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Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16851, 3 June 1920, Page 6

The public will read with concern "that tho Prince of Wales is suffering from tho strain of his tour. But regret will be tempered with satisfaction that his Royal Highness ia to have a week's holiday. There can be few New Zealanders to whom the thought did no! occur that the manner in which the Prince stood up to his very heavy work was nothing less than wonderful. The brief periods during which he could feel ho was hi.s own man could hardly have been sufficient to ease the strain of the endless receptions, the constant travel, and tho crushing load of duties td bo performed. Few people could endure it for long, and fewer still could do it and keep in good spirits and up to concert pitch. The Prince must often long for tho day when he will reach home again, for there, although ho will still have innumerable official duties, he will at any rate have a vastly easier time than he hns been having since he began his tour. The people of Sydney, when they do receive his Royal Highness, and see him going so well through his engagements, will forget their disappointment in wonder at his ability to bear such a heavy burden for so long a time. In a letter we print to-dav the Hon. W. H. Triggs mentions a point in connexion with tho proposed war memorial that'will have to bo considered. He suggests that the names of all the Canterbury men who fell in the war may not easily bo accommodated upon or in tho base of the memorial column which we hope will he erccted in Cathedral square. We do not think that the difficulty of inscribing the names—some thousands —is insuperable, but if it should be found inconvenient, there need be no very strong objection to his proposal that the records should be made in the fine old hall of the Provincial Council Buildings.

No doubt opinions will bo divided on that point, but there can be no division of opinion upon the other suggestion that Mr Triggs make 3in his letter, namely, that the people of Canterbury should not rest until they have secured the buildings for the city. Spasmodic attempts have been made to induce tho Government to givo or to barter this property, but nobody has ever persevered against the official reluctance to give up anything. In Wellington they know nothing about the Provincial Council Chambers, except that it may at some date become .useful to some Department for office purposes. If Christchurch were Auckland, Wellington would never l>e left long without some protest, and we would suggest that Auckland's methods might well be adopted in order to liavo this question finally settled. The historical value of the Chamber and adjacent structures as a Canterbury possession is far greater than the value of the Building as a Government office or meeting room. And there is always the danger, while the building is in the Government's hands, that it may be turned to some base everyday use.

We are quite willing that our morning contemporary should have the feminine privilege of the last word in tho little controversy we haro had concerning the responsibility for the rise in the Departmental expenditure. We hope, however, that it will attend to the fact that when ho quitted office, having passed the Estimates and left them all ready and in type, Sir Joseph Ward left a draft Budget in which a deficit was arranged. Tho expenditure which wo and our contemporary deplore was arranged for, except for additions for which the Liberals clamoured, before Sir James Allen resumed control of the Department of Finance. This i

is so*well known that it is unnecessary to continue a discussion with those who would deny it. It is quite true, as our contemporary says, that "the party in office is responsible for the finances of the country," but the man who has to clear up the muddle made f>v his r>re-

deee"or is not usually blamed for the muddle. Our readers will be amused to hear that "The Press" is accused of denying that the expenditure has risen unwarrantably. Why, we have affirmed that the expenditure has been growing cVsr.grcr-ihly high, largely owing to Sir Joseph "Ward's neglect of his duty. And we feel bound to say that- the accusation against "The Press," which has criticised tho rising expenditure without regard to the colour of the Government, is a startling one to como from a quarter in which 110 considerations of tho public interest could evoke a word of criticism of tho Liberals when thev j were in office.