NOTES OF THE'DAY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 656, 5 November 1909, Page 6

NOTES OF THE'DAY.

. ''.''■'.•' -~~—*^r—-"-." ■■'[■:.•■'/' '' . p.\E;of the .raosfc astonishing asked in-the Houeo of this session was. tabled bv Hit. Wiwoiid yesterday. He gave notice. to • ask the Government if it. will impose a duty of sa. or ,103. per, ton on imported , coal. '.' No :dpubt it..would ; bo. very'pleasant,for the. coal-workers'and!, coal-ownors if thetariff were altered,so.as- tovonablc,thc price, of; !coal -1io : bo raised by, ss.' or "lOs.' per ton,, but; the.- gpneral consumer, will probably hojd .a; very,.different opinion, as to''Mr. W'ilfohd's. proposal:'' .■■ Tqonr mind : it is .positively.: amating that.■anybody.'. , should deeire.'.that.'there .should;..bo•!'any duty!, ■wbateverUipori any kind of coal. . The deicndc.rs'.: of '..tho.'.-dnty ' .\rilly. probably .. say ..thatjthe , local- industry must, be, fostered— ■aii industry.that.simply consists of lifting :..tho: : mineral .out .of, .the earth!,! 'We ican , 'understand the reasoning of fchoso who ■demand,protection for,manufacturing in-; diistries-rof. those:. Protectionists 'at'..any- , .'rate.:; who;, desire .tariff nurture ■■ for, such .time as is.necessary to enable the industry concerned to find its feet and become efficient';. Thore'is something to bo said for that ,'sort ■ of. Protection. . But no intelligent advocate, of Protection in. any country; on earth; so ; far- , as we are' aware, would contend that coal is a propor subjectofor :a : protective duty.v Ho'would not! at anyrate, dream of asking anyone to. believe that the Protectionist doctrine ..contains a defence; of the coal duty. If the. coal-mining ■•' industry!, is languishing in.-.this country, it is languishing through : one of .two : causes—either the improper policy of the Government in. operating I coal-mines - at. a. loss, or -tho - obligation upon.mino-ownors to pay oxsessive wages. The' mining industry is not one that .admits of much in the way of improved methods. If under normal circumstances ;it languishes in any country, it should be abandoned. If it lnnguisbes owing to abnormality in local 'conditions,' , those condition's should bo removed. One thing is certain: the general consumer will not ■tolerate being taxed in' Order to pay for ■ removable' abnormalities in the coal-min-ing business. 1 . ■■;■. "... ■ '!:;"•'•■' i From a careful examination of the circumstances surrounding the fiasco which occurred at Fort Kelbume, Ngahauranga, on .Saturday; last,, only ono'conchisidp can bis 4rawn, and; that'is,, that-the visitors from Auckland were entirely to blame for their own misfortunes. It is an extraordinary circumstance thdt'6o gunners, in : uniform, in chargo of three" officcrp,' should have, been'_able ■to '■ travel!, .from Auckland to, Wellington—from; one military ■ district:- to another—without'' the cognizance -of-! .the military '.authorities, and yet that is.precisely 'what happened. Nor was ■ the expedition arranged on. the spur of the >moment; • Ever':since last • Easter, apparently, the Auckland gunners had looked, forward tp, an iritor-company shooting competition 'with the ;: Pctonc Navals at Fort Kclburnel and three ■rfeeka boforo. the expedition -set put' from the northorn 'city -a: dofihito announcement ■that the'jjunnors were coming reached Captain -Ellis, 'the Officer ,: Commandin g, . tho ■ Potone Navals.. It -is , clear, theref erej that the Auckland Company' had ample time to make, official ■ arrangements with the authorities.: • Yet no. application for ;permission ;to " rcaened_' district headquarters at"! Auckland until. October '28, the; day before the men ,lcftV'fdr Wellington. :- v This' application ; . reached tho Chief of: the General Staff' at ■Wellington on Saturday morningj October"- 30, ; by which time' tho ..party.'was only some six hours''distant fr'om its destinationV and;' it fmiist '■> Again,- thore was .app'arcntlj' sonio dorstanding'concerning- -the"object of "the , expedition. CaMain - KkYviiTr ; !; (Offic'b»' Commanding:.' the Auckland!; "Company) distinctly •stated: : to ■our roprcsentativc ■ .that he,and. his men came'.to .Fort, Kclburne to- learn by observation .something of the methods!of the Pctohc guiinors and the equipment,of the short,' to study the conditions. urldCr < which; itliat ■company.had attained,tlio'^distinction of being the smartest: garrison' -artillery, corps in tho Dominion., This ofßcer, took 'strong, loxceptiorf to the, stafcmerit; made !in that the object,,o';. the. visit , !was , '-a' ■c'oriipotition' ; in' gunnery'. Against-that must W placed the fact that one of his own.gurinors positively stated, that tho men had no ; d6ubt in their ininds th,at, they..wore coming'down to , shoot,;arid also tho : ; statement /; by; LiEDTiJNANTrCoLONEL 'Wolfe ; (Officer, Com- , manding the Auckland Military District]! ; that a',rqfererico to tho proposed shooting competition , appeared in company orderG. some time ago. ; The only inference is that "if iOAPTAiN.'-KNYVErr- ohdngod ' his plans, hi.\ ~did not make, the fact'.'■'' sufficiently clear. to his! men., It is also clear that CAPiAiN.ELMS-pafticularly.-imprcsse'd J upon Captain JtsyyETT the nec.os6ity.!for obtaining official authority for;what was proposed to be!done, and that.the letter's neglect in I : this respect! resulted' in ; Cap--, tain Ems beirlg.placed in ,a false position, for.ho could make:ho for -.the-,accommodation of his '.visitors' without offidial authority; and ; tho, 'authorities had no knowledge of :the cxpedi-: That' 4he '■.'■Auckland;' gunners \ wor,o sufficiently, enthusiastic: to make.! the- trip is very much. to. their credit, and ..speaks welKfor the condition of* yoluntcerjing in the'.'northern city; but it is a- matter, for! regret' that ;OaptaiN Knyvett should havo \ allowed'.his ■■ enthusiasm i- to ■ carry, him so far as to, have;. committed.' what appears : to be a very-'gravo breach! of discipline, •' Replying to a' Wairarapa deputation yesterday ihe Minister for Public Works made some further references to the Goyernmont's idea that,.districts desiring, railways should:guarantee, a certain return on! tho capital expended^; We hate stated in past articles the principles that aro'_ involved in t thin-policy, and we ; only desiro to refer hero to tho importance of having some more definite information, as to.what'is! in the' Government's', mind, Sin : Joseph^Ward• appeared to! suggest the other day -that 'legislation dealing with the matter would oe brought down this session, but the Minister, for Public' Works, in reply- to a question from a member of yestprday's. deputation, Was unable to give any assurance on the point; There has of late years been;a tendency to spring unexpected proposals of much importance on an unprepared .House! and country.' - The Government, should cor-' tainly not attempt to'pass any legislation respecting "guaranteed" railways! this session unless ample time is given to Parliament and the country to consider what is proposed. There' is no necessity, for haste in the matter j,it will indeed be unwise on the Government's part, to do' moro than'brihg_ in the Bill in which it proposes to ; givo effect to the very unsound principle with which it is hoped to stav6 off tho movement for a thoroughgoing reform of the whole railways, admihistrationi Are we to wait, by tne way, for tho appearance .'of the Estimates .before tho railways are discussed by Parliament ? If we are, then ono of the most disastrous sources of waste -in tho national economy, and. the one which has been subjocted to a greater, volume of hostile and porsifitsnt criticism than ; any other;branch of administration in; the past , two years, will bo' almost cortfiinly given inadequate notiro;, ;, ';"' '{ : ;:- :: ' v '■■'■■[' : '".j ''■■■..: :■;']''■' ! , !- v