NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1423, 25 April 1912, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

No doubt the wet and wintry weather had some effect in keeping voters away from the poll for the Mayoralty yesterday, but the total of votes recorded nevertheless was very small. Out of 30,000 on the roll only some 10,-100 troubled to attend and vote, as against 17,000 who voted at the last municipal election here. As was generally, anticipated, the Labour nominee, Mk. D. M'Laren, headed the poll by a substantial majority over his nearest opponent, tho votes of those outside the ranks of Labour being split by the other three candidates. Mr. M'Laren's vote of 4235 was a minority vote—he not only does hot represent th • majority of those on the roll, but he cannot claim even to represent the majority of those who recorded their votes. It is, of course, not the fault of Mr. M'Laren that this unfortunate position should be possible. He has won the office he sought quite fairly, and we have no doubt he will endeavour to rise to the responsibilities placed upon him. But it has been made very clear by the election just decided that the law should be amended so as to ensure that the Mayor of this or any other city shall only be elected on a majority vote. Mn. M'Laren is, we believe, the first Labour Mayor elected in New. Zealand, and although his victory has been won under civ-, cumstances which cannot afford Lab-' our any great occasion for rejoicing, he is no doubt entitled to congratulations on his success. It is interesting to note that in Auckland, where there was a straight-out fight between the Labour nominee and his opponent, the Labour candidate was hopelessly beaten.

About the end of the sixteenth century, "a common proverb in every man's mouth" ■ was: "All evil comes from Spain." Then Hox. T. Mackenzie will .probably cry "Hear! hear !" to that when he hears the quaint story of the present Spanish Cabinet. Last month Senor Canalejas tendered the resignation of his Ministry—for the fourth tiine in fourteen months! On January 1, 1911, the Cabinet resigned it felt uncertain whether it commanded the confidence oE the country, but King Alfonso bade his Prime Minister keep on.. In April it resigned a second time as a result of the revision of the trial of Ferrer. Last January it resigned again on account of the Cullcra riots in the preceding autumn. By this time the King had grown quite accustomed to, and per haps a little tired of, the extraordinary anxiety of Sexor Canalejas to avoid holding office against the popular will. Last month's resignation was due to the loss of the Minister of Public Works. No doubt tin's readiness, to resign is so extreme as almost to merit reprobation as morbid. But what a delicious contrast with the methods of New Zealand ''Liberalism" ! Perhaps between the two extremes—the habit of offering resignations and the habit of declining "to resign in any circumstances— there may be ft mean. It would be interesting to have Sexok Caxalejas and Mr. T. Mackenzie brought together to swop opinions.

A decision' of great importance to the newspaper press, and, therefore, In the pulilic of which the press is Mir voici , and guardian, was delivered in the King's Bench Division of the High Court last month. During February a person named "Captain , ' Ti'Pi'Eij, a member of tlie Executive Council of the National Sailors' and aurl m.]p of the leaders in. the South Wales strike,

was delivering some violent speeches, of which this extract is a sample:

It' a coal strike takes place monarchical riili- in Britain will cease. The bloodshed of the* French devolution will be as a mere llcabite. Jf they ninliP us light, then by heavens they will know the result. Tor every child that is .starved to death, mid ever.' man that i< batoned to death, we. us leaders of the men demand that we shall lake the ehildron or wile of the rich man and put them to death.

Tlu , , IkiiUj Express wrote sharply of this villainous creature, and on February 22 suggested that he should Ijc silenced by the authorities. Two days later "Captain' , Tupi'Kit served a writ of libel on the Kx/jrcss, which two days later commented further upon Trppnii, who, it appears, was not a captilin, but a grocer's errand boy who had subsequently been a private soldier, a valet, a music-hall artist, and an undischarged bankrupt. The editor of the Express was summoned to show cause why he should not be attached for making comment on the subject of a libel action. The Crown contended that ,a man who issued a writ against, a newspaper could illimitably continue to publish his defence, while the newspaper must say nothing. Even if a defendant, believed that he was bound to publish statements in the public interest, that would not protect him. In refusing the application for committal of the editor of the Express the Bench declared that to say that a newspaper was to be restrained from passing opinion on a man who was before the public notice, just because he had issued a writ, "would be a very grave restriction of the freedom of the press, likely in many cases to be fraught with danger." This is a very satisfactory blow at the not at all uncommon practice of public rogues to seek to silence press comment by issuing a writ of libel.