WHAT THE PAPERS SAY.

Evening Star, Issue 14965, 27 August 1912, Page 1

WHAT THE PAPERS SAY.

To have saved the endowment lands is no inconsiderable achievement for the Leasehold party, especially when ono recalls the scorn which Mr'Massey himself has frequently poured upon the scheme and the general expectation that his Government would endeavor to make good his words. The endowment lands having been saved, the next thing to do is to endeavor to save the settlement lands. Here there is #0 discrepancy between the Budget and the Premier's speech. The full force of_ tlio Freehold doctrine is to be applied, even to the lands which have been resumed by the State for the purposes of close settlement. The Leaseholders certainly made a sorry show on that unfortunate " line-out," but in. his exultation the Premier seems to un-der-estimate their power both in the House and in the country. We neither desire nor expect to see the Leaseholders offer any senseless obstruction to the Government's land policy, but we believe that they are still a power to be reckoned with, and that with a very large body of public 'opinion behind them thoy will be able to secure modifications on some important points.— Wellington 'Post.' * * # The Democrat who wants to make the Second Chamber, which merely acts as a brake in a certain event, the equal of the Chamber that does all the work of representative government, must be set down as a Democrat gone wrong. Examination of the machinery of the Bill does not help it to get. over this fatal blot, and, as one member pointed out on Friday, many of its provisions depart from the central pivoting principle of proportional representation. j But it is not worth while to quarrel [ over the details; it is the principle ; which is wrong. If the Council are misguided enough to affirm the principle by passing tho second reading, it will then be time to consider the details for tho purpose of getting the best out of a very bad measure.—Oamaru ' Mail.' * # * Whatever else Mr Craigie's Leasehold motion effected last week, it at least proved that the Liberals are not in harmony in regard to the great question of land tenure, and it will be necessary to find some acceptable basis of compromise to draw the various elements in the party together and to weld them into a coherent and efficient fighting force. Now, this sort of work, we believe, can be done far more effectively by a number of representatives of one party than by any one Leader, more especially under conditions which make it very difficult to suggest any member of the party as likely to command the confidence or control the political actions of all his followers, and therefore, we regard the suggestion to leave the Leadership a little longer in abeyance and to delegate the work of reorganisation to a. representative committee as emphatically a step in the right direction.—Auckland 'Star.' * * # No Administration is perfect, and we have been compelled to criticise the. actions of the Ward Government on several occasions: but to talk of "freer citizenship" and "true liberty" as coming in logical sequence to the accession of the Maßsey Government is to display an utter lack of the sense of humor, fitting aside the fact that Mr Massey is ■Sot "in.'power at the will of the people, we may mention that it would be time to indulge in mutual admiration when the Government have established some of the democratic reforms to which they have committed themselves. So far thoy have done nothing but temporise and equivocate.— Southland ' News.'

Men like Mr "Witty forget, if thev ever realised, that the dull routine of Rood government means more to the i poor man than all the showy attempt* ■ made to improve his lot bv a Socialistic Government. Clean administration, prudent finance, a democratic method i of electing Parliament, a policv which, while fair to Labor, will be at least decently civil to Capital, the removal of party patronage from the- public . service—all these things touch the wage-earner very closely. To say that '' there was not one thing in the Budget for the toilers " is to betray ignorance of the very elements of good government and economics.—Cbristchurch ' Press.' # # # In this country railways can never be effective substitutes for roads, though roads will answer all the purposes of railways until the traffic grows too heavy for them. The result of this mistaken policy of making roads subsidiary to railways is seen in the meagreness of the traffic through country which is not effectually roaded. It is high time a new policy was adopted. —Taranaki ' Herald.' # * # The efforts of the United States and Russia to stop illicit sealing have been iby no means uniformly successful. But New Zealand and Australia are doing little or nothing in the matter, and the seal poacher risks nothing more serious than a possible meeting with a scientific expedition. The seals are worth preserving, even apart from their commercial value, and it appears that the illicit raids on their haunts can be checked only by the use of a Stateowned vessel which could pay occasional visits to the outlying islands. Perhaps the difficulty could he met by the use of an old Imperial cruiser as a training ship, with patrol duties forming part of its ordinary routine.—' Lyttclton Times.' # * # Our opinion is that the Massey policy will prove to he Dead Sea fruit. Thus the eyes of the people will be opened. Then the Liberals' turn will coma again, and another 20 years of prosperity may be looked for_ after a short interregnum |of Conservative mudcilement. Mean- ! time the Liberal method is to lie low. Sir Joseph Ward has stepped back into the ranks with a generosity and selfeffacement that will not be forgotten i when the time comes.—Cbristchurch ' Spectator.' # * * The ground upon which the Budget could have been attacked was_ that it proposed nothing of any essential value to the people of New Zealand. The promised diminution of taxation through the Customs lias been_ shelved, accompanied by an excuse altogether paltry. Tho proposed method of handling labor problems, so far as they make themselves felt by actual "disputes," gives promise of nothing but further confusion. The Laud Tax is to be manipulated in a way that means concessions to people already paying less than they should, and this is being done under a pretence of imposing much heavier taxation on owners who are mythical. This and the tenure bribe to Crown settlers means leaving the rest of the. community in the lurch. While special steps are taken to do something for a coterie of friends and followers, there is to be " greater activity" in buying out large estates foi %:--l'\ i • '„. '' ■'. ~. .of the futile character of the lAnd Tax), and a scheme of building cottages for fanu laborers has been devised. The fir.-t of these devices is economically vicious, the second merely one. more of tho;.<-> palliatives which fail to palliate, and can be written down a failure in advance with complete confidence.—Wellington ' Times.' * * # Xot a few people will be surprised if the more intelligent members of the Government part-v revolt against the attempt of Ministers lo ra:U this thoroughly To.'y scheme of " reform"' down their thr-at-. None hut the blindest of partisans in the representative Chamber eaji possibly vote for the setting up of a Legislative Council chosen under a system of voting which will vest the Council with greater popular authority than the House. How could any of our representatives be classified who assented to this scheme of voting ■without, knowing how the Lower House was to be chosen. If they are to be chosen both in the same way, why have a duplication? If they are not to bo so chosen, why the difference, and on what grounds will one system bt- selected fur the Lower Hcu?e and another for the Upper House? These questions will occur to every member of the House. 1 hey will ask why tho'isauds of pounds more of the taxpayers' money should be spent on the Council, which already costs an enoimous earn. They will require to ece the proposed machinery for settling deadlocks. Hew manv meiiib'-.s would dare go liv.-k to their constituents and defend the plec tion of Councillors for six years?— Wellington 'Tune?.'