NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1792, 3 July 1913, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY.

The Acting-Leader of the Opposition, for so Mr. Mac Donald appears to be at present, is to be congratulated on the excellent speech which ho delivered on the Address-in-Reply motion last evening. Mr. Mac Donald is not an orator, and, indeed, his manner is at times irritatingly jerky and disconnected, but he had evidently prepared his matter with care, and, on this occasion, he scored some points against the Government very well. He is not so rash and intemperate as some of his colloagues, and, so far, has shaped much better than any of them in the role of leader. His speech certainly warranted a Ministerial reply, and as the Hon. W. Fraser moved the adjournment of the debate, it may be expected that he will rise to-morrow to defend the Government on those points where Mr. Mac Donald appeared to have placed Ministers at a disadvantage. Mr. Wilkinson and Mr. Statu a 3i, the mover and seconder of the Address-iil-Reply, both spoke very well, and covered the ground they had selected with some effect. Mr. Statham's speech especially was a very live one, considerably above the general run of such speeches. Some' misconceptions regarding the State Advances Department were cleared away,yesterday in the House of .Representatives, somewhat to the discomfiture of the Opposition. The opponents of the Government have indulged in a good deal of adverse criticism of late on the subject of State advances. They do not, of course, tell the public that the temporary difficulty which was experienced "was mainly due. to the fact that the late Government left their successors commitments of £770,000, and nothing to meet them with. The Hon. James Allen, in making this statement in the House yesterday, added that it was "absolutely ludicrous finance"—a disconcerting reply to Mr. G. W. Russell, who had just asked whether Mr. Allen would take back the statement that the previous Government was responsible for there being only £20,000 in hand, as against £600,000 commitments for which the Board was responsible. The Minister also reminded 1 the House that the £500 limit in respect of advances to settlers came into force before he took office. The present Government had; however, raised the limit to £600, and owing to the improved position of the finances, it would be further extended to £750. Loans to workers, which were reduced to a maximum of £300 in November last, had been increased to £400 in May, and , he hoped very shortly to further raise the amount to £450, the maximum allowed by the Act. In reply to the suggestion that advances should be made to pay, off private loans becoming due, Mr. Allen said he feared that the Government would be absolutely swamped with applications if they tried to do this, and, besides, they would be providing for people who had advanced money on unsatisfactory risks. It is curious that the members who were criticising the Government in this matter very con- , venicntly overlooked the fact that the rule against advancing money for renewal of mortgages existed long before the Massey Ministry came into office. Mr. Allen's answers to his critics were certainly effective, and his statement regarding the increased facilities for borrowers is sure to be well received throughout the country.

The German Army Bill, which provides for a large increase in the country's military strength, has now passed. There seems to have been general agreement as to the single levy of £50,000,000, the principal subject of controversy being the permanent annual expenditure. France could not be . expected to he an indifferent spectator of this sudden increase in the army of her powerful and ambitious neighbour, and she immediately proceeded to strengthen her position by increasing the term of military service from two to three years. This proposal, though resisted in some quarters, is receiving strong support in the country,, and is almost certain to become toe law

■ of the land. Russia and Austria are also adding to their armies; and the building up of the military force.s of Europe which has been going on for years is thus accelerated. In 1911 Germany added some 10,000 men to her army, and in the following year a Bill was introduced providing for the addition of another 30,000 men to the peace footing, at an expenditure of £27,500,000, spread over a period of five years. The Government states that the increase asked for in this year's Bill is rendered necessary by the new position in the Balkans, arising out of the defeat of Turkey, and the division of the conquered territory, but the prompt reply of France indicates that she is not satisfied with this explanation. There is a widespread feeling that Germany is determined at all costs to become complete master of the situation, and to place herself in a position to sway the destinies of Europe. Other nations are naturally desirous of safeguarding their interests in every possible way, and so the burden of defence grows apace. In his speech on the Address-in-Ifcply in the. Legislative Council yesterday the Hon. John Duthie had some interesting things to say on certain aspects of the Native land question, which took him off the beaten track of discussion. He gave a striking indication of the difficulty of the problem involved in tho individualisation of titles to Native lands,. by pointing out the uncertainty of tribal boundaries at the time of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, an uncertainty which had been accentuated by the passage of years. Incidentally, he directed attention to the fact that the Dominion's strict and honourable fulfilment of the Treaty of Waitangi had not only been an obstacle to' the progress of the country, but also a hindrance to the development of the spirit of self-reliance among tho Maoris themselves. In the .early days of colonisation the Natives gave every promise of taking full advantage of the civilising influences which were brought to bear upon them, and of becoming an industrious and enterprising people. Questions of land ownership had, however, diverted their attention from work, and this was one of the main causes of that subsequent deterioration in the character of the race which their best friends admit and' deplore. The interminable Land Court proceedings have no doubt occupied too large a share of their time and thought, and in many instances quite unfitted them for regular work. They found litigation much more exciting than cultivation, and so a large part of the land was allowed to lie idle, while the Natives lived on the rents of such of their holdings as found their way into the market. There, are, it is admitted; great difficulties in the way of opening up for use the idle Native lands where ownership is obscure, but this only emphasises the need for tho Minister to devote his bost energies to the important task that lies before him. The problem is a complicated one, but it is not insoluble; and the present Government will confer a great benefit both on the Maoris and to the European inhabitants of New Zealand by a progressive and energetic policy which will make the Native lands contribute their share to the prosperity of the country. The first real step forward has been made by the Unity Congress in coming to a decision as to the main lines of organisation. By an overwhelming majority the Congress decided in favour of two organisations, one industrial and the other political, but both to' work in co-operation. The purpose of this step is, of course, plain. The Labour unions of the country, which are expected to form the industrial branch of the new movement, are not sufficiently strong in themselves to have any hope of success as a political party; but if they can attract a sufficient number of people outside their own ranks to join with them, they then can make their' organisation a power in politics. ' Obviously, they, cannot admit these non-unionists into the inner circles of their industrial organisation, so they propose to create the two organisations, as stated above. One—the industrial—will consist of unionists only; the other—the political—of * unionists plus such of the public as choose to come under their banner. The idea is clever enough, if carefully developed. When the political adherents—as distinct' from the unionist members—aro roped in, they will gradually, it is assumed, become active sympathisers with the industrial side of the movement, and so strengthen any action which might be taken by that section. There is, of course, the possibility of the scheme working out the other way. That is to say, that the non-unionist sympathisers with the movement, such as the Hon. G. Fowlds, may succeed in making the unionists their tools in the political game. However, that is a matter for the party to worry over when the movement once is set in motion. It is quite plain that those who have been working to make organised Labour once more the tool of the remnant of "Liberalism" are at a severe discount at the Congress. One very blunt-speak-ing delegate, according to the official report of yesterday's proceedings, summed up the situation with point and vigour as follows:— _ If, lie said, they had only one organisation for political and industrial purposes, it would fatally tie the hands of the wage-earners of this country. They would have a mixed "Lib.-Lab." organisation that would be absolutely of no use to the workers, and would be of value only to those men who were desirous of crawling to Parliament on tho backs of the workers. (Applause.) We suspect that the estimable member for Invercargill, Mr. J. Hanan, who, despite his position at the Bar, managed to secure admission to the Congress as a bootmakers' representative, must have felt that his Labour associates had an unpleasantly callous disregard for the feelings of their self-constituted advisers. Nor will he be the only one whose tender susceptibilities will be lacerated by this contemptuous estimate of the value of_ the "Liberal" offerings of friendship.