NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 764, 12 March 1910, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

Although the caucus of "leasehold M.P.'s which met in Christchurch on Thursday has presented the public and the Government with seven resolutions, it apparently has not thought it necessary to suggest a single reason why the "leasehold" principle should govern ' our land legislation. The advocates of the leasehold have a thousand .times advanoed a multitude of considerations—considerations of justice, of logic, and of national expediency— m support,of their belief, and they are ready to establish their caso in detail on any point that.is, suggested. ' The "leaseholders," on the contrary, havo not for a long time given, the public any more in the nature of argument than the absurd -plea that the State must "conserve the national heritage" by renting instead of selling its lands. They do not attempt to show that the freehold policy means the "dissipation" lof the national estate," for the very good reason that they could establish no such theory unless • they showed that the State ceased to I from the cultivation of the soil the moment it' ceased to draw rents directly from it. It will be' time to expose afresh the utter emptiness of the leaseholders' theory ■when they muster up courage to advance even one reason to put in countenanoe the meaningless nonsense about "the conservation of the national estate." In the meantime we can. think of nothing moire calculated to . amuse the .public than the spectacle of quite serious "reformers" referring with respect and reverence to "the principles that have inspired the Liberal party for the past twenty years." ' We do not want.to,say anything,to hurt the feelings of these gentlemen, but what do they imagine these principles to be? ■ Our evening contemporary, tnat staunch leasehold advocate, summed them up very nicely, in 1908 when it said: "The Government party represents the last feeble dregs of an admirable tradition. The custom of power has debilitated its principles and dwarfed its conscience. . . . Who, other than a sharer of the spoil, can be expected to vote for the Government party as a party J"

The public could hardly be appealed to in a better cause than that of the Boys' Institute to assist whose funds a garden fete is to be held to-day in the Botanical Gardons. The boy is father of the man, and any organisation which sets itself, as the Boys' Institute has done, to promote tho physical, social, educational, and religious Well-being of the future citizcn while i-he is most susceptible of influence deserves the earnest encouragement of the community. The work of the Institute has developed greatly since it bc<gan, in a small way, isome seven years ago, and recently! the sum of £900 has been spent in acquiring larger premises, and a further sum of £200, which the Institute has in hand, is being spent to extend the swimming bath. It has occurred to the. committee of management that if. the bath could be heated, swimming classes could be ,held all the year round, and many more Boys would, be attracted within the wholesome influence of the Institute. In the summer months the bath is only one of several to which the boys', of Wellington can go for j recreation or instruction, but there is no other ! tepid bath in Wellington, and if the Institute possessed one, its growing membership, which has already necessitated larger . buildings, would doubtless be still further increased. It is hoped that, by the garden fete to be held to-day, sufficient funds will be raised to provide for the heating of tho bath, and also to provide furniture for the new building. The Institute is very sensible of its debt of gratitude t6 the womon of Wellington, who hive done everything in their power to ensure success for tho fete. (What is wanted now is a large attendance of the public to make thft financial result satisfactory. The! Institute is the more deserving of ; support in that its work is various and broadminded. It seeks' to benefit every side of the boys'/ nature, and it reaches a helping hand to boys of oTOcyv&nd no denomination.

Bepoets as to the progress of the London wool sales which commenced on Tuesday last are satisfactory, lfc is true that the lower grades of crossbreda have dropped, in some instances, 5 per cent., but this is not to be taken seriously. There are jnany factors present which could easily have disorganised the market. There is the peculiar condition arising; out of the chaos into which British fmanoe has been plunged by the Finance Bill being held up; but a much more serious factor is the strike of Bradford woolcombers, The London Daily Telegraph expresses the opinion that unless the strike is terminated speedily the whole of the worsted industry will be disorganised. It is further stated that stocks of tops are short and many firms are behindhand with deliveries. A strike is ever a disturbing element and were the market less strong the strike would have served to seriously depress prices. The extreme strength of the wool market is disclosed in the fact that despitethese adverse conditions values are practically on a par with those realised at the January sales. Latest reports state that there is an animated sale for wool, that is there is a strong and pronounced demand for the staple; that being so it will not require much to lift prices above January level. The tendency of the market is upward and this will manifest itself before the sale closes.

, The Buccess of Riflehjus Halliday i», carrying off the Rifle Championship of the Dominion will be very popular. He has shot consistently throughout the present meeting at Trentham and has won distinction apart from the crowning honour which fell to his skill yesterday. In recent years Wellington marksmen have been singularly successful at the championship meeting. Since 1901 inclusive the Champion. Belt has been won on six occasions by competitors from the Wellington district; on three occasions Nelson carried off the honour, and last year a West Coaster took the trophy home. During the forty--nine years that there have been competitions for the Bifie Championship, Wellington marksmen have secured the honour on eleven occasions, Otago being next in order with nine wins. The strong team of Aus-' tralian representatives which competed this year at Trentham have shared freely in the prize-money, but not quite to the. extent that was anticipated. The vagaries of Trentham breezes puzzled them a good deal., Aemoubee-Seegeaot W.' H. Cutler, however, shot very consistently all through the meeting and finished fourth in the grand aggregates only four points behind the winner of the championship—an excellent performance.