A Jarring Note.

Press, Volume L, Issue 15040, 7 August 1914, Page 8

A Jarring Note.

Every ono agrees with Sir Joseph Ward that the present is nob a time to introduce party polities into the House, but even impartial members of the Opposi* tion will admit, now that thoy havo seen the contents of tie Budget, :»hat there is no reason why it should hare been postponed. It is merely a clear, straightforward statement of the financial administration of the past year, and an authoritative account of our present position. . In the present critir cal state of affaire, it is essential that this information should, be laid before tiie public at tho earliest possible moment. The proposals for the coming year can necessarily only be made in a very tentative fashion. We mast see a'little clearer into the future before we can say how/far these proposals can be carried out. The Minister of Finance will haro "to proceed warily, and will have to cut his coat accorling to his cloth.

The country, wo feel cure, on. roading the Budget will agree that the action of Sir' Joseph Ward and tho Opposition in leaving tho Hbaso without waiting to hear what was in it was highly unbecoming and in existing circumstances unpatriotic. While it is very desirable that party wrangling should ceaso amidst the clash of arms, this does not mean that the business of the country is to bo Brought to a. standstill or that tho proposals of tho Government aro not to be submitted t> criticism. .Mr Maesey stated tho true position with a temperateness and force of conviction which will carry with »t the approval of the country. The scene in Parliament last erening was not. in accordance with ite traditions, and the.record of what took place -'U cause a very painful feeling throughout New Zealand, and will be read with surprise and regret in the Motherland. . ,

To-day'a war nowg w; so far as it goes, exceedingly satisfactory. For reasons indicated in the article by Colonel Andrew which wo print to-day, the great Russian and French Armies have not yet come to grips with tho enemy. In Belgium, however, thero has been heavy fighting, and the reports go to 6how that the Belgians have inflicted heavy damage upon the invader. In the meantime Britain hag been attending to tho capturo and detention of German shipping,, and it is probable that Germany wKI have to come out on the water. The reported capture of the Goeben and Breslau is a sharp blow at German eea-power. Ono of the sensations of to-day is the news, which is official, that a British warship caught and eank a German mine-laying steamer near tho mouth of the Thames.

An interesting question at the present time is as to how far naturalisation-as a British subject exempt* Germans from military service. It appears that it does not exempt them at all. 'Should they happen to return to their native country while they are still of age to servo they still remain liable to penalties for non-service. Only last year it was reported that three Canadians, formerly Russians, on revisiting their native country, had been sentenced to Siberia for life on a charge of evading military service. Sir Wilfrid. Laurier cited it as an example cf the incompleteness- of Canadian naturalisation, the Foreign Office having declined to interfere, but Sir Edward Grey explained that it was immaterial whether they wero nationalised in Canada or in Britain, as in all such cases tho 'law of Russia would be the governing law.