Untitled

Evening Star, Issue 16350, 16 February 1917, Page 4

The Lamented death of the Hon. Dr M'Nab has necessitated a Politics avid shuffling of portfolios, a Portfolios. significant change in the acting-leadership of his party, and a more significant selection of a Liberal candidate for the Hawke's Bay seat. The portfolios which were so ably held by the late administrator have been taken over by liberal members of the j National Government, this showing that | the balance of parties and the respective privileges of administrative power are to be maintained ; the Hon. W. D. S. MacDonald lias, surprisingly enough, been api pointed Acting-Loader of the Liberal party-in place of the late Dr M'Nab; and it is confidently anticipated that Sir John Findlay, formerly the clever if somewhat too academic henchman of Sir Joseph Ward, will be elected as member for Hawke’s Bay in tho House of Representatives. In all those changes there is n far-reaching significance; and perhaps therein also lies the impending ruin of high-flying personal ambitions on the Liberal side of polities. As Stovcnsou'haa so aptly put it, “ when tho business [of death] is done, tlfbre is sore havoc made “in other people's lives, and a pin “knocked out by which many subsidiary “friendships hung together." The influence of Df AP.Vab was a strong pin in the somewhat flabby constitution of the .Liberal party, ainf it held, many subskliary friendships together. Now there are dissensions and signs of disintegration in the party. As it is the most significant of political changes, the prospective election of Sir John Findlay to Parliament is the most interesting. His re-entry into pnr-Lament-ary activities is to be desired. Parliament has great need of men of bis ability, although his outstanding cleverness would likely b<>, as in the past, depreciated by it lack of tho political aggressiveness a democratic country demands and admires. Fur national rather than impart}- reasons, it is to lie hoped that the, expensive fuss of a poll may be surrendered cordially without prejudice to the future interests of rival parties, and Sir John elected, “on the voices." Of course, it- has long been apparent that several men in nigh plates and many of their supporters, especially on the Reform side, would be delighted to have the temporary patriotic principles of unity made into a permanent combination of Reform and Liberalism, on the ground Unit there is really so iittle difference between them, and in order ut is said) to combat those terrible tel lows, the Labor representatives, who. at tlie “ nationalising " of the main patties tor patriotic purposes, were foolishly content to adopt- the role of neutrals ; but only very optimistic dreamers could anticipate. such a combination. It U to be expected that time and circumstances will biing about a separation of the goats from the sheep, and that the wolves, so to speak, will harry them both for a long, long time. Labor makes no sect el of tho tact that it has had enough of Liberal co-operation, and many members of the other panics bravely refrain from admitting publicly that they have had about enough of each other. Then it' is possible that the first General Election after the war may show that tho people arc tired of the lot of them. Ihere will be need of political excitement then, following the protracted tension of war, and possibly the plans of political parties will be tumbled into ruin. I hat is really the position today. although tho Notional Government “ wmk together in harmony.'' Ami the welcome demand for the return of Sir John Findlay to the arena of politics shows. w e think, that the Liberal party aie preparing for the* tnture. Against that, however, must bo placed the dfsturbing selection of an acting-leader “to “conserve the interests of the Liberal party during the absence of Sir Joseph W ard. There in no valid reason to challenge the shrewd ability of the Hon, W. D. S. Mac Donald to render sncii service faithfully and well, but surely there is suliicicni. reason for challenging the decision that swept precedent aside, and, ignored the strong claims of the Hon. G. IV. Russel! to the. position, ft should not have been forgotten that Joseph Ward, after his defeat bv the Reform party, sulked in tho Cave'of Adullam, “biting bis nails at destiny." it was tho indefatigable member for Avon who held the ragged and dispirited and almost demoralised Liberal team together, and played the game. Granted that Mr Russell has tho twin defects of impetuosity and political garrulity, these are counterbalanced by his energy, his skill in debate, and his aggressiveness. Ho had earned the confidence of his chief, ’Hie surprising selection of Mr Mac Donald prepares the way for a further surprise in respect to tho appointment, of a Ministerial successor to the late Dr M'Nab. In ovdinaiy circumstances we should have expected Sir Joseph to appoint to tin- office Mr 'l, K, f'Hdey, member for Dunedin South, whose parliamentary service in t-ho Liberal Tanas for 16 years, abiijiv, loyalty, and standing entitle him to first < onrdderation. Wo say so deliberately, with ;; full knowledge of the capabilities and claims of Mr Forbes, Mr EH, and Mr Poland. Mr Sidey is singularly fitted to hold the portfolio of Justice, which has been taken over temporarily by Mr Hamm. Tho member for Dunedin South was just, i squeezed out of tho National Government. ; and should now lie t ailed by the Leader of ) the Liberal party, if a politician's record ! tor practical service counts for anything j at .ail in the, making of administrative apI pointments., But politics is a game of in- : trigne. It will therefore not be surprising : -f Mr Sidcy is again overlooked, for be is not a scrambler. Possibly .Sir John ; i'iiKliay, ii fie is elected for Hawke's liav. i will be included in the Ministry as a sort j of stepping-stone to the leadership of the : Liberal party, for everybody seems coni fidi>iit that tho present Leader will secure : a place in the new form of Imperial ad- : ministration. If that should come about ; there will probably be more instead of I fewer political parties in New Zealand.

At (lie monthly meeting of the Forhurv School Committee (Mr P. Johnson presiding). the head'master reported r.ha!. tlio school reopened with an aiT-endancc of 659, hut had steadily increased, and the ;o|] number was _ now 712, The coimniilee passed a. motion of sympathy with the relatives of the late Chief Inspector Richardson, and also the relatives of tlio ia-t-e '.Miss Hooper, who fov a large number of years was mistress in Forbury School. ’ Tim Visiting Committee reported the vej v satisfactory condition of the school on the opening day, and stated that the school ground had been thoroughly overhauled, and was now in good condition. The committee expressed their regret at Mr Kudev’s continued illness, and trusted that ire would have a speedy recovery. The Dunedin Presbytery met yesterday at Otokia to induct tits Rev. R* MAAilly to the charge of .South Taicri. Otokia is one of the djj’.rges in the South Taieii parish, the boundaries of which have been rearranged so as to include Momoiia. 'the Rev, G. M‘Donakl (Moderator) presided and carried out the induction ceremony. Other clergymen, who 'took pan were the Rev. D. Caider, the Rev. A. W. Kinmont, the Rev. A. Whyte, and the Rev. A. M. Kinlayson. Mr * M'Cully is transferred from Waihola, and succeeds the. Rev. D. M'Coll, who goes bo Pukerau. The service iju?? .w ell attended.

-Mr Paulin telephoned at 2 p.m. ; Strong N.L. winds; fine for about 24 hours; barometer fall.

Only four steamers will bo engaged in the oysteriug this year—the Despatch. Loyalty, Savaii, and tho Rita (stales the bluff Press-). The overhauling business, vn view of the opening of the season on March 1, is being pushed ahead. It is assorted that the demand for oysters has steadily dec-rea-ccd during the war, and tin's is not to bo woudore-d pit, considering that tho mail consumers are,now in theranks of the men at tho front. ,

Mr John Fuller is at present in Dunedin, having with Airs Fuller and party motored right through from Auckland, and covered .1,165 miles in 10 travelling days. Tho stopping places wore Rotorua. Whakatane, Opotiki, Gisborne, Wairoa, Napier, Masterton, Wellington, Lyttelton, Tiniaru. and Dunedin. Very * bad • roads and exceedingly rough weather wore encountered in certain places in tho North Island, particularly between Opotiki and Gisborne.

In tho Supreme Court yesterday afternoon tho ‘jury. after four hours’' retirement, disagreed in the case against John Webster, charged with setting' liro to the premises! of A. and J. Watt, A new trial was fixed for Monday. In the case against Thomas Arthur O'Erien, a returned soldier, charged with assault, the jury, after 25 minutes’ retirement, brought in a verdict of not guilty, on tho ground th.li- accused struck the blow in self-de-lenco.

As the Stipendiary Magistrate was unable to take the monthly sitting of the r dJ Chalmers Court to-day two local ‘ "’.ffl'P requisitioned, and they formally directed that charges against three men of violating their prohibition orders by procuring liquor be heard by tho S.AI. next Friday at the Dunedin Court.

A case of more than ordinary interest came before Mr Hewitt, S.AI., at Taihape last week {says the ‘Times'). It is piobahly the first instances in which action has been taken under the Food and I rugs Act, 1908, ami the judgment will m consequence form a precedent-. Messrs H. D Bennett and Co. wore diarged bv Hie Health Department with a. breach of the regulations under the. Act, inasmuch as they did not have, printed on (fie papers on which (hey sold bulk butter words stating that the butter did not contain more than tlie prescribed anioint Ot _ preservative- The contention of th,. nelendant company was that f-hev had no occasion to supply a- container' o! any Lind : when customers came for bulk •utter without something in which to a-.c it away, paper was supplied as a mere act of courtesy. The ‘.Magistral.', reserved judgment.

No rest Meltons against women and cliilfiren travelling by sea to oilier than what are known as the danger zones are beiim enforced by the. Commonwealth Govern" meriL People may travel from Australia to .Now z.ealund and to America and other places as long H s the rout.*;, are not by v.-ay of these zones. So far (he restrirtioiis on[v apply to jonruovs to British and Ituropean ports. ' The 'Minister of Home Allan's (Air Barnford) lias stated that he had received a great manv applications since the restrictions were opposed from women who were desirous ~r travelling with or without children to Great Britain, He has. however, had t 0 reluse these requests, and tie wishes i(, („ bo understood that passports will he issued only on the most urgent grounds. Some pointed remarks were made b v Fus Donor Air Justice Hoskiug at (he pj’Uprcir.e Court at Auckland mi Saturday m reference to the culpability of persons ■who had been led to embezzle money owing to the force of domestic circumstances. and who. when confronted with the offence, expected the leniency of (lie c ourt to lie extended to them.'' because they may hay.-; in tile meantime made rest itution. His Honor s remarks were made in connection with a case in which Daniel Paul Phillips, formerly cleric of the Court at AVaihi, appeared lor sentence after being convicted of stealing the sum ot £162, II was staled by Mr Ostler, who appeared for the prisoner, that the hitter was a young married man with four children, and had had au uphill (Hit to make ends meet. He had sickness'in the house during practically Tim whole of nis married liie and found himself overwhelmed by doctors’ bills and other financial difficulties. It was while in this state that he was tempted to take money which he had hoped to replace. The Judge said that as the defalcations had been going on for over 12 months the prisoner could not be admitted to probation. He was surprised that persons in tlie positions in which tin* prisoner evidently was did not take advantage of the Bankruptcy Act. The law did Lot allow people to be cruelly oppressed for debt. So far ns making' restitution was concerned it was Die duty of a man who had stolen property to do so, and there was no merit in it. It cons)deration were given to this it meant that a man with means could get off while a poor man yonld suffer. He, however, would take into consideration the excellent character of tlie prisoner, who would be sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment with hard labor.

A visitor to Christchurch (telegraphs our special! is Mr William Epps, secretarv to tile Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Sydney. He has been commissioned to report on the conditions, management, and administration of tlie New Zealand hospitals. Of the hospitals he has seen here he had nothing to say but praise. He is particularly enthusiastic on (he working of the Christchurch Hospital. To-day he visited the consumption sanatorium on the Cashmere Hills, which, he states, is tlie finest institution of its kind lie has seen in Australasia. The mam object of his mission. Air Epps stated, was to make inquiry into the method upon which funds were raised for the administration and control of hospitals. In New South AVnles, instead of the rating system adopted hero, hospitals were dependent on voluntary contributions from the public, which were augmented hy a £ for £ subsidy from the Government. In consequence hospitals had sprung into existence in response, perhaps, to a legacy or sudden public demand. As a result there was little uniformity in the establishment of these institutions. Some districts were over supplied, whilst others were not supplied or not- sufficiently entered for. Mr Epps added that, in ATctoria, although the Government gave £ for £ subsidy, this amount was not paid ns against voluntary contributions raised, but mi t-ho number of bods occupied. In other words, on the actual work done, an infinitely better system in Ids opinion than that pertaining in New South Wales. However, ho \vn* giving tin* # \ew Zealand system a dose study, and could only say that from whatlie bad seen the results seemed to be entirely and cDiinont.lv satisfactory

Our Wellington correspondentgraphs Yesterday wns ST Ernest Shacklelnn’s forty-third birthday, and many of the explorer’s friends in New Zealand and other parts of the world offered him their good wishes. Sir Ernest spent his last birthday on a drifting icefloe.- in the Weddell Sea. His ship, crushed in the pack ice, had mink more than three months previously, and the members of the expedition had camped on a flat floe, on which thev lived for five months and a-half before the drift carried them to the edge of the jiack, and made possible a hazardous boat journey to Elephant Island. The birthday dinner, it is recorded, consisted of

“an appetising and satisfying bannock of dog pemmican,” fried in seal blubber. Snow was {ailing, and the only visitor during tire day was an emperor penguin, who was persuaded to stay lor a, later meal.

The late Hon. Dr M'Nab has not. loft a will as far us can be discovered, and it does not. appear (wires our Wellington correspondent) that he made any provision for the completion of the historical research work that he had in hand at the time of his death. A great deal of the matter that he collected in the course of his study of the early hisory of New Zealand has,been published already, but his work in this respect was continuous, and he had much material in hand at the time of his death, while he had planned, or had actually begun, additional inquiries in various directions. It is to be hoped that no part of his labor will be lost, since it may bo quite impossible for any historian to cover the same ground jt; rater years.

“It’s goy fine is this Watson’s No. 10. I never tasted any other whisky half so guid.” —[Advt.]

A gluas of Speight's beer at lunoh and supper is better than all the tea in China.— [Advt.]

Watch Saturday’s ‘ Star ’ for alte-ialion to Peninsula Perry Company’s time-table, starting Monday, February 19.—[Advt ]

Watson’s No. 10 is a little dearer than most whiskies, but is worth tho money.— [Advt.]