The Star. Delivered every evening by 5 o'clock in Hawera, Manaia, Normanby, Okaiawa, Eltham, Mangatoki, Kaponga, Awatuna, Opunake, Otakeho, Manutahi, Alton, Hurleyville, Patea, and Waverley. FRIDAY, JULY 26, 1912. THE WEEK.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XVIII, Issue XVIII, 26 July 1912, Page 4

The Star. Delivered every evening by 5 o'clock in Hawera, Manaia, Normanby, Okaiawa, Eltham, Mangatoki, Kaponga, Awatuna, Opunake, Otakeho, Manutahi, Alton, Hurleyville, Patea, and Waverley. FRIDAY, JULY 26, 1912. THE WEEK.

Mr Asquith, the British Premier, has made two historic speeches during the week —one m Ireland and one in England, in Ireland he spoke of Home Kule as an approaching certainty and "as the first step towards Imperial reorganisation, whereof it is nearly the solution." The finality of such a statement from such a man is such that k would be idle to comment upon it. This is made completely obvious by what was afterwards said by Mr Asquith in England; namely, that "when the country twice in twelve months declared in favor of the Parliament Bill it was with the knowledge and intention that it should bo used to carry self-government for Ireland, the establishment of religious equality in Wales, and the amplification of the franchise." These words have the emphasis of the knowledge that the majority, not only of the people of Britain but of the British Empire, are with the speaker; and thus, to adopt Mr Asquith's own words, the great causes which he mentions are being borne irresistibly to victory.

During the week, too, momentous things have been said in the House of Commons in connection with the Supplementary Naval Estimates. From one point of view it looks like madness—this ever-increasing expenditure on defence and ships" of war; but, as things are, there is little room for doubting its necessity. In so far as the British Empire is concerned, its unity depends on a navy large enough and effective enough for its protection, and, as Mr Churchill says, "the unity of the Empire carries with it the safety of its component parts, and probably also carries with it the peace of the world." Then, Mr Balfour believes that "the organisation of the Powers on a defensive basis makes war impossible"; a view with which Mr Asquith agrees, adding that while "Britons are most reluctant competitors in the prevailing naval rivalry, yet the expenditure is justified in order to secure their shores, their dominions, their commerce, and peace." The subject may well rest at this for the present.

The endorsement which a practical I man like Lord Ashton, the head of a j great commercial firm, has given to | the British Insurance Against Unem- \ ployment Bill outweighs all that has been said against that measure. This is so because the adverse critics have j been prejudiced by self-interest or mere political antagonism, and Lord j Ashton is influenced solely by the fact that the Bill will really accomplish its avowed purpose—insure millions of workers against .privation while out of work, provide machinery to enable them to get employment, and also in-

sure them to some extent against want in sickness or old age. In times to come this iiill will be regarded as one of the greatest landmarks in jJiitish legislation—as tne Magna Charta of the workers, for it is cupdUle of much v.ider application than it is at present proposed to give it. Likely enough, too, ie will be counted ror laucii i i^uieousness to Lord Ashton, that a man in his position should have so fully and frankly acknow-' it'ugeci its merits, for ie is a measure .or iabor, and not for capital, except 121 tiie great and comprehensive sense cnat capital gains by sharing itself .viCii l^uvi, iiisoead ot growing bloated by leaving ie barely enough to live <.i|JOii.

Then Lord Ashton goes much further than mere verbal approbation, for he lias told the workers of hid firm that the firm will pay all the contributions required under the Act —t^ose oi zna workers as well as of the employers — and also supplement by one-tiuid ot the total,' the benefits which the Act provides tor workers in times of sickness. This is social justice in action, and. were it as general as it should be there might, after ail, be no strikes, and the only unemployed might be the agitators, who would have to shut their mouths far lack of listeners.

The cause of woman's suffrage does not need friends like the suffragists, who smash windows, throw hatchets at Prime Ministers, strike other Ministers in the very presence of the King, and try to set fire to theatres, with grave danger to the lives of crowds of unoffending people. Conduct like that is mere madness, or worse, for it is proof of an abandoned indifference to wiiat may befall others, so long as the suffragists themselves disconcert those who are opposed to them. In fact, these irrational and essentially unsexed women not only disgrace themselves and shame their sex, but discredit tlie cause they profess to befriend, for assuredly people who behave as they do are not qualified to exercise the franchise in the public interest, seeing that their actions testify to nothing but folly and frenzy in their minds. Their total disappearance from the public arena would be the best thing that could happen to the cause of votes for women. It is deeply to be regretted that the millions of sensible women who are really concerned should have failed to keep these homicidal furies entirely in the background. They are as great a curse to the cause of suffrage as the average oratorical agitator is to that of the working man.

A very fine and very notable thing has just been done by the Sultan of Turkey. It is only a few years since the Government of that country ceased to be an absolute autocracy/ and so far it cannot be said to have quite found its feet in the ways of constitutionalism, for Ministries still continue to rise and fall like so many houses of cards. But perhaps this phase will soon pass, and if it does, the result will doubtless be largely due to the Sultan himself, who may therefore come to be known as the People's Caliph. The other day a deputation of military hot-heads—men politically on the plane of the cavaliers of Charles the First's time^—asked him to dissolve the Chamber and appoint Kiamil Pasha Grand Vizier—a course equivalent to the revival of autocratic rule. But his Majesty, with wise constitutional insight, and true public spirit, iipbraided the officers by proclamation for formulating claims contrary to the Constitution, and declared that he relied on the Army to avoid politics. All fair students of history, past and present, know that monarchs are sometimes the best friends and servants of the people, and by this wise action of his, Sultan Mahomed V of Turkey has surely qualified himself for admission to that illustrious category.

The illness of the Mikado shows with what thoroughness the' great change from autocracy to constitutionalism has been effected in Japan. Naturally the monarch is still necessary, but he is not more so than any other officer, whose place can be filled by another with no more ado than that which is caused by one man ceasing to sit on a certain chair and another man taking the seat. Ihis is as it should be in connection with the Government of millions of men, who should not be subject to stress, or loss, or disconcerting change, because one of their number becomes ill or dies. But everything considered, it says much for the national intelligence and the political wisdom of the Japanese that this should so soon be practicable in their case, lhat it is so is beyond doubt partly due to the intelligence and the wisdom of the Mikado himself. He has for many years been as good a friend to his country and his countrymen as Sultan Mahomed has just proved himself to be to Turkey and the Turks. Had he not been so, the imminence of his death would have caused much more disturbance than it has done in Japan's domestic politics and international relationships. Like an army on the march, a rightly governed country keeps its place and pace, whoever drops out of the rauks: and thus it is with Japan. That it is so is the highest possible compliment to its own greatness and to that of its great men, including its longdescended Mikado, the successor of ancestors who have held royal sway for twenty-five centuries.

And yet everywhere, as Goldsmith exclaims — How small, of all that human hearts endure, The part that kings or laws can cause or cure. Note the atrocities in connection with the rubber trade on the Beni river and other tributaries of the Amazon: the ferocious hysteria of English suffragists; the corruption and cruelty of the NewYork police, as the allies of ruffians, robbers, and murderers, for the sake of gain; the criminal callousness of some parents, even in New Zealand, as shown by the case which was before the Court m Christchurch the other day; and the lunacy and licentiousness disclosed by the action of the miserable girls who have been fleeing their homes, and infatuatedly following a troupe of negro singers through the dominion. Thece incidents show that there are things in human nature which are base and detestable to the last degree, but which, so far, neither kings nor laws can suppress or subdue, and which they cannot justly be taxed with causing. It shows how extensively evil is still a factor m human affairs, and how pressingly necessary real religion is to the regeneration of the world.

The death of Andrew Lang will probably set many people, Sir Bedivere-like. "revolving many memories," few of which will be gloomy, and the majority very much the reverse. One ooncernins: his penman.«h ip is sure to occur to many minds. The story goes that in the High Court of Justice there was a case in which the forgery of Mr Lang's signature was in question. A friend of his, a professional expert in writing, in

giving his evidence, said, with special emphasis that the signature was notMr Lang's. "Will you oblige us with a. reason for your feeling of certainty-" fnS " "^ Pleasure,* my Lo™. replied the witness. "Well»" •Veil, your Lordship, I can read this, but as to Mr Lang's own writing—l leave rt to yourself. Here is a not* which I received from him fi>e year! ago and I have not yet been able to make out a syllable of it" TJu> note was duly handed to the Jndee vho, sore perplexed, caused it to re'suirthi « theiurys With thSlesul.t *na* the person m the dockwas instantly found guilty, and stra $t vay sentenced to two years' imprison ineni W ,th hard labor-for writing ?£

A postsmnt to the story i s in the form of a nuest, o « : "What then, should £ done to Mr Lane,. w ] lose writing not be read by nnvbodv 2" Ther* C ~fli that even Hnotypers-fa^oS lor S£fc Job-like em -.ranee all the world over