NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 667, 18 November 1909, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY.

i.--. The early, closo of the Financial '■"• Debate, will' leave moro time than .was expected, for consideration 'of the lcgisla-; tive. proposals of the Government. This is in.some respects a matter for congratulation, and wd trust that:; the . Prime Minister will not waste;his opportunity: It isnecessary that he should bring forward at once the more important, of his Bills so that members may ■ deal with them while they ire still fresh and alert.' The biggest, .legislative blunders of ..the past have arisen out of the practico of keeping back important legislation until tho closing hours !of the session,, when the Bills are forced through a tired and weary 1 House at express speed.: It seems almost .hopeless to expect any marked reform in this respect unless members make'it clear to Ministers that Bills: will not bc'allowcd to progress after a reasonable hour dach . night. The Reform Party is strong enough to do this, and it is ■ its , plain duty: .to take up a determined stand in the matter.. Ii it docs so, 'we are cortain that the Prime Minister will : recognise iho ■ inevitable,.. with. a good grace, and an; important : and needed reform will be accomplished.iT'is difficult to know whether to laugh at or .to. feel sorry . for. Me. Laurenson and his Brother Radicals. Their plight, as the friends.of a Government that lias betrayed them—if we' may use ; openly a word that' all of them save Mr'. Tavlor' are unwilling to use except in their hearts —is obviously.a sorry one, butwe did not quite realise how sorry'it is until Me. Laurenson delivered his speech yesterday afternoon. In accents vibrant withpain ha said. that, the time was coming when one day the Government would "realise that there was a large body of people who favoured tho leasehold".,! There ,is something more than ordinarily humorous in this appeal to the. Government which iri 1906 was not merely certain that the leasehold waß the winning card, but truculent in its certainty, and which, even so'lately as 1907, firmly believed that the country favoured the leasehold. ..■ Poor ',Mr. Laurenson wants the Government to think again; and ho addresses it as if it had not spent all 'its life snuffing the breeze . and triinming. its sails to suit! What the -Manchester Guardian said about the House of Lords the other* day is peculiarly fit; for application to the Government, which must bo having some anxious moments since yesterday • afternoon's division: - '...'■•''■'. , They are in.a predicament common to them with'many, modern prize-fighters, who, by. expressing boundless pugnacity when issuing their original challenge, put n certain amount of heart into simple and ardent backers, and then cool off as the great day approaches,'until they •almost have to be scourged into the ring ' by those now agonised investors.':.. But the'Goverriment may be consoling itself with' the reflection' that Mr. Laurenson, for all-his tearful talk, remains the Government' Whip, and will faithfully, follow his leader—with a bleeding heart, but; a firm tread. .Moreover,; Mr. ; Ell and Mr; Laurenson, who, are such, passionate friends of the leasehold principle. are_ quite said so—to discard their:principles if anybody is, unduly impolite to the Government dif which "they ' le'an. They love thoir rprinciples, but they lovo Sir Joseph more.' They will roar, for principle, but they will onlyv 'roar' as gently is a sucking dove.'..- : '•; '

What roally is the Government's policy as to guaranteed railways? We were led to believe, by repeated Ministerial assurances; that a district which, desiring 'a railway, would guarantee a, 'certain return on the capital 1 invested, would obtain its desire; 'We-were 1 even told 'that legislation to. this end was ;being prepared. From the Prime Minister's reply to the Clutha _ Valley deputation 1 yesterday, however,; it appears that all, the talk about "guaranteed'.railways has been,;as we; instantly suspected when .Sir Joseph Ward made v his first'.! statement: on the point early in the year, -pure make-be-lieve; The Government .has ino'; intention' of giving up any part of its power .to discriminate_ between districts. : In the course of -his statement yesterday the Prime Minister enunciated an astounding doctrine.- ; Its meaning and, significance :_can, best bo' understood- from the following juxtaposition of 'statements made by Sir. Joseph Ward:—",-'■ :■;' '-.'■' .' October 18.- ; ' November, 17. , Sir Joseph Ward said With, regard .to the he wished to tell them three per cent, guaran- 1 plainly, and frankly tco, the mere fact of that the ■ Government their offering that was had no' intention of not going to help them making- railways that in getting the line anv would not pay. Unless sooner. 1 There might applicants -for lines be fifty places' prewera prepared to show pared to-guarantee the their sincerity by help- 3 per cent;, but the toing to prevent tho tal appropriation could other lines of thocoun- not bo correspondingly try being saddled with increased. .While it was unproductive railways a good, thing for a disand; so'increasing the trict to guarantee a cost'over the whole, tho line against loss, there Government could not was no virtue -about oomo to. their - assist- it in. a :• case where ance. Where they were the,lino would pay. It sure that tho' return was only where there was' not going to give was likely to be a loss a reasonable result, that there .was any the Government could virtue in it. not uridertako to make . , railways. . . .The Government was anxious - ~ ..,,-'. to help the people. If ..:..' . the - people interested in this railway had - v faith,: and wero prepared to support that faith, the-Government. ,: -...;'•.-, .--.-.■ ■ was anxious to ;help- ..■•-.-■. them. Tho 'Government expected this par- '-. ~ •" ■ : ticular railway to pay 3.per cent;, and they proposed to ask Parlia- ■ ..•:■■:■... : ment to make such pro- '~.' vision as- would:, en-. . • : able any' shortage : to ' .-..- be-mado-up; and the . . ■'■'■ same principle 'would apply to any other lins -asked, to bo. constroctcd. ■ .'■ ' .!■-. :-',., -.-••. It: seems rather waste of time to 'discuss this absurdity in any plain and practical way. Tho gross, inconsistency of the Prime : Minister, and his strange ideas about "faith" and "virtue"—"hope" and "charity" are,still available for future evasions—almost defy comment. .There is something, brilliant in l the : ingenuity which says, "Show your faith," the faith being shown, adds, "By showing your faith you have' exposed your lack of virtue." But what,;practically, does.the tsecond of the above statements mean ? Simply, that the safe propositions are the ones-that the Government does, not like. The truth of the matter is that the Government's offer was never a bona fide offer. 1 Taken at hia word, the Prime Minister retires in confusion. Could'thero bo any-! stronger, argument than this, for the, establishment of a businesslike and sensible Public ];\ Works "'■■ Board;- which would authorise railways with a regard onlv to.the merits of each caße,.the needs of the' ooiintryi and the limitations set by •Parliament'?.;.; : ! ' .V'; ! V'::v;;; V':'"%;•■'■ ' : -'i .-■The employers; now in conference in i this city should give .some of_ their time, before thev disperse; to a ; discussion of the ''situation'created by the great coal strike; in ;Now South Wales. ..Judging by the proceedings at the Conference; yesterday.: the: employers >:to>have ho Hmii^t^tlthoJambiuiinE^Ariiitration'Act

looked the extraordinary ; statement by Mn. It, Manning, the gcnoral secretary of the New Zealand, Miners' Federation, that" if Tip coal is'exported from here the Dominion miners are not likely to strike.". But if coal is exported from this country a local strike is likely. As before, that is to say, organised labour does not care, a snap of the fingers for the anti-strike provisions of the Act, We .admit that their attitude is naturalnothing has happened to suggest that the Government is not as ready as, ever to set the-law aside. It is not a very pleasant thing for Now Zealahdcrs, remembering the Blackball affair, to reflect that nobody' dreams that the New South Wales Premier will shirk his duty. This, from the Sydney,. Morning Herald of last Saturday, is the general View of the New South Wales public: • about to.;be'proved that tlio people of New South-Wales, are incapable of using their gift of ■■ self-governriient ? Are•our institutions to break down tho first time they aro submitted to a critical test? It has been said by the man who spent his life in the advocacy and . examination of , representative institutions that the mark-of'a-free people is i the existence among them of -a 1 spirit which will support the officers of State in carrying out the laws passed by ; Parliament. . Mr. Bowling and his friends, if they' accomplish what they profess to desire, will have created a spirit which will set thoso laws at defiance. They will have succeeded in persuading the community to allow itself to be governed, and its laws to be 'set aside, by a very, small minority. ..v. .' If the strike does last, wo trust that the people of the State will make it plain that they are prepared, to suffer any inconvenience or any monetary loss rather than allow a few men-to'dictate to the Government and the Parliament. If they do not there is an end of any order or security for good government, , and thore is an end of our right to self-respect as a people. ■'■. The prospect of averting that danger is a good one in; New South, Wales.. Can it be ! considered a good one in this country, ■ whero the Government has' taught the labour organisations that it will not only suspend the law, but wave aside the •public's view altogether i The New Zealand Employers' Federation should certainly have some opinion to offer upon the hint from the miners' secretary'that the strike weapon has by ho means been thrown away in this country.