NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 567, 23 July 1909, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

i ':The defeat of the Clemenceau Government at the hands ;of _M.,Delcasse is particularly interesting just now because of the relations which exist ;between : ,tho'lat-. ter> and' Germany.'/ M. Delcasse, when Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Routier. Government in 1905, was;saerir ficed by his /colleagues;' under intimidation by Germany. • The trouble, occurred ostensibly over the attitude adopted by M.•; Delcasse: in ; regard to Morocco,; but the real cause of Germany's, antagonism to-:the then Foreign Minister of France was said to be her; annoyance at' seeing France-slip away from, her, hegemony, in Europe into the Anglo-French:: Entente Gor&iale. The story runs that Germany sent word that if M. Delcasse ? S; policy in regard to, Morocco wore persisted in: there would be war, and: that though Englandmight destroy \the German ; Fleet, Germany would fetch ■; from' .Paris two mil-, lions of indemnity for every million she might lose at'sea.*, France at the time was quite unprepared for.;war, and M. Delcasse was sacrificed, and ho resigned office. Later, when: the Algeciras Conference sat, similar tactics' were attempted by: Germany, but France in the meantime had spent something like £20,000,000 On her, eastern frontier, and was not to be brOw-beaten. ,At the Algeciras Conference the diplomacy of Britain and France' triumphed over tho efforts of Germany, and provoked a characteristic outburst from the Kaiser:. The point of interest to British pcoplo is tho fact that M. Delcasse, who is regarded as,it "strong" -Foreign Minister, was the statesman mainly: responsible for bringing about the Anglo-French alliance; and is staunchly in favour of a continuance of closer .relations with Britain. He is mainly responsible also for tho exposures which have taken place in the waste and muddlement, in connection with the ■ French Navy.' .Although M..Delcasse has been able to carry a hostile vote which has forced the resignation of the Government, it is open, to doubt whether he will be able to form a stable Government himself. .It is quite possible -that we may see ,another series of .rapid changes in French politics such: as/pre-: ceded the advent of the. Clemenceau Government. -.':■■'■ "''-.;'■■■■'■;' ■■':■.:■■•:■■,:,

The;, leading Southern newspaper champion of Socialistic legislation has been calling upon a dormant or ; extinct body once known as'the Progressive Liberal Association to be, up and doing. Its anxiety irises out of the recent split in the ranks of Labour in Canterbury: it is afraid that Labour may break away from the Government,. The manner of its appeal is interestingly.'. lachrymose. "There '-.is .',' no definite progrcs : sive programme'._ before the country,", it wails.".' "Scores of good Liberals,''. I it assures .us, "are lamenting the. fact that no attemptis, being made to crystallise the vaguely-expressed : dpsire of the community for reforms in the electoral and legislative machinery.of the Dominion and in niany-. branches of local government." Really, this is very sad. The heart of the community should go out .to these lamenting Liberals: in the. bankruptcy of their faith. Yet it is within our memory that it'was the journal we are quoting that was furiously indignant in October last at the suggestion that the Government had no policy, fiercely exultant early in November over the magnificence of the Government's policy and the splendour of its election manifesto, and bitterly .disappointed and sternly indignant at the end of November with the Government's want of policy arid inability to write a manifesto. It is perfectly true that the Government has

no coliorcnJ. policy, but it is of course not a coliarnnfi policy that its tearful friend is W/i;iti/i#, It wants ho wore than an ftUßtiriuittj that tho Government will continuo along the Socialistic road,

Tub Minister for Hallways at times must find himeolf in an awkward position when dealing with tho rcfjucsts of deputations which; wait on him. asking for improvements in the railway services in tlio North Island. Tho awkwardness iir'mm out of the fact that he must know that thoKO who are making the requests may ho thoroughly entitled to the concessions asked, but that their requests, nevertheless, cannot receive the consideration they deserve owing to the loss they might entail on the service as a whole. In other words, the particular section of railway in connection with which the concessions are asked may be paying handsomely, but the requests made cannot ho entertained because the from that particular lino are required to make up the losses on a section of railway in the South Islfind. ( For instance, it 'is estimated that the rate of interest paid on railway construction loans is about 33 per cent. Therefore, if a particular lino is paying a 4j or 5 per cent, net return on the capital expended,, it is uot unreasonable for the users of the lino to ask for concessions in the way of a better railway service. As ,wc have pointed out on many occasions, the North Island railway users are paying for the losses on tho South Island railways. The-rtefc returns on the whole of the/North Island railways for 1907-8 was 4.28 per cent,, while' in the South Island for the same period it was only 2.71 per cent. This was no doubt tho chief stumbling-block to the prompt granting of the requests of tho influential deputation which waited upon tho Minister for Railways yesterday.* The members of the deputation : wcre able to show* in some cases that they had distinct grievances. The figures quoted by Mn. J. M. Johnston, and the facts stated by-other members of the deputation, were most convincing. ', Many of the improve ; ments asked for could be made, and the lines of railway affected.could still pay interest on the cost of construction. But at the back of the Minister's mind all the time was the knowledge that the railways as a whole are not paying. The profits' on the North Island lines must be held on to to wipe off the losses in the South. The arguments of the deputation might be overwhelmingly strong—but could he afford to risk making the already heavy losses on the railways as a whole heavier ? One can sympathise ■with the Minister in his embarrassment. He must' know that if ho refuses all. the requests made'he is doing injustice, but: what is he to do ?; We have always' given Mk. Millar, credit for desiring to place tho railways on a: sounder, footing. ••'We■'.believe he can make an improvement. But he must stop the drain ;vhich the South Island railway's,are making on'the users of the North Island lines. lie must make up, his inind'to put a stop to the further . construction of costly non-paying lines in the South Island. Tho,'Westport-Roef-ton line, for instance, which his colleague the 'Minister' for 'Public' Works is pushing on should be stopped, andr it would be. a good thing for. tho 'country -if .the Midland Railway •' works were hiing up indefinitely. In the meantime;- however, the Minister's ■ plain duty is to 'extend. such consideration-as he' reasonably can. to the users of the North Island lines; : . •;,