lacesset." TOKOMAIRLRO, MAY 12, " 1891.

foappoars ithat the supporters of the Disabilities Removal Bill in theHduseofCommons are not satisfied with the rejection of their pet measure. It was hinted at the time that it would he brought up again later on, and the first move has been made in the form of a question— Whether the Government would s consider the propriety of advising Her Majesty to refer to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council the question of Law as to the , eligibility of .Roman Catholics to the offices of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and Lord Chancellor of England ? It will be. seen that the ground is shifted. Having failed to get a law passed favouring their views, they now want, if possible, the existing law interpreted in accordance with their desires. The answer of Mr W. H. Smith was judicious and straightforward. The Grovernment, he said, did not think any such course necessary, as they did not contemplate advising Her Majesty to appoint Catholics to either of the posts mentioned. Nor did they feel that the matter was at all urgent. Mr Gladstone, and his friends, maybe expected to introduce the Bill again at the first opportunity, but it is manifest that they will meet with strenuous opposition from the Government, and it is equally certain that the Government will be backed up by an immense majority of the nation. Whatever may be said on either side of the question, it is absolutely certain that if the Opposition persist in their endeavours to force this measure they will immensely strengthen the position of the Government, and postpone all possibility of their own accession to power to a period too remote to be predicted. It is sstonishing that they cannot see that as a mere matter of policy it would be infinitely better for them to let this business alone. The Wellington 'Post' gives a detailed account of the policy of the Government. It is a big affair. Eeform is not the right word for it. It is really revolution. It is not announced yet on the authority of the Government as a whole or of any single member thereof. But as the Premier is a patron of the Knights of Labor, and as the Government is very much representative of the labor party it is natural to assume that the programme of that party will be very much the programme of the Government. And quite enough has been said by Mr Ballance, his friends and supporters at different times to give colour to the belief that they will at least attempt to remodel our laws so as to bring them into harmony with the dicta of these self-made knights. We are not quite sure but they would even try to alter the very constitution of the colony itself in order to effect their purpose, if such alteration were needed. And we are inclined to think it will be needed, for the constitution as at present fixed provides for the freedom of all Her Majesty's subjects, while the object of the Knights of Labor is to rob them of that and place them under a system of tyranny any comparison with which can be found nowhere else in the world, save, perhaps in Bussia. Soughly and briefly the new policy is designed to secure : — l. Eesidential qualification only for electors. 2, Pemale franchise. 3. State aid for €0-operative industrial settlements. 4. Grovernment labour bureaux. 5. The appointment of a Minister of Labour. 6. Extension of municipal functions and an increase generally of local government. 7. Absolute stoppage of the sale of Crown lands. 8. Progressive land and income tax and abolition of property tax. 9. Land succession dues to be paid in land. 10. Land companies to be taxed periodically to an amount equal to the average proceeds of succession dues. 11. Sole tennre of lands to be a lease from the State. 12. Nationalisation of land. 13, Nationalisation of mines. 14. Nationalisation of all railways. 15. Nationalisation of coastal marine services. 16. A legal periodic adjustment of rents. 17. Statutory limitation of the maximum amount of recoverable interest. 18. A State Bank of Issue. 19. The State to supply educational requisites at cost price. 20. That equal facilities be given for acquiring primary and secondary education. 21. An Elective Revising Committee with limited powers, instead of a Legislative Council. 22. An Elective Governor. 23. Simplification of the machinery of Government. 24. Simplification of judicial proceedings." A few of these items are unobjectionable, but the majority of them are of 8o revolutionary a character that it is difficult to imagine that the Government can be serious in its promise to attempt them. And that a band of men, many of whom are inexperienced, should set themselves to a work the magnitude and importance of -which would tax the abilities of the most gifted statesmen in the world for many years is preposterous. It is consolatory to reflect that they -are going in for so many things that the magnitade and number of their'prpposals will ensure their failure. Should they, however, succeed %© any extent, it is to be hoped they

will add one plank more to their platform, and propose the handing over again, free of charge, to the Maoris all the alienated land in the colony, for it will he no good to anyhody else, and then with all the assets that can he realised upon inaugurate f a grand scheme of emigration for all the,. European population, themselves and their immediate followers excepted, to anywhere out of New Zealand. Henby Geobge has been again talking about what he knows nothing. He fancies himself an authority upon everything just because his book had a big sale and attracted more attention than it deserved, as it happened to hit the taste of a lot of malcontents and faddists. ile b.as now issued tis opinion on these colonies, and says that "in Australia there are many little indications of that spirit which, if suffered to grow and intensify, may give justification to the adage that people separated by creeds may more bitterly hate each other than those separated by oceans." As a matter of fact, whatever spirit of the kind he mentions still exists in the colonies is rapidly dying out. It possibly is more apparent in New Zealand than elsewhere, but even here is as nothing compared with what it was. In the most advanced of all the colonies, Victoria, there is less of the sectarian spirit exhibited than in probably any other country in the world. There is even a distinct exhibition of brotherly feeling between the Church of England, and the churches which in England go by the general name of dissenters. And even his general statement, founded upon what he calls an adage that people separated by creeds hate each other more bitterly than those separated by oceans, has very little ground. They may express themselves very strongly about each other's views, but they do not hate each other's persons. We doubt very much whether even Mr A. C. Begg really hates any of his brother Christians, no matter how much they may differ from him, even though they go so far as to speak disrespectfully of the Confession of Faith and are favorable to the kist o' whustles in church. A man may deliver himself very offensively and with much warmth in condemnation of what he deems to be wrong, but it does not follow that he hates those he conceives to be in error. As a matter of fact, many of these stern conservators of old-fashioned truths and antiquated methods have, under their rugged exteriors, hearts as true and warm as ever beat in human bosom. Even as regards Protestants and Catholics, between whom the difference is infinitely more than that of creed — it is religion itself. — [ the hatred spoken of by Henby. Geobge does not exist. To suppose that a Protestant should regard the Catholic form of religion as equally orthodox with his own, or that a Presbyterian should consider Prelacy as of similar authority, or that a member of any one denomination should be so charitable as to hold that all who differ from him are as much in the right as he, is to suppose an absurdity. There is no harm whatever in sectarianism. It is often productive of good. Harm has often been made of it, and to some extent still is, but so far as Protestants, at any rate, are concerned, to say that those holding different creeds hate each other, either in the colonies or elsewhere, is either a display of gross ignorance, or a deliberate lie. The unsatisfactoriness of the present method of electing members to Parliament is attracting attention in Sydney. A recent bye-election has very strikingly illustrated the fact that in many cases the successful candidate is not the choice of the majority. Mr Bbadlet was recently elected for East Sydney by 1502 electors out of a total of about 10,000. He thus represents, or was chosen by, only 15 per cent, of the electors. That in itself is bad enough, but he was also beaten hollow at the poll although elected. There were 4077 votes recorded, and he got only 1502 of them — about 36 per cent. Several similar cases, of just as glaring a character, occurred it will be remembered at the last New Zealand election. If no other plan can be adopted to get rid of thi3 anomaly, it might be well to do as they do in France — make it necessary that a candidate must, in order to be elected, secure an absolute majority of votes on the roll. This would effectually keep a good many undesirable and incompetent men out of Parliament.