NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1221, 1 September 1911, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

■ * — The House of Representatives acted very properly yesterday in supporting tho _ General _ Assembly Library Committee's decision not to issue fiction to privilege-holders during the recess. The Committee and the House could quite properly have gono a good deal further than that. We should have been glad to support them, and public opinion would also have supported them, had they decided that works, of fiction should be issued to nobody during the recess and to nobody during session. There are some ideas that arc ludicrous by nature, and to our mind one of them is that the Assembly Library should be used at all as a circulator of novels, new or old. It would bo an excellent thing if no novel less than, say, ten or fifteen years old were allowed to appear on the library shelves. The cost of the new novels may not amount to a huge sum annually, but year by year the works of fiction cat more deeply into the already inadequate shell space; If all the fiction were cleared out, a fine lot of shelving would become available. Why should anybody, whether a member of Parliament or not,' be provided by the State with free novels ? We iiro unable to support the suggestion, however, that tho existing privileges should be otherwise curtailed. AVhile tho library ought to cease to lend out novels altogether, the existing means of access on the part of the public should be enlarged if anything. Lot works of fiction be removed from the shelves, and there will be no rush of readers and borrowers to contend with. The library would, and it should, bo made a central national library for serious students of all tastes. If there is any feeling in other parts, or in'the minds of members from other districts, that the Wellington public should not be favoured with the use of the library, wp can only say that such a feeling is parochial in the extreme. The library must be located somewhere, it would be ludicrous to leave it unused- for nine months in the year •just because it does not happen to be everywhere and available to'cveryone from Auckland to Bluff.

Tiie question of the Coronation invitations to members of Parliament has boon added to the lone list of unsolved mysteries for which the Ward Administration has been responsible. Sir Joseph Ward promised a full explanation of the whole of the circumstances surrounding the receipt of the invitations and their notifica l tion to Parliament, but instead of telling the whole story he stopped when it suited him. It appears from his version of the matter that the communications received in September of last year were secret and quite indefinite. That being so it is very curious tliafc the Commonwealth Government should have at the same time received communications of a different nature, and which they treated .'u invitations and accepted as such. There may have been a misunderstanding, and that point need not ba ■ pressed. But what has SUi Joseph Wabd to say concerning his

actions when the definite invitations actually did come on February 21! / Simply that ho forwarded noticc of them on to members of the House of -Representatives, and that as only one member was prepared to accept he cabled to England that the invitation could not he responded to. The fact that members of the Legislative Council, who are members of Parliament, were ignored altogether, was lightly brushed aside, and of course the Legislative Council will tamely submit to the insult put upon it. The majority of the members of the Upper House are mere puppets in the hands of the Ministry—the Ministry put them there and the Ministry can east them out—and so Sir. Joseph Ward treats them with contempt, knowing they dare not resent it. The fact that the original invitations were supplemented by an offer to provide passages for members—an offer which was suppressed, and which was referred to by one member of the Ministry as "an insult"—was glossed over by members. Apparently Parliament —or rather the supporters of. the Government in Parliament—are so terrorised by the members of the Cabinet that they dare not protest against the invitations extended to them being suppressed. There was a time when the Legislative Council would fight to the death for its rights and privileges; there was a time when members of the House of Representatives would not allow any Minister to act for them without first obtaining their approval; but Sir Joseph Ward has changed all that. He wriggles and he twists and he evades, and his complaisant followers are content to look on and sec their privileges trampled on. They know that their leader is merely "bluffing"; thev know they have been treated with contempt—and they take it meekly, hoping the public will not see through it all. Unfortunately for them the "bluff" has been tried too often. The nublic is not deceived any more than "the delegates to the Imperial Conference were deceived by the wriggling and twisting of Sin Joseph Ward when his shallow study of the effects of his Imperial Council scheme was so glaringly exposed under the searching Questioning to which he was subjected.

The announcement that Sin William Steward will not seek re-elec-tion for tho Waitaki seat is of interest, in view of the fact that this seat adjoins tho Oamaru electorate, which has been mentioned as a possible "safe" scat for Sir John Findlay. Sir William Steward is one of the oldest mcmbsrs of the House of Representatives, his connection with Parliament dating back to 1871. For three years, 1891-93, lie was Speaker of the House of Representatives. At the beginning of the present Parliament it was proposed to nominate him as, Chairman of Committees, but he waived his claim, and it was then freely stated that ho would at the close of the Parliament retire from the House of Representatives and be nominated to a scat in tho Legislative Council. Now it is announced that lie will not seek reelection, and the question will naturally be asked whether this is the safe seat which the new Ivnight has in view. Sir Joiin Findlay at one time practised his profession at Oamarii, which is on the border of the Waitaki electorate, and possibly he may run away from his headquarters hero to woo Waitaki. It may be observed that at the last election Sir William Steward 'won the Waitaki scat by 313 votes from Mr. F. H. Smith, who is again a candidate. Mr. l Smith's chances against Sir William Steward for the coming contest were considered to bo extremely good.

In the course of tho discussion on the Coronation invitations in the House of Representatives yesterday' a disagreement, arose between Silt Joseph Ward and Mr. MAssey as to what transpired between thom at a 'certain interview in October last. Mr. Massey said that one of the conditions then' imposed by Sir Joseph Ward in relation to the pro- 1 posal that eight memocrs of the New Zealand Parliament should go to the Coronation was that tlie opening of the session of 1911 should bo postponed until the beginning of August, and that the elections should not take place until February, 1912. Sir Joseph Ward disagreed with this statement of the position, and stated that no condition was made regarding the .eight members going Home, but that he had suggested that to give every member a chance of doing so the session should be postponed. It is evident that Sir Joseph Ward's memory is at fault. If he will turn up Hansard, vol. 153, page 1380, he will find that on December 3 last, in explaining the position, he made tho following statement to the House:— There was no intention to extend the life of the Parliament. Had it been possiblo for tho Leader of tho Opposition to go to London he would have been prepared to extend the life of the present Parliament until tlie second week in' February, but as the lion, gentleman did not seo his way to go ho did not propose to do so. Here we have Sir Joseph Ward saying that it had been his intention to do justwhat Mr. Massey says, with only this difference, that tho Leader of the Opposition states that Sir Joseph AVard intimated his intention to postpone the sitting of Parliament and the elections if the eight members \ycnt Home, whereas Sir Joseph Ward himself on December 3 admitted that ho would have asked for the postponement even if only. Mr. Massey accompanied him Homo. Yet Sir Joseph AVard flow states that he made no such stipulation as stated by Mr. Masssy. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The postal authorities advise that tho s.s. Victoria, which left Sydney at noon on August 30 for Auckland, has cn board an Australian mail. The Wellington port ion .is due to arrive hero by Main Trunk on Monday next.

The English and American mails via A T ancouver, which would ordinarily reach AVellington on Monday week, have been picked up at Suva by tho AVailomata, due at Auckland on Monday next. The AVellington portion of her mails should arrive by the Main Trunk express on Tuesday next.

The total number of catalogued aceesfions to the General Assembly Library (luring tlio year 1910-11 was 3310, (lie largest number yet received for a similar period. Tlio total number of volumes in tho library is now about. SO.ftOO. I'ho Chief Librarian (Mr. C. Wilson) in his report, state. l ; that, tho provision for (lie accommodation of 100,000 books in the projecled new Parliamentary appears to be lamentably inadequate. Miramar Borough is to have a handy little Town Hall in the near future. The location has been fixed in an acre block in York Street, near tho Avenue, so that at: any time in the future the hall maybe enlarged to meet the growing requirefnents (if the district. Tenders eloso for the crcctiou of tho building ou Holiday acst-

Orders have been placed by the Commonwealth Postal ]Jeparlment for two machines ,one for Mollj:>unio ami one for Sydney, to expedite the work of sorting letters and cancelling stamps in the mailrooms of the ticneral J.'ojt. Offices. The machines, which witt cost ,CISO each, consist of a pick-up table, and a cancelling machine. Jieports have been received from the Chicago Post Office statins that the lablo has only recently been perfected, although similar tallies have been in tiso in Chicago for several years. They greatly facilitate the turning of letters faco up, and their conveyance to the cancelling machine by means of a belt. They ore worked by eight operators by ordinary hand methods. The facing of 33 letters per minute is a high averago for inio man, whereas in a series of tests at Chicago the machine and a crew of experts did 93 letters per minute per man.

There are 512 public domains in New Zealand, aggregating 81 ,'265 acres. The reports from the controlling boards indicate that the improvement of the domains in previous years has been steadily continued during tho past year. The area of tlio domains in the Wellington district includes 33.000 acres, adjacent to tho Wangnnui Kivcr, set aside for tho preservation of tho scenery.

Mr. K. A. AVright, M.P. for Wellington South, recently wrote tho following letter to the C'tty Corporation:—".At the present time 110 concession tickets are granted on the Wallace Street section of tho tramway -system. I am requested to ask if the council will issue concession tickets from tho Wallace Street South terminus to the Post Office. The distance would be about equal to that of tho Aro Strect-ICclb.irne tram scction, which now enjoys the privilege of concession tickets." A reply has lx?cn received stating that the matter will be considered in due course.

At the annual meeting of the Wellington Bookbinders 1 and Paper-rulers' Society on Wednesday night (lie following were elected officers for the ensuing year: President, Mr. W. Naughton (ro-clect-e;l); secretary, Mr. W. Bums; treasurer, Mr. S. J. Qathau (re-elected): council, Messrs. C. Johnston, A. Carr, and J. C. Eggleton. A hearty vote of thanks was passed to the retiring secretary (Mr. K. •T. Wiflin), who has held office for the past eight 'year*. It was decided to hold the annual dinner about the middle of next month.

The members of the police forcc have at different times been (lie victims' of almost every conceivable kind of assault, but mostly it has benn at the hands of the sterner sex. In Sydney last week a departure was made from ordinary methods by a woman who was before Mr. Maitland, D.S.M., at tho AVater Folico Court, charged with a minor offence. The hearing proceeded in the usual decorous manner, had been handled in a lenient way by the police prosecutor (Sergeant Drew), and been concluded, when the female defendant inquired of the sergeant tho nature of the decision. Sergeant Drew quietly explained the determination of the magistrate concerning her when, without warning of any kind, the woman, who occupied a position in front of the dock, stretched her hand across the solicitor's table, snatched up a pewter ink stand of liberal dimensions, and hurled it at the officer. There are a few things common to man that the average woman cannot do.- and one of them is throwing an artielo with nnv degree of accuracy. Imckily for tho police sergeant this woman's aim was faulty, and although it only missed the officer's head by inches, it failed to find its mark, and crashed into the front nf tho magisterial bench, over which it distributed part of its contents.

A deputation is being sent to Wellington by the lessees of Crown lands in the Mang'amahli district to protest against the manner in which the Government has altered tho rating. The leasrs are for 21 years, and the deputation is to urjc that, if they are going, to be taxed as other occupiers .of Crown lands, their tenure should bo equally good. The deputation will consist, of Messrs. AV. Poison, A. C. Manning, TChiteman, and T. Hino,. and is to be introduced to the Primo Minister by Mr. R/\V. Smith, M.P.

The Colonial Sugar Refining Co. has this day advanced the prico of all grades of sugar by 20s. per ton.

Excellent progress is being mado with tho construction of the bis reinforced concrete bridgo over the Ruamahanga River on the Main Road between Featherston and Martinborough. Mr. Laing-Mcason, M.lnst. C.K., engineer for the bridgo, thinks that with ordinary luck the structure should bo ready for traffic by December 1. The traOic across the old bridgo is restricted to small loads, and the completion of the new bridgo will be a boon to settlers, especially during tho wool-carting season.

The Ivaitaitai School, between Featherston and Martinborough, has been burnt down.

Originally the .hearing of the demands of the Merchants' Assistants' Union was to occupy tho attention of the Conciliation Council on September 11, but owing to circumstances tnat have arisen the hearing is now fixed for 10.30 a.m. on September 11 at the Supremo Court.

Mr. .T. P. Luke (Wellington Suburbs) stated in the Houso of Representatives yesterday that ho had presented petitions from three of tho local l>odies named as contributors under the Hutt Railway and ltoad Improvement Bill, asking to be exempted from its provisions. Ho inquired whether the Bill could go to a Select Committee beforo which these bodies could be represented by counsel. The Prime Minister (Sir J. ti. Ward) said ho would look into tho matter and give an answer later. Just beforo making tho above request Mr. Luke had presented a petition from tho Sastbourne Borough Council protesting against its inclusion as a contributing body under tho Hutt liailway and ltoad Improvement Bill.