NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1308, 11 December 1911, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY

So.me singular things continue to get themselves said by our local evening contemporary. On Satm ' clay, for it said this:

Mr. Maa-ey is undoubtedly pledged to a reform of tho Administration of this country's public business—but ho i.s pledged to more than reform. Ho is pledged to "■ iractioniiy laud polio.v, which is not the people's jioliey. Mr. Masiey's Jαu<l doctrine will please some of t.iio jXHiplc, but not all tlia [i«)ple. It h n policy lo benefit comparatively a foiv at the expense of the many.

Our contemporary doe.s not, aurl of courss cannot v show how the trcc-

hold policy with limitation of area can mean "expense to tho many,' or expense to anybody. That, however, is hy the way. We wish here only to point out the absurdity of our contemporary's attempt to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds—to profess a desire for reform and yet to fight hard for men like Mn. Fletcher, pledged to vote for the party that hates reform, the party that our contemporary itself has described as vicious, corrupt, treacherous, incompetent, and unprincipled. However, the public has taken the situation out of thu hands of the openly Wardisfc and indirectly Wardist newspapers aud politicians.

Our prophecy of Saturday that our "Liberal" friends would attempt, in messages from "correspondents" and in editorials, to assure the public of an ultimate victory for Wardisni, is being amusingly fulfilled. The public, remembering those ludicrously optimistic predictions in the Ministerialist press which the first 'ballot so disastrously falsified, will merely laugh at the current Ministerialist professions of confidence. We mention the matter again only by way of letting the public share with us two sets of headlines even funnier than that one which we ciuotod on Saturday from the little Wardist paper in Palmerston. The Lyltdton Timts had these headings on Friday above tho report of the trouble on Thursday: THE GENERAL ELECTIONS, HOW THE riGHT WENT. MULTITUDE OF SECOND BALLOTS. LICENSING FIGURES INCOMPLETE. The blank third line, which had an extremely odd look, is called by a correspondent who drew our notice in it "the most clonuont blank of his experience." Probably the printer had been told to set up the lino "Great Government Victory," or smile similar line, and the line was taken out when the results had shown what was really happening, and nobody had the heart to write the other thing. The Christchurcii paper lacked tho cheerful readinws to defy facts which was exhibited by tho" Timnni Post. Above _ tlvs summary- of "the state of parties," which, although incorrectly given, yet left the Reform party with a majority, tho Post put ii]) thesa headings: "The General Election. Tho Government again Triumphant. Reform Party Defeated." Our "Liberal" friends probably imagine th-it by crying "Victory" loud enough they can make the stark facts somehow disappear.

Our readers will doubtless bo surprised to find to-day in our advertising columns some advertisements which, in pursuance of its policy of boycotting Tug Dominion, the Government has denied to us, while giving them to journals favourable to it. We would much rather save our space than print them, but they contain sonic important information that our readers should have. On Saturday, also, the local evening journal was given a half-page railway advertisement which The Dominion* can only print at its _ ov,y cost, and which we should- ijriufc if it wore not that the advertisement is an unnecessary one from the point of view of the State and the public. It is not a little amusing to find the Ward Administration busily .seeking to make hay for its friends before itn sun setSj as it is about tu do very shortly. The State's advertising bill, we'venture to predict, will be a heavy one just now. Of course the Government can gain nothing by pursuing to tho end its stupid and dishonest policy of using_ the public's money in this matter in a party spirit and for party ends. But stupidity and dishonesty have become habits too strong for the Ward Administration to drop even now. The attitude of the Government lint helped to its undoing, and the public has not yet exhausted its opportunities to mete out. some further punishment. When Mr. Wright i;;i November 5, 190.0, moved to affirm the propriety of commorj honesty— for that, and nothing else, was involved in the motion that "in the opinion of this House, Government advertisements should be supplied to newspapers regardless of their political convictions, and with a view only to securing the best return to the taxpayers for tho money so expended',—he drove a large nail in (lie Government's coffin, for the Government members affirmed th<: contrary principle by 30 voles to Vj. Of the 3G who placed party above principle, and above the most elementary honesty in administration, some have to face the electors on Thursday. Wo may remind the publie once more who they are. They ore Messrs. Ciuigie, Davey, Field, Hogc, Millar, Smith, Stallwortju - , and Boss. The "boycott 11 advertisements we print to-day are of special interest, therefore, to the people cf Otaki, Maslerton, Waiinarino, and Pahiatua.

Sir Josepit Ward has stated that ho knew nothing about the holding up of the delivery by the Postal authorities of a portion of the election issiiß of Thk Dominion. We do not think he will deny, however, that a great many copies of our election issue of Friday, December 1, dispatched to certain electorates, were held up; nor will he ctare to deny that issues of other papers of late date containing similar advertisements to that which was made the excuse for holding up a portion of the special election issue of Thb Dominion were circulated and distributed by the Postal officials. We printed last week a list of_ some, of these papers which were delivered to us by the Postal officials, and Sip. Joseph Waud can if he chooses see the conies of them at our office. Bun now that Sir Joseph Ward has returned to Wellington, we would ask him if he will venture to publish the telegram which was sent from Wellington on Dcccmbrr 2, after TIIE Dominion special issue had been lodged at the Post Office, instructing postmasters throughout the district concerning the delivery of napei's containing matters likely to influence the electors. We would also ask him to state whether the Crown Law Officers are prepared to advise that that telegram was justified m,der the Licensing Act, or the Legislature Act, or the Post and Telegraph Act? Also, whether he endorses- the action of the Postal authorities in delivering papers in some cases and not in others? If the Postmaster-General is not too Inisj. we should he pleased k> have his reply to these questions. In th> meantime we may state fnr the information of the public that so far as v.-e can learn a section of the sp ncinl election issue of The Dominion, posted on Friday and Saturday, December 1 and 2, which was held up by the Postal authorities, was not delivered until Friday morning last,,

December 8, (lie day after the elections. How many were detained in tliis way wo do not profess to know. Sin Joseph Ward might also suppiy the public with a little information on this point also.