TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 121, 18 November 1909, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Generally the Premier's temperament does not lead him A Line of to take the line of Most Resistance, most resistance. Such tactics would be contrary to the governmental axiom, common to most countries: "Give tho people what they ask for." Mr. Masscy has accused Sir Joseph Ward of following the line of least resistance with his Budget, but the Leader of Ihe Opposition has not been altogether fair in his indictment. Although the Budget cake is strongly flavoured with essence of compromise, designed to make it "suit all tastes," is is plain enough that some of the ingredients are not to the liking of some palates, who&e owners hoped for something less sharp than tax. By accident f apparently, the Premier, in at least one direction, took the line of most resistance. A. week has served to show clearly that the proposal for Customs primage of 1 per cent, is a mistake. The reasonable remonstrances that have reverberated from Auckland to the Bluff demonstrate that the Premier and his advisers overlooked ari element which any text-book on political economy emphasises. They forgot that it was important to prevent the incidence of taxation from becoming vexatious in a manner utterly disproportionate to the amount to be raised. The criticism of the proposal indicates that the collection of the 1 per cent, on a *nixed tariff (ad valorem and by weight and bulk) would be costly to the Government, and a serious nuisance to the importers and retailers. Sir Joseph's remarks last night hagpily showed that he was not ignoring tho opposition to the primage, but he was not rGry clear in his reference to an alternative! method of raising the l£d per head per year (calculated to produce £60,000) to "enable a system of defence to be established in this country" (estimated to cost £100,000). He announced that he was prepared to make the primage charge a surtax on revenue. He has a choice of a few methods suggested by various commentators, and should be able to find one less irritating than the one which he proposed last week. The airship, floating or flying — notwithstanding the numerous fore- " Flying casts as to its place in the Visits." future — is as yet unfamiliar. It is still a marvel, something which has not so far touched the everyday life of mankind. Some day, if Kipling's vivid dream is fulfilled, it may carry heavy cargo and extend civilization without the costly preliminary of highways and canals — a more common view is that of an aerial monster that will drop bombs on our heads. It is not yet regarded in the same familiar aspect as the telephone or the motorcar. Still, the cable service .has kept the world informed of the movement which has now developed so far as tho formation of the Zeppelin Aerial Company at Frankfurt on the Main. The company announces that it will "begin passenger excursions to the principal towns of Germany next spring, and will also undertake trips to England and Denmark." Instead of the' grim machines imagined by Mr. Wells, Germany is to send across to Britain aerial pleasure yachts on friendly visits like that of M. Bleriot 'from France, and international friends, passing over sea and land, will exchange flying visits in the most literal sense. *It will be leng Lefore this kind of transit is undertaken as an ordinary incident. Classic writers extol the intrepidity of the voyagers who firbt steered boldly out of sight of the coast. One even exalts the courage of the man who first broke the oyster's shell "and risked the living morsel down his tkroat." There- will, a-s in all ages, be tho timorous mortals who start aad shrink

— who are never in any circumstances the first by whom the new is tried ; and, in fact, the possible smash of a passenger-carrying airship is not pleasant to contemplate, though an express train may present even more varied possibilities of disaster. ' Still, there are enthusiasts for novelty — those who wish to figure conspicuously in their neighbours' eyes, and the new company may expect as many would-be passengers as it can accommodate. "Married in an Aeroplane," "A Honeymoon in a Zeppelin," may ere long figure in the headings in the ladies' column. But all useful inventions are liable to abuse; and how are territorial boundaries to be guarded against the smuggler and' the thief ? • A night visitor, carrying no lights, might not drop bombs, but it might easily deposit contraband Asiatics, opium-laden, within the Commonwealth area. And what will the prohibition folk do as New Zealand gradually or suddenly "goes dry ?" We shall expect to read of suspicious craft bein^ chased by revenue officers in aeroplanes, of Bacchanalian revels in carefully protected districts, and of * occasional "finds" of deposits of whisky that have "dropped from the skies." And what of pirate craft, swooping down at right, and carrying off, no one knows where, something more than "uuconsidered trifles ?" Some day, still very far away, the fortysix districts which Wanted : yearn for railway faci-Self-Reliant lities, at an estimated Light-liners, cost of £4,000,000, will have their deserts, but it is being now pressed upon them that however nicely the cap is held out by the deputation or the insistent member for the district, the treasurer is not eager to hand out largesse, furnished by the taxpayers. Rather vaguely various Ministers have urged those who have the railway hunger to do something, at their own cost, to appease their appetite, by light lines or heavy lines. Yesterday, after gently saying "no" to a request for a railway in Clutha Valley, the Premier admitted that, generally speaking, he was favourable to the construction of light lines to feed the main lines, but his remarks would lead a reader to • infer that Sir Joseph Ward had not yet 6tudied the subject very thoroughly. Some valuable information, however, was given by Mr. F. Black, in an article m The Post yesterday. He referred to the activity of other countries, notably Queensland, in the establishment of light "feeders," by State or private enterprise. The cost of transtraining from the branch lines on to the main roads, he said, had been found to range from less than 'Id to 4d per ton. Judging by the experience of other countries, he estimated that suitable light lines could be built in A T ew Zealand for £3000 a mile, instead of the £9000 or £10,000 required for the ordinary gauge and heavy metals. He opened up a very interesting subject for the Government, but one knows not when the topic will get serious study. The Hon. J. A. Millar has spoken of taking a trip to Australia to study the railway systems there. If he does visit the Commonwealth he should be accompanied by a competent New Zealand expert, and should thoroughly enquire about Queensland's light branch lines.