TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 75, 31 March 1910, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

A message from the North in yesterday's Post indicated that The Ministerial Ministers of the Vtto. Crown could bo re- 1 markable autocrat? at certain times. Last session Parliament | authorised £250 to' be spent on a road in Hobson County, and the local authority went to some trouble and expense to arrange for the work. Then came the sad news that the j Minister of Public Works (the Hon. R. M'Kenzie) had confirmed the refusal of the departmental engineer to approve the draft contract prepared for the work. Possibly the Minister may produce some solid evidence in his support, but even if he establishes his case ! he will not remove the uneasiness winch j the public may feel at Mr. M'Kenzie's exposition of the Ministerial power of veto. After Parliament, representing the general public, has voted money for a particular object, the party Government of the day can find reasons for not doing the will of Parliament. The authority for expenditure on a public work ''may be cancelled by the xUini&ter at any time." There were "errors" in the Hobson County's application, according to Mr. M'Kenzie. Those who have been brought into touch with Governments may be prepared to testify that a Government, when it has a mind to be in a thoroughly official mood, can find "eriors" easily. The complications of various regulations leave/ plenty of room for errors, technical or otherwise. This Ministerial veto, which seems to transcend the power of Parliament, is a formidable weapon under any system of Party Government. It enables a Ministry to discriminate between electorates, and "errors" which call for Ministerial interference in districts of the "wrong colour" may be overlooked in others. The full facts of the present case have yet to be brought out, but it is plain that the system could readily lend itself to grave abuses. Once more £500 worth of "Leader," entiusted to the city by Again the Mrs. Rhodes, has Lost "Leader." fallen an easy prey to "G. H. Ransom," or s6me similar thief. The Art Gallery is in a secluded corner of Wellington, where the safeguarding foot of the beating constable falls little at night, and the unprotected windows furnished an easy means of ingress for a thief who had no need to be very daring. The burglar of 1908 received a reward of £50 for his enterprise, after negotiations recapitulated in yesterday's Post. The then Mayor (the Hon. T. W. Hislop) epoke spiritedly in defence of the payment of 10 per cent, of the value of the treasure to secure its return; but though he advanced some impressive argument we could not agree with his reasoning. We preferred ta believe that it would be better to continue to allow the police to pit their wits against the cunning of the wily thief. The interest of the detectives in the complication did not cease with the return of the "Leader." A casual enquiry a few months ago brought a reply that the case was slill "on the books." It would be easy to chide the police, and it would be easier still to do them an injustice in any comment on the peculiarities of 1908. Thib time, it any reward is to be offered, it should be only, as a last resort, for evidence to assist in the conviction and proper punishment of the mysterious marauder. There should be no more talk of bargains with burglars. The ill-advised experiment of 1906 has been a farcical failure, but it may not be without some accidental value now if "G. H. Ransom" is the individual involved. There is some good ground for believing that if Chief Detective Broberg and his staff are allowed to work in their own way the mystery will be cleared up. It is not much more than ten years since the European If China Arms, press was calmly discussing the pros-^ pect of "The Partition of China." De- " feated by Japan and humiliated by the European Powers, its rulers had accepted the position with a meekness which was sadly misinterpreted by those who set themselves to forecast the future. They appar to have assumed, in the face of patent historic facts, that in ide^s and methods alike China was not only unprogressive, but practically unchangeable. In China, alone among the great peoples of the world, the profession of war was not held in honour, the scholar and agriculturist being exalted and the soldier despised. Further, it was. commonly supposed that the Chinese were inveterately local and parochial, and incapable of realising the highei national ideals. Hence, taken in detail, they would become an easy prey. But the movement in Japan lea the Western world to consider the possibilities of iv parallel phenomenon in the greater empire, and there have of late been signs that such a movement is in progress. No one now thinks of talking of any "partition" of that country. Characteristically, tjhe first steps taken by China were to ascertain what evils and weak nesses threatened her within, and finding her very existence imperilled by the opium habit, she set about to eradicate the traffic in ten years, and has taken the task in hand to some purpose. Ihe drug has been destroyed wholesale, some districts have been cleared in two years, and the prime factor in national demoralisation is being sternly eradicated. Next, China astonished the world by its resolvt» to establish constitutional government ; and now the Minister for War announces that he contemplates introducing compulsory military service. And China c?.n do it, and will, if it so decides. Further, European aggression has justified the * decision. But what does it ""mean? No less than this — that in a few years this one self-contained Asiatic empire may possess within its own frontiers a wellequipped army under a single head, equalling, if not exceeding in strength, all the combined military forces of Europe ! With such a force available, China would be able to dominate Asia, and might seriously threaten Eastern Europe. Complaints about the noisiness and offensive behaviour The "Drunk" on of drunken persons the Train. in railway carriages have been uttered for years, but the nuisance is still rampunt enough to call for comment. Answering the reports and tho criticism, j the Minister of Railways (the Hon. J. A. Millar) has stated that the department will be grateful for the co-operation of , incensed passengers. He pleads that it is not easy for the oflicials to obtain evidence strong enough to ensure a c«>n viction unless eye-witnesses undertake to give testimony at court. That argument is fair enough. The captious may allege that the department is seeking to shirk its own responsibilities, but it must be plain to reasonable critics that ' the factor of expense precludes the department from engaging a staff of special men to keep watch and ward on the trains. "Leave it to tho experts" is a popular attitude which' yearly, monthly, daily becomes more and more noticeable. Iho citizens pay ci certain price for government, general and municipal, and believe that their peace and comfort j must necessarily be assured, wholly and solely, by police and inspectors. The |

I private citizen has a dread of coming into the public eye in the capacity of one assisting to benefit himself and the community by helping to discourage thr careless and the reckless, but he is quick! to complain and carp, under cover, it any grievance is not promptly redressed. The cost of a perfect system of surveillance to ensure a rebnff for all offenders would be too heavy for the public. Volunteers are occasionally needed to help the authorities to maintain order.