The Dominion. TUESDAY, MAY 11, 1909. PATRIOTISM AND APPLAUSE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 504, 11 May 1909, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, MAY 11, 1909. PATRIOTISM AND APPLAUSE.

Sir .Joseph Ward, it seems, considers that ho has a serious grievance against the United Press Association. He 'h'ais been telling the peoplo of Kaikoti'ra that the Association -failed t-o acquaint the public with the created in Great Britain by New Zealand's ' offer of a Dreadnought. According to one report, he said that it was "extraordinary" that "thorc was nothing' in; the nowspaper cables about the way in which the news of the offer was received in England, nothing of .the extraordinary enthusiasm'displayed by tho people or the: laudatory tone of tho British prQssj\" arid he , spoke of the Association as having'"wilfully ignored the enthusiasm which was of such deep interest to tho, people of New Zealand." The. United' Press Association is not perfect, by any. moans'; it has its defects and its eccentricities. But it is a little too bad that on an occasion when it might legitimately take some credit' to itself for having discharged its duty very efficiently it is mado'tho subject of unfair, and 1 quite unfounded attack by the Prime Minis-! 'ter; If' Sin Joseph Ward will,j turn back to tho he will boo for himsolf that

a very ample, budget of enthusiastic press opinions on the offer, together with a fair amount of news, as distinct from opinion, were dispatched to us by cable. Even such small details, if the Prime Minister will allow us our opinion on the point, as that the Evening News published a message from him, and that a number of members of the House of Commons were preparing a memorial for dispatch to him, were sent out. It is true that we did not hear very much about'"the way in which the offer was received in England," or "the extraordinary enthusiasm by the people." If he is resentful of this oqission, however, Sir Joseph Ward should blame England grid tho English people. His quarrel in this matter, if he insists on it, must be with them. For if he knows of any extraordinary popular excitement or public demonstrations that we should have been told about, he is better informed than we are, and our understanding of the position is gathered from the pages of 'the London press. Amongst the London dailies that we consult are The Times, Westminster Gazette, Daily' News, Standard, and Daily Mail. These five important journals represent every shade of opinion, but from none of them can we gather that there was. any great excitement in the streets, or even that tho New Zealand offer was the main topic of discussion.- One need not be a journalist to know that if tho effect of the offer on England was as exciting as the Prime Minister appears to imagine, the London newspapers would have reflected ' it in their news pages in support of their own cordiality in their editorial columns. The cable messages actually sent to us were a more than adequate . summary of the situation" What did the Prime Minister really expect 1 Apparently, that the Press Association should send columns.of verbiage relative to the offer, even at the cost of excluding every other subject. Sir Joseph Ward has evidently overestimated the .excitement which he caused as ; greatly as he appears to have, underestimated the adequacy of the cable agent to the situation. It will come as an unpleasant surprise to most people that he should have been so keenly anxious about the limelight and tho \applause. ■ His disappointment,. ho may rely "upon it, is not shared by the general public; he. is. mistaken . if ho thinks that New Zealande'rs : , are consumed with vanity and. hungry for incense. The average New Zcalander hoped that the offer would be, cordially welcomed, and would _ cause; much pleasure at Home. What else should he wish or cxpectV That the offer did . produce these results was amply stated in. ,the cable messages. Sir Joseph has not consulted his dignity in making a petulant complaint about the quantity of glory received by . him for his patriotic offer. The patriot complaining that tho butter is spread too thin is not'. a,n edifying spectacle. Surely the Prime Minister does not want i;he public to suspect'him of doubting that patriotism should be its own reward 1