CURRENT TOPICS

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 9743, 7 March 1914, Page 7

CURRENT TOPICS

CBt Frank Morton.}

lie Day s Bay hush is not to ho lost to fch« citizens of Wellington. The Ck- rvL 1 sat stubborn and immovable," b ut M • CP Skon-ott Mr Archie Blair, o J'two other wideawake citizens, took the !£! UP and forced the Council's haJd A tinngs stand now, the whole reserve and properly is to be acquired by the people llie liovernmont contributes £4OOO the City Council grudgingly gives £4OOO, and the rest of the money is to be contributed by the pubhe Towards that romaindS Mis A ilhams has already so nt a thousand pounds and other gifts are forthcoming The lesson is: If vou can't persuade Bumble to move, kick him.

THE TANGO. We have seen the tango—we 1,. 1 one of those wicked tango teas—and Jo here is nothing in it. I have heard .0 much of the impropriety of the tango that Lent TT 7 9 t ?i S ° me linl ° ment. I had rather expected that might be something at least potentially shocking in tho dance. There isn't Th» '•■ingo is a beautiful dance, and in its dif frrat .sorb ll,ore j, an i.,li„i to variety T can \ cry well understand that 111 an average ballroom it might show to disady*nf(;!' tno 13 ? difficult dance, and :V <l . ;UlC£> [ [hra r people of bad taste might '• Sll - V fl, V'rade into a coarse vulgarity Willo rTl' Pr ° Pm ' ,y ' a ? tln>so artists of the » uloughby company dance if, it i„ . ro fyesnmerit and a joy. There is no su^ev 1011 °l ""sti'iess in it, save such as'may '. '! m 1!lt0 lf by an mveterately mind. • - MAWSOX. Dr. Mawson went away quietly, and lie Ins returnod with no particular flourish of trumpets. But it is as well that we should understand that the Mawson expedition deserves a lot of thanks and credit. This ha* not, been an excursion in the limelight, but an expedition organised and carried through with the one and only object of doing constructive and useful work. is much work of that kind '-till to donni the Antarctic, and to that future ex ploicis will oevote all their energies i' they are wise. labour axd massey.

An 111 esponsible Labour man Irom In vcrcp r:;i!l has been telling tho Svdnev neople how he and his like are going' tf bury Mr Massey and his party out of nigh! "t tin; next election—ten tlnuV-nd fathom* dcci> in the ocean of oblivion. There seen: to be no reason why any r-uch tiirea'. should bo;her the Prime Minister or cau«< him a moment's anxietv. 1 am not with out 11 ■;1 <• that the moderates may shov something of a united front against thextreirosts of the Labour section in Decern bt In any case, it is exceedingly ut 1 -* v that the strike will be so soon for gotten that the extremists will have am irreat inn ienc> at the polls. Tf tho old Liberal party could be united and energis ed. Mr Mass.-y miudit quite possibly fall o: evil days; but there is no more intelliger "-d !o-,al chesion between the unit* o 1 Liberalism than there is between »o mar."helled mussels in a. bucket. I don't pre •i nd to be glnd of this: I'm sorry. Tf MMassev had ever set out with a oonserv* tive constructive policy, if lie had eye stood forth boldly for the riehts of the ir d'vi dial ■ against the loud and c-lamourin; mas-, he cotdd have had 1:0 more enthr "• a• supporter than T should have bee: The moderate Liberals have hoped again* ' 1li«t 'ihe forlorn remnant might, d velop some promise. That hope may nobe buried. The Liberal camp seethes wit' disaffection. Within\ it.s borders ever* man is for himself, and none is wholly ar< heartily for the party. Mr Russell, one < the few solid and constructive workers <• 'hut side, is beset and hindered liy t'. petty jealousy of every political jack* >.iocs * f ids following. 1 don't know ■«»li«' Pii J. son 1 "A ard is doing, or means t dr., X ,\"dv !. - nnws. T Imvp j?ravi» doub f whether Sir himself knows. Th remnant o.f wliat. was o«c« the T.iberf party wi;!. mt shape or charmer: it hj»

neither conscience nor wi'«. All the rir for whom I have anv personal reward i P." rbaniont sre on that side. and In ashamed cf r.ll fif them. Tliev will ventur ii• 11!i(ilt. and they will ST-rifiP" nothini Their only idea serins to I*' to save the! political s-;ins. "*.?r MassyCs sirengtFi li r very largely in the fact that flic party h<hind him is resolutely staunch and sole Behind Sir Joseph Ward there is nothir • but a. cabal and an uncertainly—a crowof men, some of them rood and loyal, som in whom personal ambition and selfislmer has attained t.o the malignity of * disens< There are probably twenty men in tha party who would risk the whole count;without a scruple if they could only hoh ofiice in a Government' for six montlr Tiipt arc not the sound and useful men < the party, but the bra starts and blow hards and make-weights. In times «' crisis there is no dependence to be placeon them Sir \\ard must kno~ that, ar.d it is a knowledge calculated t take the heart out of any leader. VILLA.

All tli" evidence points to fV that Villa murdered the Englishman Ben ton treacherously and m cold blood. Her to;! wont .inarmed t-> »••(< ;lift Is I.id-; guars fi'lvol. w!io shot 11mi in thf* stoma/*!'. It. 1 the sort <f outrage that England woul< not tolerate at 0110 time. Hut no\T wo hnv a Oovniment of Bqnnwklinf? Rads th„r will toll.'nilo anything. America is in jus n* humiliating a position, for it seen:* Iha Villa lias murdered Americans as well 8 the Englishman. But ;!iu? is somethin' to bo said in America's excuse. To star

with, no very high value was over nut on human iifo in the ["tired State*, especial h in disturbed areas. Murders of American' br Mexicans have never l>een uncommon and murders of Mexicans by American have ben plr-ntifill enough. Then there i the Monroe doctrine. Despite ex nor i men e in Cuba and much cv«s>lly footling wit 1 the Philippines. Americans never had an\ heart for foreign affairs. They are quid to a personal affront, but s'ow t<

take offensive action against a foreig' State. America w> nb for Snairi. Spain was so plainly on her last legs as r power that it seemed likely that even America coutd whip her. America betray terrific anxiety to avoid war with Japan, cause America feels and knows that the little yellow men would probably ihrasl li (, r white opponents. The fact, is that

A "leri-enns. however they may rave am' veil, hav* very little. confidence in thcii navy. The American navy is part pet nart toy. There is no proner d'sciplin in the navy. If, has no consistent finrhriii" character. It is not manned by Americans. So that, America is lot.h to make w*r upon Mexico, even though in that tho navy need not be very much involved. Th fact being, of course, that the Americsi army is almost a big-rer joke than th' navy—«. more affair of popguns. Outside the picture-shows your frod>or^

American is no fighter. Tfo doesn't: like thavo his face, lnirt, rud < here's no monov in the game. lie will swallow Villa wit} a wry faoo. hut all tho samo ho will swn'low Villa if he can possibly manaae it.

' He's very loud and tierce when ho per j forms, and ho loves to yell about th. , star-spangled banne-: hut ho will novo i fight if he can find any other way out. | LONDON'S NEW LOOK. | I havo never l>oen a. fervid admirer of the work cf Mr Jack London. "Much o! J it n ■cheap, and nnic-h of it is reminiscent but fo»iio of if has been good. His sketches of hobo lif j were good —very crood ; and scm* of liU journalism has been pretty jroud. too. But this week there came to me a new book by Mr London, and I havo enjoyed it. "The Vall-oy of .th:} Moon"' is a genuinely sood story very well and honestly told. Thcro are defect-?, but thev arcnet important. The sketch of fife in California during a bitter strike is powerful and obviously true. Here Mr London knows 'what he writes of. for he has been through j io all. He is known to be touched with I th« Socialistic mania, but in this bock he i betrays no bias and holds the halnncc true. I The later pages dealing with the California j country are often fine and luminous and :j sometimes very delightful. RAILWAYS. A few newspapers are quite unscrupulous in their attracks on the Government; or, rather, as to the means they use for the purpose of pttackinsj the Government. They attack tho Government over the appointniont of Mr Hiley as General Manager of 'Railway*. They attack the Government because Mr Hiley has not done the work of .ten years in fewer months, and revolutionI i*ed th" whole railway system. Some of j them have ro little conscience that they j attack Mr Hiley himself. The truth is, of I course, that Mr Hiley finds himself in an j exceedingly difficult, position. He i* not a | •!,-)!»> aifirome authority, cs a Commissioner ; w.'uild bo. Ho cannot do what lie conj Milor:; he>t for ihe Dominion and the de- ' part-incut unices the thing he wants to do

•happens to be in harmony with the political designs and tactioe of the Government. Ii New Zealand railway matters are not march | matter of railway policy, but of genera, policy. The Department is hampered b ; political pressure at every point. It ipolitical pressure- tliat causes the trains t< be go slow, stopping at all sorts of uiiini portant stations. It is political pressure o: sonic lines that leads to the running o. more fast trains than the traffic war rani ftI use the word "fast," you will understand in the Pickwickian sense. I have no doubi at all that if Mr Hiley worn entirely a fix*, agent we should have had a lot of improve ments introduced since his arrival. But not being a free agent, he has acted ver\ wisely. He has given himself to a com plete mastering of all the facts and detail; of our railway system. He has kept himscl as much ae possible outside the sphere of publio observation. Jle has promised nothing, though common sense has exacted or drawn from iiira occasionally an admission that some improvements are needed, and urgently needed. Thus, there is nc doubt whatever that if Mr Hiley had hi; way a lot of trains would be speoded-up immediately. But that is where tho Minister of Hail ways comes in. Every twoivenm riding thar is cut out under the speeding-up arrarigemciit will have its grievance, and every aggrieved rustic will find some meant of making himself unpleasant to the Minis ter. That is why ]>olitical control' ol railways is such an idiotic and miseliicvou. thing. Railways siiould I.x: run as a business, and not a.s a shuffle in a game. It. ir useless to blame Mr Merries; he also is r. victim. The evetem is vicious. SPORT AXI) PARSONS.

1 only go to horse-race* when there's w other way out, and gambling lias not th< slightest attraction for me; so that I shall not be suspected of interested motives whet I express my sympathy witfi that sporting partion up in Auckland. He holds that the ?hurch might, with advantage recognise this form of sport. and $0 give it a res pect.ablc footing. On which, 'of course, the >ther parsons get together and pus* con lemnatorv resolutions. Tiie lesson of it ;s the old lessons that parsons as a class have no sense of humour. If it. is wrong co put a pound on a horse, it k equally wrong to play whist for halfpenny i>oinU in a rectory parlour and it is equally wrong ,0 raffle a cushion at a church bazaar.

I go the whole hog. I admit that gambling is wrong, and 1 make no exceptions whatever—unless it lie in regard to lifeinsurance, which is the biggest gamblo of ill. But I can deny no man his plain hu man right to gamble if he wants to, so long I*s he gambles with his own money, and that is where 1 and the moralists part company.