PUBLIC OPINION.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXIX, Issue 14609, 17 February 1908, Page 7

PUBLIC OPINION.

FROM SATURDAY'S NEWSPAPERS, (By Telegraph.) LIBERAL AND LABOUR ALLIANCE When we think of all that has been accomplished in these directions during the last seventeen years, from Mr Ballahce's first taxation reforms to the land Acts of last session, we cannot help being struck by the wantonness and the recklessness, not to say the blind folly and ingratitude of those who for the sake of what are now Utopian schemes (whatever they may eventually be), are ready or even eager to separate the political forces of Liberalism and Labour in New Zealand. _ Should this destructive design be carried into effect, we are convinced that the cause of political progress will be subjected to a deplorable set-back. On the other hand, a continuance of the Liberal and Labour alliance, with a frank recognition of some differences of opinion and a determination not to make the most of those differences, can hardly fail to bring fresh triumphs to what Mr Sed- ■ don would have described as the cause of humanity, and to further the one freat cardinal aim indicated by Sir oseph Ward at Auckland, to pursue with firmness and caution the object of making our people as a whole healthier, happier human beings. —Dunedin " Star." LOCAL OPTION. It is a reasonable and salutary provision of the law which demands that a substantial majority of the votes shall be recorded in favour of a change either one way or the other in a matter of suoh a kind before the change shall be held to be sanctioned. There are various reasons why a solid body of public opinion should he required at the back of a demand for the abolition of licenses in a district, if that demand is to Ibe acceded to. One is that it is desirable to guard against the risk of re- ; ' vulsions of popular feeling _ such as might readily be experienced if a bare majority vote was sufficient to decide tho issue. A no *^ 6r reason is that'the enforcement of a no-license decision: j might and probably would be a matter of considerable difficulty, if it were not ) the case that the decision was the out-- \ come of the expressed wisheß of a sub- : stantial majorfty of the electors.; These considerations are sufficient to justify in the case of the no-license issue a departure from the principle of the bare majority.—" Otago Daily Times." RAILWAYS AND FINANCE. A sound railway policy would be that no railway should be built which will not provide interest and sinking fund, and that no business should be turned away or disoouraged for lack of plant, and a sound financial system would be that immigration should be encouraged more than loan-raising, and that an a.mple__sinking fund should be immediately formed to take the place of the comparatively small one so unwisely abolished. Herald." A MINING BOOM. During the past few months there have been floated a large number of pieces of ground within the mining belt, the sole claim of which to any value has been proximity to some wellknown mine or a situation on some supposed line of reef. To say that a majority of these areas is worthless is to state the facts mildly, if accurately. The money that will be spent on them is sunk without reasonable Jiope of returns. There is ample scope on the Hauraki fields for legitimate mining, and large sums of capital are required to thoroughly explore the hidden' wealth of the peninsula, and this makes it all the more regrettable that money should be wasted on propositions that are " wild cats " pure and simple.— Auckland " Star." WELLINGTON'S COMMERCE. A satisfactory feature of the' increase is its larger dependence in tho main upon increased guantities than upon increased values. It is not sufficient when considering our. staple exports to take into account only the actual increase in values. An increase in th* total values which is accompanied by a stationary or diminishing output is a subject rather for anxiety than for rejoicing, since a slump in th© foreign markets will in such a case produce a serious situation.—The " Dominion." FALLEN TROOPERS.

The funds must he consolidated. There should be only one monument. Wellington, the capital of New Zealand and the geographical centre, seems to b« the most suitable locality. Presently there will be a national museum on Mount Cook, a museum belonging as much to Auckland, Dunedin and Ghristehurch as to Wellington. What better place could be found for the memorial than .a site near this national institution P ■ For design the authorities should depart from the stock pattern of a trooper or troopers on the veldt. Here is an opportunity to put up a symbol suggesting the necessity and the honour of national defence in association with the names of men who fought for the Empire.—" Evening Post."