PRESS OPINIONS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 79, 27 December 1907, Page 9

PRESS OPINIONS.

: ; -^"PEESS* , OOTffiENTS. ' : '■■'■ -fhi "i^ss, ,, oanuce-nting on Mr. ■Slata's tomarks.'c'iipressos tho bopo that Mr. M Cul-mUyat'tho'cßd-of }us terra of offioe, ..up ,bfo,to look back'on his yrarH .Tritih;as mncc. . .atisfactipnVaa Mr. • Slater -5s able to do, • and that •ho;)rill ; aot 'have- : thV samo reason-io complain 'of Qw Ingratitude''of liosfe on itmss bchalf.that ■yo&'has.'boefi performed. .".Wo ' cannot ■ssTiYof course, haw.fair i<b« rreporr., is Ekds to ta nusad to lis ■lrfgislatiro.:CoEiKa3, is cowecS'- There is r.o doubt'tho ; <ai»«aJKj la-iasgainod dnnng .the eleven years niighi bo tanod ■I-β pood .account, and his appointment;, w>. voEore,' "wmkl bo geoerally popnlax, for m .a ifliiiiti ) , Sitri6hirßßivß , libb >v.on .tliD respect of all'wtio have' Lad 'business with tbp ■CdurtV. /Wo cannot naturally subscribe to all his ' opinions. regarding ,tho benefits, tho wdrltershavo received from th'o Conciliation and Arbitration Act. It has, wo admit, raised wages and shortened hours of work, but (the artificial raising of wages does not necessarily moan moro money in tho wageearner's pocket.v It often means, as is the case to day in New Zealand, that ho has to pay more for clothes and food and rent, until at the ond of a year he is little, if any, bettor off than he was under tho old conditions Tho greatest sufferer is, of course, tho man with a fixed salarj, such as *ho olerk, who feels tho whole burden of tho increased cost of living without any corresponding rise m salary with which to meet it, but tho workor himself must sometimes doubt whothor tho Act is quite tho boon that he has been led to bohevo There is littlo advantage in being paid 25s for labour tint once brought in but 20s. if tho larger sum only has thq eamo purchasing powor that tho smaller one had, and that is largely tho experionco of tho worker to-day. Tho employer, no'<Wbt, passes on tho increased co»t of production to tho public where he can, but the artisan .seems to overlook the fact that to a large extent he and his follow-workers -onstituto the public Mr Slater's arguments and beliefs'are,'however, tlioso-of tho constituency ho has represented on the Arbitration Court Bench He has had tho good fortune to see thorn put into practico during a period of great prosperit}. His successor may have tho kss plea3sn+ tas\ o-f fitting bs theories to tho hard facta of less prosperous tinjoa."

, .PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION..

; . This proportionate representation is supposed'.to,bo one of the fundamentals of democracy, and .has been . accepted without dcranir by;tbe"whole democratic world in general and by .the Dominion of Now. Zealand in ' particular.;'-Yet because the drift of population is against the South, because at every ceiisiis,the, population of the North is shown to;be, greatly increasing; its .lead..over the Squth, we have an agitation being carried on '•• in'thOjSjjith' which would sacrifice every consideration "and abandon every principle to conserve/ a few seats jin. the . House of Representatives. It was first proposed "that seats should be added to the Northern ap.portionrrient; but. not doducted. from the .Sdutliern. apportionment; but this-was too cl^arjy/sectional a proposition to havo any hope.of-sii'ccess in parliament as at present • constituted.''.Now we have, froni the Pre-' mier hiAjseK, a much:more insidious bncanse . less obvious- suggestion:'; He favours a*deconnial instead of a quinquennial census — which w ; huld enable the South t6 keep aseat or two for five years longer 'than under the. existing ~ system.'; Were. we, not 50... accug-, ■■'tomed'to the subordination of .every national' 3onsideratioii to the sectional interests .of the ■ South welslißuld'bo astoundetl at a statesman , of' Sir Joseph Ward's standing being so iin- ■ eguivocally r partial::...Such...displays, .of.sccr tidnal' affection, which would fie admirable were, they .not subversive of-fair and impartial administration;- will 'do; good if 'they help; Auckland and the; North to realise and understand how they have beon governed, hovv reluctaht the South is to lose her control, of the public, cash-box, and how imperative it is that the whole ; system of administration— allocation, of ,publiG.office ; . and ' public -nibney—should be i-ofbnned by tha sweeping, away of ■:■ intolerable sectional in- . fluences^New^Zealand;gefald.^y- >.y v , ■".■ i \

PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION.

i ,The "Now Zealand Herald" is quite wrong -j in supposing; that there is an.agitation going on in-the : South Island to deprive thei North ■ Island .(if, the additional parliamentary repre-. sentatioh'! to which it is" entitled'by'Mson of the'growth jiV. its population., Mr. T./Mac-.. suggestion that 'the, 'disturbance of the electoral boundaries should-;bo minimised by leaving the South witli,-it's present representation arid giving tho North throe extra members: has aroused only tho most .lan- ; guid interest* in this' part of tho Dominion. The*.great majority of the electors feel that the, House.of Representatives is already large -enough,'.;anidi that it-.would- -he a great mis- : take to go oh swelling its ranks every timo a Census is taken. In a little timo, possibly before the end of a: decade, there:' would bo the'inevitable cry' for retrenchment. -Mr. Mackenzie admits, himselfiithat his-scheme would" be only a palliative, and that sooner ■u or later it;would havo to be reviewed. The taxpayers would not bo content to' see £3000 or:£400.0 added this cost of the-'legislature every fifth; or sixth year simply for the purpose of keeping half-a-dozen superfluous , membors in their scats. WS ; . realise as fully as' the; member for Waikouaiti doe's the in-, convenience' that is occasioned by the frequont' change .of boundaries,, but we do not Beo'how'ft can bo avoided under our pre-• sont; system ■of representation. True, "proportional .representation'.' would solve the ■ difijculty.at. once,' by', providing larger con-' .Btituoncies and getting'irid of tho parochial-; Jsm'thafc'is thoibano of ourpubhVlife; but We aroi afraid, that our Auckland friends would.hot care to ontrust tho management of. the affairs of tho Dominion to a House that contairicd-. nos-spocial-representative of their interests. 'But wo do'not despair of seeing' some'-'day- thb adoption of a modifica'tion of the systerrv that will'mako. the constant tinkering with the boundaries unnecessary ."•'-If] the two islands .were each divided inbv.forir large constituencies, the number of membersLto :be elected.could bo' increased or decreased: without-any chaiigo'at all.—"Lyttelton ".TimiSSi"• :■:■-• ••■ .. .

EXHIBITIONS. . ,

• If' this • sort of advertising is worth doing at which rt/hero , pan be , - little : , doubt— i*/ is.•worth doing well., Otherwise it should, bp. left abno,. for a poor show.is far more- 'likely'to injuro tho::D6mihion : than none at all.: 'Personally wo are firm believers in the ; .valuo of bringing New-Zealand's resources ;'and the *_■<. attrafctions ■ sho i has. .to" offer to thb tourist apd- • sportsman under the notice; of people in other countries, and thero are few bettor ways of doing this than r: by making a display at;,-exhibitions. But- ' since tho object is to , draw visitors and settlers-' to, tbcse.ishoresj: as well as to extend ;tho demand for ■■our products; ' tho display should he made as. attractivo as possible, and an effort-.should bo made at each ■ sucfie&rivo oxhibi£ion to mako a novel end .distinctive feature of v th'e New' Zealand court. :Wo trust this will bo borne in mind' when tho New Zealand court at the Franco-British Exhibition in London next iyearvis being .'arranged. •■. The Government has takon 6000' square feet of space, little enough considering ■ tho efforts that Australia _ and Canada will mako to attract attention, and Parliament has voted £5000 towards the coat. :f ..More- money will bo needed if tho coiirt'is to'bc any credit to us and will np doiibt bo'available. But thcro w; a_ .'danger, unless thorGovernment take 3 ' .special nieasnros, that'fljo" court may bo a repetition of that in tho Dublin Exhibition in which cae© thero are fifty .directions ; n which tho monoy could Iw more usefully expended.—Ohristchurcli "Press." ;£.' ' •■•"■■;•"-,.' ~