NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2213, 28 July 1914, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

The serious conflict between the troops and a disorderly Nationalist crowd at Dublin, recorded in our cable columns, shows the flimsi-. ness- of the .objection taken by a section of the Radical'Press'to the reference to fears of ciyil war contained in the King's Speech at the •Buckingham Palace Conference. The fact that the troops found it ncoes-. sary to fire several killing three persons and wounding- forty others;: , some mortally,- shows that the riot must have been a yery_ serious one. It is also an indication of the excited state of public feeling in Ireland, and should impress upon the Government the urgent need of taking prompt steps to put an end to the state of tension and uncertainty which has.existed for so long. If a conflict started between the two volunteer armies, the trouble would probably spread rapidly until the w.hole country was embroiled. Most people will agree with ;Earl Beauchamp's statement that it seems unthinkable that a solution cannot be found, but the : plain fact remains that the solution is .not forthcoming, and the Kingdom ;is" drifting steadily, towards a/great disaster. and ammunition are pouring into Ireland, , and' Ulster is making active preparations for a. blockade. The Government seems powerless,while the Opposition is resolute, /and the.! Nationalists arc making*ready for settling the points in dispute by an appeal to force. Mr.Bieeell's personal opinion that; there will be no civil war will not allay misgivings, unless it is_ backed 'up by prompt and effective steps to« avert such a national calamity. , .*'■'.

Events s - in the world of unionism are moving on apace. In England the cables fell /'us,_ the . doctors are talking of a medical trades union. In New South Wales the musicians, not content with forming a union of their own, have decided to adopt a protective policy. _ Some years ago a coterie of Australian artists agitated , for a "duty on-pictures.in order to encourage local industry. The musicians in. their, turn desire to make Australia their own, and any American or other oversea musician may. not bo allowed to join the union up , less he or she has resided for six month's in the State and pays an initiation ice of twenty guineas. The idea is stated to be to discourage foreign musicians from going to Syd ney unless there is work for4hem to do. The scarcity of _ work at the pre sent timo may be judged from the fact that members of the union are sufficiently opulent to embark on the provision of new club premises at a cost of £20,000, and'the union has just , raised its secretary's salary to £000 a year. The Musicians' Union'is a by-product of the picture show boom, and membership of it is not yet a sine qua-non be-, fore musical celebrities can make their debut in Sydney. Its little out. burst is interesting as providing as gross an instance of petty selfishness - as the . Press has had to chronicle for some -time, past.'

Three years ago tho roads of France wcro.fchc finest in Europe-; today, as the' London Times poi.nta out, pre-eminence has definitely passed to Great Britain. The remarks of The Times are' instructive at a moment when tho roads problem'lS so much, .to the foro in New

Zealand. . The enormous progress that has been made in so shorb a period is entirely clue to the Roads Board. The Board's experimental work has brought not only a.great improvement in the state of the main roads, but a great advance in laboratory knowledge , of which engineers throughout the world may take advantage. At Bushoy the . Board has an apparatus for testine the durability of all new materials known as the "road machine," bwhich engineers oan in a, few months learn as much about the value , of a new method of construction as they could by.ten years of ordinary observation. The greatest success in the tests _has_ been obtained in various applications of bitumen treatment to the road crust. The process '■is an expensive one,.but its value has been amply proved by actual trial, and in the opinion, of leading road engineers it is likely entirely to replace, the tarring of roads in Great Britain. The very excellent work which the Koads Board is accomplishing provides another argument if such be needed, for the "establishment of ; a central , directing authority in.New Zealand. • •■.-■'■

The great meetings at the Town Hall, last week and last evening, and the huge deputation to the Minister of Education on Saturday, may be taken as an outward evidence of tho keen interest of tho public in the Referendum Bill now before Parliament and in the general question of. Bible lessons in tho State schools. The meeting- last week was that of ■ Roman Catholics opposed to the Bill,' while on Saturday and last evening the supporters of the measure made very clear their enthusiastic determination to fight to the bitter end for tho right of the people to decide .tho matter for themselves at the ballot-box. There cannot be the slightest "excuse for members of Parliament professing, ignorance oj. the importance which a very large proportion of. the population attach to this question. 150,000 electors have signed requisitions demanding a Referendum, while nearly 60,000 signatures have been obtained to petitions to-Parliament opposing it. No question has .ever come before the Parliament of this country backed'by such direct and convincing evidence of a live arid active public interest behind it. No doubt the weight of'opinion so far ascertained in the electorates is overwhelmingly in favour of the passing of .the Referendum Bill. But even if the figures were closer and the opponents of a- 'Referendum were as numerous as those who favour it, how can members of Parliament possibly pretend._to know the will'of the people on this question of Bible lessons except by taking a vote of the people themselves? And if they do not know the will of the people how can they* pretend to carry out the-wishes of-the people as it is their, duty to do? A great deal of time has been wasted in seeking to confuse what'is really a very simple issue. Members may deceive themselves', but they will not bo able to deceive the public as to the issuo involved in' the passing: of the Referendum .Bill. All that it'provides is that' the people shall be allowed to decide for themselves tho question of permitting Bible lessons in the State schools. On present appearances the Bill will not come on for its second , ' reading for some weeks. In the meantime, members would be well advised to-give a little serious thought to certain phases of .tho : situation. First of all. to the fact that the people own the schools;,'secondly,, that the people have the right to say what shall be taught their children in their own schools; and thirdly, that the rejection of the Bill and consequential refusal to the people of their right to control their own schools will result in the whole question being dragged into the forefront of the elections to the exclusion in many cases'of all other issues, and will also mean tho running of political'candidates in opposition to existing party candidates. The question cannot be dodged or evaded. Members will not , help themselves by refusing the people a Referendum—on the contrary, by refusing they-will saddle themselves with a responsibility infinitely more difficult to defend than would be a personal objection to the Bible lessons themselves. . ■ '.' . -