TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 77, 31 March 1908, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

-«■ The Blackball strike cannot be expected to continue much longer. "Petering The strikcis are tired of Out." it; the country is tired of it; and tho Government is very tired of it indeed. People will persist in asking why the Government does not at least attempt u> enforce the penal provisions of the Arbitration .Amendment Act against the aiders and abettors of strikes, instead of declaiing mournfully (what the Government is perfectly incompetent to decide) that •<.he Act is really of no use in the cir'.•ustances. However, vu may expect Vo hear soon that the Blackball company (which is reported to have paid away nearly £250,000 in wages, and to huvo received not one-tenth of that amount in dividends on its invested capital) has also grown tired of having its mine kept idle on any pretext or none,_ and has taken steps to replace its discontented labourers with others who havo the sense to know when they are well off. Tho company, of course, will be perfectly iustified. Whatever its original errojr at the time of the seven's dismissal, it has made ample amends in patience and concessions. Tho strikers have lest all claim they ma^ahavo had upon public sympathy. If in. addition they lose their profitable labour and their comfortable wages, they haye only themselves to thunk. To-morrow will see the preferential tariff in full swing. The The collection of the Preferential extra duties is not viewTariff, ed with equanimity in certain quaiters, and aj long and bitter cry is heard from Auck- j land. Familiar aiguments are wheeled 1 into line to show that preference will place an additional bucden upon the public. Surely Vho piopcr time to havo urged such a consideration was during the discussion on the Tariff. It is unreasonable to expect it to be varied until we have obtained a more comprehensive knowledge^ of the working of preference. It is contended that some of the items affected by preference "cannot" be ] made in. England. Surely that is too sweeping a, statement. It assumes, for instance, that the manufacturing enterprise of the Old Country is so feeble that it flinches before tho task of turning out a pipe to retail at a shilling. Furthermore, our endeavoms to cultivate j moie extensive trade relations with tho j -Mother Country are met -with a cry of dearer "clothes-pegs." Auckland importers apparently do not possess much ] imagination. Space does not permit 1 , otherwise we might subject some of the statements to destructive criticism. If German, French, and American manufacturers are anxious to retain their colonial markets, they can avoid the additional preferential duties by establishing branch factories in the British Isles. Some of the more enterprising have already taken this course, and the area of employment in England has been increased thereby. We should benefit by the larger demand that may arise for our food-stuffs. In the past ] New Zealand has imported very largely from Continental countries, but all the lime our trade in frozen meats and dairy produce with such countries was practically nil owing to repressive laws. Preference may bring about some modification of those- laws, and so benefit our export trade. Whether the amount of Sunday work in tho military camps Sunday in amounts, as stated in a Camp. resolution passed last night by tho Council of the Churches, to a scandal, is a point on which opinions may differ. Wo can remember more than one instance, under a former Administration, when tho day of rest was mado a particularly strenuous field-day, and there were strong protests. The particular instance which "the council apparently had in view last night was the Sunday shell practico at Mahanga Bay, which, came somewhat prominently before the public not long ago on account of a fatal accident. The president of the council, who introduced the motion, disclaimed any intention of advocating what is called a "Puritan Sunday" ; tho volunteer movement, he said, was a necessary feature of our national life; but his point was, that some of the best and most enthusiastic members belonged to Bible classes and Christian associations, and that on such occasions as Kastor encampments they and their comrades were entitled to have their day of rest relieved of all unnecessary duty. A deputation was appointed to wait on tho Defence Minister on the- subject. Wji do not anticipate that there will be difficulties in the way of a satisfactory arrangement. The council does not appear to bo making any unreasonable demand, and the department mny be expected to attach due weight to its representations. We do not wonder, if a certain little story be true, that tho Tapping a. King of Italy, as reportRoyal Wire, rd to-day, iL "intensely annoyed," But his chagrin will scarcely exceed that of the Kaiser. According to a French authority, it has been discovered that the special wire connecting the lmperiul yacht with the palace of tho King had been "tapped," and that somo curious eavesdropper had listened to, and possibly recorded, private communications between, the two exalted personages, WiMielm and Emanuul. Self-revealing U3 tho Kaiser is, in speech, epistle, or telegram, ono has always a feeling that ho is moro or less consciously poking ; but, in tho freedom of privnto converse with a fellow Sovereign, thero may havo been disclosures quite- unsuttod to tho ear or eye of tho vulgar. He must bo able now to sympathise with that an cif nfc King of "Syria who was credibly informed that there was a prophet in Israel ' who was able to convey to his King "the words thnt thon speakvst in thy bedchamber." Who hi\b done this thing? Traitor, anarchist, or merely tho übiquitous reporter? If it bo tho latter, ho may be- -congratulated <m the "scoop" of a lifetime Ho vould find a market for his copy in N<?\v York at a foe sufficient to "set him up" for tho rest of his days. For, oven if the private dialogue touched on matters no •norc profound than tho delight lul Italian w entlie" and the programme of tho .day's proceedings, "yellow." journalistic

resourcefulness would ue equal to the occasion. But the Kaiser is always good copy, and we suspect the whole story to be a wicked invention. The Transvaal seems to have set its feet firmly on the path of Transvaal enlightened progress. Mining Law. The r.ew law for the regulation of goldmining adopts some principles which have already been tested with good results in Australasia ; and appears to give every opportunity for the development of the industry. Gold is formally vested in tho Crowii. Finders of new goldmines get -a reward claim equal to fifty ordinary claims. A right of mining on private property may be allow cd by Government, which contemplates the erection of public batteries and smolteis. Goldmines are to be reseived to the whites; tolouicd persons are refused permission to acquire pr traiHc in mines, and as residents on gold-fields have to dwell in locations specially set apart" for them. In some of these respects the Transva.il law ib more advanced than any wo have seen in Australasian practice. Whether it is a l.'i.,v passed' or merely a law projected does ijot clearly appe.tr ; but its establishment is likely to help in settling the Trtmsraal labour difficulty. If payable gold remains to be discovered, then, given facility of search and the prospect ol reward, whito> labour will be found lor any work demanded. With the hope of gold, whito men will gladly take all the risks and perform all the tasks in ihe Transvaal that they have taken and performed in Australia and 1 New Zelana.