PRESS OPINIONS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 160, 31 March 1908, Page 5

PRESS OPINIONS.

THE ARBITRATION ACT. There can be no doubt , that it is tho imperative.duty.of tho authorities to collect tho nno that was imposed'on tho .\liners' Union by tiio, Court'. Thero is no reason to suppose that the Union has not the means at. its ..disposal 'to satisfy the ; line. But if it has not, tile law gives the Government tho right of recourse against tho members of, tlio Union. -This consideration raises tho question of tho methods which should bo employed to enforce tho payment .of-tines. Mr. Sinclair expresses: tho liopo that the provision of the law under - which men may be imprisoned in default of payment, of tines imposed, under tho Arbitration Act may. never he.!enforced. ' We agree .with,.him fully in ■tho; vipw lie: takes'that- thero is a ppoint beyond wliich -humanitarianism . will not sanction-. tho imprisonment of people, and that that'.poiiit, is. reached when ' poverty, not 'contumacy,, explains .the nqgiect .on the part'.bf' to satisfy .a debt or' a judgment ho has,, incurred:' Imprisonment for a civil 'debt is practically a thing of the past in? /Now ..Zealand: Yet people may'bo occa-sionally-sent'to. goal for'debt because.of indebtedness incurred by fraud, or because, though they have had tile means to pay, they have.':rofused' to ' discharge , 'their • liability. And for .the reason that it/ may be necessary to'compel the payment'of ..fines-by persons who,- though they possess, the.means, may in tlV6,absence, of compulsion refuse to pay, the retention in . tho Arbitration Act of tho provision, which has really proved'effectual to seciire? tho. payment of the fines that were iinposed upon the slaughtormen in Canterbury last year may be advisable. • The men who aro permanently engaged in the settled 'industries of the country may bo said,-almost without, exception, t-o possess property umn which, in default of payment of fines under tho Arbitration-Act, tho Crown may'distrain; but thoro is ; a class of "birds of passage" employed in certain , occupations upon whom tho'authorities, in tho absence of a provision w.hich proscribes a punishment for contempt of:'court, would have no clear hold. It. is tho;- recognition of ; -this, we- imagine,: which led: Mr. Wade to provide in ..tho Industrial Disputes-Bill,'that? is now .before the Legislature, of New.South'.:Wales; that the-extreme penalty of imprisonment may be exacted in default of the payment of fines for breaches of ".awards or orders of the Court. —"Otago Daily Times:". : .

f .WEATHER REPORTS. ■' ;' TlidVtelegraphic weather report issued from they Telegraph Office every morning at nine o'clock is 'good as far as it goes, but it might bo"bettor;at the cost of very little additional trouble'. /It gives particulars 'of the wind, weather, tide, and sea, and readings of tlio barometer and thermometer, . but it omits what, .to many people, would be the most useful - news—tho ~rainfall for 'the"- past - twenty-four:- hours.', Thero. •' have been; few -weeks. >in -tlie; last 'eighteen months or two years, when -the rainfall has not been a'-niat- • ter -of - importance,and oven with; tlio: pass'.i'ng'of; -the long .spell. of. dry, weather, ■it must remain, a subject\of interest to everyone concerned in, -the .'well-being-of ! the country. We, suggest,'-therefore,- that "the: Government's weather ,- bulletin..should, .includo with its other: information a statement of; the rainfall the'providus day/ ;;> The Meteorological Department of New South Wales collects rainfall ystatistics.'from' a,: hundred' different stations,'' and the information is supplied, at! a. small-charge; to'newspaper offices', clubs,_ arid- hotels, and is exhibited.' at' telegraph' : stations. ■ .. In': New. '. Zealand ; the. report, to which wo "have, ref.crr.edls .compiled from messages.'.sprit ;-by -.'the,, officers pf.'.thb Telegraph Doiwrtment; at the spot's,. but the Meteorological Department is a branch . of : the 'Marine'Dopartment. Sir, Joseph Ward ' and .Mr..-;lfillar. might, : therefore, 'discuss ,the matter i witlr the;. Minister-, for- .Agriculture. , \y.li6. would,', no doubt,' recognise, the value .of 'the additional'information : being'given as we suggest;;,: Arrangcmentsi could,"s then be . made for,,<tho supply^of the. report, at- a spiall charge,' to .'persons . willing.'.'to ' pay- for. it, ajiart:' from;; its', display, as.' at- present,' at post. ,''Press.'', •. ;.

■:the;American fleet.. ..'lt' is: officially announced that - the American,. Fleet -under; ■ .Admiral:-,. Evans, -iiy-re-:sponse to. .an.; invitation , from .Mr. ; 'Deqkih-,; :tho. Premier of .the Australian Coinriioriwcaltli, Will' ?visit; b'oth Melbourne and , Sydney.(on. its' way to tlio Philippine . Islands. We do .not' know' whether- Sir Joseph Ward has approached.'tho American authorities with the object, of securing / a : visit'from.the fleet., to -New Zealand waters, but' we, trust that lio '.effort's will be spared 'to•'induco tho United States Government to consent to such :a. course." Moreover; wo believe that if pro.pcr 'representatiohs- were: made ! at' Washington, the ..response would, .not be' unfavourable.' The Fleet will. have'-.to pass , close-to' Aucklanil on its way from Samoa; to .Aus T fcraliaj so-.that comparatively, little inconvc-n----iencb.or?delay wonld be involved in touching at. this port, . which' .f0r...50 many years : was the '.port, of.' arrival and departure, for the Sail .'Francisco mail steamers. \ Apart from the ' and friendly relations, that havo always: existed 'between' tho peoplo of- the' Dominion and. their kinsfolk across the Pacific,', and-their growing /commercial intercourse, -.tho ; visit of.'tho Flefet would be singularly ; appropriate,' inasmuch as incw Zealand is the nearest to' - - the American - seaboard, of the great Bntish 'possessicns in this quarter of tho globoj and is probably, tho one that has' ex.cited' the keenest interest among> the . American. : pcoplo. ' President' "Roosevelt 1 himself has'..on more than ono occasion given expression, to the'warm regard -which lie, entertains for New Zealand, and" to ■ tho deep interest which'he take 3in our affairs. There'is every reason, therefore, for anticipating a cordial; reception of an invitation from'.the New Zealand Government to the American' Fleet to visit our country, and we -would-'strongly urge on the Primp Minister the-.desirableness. of, using every means in his f 'JSower/'to secure for tho Dominion so gratifying a ; distinction.—"New- Zealand, Herald'.": .': . . ' .-. ' > • THE PUBLIC'S SHORT MEMORY. "Tho iniquity of Oblivion . blindly scattoreth' her l'oppyj" wrote Sir Thomas'Browne mdro.than three hundred years and the triith-.of .tho sentence, is yet' being illustrated to ils; It wpuld ;bo no exacting task to recall "many men-who have given tho best that was. in, them for their countrymen's- good, have passed away and been ten by the next generation. Indeed, we might say that this _is the common fate-of Colonia) statesmen'and public men. -, It is not yet "two years : since . "to the sound of a nation's lamentations" the late Mr; Seddon .was.borno to. his last resting' place,, and —so' short is the:,-public memory—"one never' hears his name mentioned now,"/ is a frequent comment;; And there is still another instance, Less, than six months ago as great a man in science as Mr. Seddon was in politics died, and ;it is 'with the utmost difficulty that,funds.:are being obtained to establish a small' memorial of him.. We refer to Sir James Hector, who laboured so-strenuously amongst us for a quarter of -a ■ centiiry. Barely: £200 , lias been subsoribed to endow a, scholarship. by. which this veteran scientist's memory may be kept, green: And yet he was a man whose exploits in tlio world of, i soience were known m -many—countries besides that which he honoured. by adopting as.his 'own./ . A.Mastertbn resident, for. instance, has-been-travel ling in America, and lie, sends along to tho' local' paper tho. following. paragraph about h'is'journey over tlio Rrb'cky' Mountains"A little further on, at. ah elevation of.-5200 feet, wo passed a small station,,.known-as Hector. ...To; Now Zeal'ariders '■ this -place should :have a peculiar, interest... About thirty ' yards > from" the line stands ;a. monument to the late Sir • James Sector, erected by tho Canadians, in consideration of tho services roridered by that gontleman, who •as - the geologist ill coniicctibri with tho Palliser exploration party, not only made valuable-scientific researches in '-tho -Rockies,' between the years 1857 and 1860,, but was' the discoverer of the famous "Kicking-liorso Pass," whereby ; a way was found .through .tho. hitherto impenetrable mountains, :and along which tho CanadianPiacific Railway npw; runs to tho Pacific." And tbi honour this man's memory Now Zealand cannot raise: £200. It is not a pleasant thing ti) have to say, and yet it is tho truth. Perhaps the known lack of reverence that is a trait of Colonial character is • tho root' of tho public forgetfulness. Whether that is so or not, the existence of the position we Jiave.alluded to is ever to be re-,gretted.j-4"Manawatu Evening Standardj'.'