THE WEEK.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LIII, Issue LIII, 10 April 1908, Page 4

THE WEEK.

Tha u^ireaueiat, of Sir Henry Campbell Baaineataan, unhappily caused through a. serious and protracted illness, will be a serious blow tc thei Liberal GofGrnmesxt. It has been manifest for weeks past, that Sh Henry could no* reaunij&.thc-i active Preiniieirship, but his resdgnaticoQ, it seems, was delayed in order that matters might be>* "fixed up" with more deliberation during the Easter holidays. Some event, however, caused the Premier's resignation ddlys befo<re. tho Cabinet desired it There will bo universal sympathy with the retiring Premier for his plucky uphill fight was everywhere admire*!. During thei days ■when hei was in thei "cold ehadee. of opposition" ho plugged on with clueirful tenacity, and when tiu. tide ultimately turned in his favor, and he was selected to lead, the. Governaiemt, he was accorded a unanimous support, by his party. In a. comparar tivrly short time, as a London paper putsi it, Sir Hemry. developed from, «m unknown man into an institution). Nearly every public man makes^ano, big blunder, and Sir Henry's opportunity came with the Boear war when,* it has been wtid h& roused national mse__tn_ent to white heat by declaring that thfr British Army was waging war j in South. Africa by "methods of barbarism." The sogcr that speech in-

spired has long tincei cooled, down, and at thei last general election "C.-B.'^ was returned, at tlic polls witli an overwhelming majority. Everyone will w-sli him a reco>vcay from his illness

The Hen. H. Asquith, latidy CJianceilor of tho Exchequer, comes to the Premierehip ut a tdanei wheoi the outlook sccons full of danger. Ireland, tihe Education Bill, and last, but by no means le&st, tho Licensing Bill offer pitfalls of the first importance!. There is a unanimous approval of Mr A_r quith's fcclectioai for the leadership, and his great capacity is everywhere acknowledged. Whethcir he- can eseirci&t: that peireonal oonta-ol of the members oi his party, which knits the individuals into a solid support, remains to be set-n. Durirg the ex-Premier's illness, however, Mr A&quith ha* led his party wiih success, although it is not improbable that the absence and illness of Sir iicimy made the Opposition kss hostile than would have been the case otherwise. Mr Asquith's attitude on the questicn. of Home Rule for Ireland is almcfet certain to Iok«j, or a,t least weaken, support from his t v;n side- of the House', but until tho rearrangement of the Cabinet and an feounoiaticiii of policy it is impossible to judgi- the probable results from the change, of leadership.

A railway has suddenly upset the- reform for Macedonia, and an amalgamation of the Russian, and British schemes is progressing with a view to thwarting the Ceorman-Austriaa attempt to separate Britain and Russia. Hitherto' what was known as the European concert was acting to bring pressure upon the Sultan, it being understood that no Power would work fo>r its special advantage but solely for tiie of the inhabitants of Macedonia But Austria has unexpectedly secured authority from the Sultan to exteawi the adjacent Hungarian railway through the Sandjak of Novibuzar to join at Mitrovitza the main Turkish line to Salonika. Tins will be an immense- advantage! to direct German and Austrian, trade and influence—particularly as against. Russia. In commenting on the situation, thei Daily Mail says: — "Railways are doubtless appreciated by all the Powers from the economical standpoint, and there are, indeed, other similar schemes — Itussian and Bulgarian. — in the field, but the new Aufitro-Gor.nan line will certainly not, and is not^ intended to provide equal opportunities for all nar tiont\"

Although; the pill ha> been sugai'coated by contradictory expresaioinis of friendship, the Chifnese boycott against Japan may possibly prove a formidable check to Japan's commercial eixpansioia Tliis remarkable combination agaiaisfc America., in. reitaliation^ against Amc-ricjin and' tuiti-Chine6© legislation, shows with what tolling efieot -warfare cf this kind can bo caoried on. The ca-us-j of the outbuist of feeling is what tho Chinesoi consider thei high-handed proceodings of their ißlawd neighbors. A JapaneWi sfceamei', the Tatsiu Maru, was seized by the Chinese at the Portuguese port of Macassar, ne«r Canton, on thei ground that it was loaded ■wiih arms and ammunitior.. for the river piratea Tlie Can.tones/1 strongly retiemted the illicit support given to these pirates by Japanese smugglers, and thertfwe 1 took actiomi. Japan demanded an apology', aad as China was obdurate seat a warship to thei scene. The Chinese then ga.ve in^ but tho,coercion e&ercised over them by the Japan esei rankled in their mindst They areimore susceptible new than fca-mer-ly to what they regard as a national indignityj and the incident is signafi cant as showing that it is a mistake to suppose that China will willingly submit to be controlled by Japan.

Tho proclamation, of a general strikein Komei, following upon the disturb- ; ances of a lew dt»,ys ago, is another indication, of the critical condition into 'which Italy has fallen. Ihe whole country is seething with insubordinate discontent, ■to the public manafesit:ir tiona of which the Government, shuts hs eyes whenevea* possible. To the slowuess of the authorities in vindicating the law is attributed tha prolongfetion iind einbittonneint of the strikei at Terna, and the agricultural strikes which inflicted such a. hea,vy loss last year on the province® of Ferrara. and Apulia. The spread of /nilitant Socialistn, the reckless labor agitations, the audacity of the revolutionary and ttnarclut-al groups, and the> undisciplined temper of the army itself aJI theiperturbcd spirit of the country. A proccßisdcin carrying anarchist and re-vciluticiiary-..bajnav-Tfe, raising cries of ViVa rJrefcci I — : t!ie aasafiein. of the late King Humbert — was permitted to» pro ceed. unchecked Ph© fear is general among&t .supporters of tlio pi-e&&nit regime that King Emmanuel of Italy will meet the fate of his predecessor, K'mg Humbert, *md that ' of King Carlos.

The announcement! that the Allan line would undertake a direct service between Canada and J Vance, at a subsidy of ai hundred thousand dollaa's, suggests that commorc© is being dcvelcpcd b«itwfeeuVthj!'.twc cciuntriGiJ"by the PVanco : Ce<nadian treaty. In eccpluaning that treaty recently the. -Minister for'Fip-, ancei 'pointed out thai -Australia., and fth«<r Donlinibns, which did not' participate in Canada's British preferemtiftl tariflp, would' share equally, with. FraoQco thfr reduction- of duties- lindea: tlio tteeiy. .-.-"/ *./'".

The struggle at the Sydney wharv«is is lcflcctad in the Legislative',.Assembly of New South Wttles where the claims of the uniouisfc to pref erenco, and the claims of the. employer to freedom of control, are being threehod out.

Yesterday's cable messages stated that as & result of a conference the previous day an curly settlement of the strike was hoped for. This almost seems to imply that the companies have been fought; to a standstill, for it must not bo forgotten that the number of men on sitruke forms a very small proportion — not more than 2 per cent — of the total membership. Consequently tha unions can afford to keep them going for a long timo in idleness. Without unionist offiows, engineers, and seamon, the companies can maai <-<nly a few vessels, so that thei loss, with so many vessels tied up, must be er.< aniicus.

Tha strike at Blackball continuee. If it were not. for the fact that tlio strik-' ers hay© again nieit and resolved .to continue out, and have reaffirm ?d-their decision not to pay the £75 fine'im-" posed by the Arbitration, Court., the public might have almost forgotten the incident Really it was bad coiough of the Union to flatly refusci to obey the la.w, but it is too. rough -to rub it in by mootiiia: and }.üblioly .reaffirming that nfusal. An employer up north declined to obey a judgment of thd Courts based om an Arbitmtion. Court aw«rrl, and ho wa> promptly clapped into prison. Meanwhile the Govcamrneaxt continues to Ho very low and studixvu&ly says as little as pos- | siblci