PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Thirty-ninth Year of Publication ESTABLISHED 1875 Manawatu Daily Times TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1914.

Manawatu Times, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 12910, 6 October 1914, Page 4

PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Thirty-ninth Year of Publication ESTABLISHED 1875 Manawatu Daily Times TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1914.

NO politician who is running short of political capital need ever be at a loss for a subject. There is always the land question. It also happens to be a subject of which the less the speaker knows the more free may be his utterance in a town constituency, for as a rule his hearers know as little as he doec. Then again it furnishes splendid opportunities for denouncing a class who seldom have much to say in their own defence, partly because they know the speaker is fooling his audience, and partly because they are too busily engaged in creating the wealth which furnishes subsistence for all. It is easy to tickle the ears (>f the multitude who know nothing of the trials of the fanner, and the unceasing toil his occupation demands. Usually a storm of applause will follow some reference to a so-called large estate, and a demand for the subdivision of land into smaller areas. Many of the audience would be better without land than with it, for they would not know what te do with it, nor bow to work it| and of coarse they do not understand that farming on an area too small means bare existence and absolute slavery. As a rule, too, no one

stops to consider why laud should be specially taxed, seeing thit its holders pay their share of customs duties and also provide the money wherewith the roads and bridges are constructed and maintained. The politician may know of these things, but he does not reveal his knowledge to his audience. On the contrary he skilfully tries to create a belief that the man who is making the land produce is more or l'*s a robber. Considering the variety and the weight of the burdens that have been forced upon the shoulders of the landuser the only mystery is that he is so patient and enduring. Some day he will seriously ask himself why the chief means of production should be the only one specially taxed, and then the politicians will sing another tun©.

THAT the present war will result in I great alterations to the map of Eu- ! rope, and will remove tie name of Germany from all her overseas possessions cannot be doubted. It will also have very far-reaching effects in other directions. The bond unity that is being created by the AlliGs is likely j to have great effect on the maintenance of the peace of the world, and especially to ' cause a better understanding between the British and the French. It may indeed hasten the time predicted by the poet,'' when the war-drum throbs no longer, and the battle-flag is furled, in the Parliament of Man—the Federation of the World." It will remove from the arena of world-politics a Power that has exercised disturbing influence for a lengthy period, and has compelled the other Powers to incur vast expense on their armies ani navies. Its influence on civilisation and human progress should be entirely beneficial. Among other things it is likoly to compel attention to the fact that human beings have rights, whether their skins are white, black,' yellow or brown. It is fairly certain that in justice to the Indians and the Japanese, who are standing s.houlder to shoulder with the British in their fight against military despotism, the regulations restricting their entry into portions of the British Dominions will be relaxed, or perhaps abolished altogether. Whether this will be s benefit or not may be disputed, but, for ourselves, we have every belief that the Caucasian will always be on

top, and will devise mean* of utilising the other raees as labour saving machines. ,

IT seems rather surprising that no attempt appears to be made to sweep the seas of the German cruisers whieh are destroying our merchantmen. Possibly the Admiralty is takipg steps to effect -this either by the British warships or by Japanese, tut in the meantime the rovers are dpiug a considerable amount of damage. It is possible also that there is difficulty in locating these roamers of the seas, who are not likely to lend themselves to capture or destruction, but a few British warships should be able to moke effective search and allow nothing afloat to escape their ken. It has been suggested that the use of a merchantman as a decoy might be effective with such boats as the Emden, if tli9 iherchantman was accompanied by a couple of submarines which would vanish beneath the sea when the Emden hove in sight and wait till shd began removing coal from the merchantman, and then torpedo the cruiser. It cannot be doubted, however, that the authorities realise the importance of preventing the depredations xf these hostile vessels, and we shall not be surprised at any time to hoar of their removal either by capture or by being sent to the bottom of the sea.