TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 47, 25 February 1911, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Ihe caucus is a corpus— that is a body composed of members. The Caucus If a member is suspected Corpus. of an ailment deemed harmful to the body, he is •; to be amputated. The Wellington Trades j and Labour Council has approved the> compulsory plodgo system, with all its*! restrictions. A breach of the pledge ■ means expulsion, and a bare majority vote will decide whether any particular aefc or omission is a breach, or not. Evidently the local Labour Party prefers the. machine-made politician on tho Australian Labour model. The political representative is to be merely a delegate .from the Labour conference. The representative's body is to be in Parliament, but his soul is iv the custody of the party as a whole. The representative must not think and study for himself; the caucus will think and study for him, and will find the phrases for his mechanical lips. The function of the Labour majority in Parliament will be to attach the necessary "Be it enacted " to tho resolutions of the general conference outside. However, Labour's expression of preference for the " machine make " has the virtue of frankness. Labour putsup iio hypocrisy, about tho choice oi an automaton' to do the right movementswhen the caucus pulls the strings. Other parties may also nave the " machine system," but the members may make a pretence of independence. In New Zealand the Ministerialists and the Oppositionists have their own caucus conclaves. Lasfc session the " machine " touch was noticeable in much of the Liberal members' -\oting. The crack of the party whip was audible, but the drovers were courteous enough to say that they were not doing any forcible driving. It was— well, moral euaßion,

Sir George Reid is doing a dazzling quantity of good work, The > for Australia in London. "All-Reid* l^ Cynics may scoff at come Route. of his arts, but eventhe cynics, on reflection, must confess that the Commonwealth's -High Commissioner is keeping Australia, i well and valuably under Britain's eyo. The British taste for Sir George docs 2iot grow jaded ; there is* a savour about him that- seems to appeal irresistibly to London. He is tireless, too. He has [ the happy ability to renew his freshness. He husbands his vitality, and his store ot force in public places is always something to inpress and carry across the ocean. The Empire knows 'its Reid well bow. Perhaps, at this distance, Sir b*orge.s latest venhrre into the arclight of publicity may be regaided as a little grotesque. He is one of the advocates of a "Georgemorial" in honour of J&iig George's Coronation. But let it be remembered that Sir George, with other notable Georges, pat this scheme ..icfrward. in London, not in Wellington and Sydney. London is iv the, whirl of •a Coronation movement that can hardlybe- realised twelve or thirteen thousand oniles away front the vortex. The public attitude of Britain towards Coronation notions does not necessarily coincide wrfh the public attitude of New Zealand or Australia. We confess tfcafc we cannot imagine that the Empire's (xeorges (outside of Britain) will bo much moved by the appeal for anything irom a penny to five pounds to make, a memorial, not because they are not loyal enough, but because they are (soundly and sanely loyal. These Mary (also Mane and Maria and Marianne) and George suggestions have an element of the ridiculous in the Overseas atmosphere, and the Overseas Georges and Marys will be too loyal to wish to have Iloyalty associated with the ridiculous, hir George Read may know this, but this knowledge may not prevent him from doing some good for Australia by "pushing the George proposition in London. To the out-side public the internal ar- ™ \,, , rangements of a Ihe Churches and church, which neCitizenship. cessarily occupy , much of the time and attention of its annual conferenco do not greatly appeal. Much of its etficiency depends on accurate and methodical attention to these -matters of routine ; but those not immediately concerned regard them— when they think of -them at all— much "as the traveller by sea or land does the boilers and engines* Concerned chiefly with tho expected arrival at his destination, ho takes for granted the thousand practical details to which it is the duty of others to attend. But when the broad general programme of a religions body is "discussed, and tho matters in which it manifestly acts and reacts on the world, outside, religious or secular, the case is different. The Methodist Conference, now in session in Christchurch, lias just come very prominently into view in this respect, and its "citizenship meeting" held yesterday gave an opportunity for discussion of matters to which no I thoughtful citizen can be indifferent, as it is by its relation with society in general, and its attitude in regard to the wider movements of the time and if£ influence upon them, that religious bodies must expect to be judged. In this respect yesterday's meeting was of exceptional interest, and of no little significance. The representative list of speakers goes far to indicate excellent relations with outside bodies in respect -to the movements associated with moral arid religious progress, as well as with the authorities concerned with more distinctively secular matters. His Excellency the Governor presided at the meeting in His Majesty's Theatre, the Bishop oi Christchurch spoke on "the Church and our social destiny," the Minister of Education on "the claims of social citizenship, ' and a prominent Methodic minister on "our Imperial citizenship and responsibilities." Lofty themes were considered, and they were 'worthily dealt with and behind all lay tho hope of .all living Churches of tho time— the coming unity (which is quite apart from . uniformity) of all .those bodies claiming allegiance to a common Master

During 1910 the passengers who left tns United Kingdom for Australia numbered 36,331, for New Zealand 9900, for Canada 196,200, foi South Africa and for the United States 305,300. A meeting of the Wellington Centre of the Royal Life-Savino Society was held last ■evening, when it was decided to Itold examinations on Saturday, 11th March, a t Te Aro Baths. Mr. G. F. 'M'Kellar was appointed examiner. Members of the Education Department and their wives and families and friends held a picnic at Day's Bay yesterday. Favoured by fine weather, the outing proved very enjoyable — so much so that it is proposed to make the affair 'an annual one. Messrs. Campbell and Burke, builders, have secured the contract to build the Empire Packing Company's new factoiy, off Broadway-xerrace. TII3 price is £5000. Plans have been prepared for the work by Messrs. Thos. /f-urnbull and Sons, architects. Some correspondents have asked Tha Posf whether the health authorities are taking any measures to disinfect things imported from plague-smitten China. The District Health Office's reply is that it is not considered necessary to take any sped?! precautions in the direction indicated. it has been decided to send a team from the Petone Eailway Workshops Fire Brigade to the demonstration at Hokitika- next month. The team consists of C 4. Byford, G. Piose, E. Wakelin, - B. Tregeai, J. Hep-worth (tiie winners of the Licensed victuallers' Shield last October). Captain Home was elected conference delegate. ■■ The team and delegates leave on Tuesday by the Mapoulika. Mr. Justice Sim, who is expected to arrive to-morrow morning, will on Monday hear the case Heibert Gladstone Hill v. J. B. MacEwan and Co., Ltd., claim for £51 8s lid, for salary and counterclaim' for £100 for .alleged, breach, of contract. If it be reached, the claim for £600 damages for alleged libel, Gini ABgeiini v. Carlo Antico, will also be taken. There will be a common jury of lour in both cases. Since Mr. John Smith intimated thai it was not his intention to stand again for election to the City Council, he lies been waited on by many citizens, and last night there was presented to him, a requisition bearing the signatures of all the available ex-mayors 01 Wellington, urging that he should reconsider bis decision to retire from a-ctive participation in the municipal administration of the city. After giving the matter consideration, Mt. Smith safd that as there appeared to be a wide desire that he fchould again become a candidate, he would be pleased to do so.For years the remains of the steamer Elginshire have been a familiar object to travellers by train between Osmaru and Tiinaru. What regular passenger has not pointed out to hundreds of friends the huge iron hull — rusty with age ; high up on the beach — and the propeller well out of the water like a spectre windmill ? For close on nineteen years — for it was on 9th March, 1892, that the Elginshire went ashore in a fog 'on her voyage between Oamaru and Ti/naru — the hall has fought the ceaseless onslaught of the waves, and now is about to qaprculate. All that remains of the steamer, which at the time of the wreck was acknowledged to be the finest type of cargo vessel trading to these waters, is a, small stump of the bow and the propeller. The propeller will be the last mute reminder of the loss of a very fine ship. Workers in search of their own homes under new legislation will b& interested t" learn that regulations aTe about to be gazetted. Any person receiving an income of not more than £175 per annum, who cam deposit HlO, may apply to the Labour Department requesting the building of a home up "to some £400, £500, or £600. Interest will have to be paid at tho rate of 5 per cent, per annum for the money advanced, and 2 per cent, per annum for tne repayment jf the principal sum. A large number of plans of suitable cottages have been piepared by the Labour Department for the selection of applicants. These are of various designs — neat and cosy-look-ing. They must, however, be adhered to by applicants in ih? essentials, Due reasonable departures from tha designs v/ill be permitted. The Lands Dep&rDment has in view land at Kelburne and Vogeltown that may be suitable for the erection of workers' dwellings. The combined committee of ladies and gentlemen carrying out the arrangements in connection with the farewell garden party at Parliament Grounds on Wednesday' 'nest, to bid farewell to Sir Joseph and Lady Ward and the Hon. Dr. and Mrs. Findlajr, have al arrangements completed, various sub-committees iiaving been set up to give attention to the necessary details on that day. Invitation tickets are now available, and at© obtainable trom the following members of the General Committee: — Mesdames Stafford, Macarthy, J. r. Luke, Field, Samuel, Prouse, Izaxd, Loughnan, Litchfield, Povnton, Corrigan, Wilson, j Keay Brown, Dyer, Moore, Levvey, Hons. J. E. Jenkinson, C- M. Luke, W. W. M'Cardle, Dr. Collins, Messrs. E. lArnold, H. Beauchamp, Breen, D. J. Nathan, Googan, Carngan, Dykes, Corrigan, Fufiord, Bannifan, Harcourt, A, E. Hislop, Izard, M. Kennedy, R.. Keene, Lewey, Levy, J. P. Luke, L. Ji'Kenzie, Magaire, U. M'Cabe, Mason, M'Leari, Reid, Marshblades, Fitzgerald, Tanner, Tewsley, Winder, A. L. Wilson, E. Fletcher, Ls Grove, and Gallichzn (hon. secretary). Eeserved decision was given by Mr. W. G. Biddell, S.M., at tho Magistrate's Court this morning in the question of an application for a rehearing of the Black v. Glynn assault case. Hawtrey Warren Glynn, a police constable, was recently convicted of ha.ving assaulted a civilian named Archibald Black. The question of rehearing was raised in Chambers by Mr. A. Gray, who based the application on the ground that fresh evidence was now forthcoming and that tha decision was against the weight of evidence. Mr. H. F. O'Leaxy opposed 4he application on the grounds that, Z3 defendant had paid the fine imposed by the court, the matter was res judicata, and that defendant had nh statutory or other right to make such an application, as the offence for which he was convieced is an iadictabli one, and section 120 of the Justices of the Peace Act did not apply to informations dealing with indictdble offences summarily. The first objection was, in the magistrate's opinion, 1 disposed of by the-, decision in Rex v. Hughes-, where it was- held by the Court of Appeal thafc a person who had served a sentence was not absolutely disqualified from obtaining a new trial, but the application must" be made promptly. The second objection was of more"importance, but without discussing the distinction betv/«/en ordinary offences within a justice's jurisdiction and indictable offences triable s'immsiily, it might be noted that section 12D did not refer to any particular kind of offence, but merely conferred upon jas bice 9 a discretionary power, to yehear informations which, had already been dealt with by them at some earlier date. His WoTS&p then reviewed tlia lav/ and authorities on the subject at considerable length, and. thought that the Justices uf the Peace Act conferred ths necessary jurisdiction on justices to deal with common assaults (such as the pie^ent) in a Bnminary manner, and in this case the usual summary procedure v.as followed. Defendant had a right to make his application, and the matter .now stands over till 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday next,.