THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

Evening Post, Volume LXXI, Issue 145, 20 June 1906, Page 7

THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

VOICE OF THE LABOUR PARTY. MR. ARNOLD'S SPEECH. The speech delivered at Waimate on Saturday night by Mr. Arnold, M.H.R., on the aims of the Labour 'party, is another significant proof of the change that has been brought about in the political situation by the death of Mr. Seddon. Pnly a brief report of thab speech was telegraphed, ami it will be interesting to publish a little more fully the main points which bear on the future of the Labour party. In touching on the labour legislation that had baen brought into vogue as Applying to the towns, he spoke of the Conciliation and Arbitration Act, and said that no doubt tdie measure required amending. It would be found necessary, he thought, to give the Boards of Conciliation greater power than they had at) the present time. He was sure that if the Act was to be worked satisfactorily it must be done through conciliation rather than arbitration. Speaking of I future labour legislation, he said that the Labour party would strive to serve the country workers in addition to those who were employed in the cities. The more he heard and saw of the requirementis of the country woikers the more he was convince,d that their condition could be greatly improved by legislation without greafly affecting the position of the farmers and other employers. As to the Labour party itself, -up to the present time it had had Mr. Seddon in the House, and had had every confidence in his administration. The position was greatly changed now through the decease of that gentleman, and he (Mr. Arnold) believed that witfhin the next few weeks the Labour party in the colony would give voice to its views, and that from this time untsl the next election the whole of its machinery would be put in working order, so that after that date there would be both a Labour party and a- Labour leader in the House, /oicing tihe views and. requirements of the workers. He did not say that this necessarily meant that those Labour membcTs would work or vote in opposition to the then Government, but they would be there to watch the interest of the workers, and fo ccc - that justice was done to all classes of the community. He was not speaking as the leader of any recognised Labour party, but he could say that, at any rate, four planks in their platform would be these :—(1): — (1) Purity of administration ; (2) Teforin in the education question, which must provide for free education from the kindergarten to the university, with one set of school books printed by the Government and issued at cost price ; (3) land tenure, which must provide that none of the remaining Crown landa shall be sold, and that no lands taken under the Land for Settlements Act shall be resold to private owners, and (4) the referendum, with the initiative, in the hands of the people. From another report of the speech, it appears that 'Mr. Arnold " declared that there would be a party of a dozen to twenty Labour members in tho House, with a leader and a policy." f Commenting on Mr. Arnold's speech, the Timaru Herald remarks: — "'Evidently Sir Joseph is going to lose Ihe support of a class which contributed very largely to Mr. Seddon s long tenure of office. Mr. Arnold ought, of course, to be able to form a pretty correct estimate of the new Premier's regard for the just claims of labour. The two men have been associated in the same party for a lon^ number of years, but there is something grotesque in the discovery that so many members have no liking for the first lieutenant of the Cabinet to which they yielded such long and implicit- obedience. . . . The *ffect of the " three-ele-vens' " system in the Federal House has not been so satisfactory as to make us welcome Jts appearance in New Zealand, but if matters have gone so far as Mr. Arnold's remarks warrant us in thinking, we can only await with interest the fuller disclosures which are promised within threo weeks after the funeral of th& late Premier." A HINT AS TO THE FUTURE. Discussion of the political situation is at the moment confined to 4wo questions. In the first pfooe it appears that more than one of the more "progressive" among tho supporters of the late Premier's Government are inclined to resent the action of Mr. Arnold in putting himself forward as in any way tho mouthpiece of the new Labour party, and it is said that already there are signs of disruption. Supporters of tho new party, however, are confident that the breach will be healed. In the second place, members are faced with a new possibility, which already has formed the subject of a good deal of discussion. Not only, members declare, will Mr. Hall-Jones refuse to carry on the Government except as a necessary stop-gap till Sir Joseph Ward returns, but they hear that when a new Ministry is formed after the return of Sir Joseph. 'Mr. Hall- Jones will retire from the Ministry altogether, and either seek the seclusion of private life or content himself with a seat in the House quite apart from the cares of office.

The Assessment Court to-day heard objections to the valuations on properties in the Borough of Eastbourne, which comprises Muritai, Rona Bay, and Okiwiiti. Dr 1 . A. M' Arthur, S.M., presided, and there were associated with him as assessors Messrs. John Cudby and Geo. M. Mason. The department was represented by Messrs. Fowler and 'Martin. Objections were mode by Messrs. Thos. F. Grey, Thos. Bardsley, of Rona Bay, and Messrs. Mouat and Harton, Frank Wills, and J. M. Geddia, of Muritai. The only case in which a reduction was made by the court concerned a valuation of £1885 placed upon a block of land just under four acres in extent belonging to Mr. Geddis. Tho court reduced the amount to £1500 on tho ground that a sand drift crossed the property. A reduction on the valuation of one of Mr. Wills'e properties was mad© by the department owing to the «ea having recently encroached on the land. All of the other valuations were sustained by the court. TO HOCKEY PLAYERS. Ex 8.8. Ttirakin* E. Reynold* and Co., Ltd., havo landed a large shipment of hockey- goods. As those goods are tho very iat>et from England, hockoy players should avail themselves of this opportunity of seeing one of the best selection* of sticks, pads, and balte ever landed in Now Zealand. They ara now on view at tho Wil-lis-street depot, and it does ono good to look at uuch a fin© _»»»ortiaent of goods. They have also on view an assortment of Forgan's golf clubs, which i« one of the most popular Bticks on the nwvket. Thoir sporting guns, footballs, football boots, cycling boots, deep-sea fishing lines, hook*, sinkers, and cycle accessories hu.vo all been greatly reduced in price. Intending oyolists should should take tho opportunity of securing a second-band cyclo, as they are telling them at givingr-away prices. — Advt. Thin week's Canterbury Tinass will bo valued as a. special Soddon Souvenir Memorial Number. In addition to sovoral life-like »ugo end othor portraits of tho lato Premier, a special article on incidents in his life )• profusely illustrated by a sorio* of uniquo photos and views, covering many pages, and thero is alio a ipecial . •unnlement 36in by. 23in,