NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1642, 8 January 1913, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY.

A cable message to-day reports that the Unionist House of Commons' Committee is proceeding with its inquiry as to the wealth of tho Radical mandarins, and their mode of acquiring it. The Radical politicians and newspapers will howl angrily, of .course, and perhaps talk once, more of "gentlemen I" But they cannot have it all their own way: for years they have persecuted and defamed leading Unionists, pried into their private-affairs, and represented them as "dripping with the fat of sacrilege." Retaliation—mere vulgar hitting back—would not be proper on the Unionists' part; and it is not for purposes of'retaliation,"but with the desirable public object of letting the people know the sort of men these "champions of'the people' 1 are, that the Unionists aro acting.' The Radical party is run by millionaires—the cocoa people, some soap manufacturers, millionaire newspaper owners, and • foreigners who have inherited great wealth. There was .1 curious little discussion in the House on November 28 ■ concerning Ministers' ex-butlors. A Unionist member intimated, in tho course of a question, that on two occasions exsoldiers highly recommended fdr posts as Court ushers, -were passed over'■ in favour of the ex-butlers of a certain Cabinet Minister, and the 1 allegation was not denied. This is a scandalous practice, but the main point is that which is made by the Saturday Scvieh : — ■ If Demos does hfnißelf well, Demos too can do his butler well.. Wohavo no wish to pry into tho pantry of the Home Secretary, Hut the public should noto that Whigs as well ns'Tories have their hnli of "tho Bood butlers that make life worth living." Tho man with "great possesions," had ho lived to-day instead of two thousand yoari ago, would probably hovo .been a Whip, a Radical, or a Socialist in tho Coalition party. In another connection, tho Revieiv speaks of the Radicals who inaccuratoly talk of land "monopoly." Tho great Radical newspaper owners are the Cadburys and Rowntrees, and tho lleview pertinently observes:' "Ooooa is much more in tho nature of a 'monopoly' in England than is land. Land, of course, is largely held by large owners; nut, unlike cocoa or mustard, it is not almost entirely in tho hands of largo owners and great capitalists'. There aro tens if not hundreds of thousands of small people who hold land directly or indirectly." But, of course, wo in New Zealand know well enough what Humbug it is when the Radical chieftains talk of their concern for tho poor, man. They usually come in their motor-cars to do it.

» It is puzzling at this distance and with tho brief messages sent us as a guide; to arrive at, any satisfactory understanding of the motives behind the action'of tho Peace delegates representing the Balkan States and Turkey.' The outstanding feature of tho situation, at first appeared to be that,the Turks had most to gain by playing for time, and that they were very successfully carrying out a policy of .dalliance. . But this must have been quite as'plain to the Allies aa it was to us here, and this being the case, it is difficult to understand why matters were not brought to a head sooner, and a settlement insisted on or the war continued. The Turkish delegates have presented their, modified proposals in connection with which the Great Powers are supposed to have, exercised pressure with a view to ensuring that thoy would be of a reasonable nature. But tho Great Powers up to the present have not been.a very serious factor in the situation. They have shifted ground more than'once since •tho first .mutterings of war were heard, and, despite, their professed unanimity, there has been little evidence of that complete harmony of opinion which alone would have been likely to influence tho belligerents,' Turkey has hung out to the last against sacrificing Adrianoplo, and,' according to tho cablo messages, to hand to-day, the long-expected : rupture between the Peace delegates has at length arrived. The Allies have certainly borno very patiently with the Turkish delegates during the Pence negotiations, and to all.appearances have been very reluctant to admit failure to secure a settlement, Possibly the warlike ardour which characterised them at the opon-

ing of the war has cooled a little, or maybe the financial strain on their resources, coupled with internal differences of opinion, have shown them the desirableness 01 securing a peaceful ending, if possible. Be that as it may, tho unyielding attitude of Turkoy respecting the .cession of Adrianople appears for the moment to have ended tho negotiations with some abruptness, The next step should be the resumption of hostilities, but reading between the lines at the time of writing, it would seem that the door has still been left open for a little friendly mediation on the part of the Great Powers. Tho.success of, the recent holiday race meetings, and the largo amount of money put through the totalisator, lias provoked.some comment. It is urged that tho increase in tho totalisator turnover, despite the reduction in the number of race meetings, goes to show that in robbing certain of the clubs and their patrons of tl.ur Taring privileges no good purpose was served. Thiß is in a measure correct. Just as the cutting down of the number of licensed houses in a city under the old licensing law did not reduce the amount of drinking, but merely benefited the remaining hotels; so tho reduction in the number.of racing clubs has swelled the totalisator turnover of those still loft. • But while this is an important factor in' accounting for the large amount handled by the racing clubs, it is not the,only .one. Fine weather, good handicapping, and other things help.' The country, too, is very prosperous just now. Money may : be dear, but the country people particularly have been doing very well .out. of their wool and ' their ■ butter; .while hemp continues to make good prices; 'and there .."is more money.. in ; circulation -.in . consequence than has|boon the case,for some time. The large totalisator turnover recorded, therefore, isin its way a good, sign: that: is to say, it affords a very, fair indication that, things are going, well- financially with tho people generally, and that they have the cash to spend.