EDITORIAL NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10778, 29 May 1911, Page 1

EDITORIAL NOTES AND COMMENTS.

i At the-'outset-sonic serious misconcep- . tions Jiave.j3.een dis""The imperial' "pelled '"by various Conference, speakers. • ; -.--. .-,--. ■ •: Cahadisfh"'" Prime Minister made it impossible for to doubt the position of Cahada lp the Empire for- a- single monTerif". '"CJanacla: d&cided .irrevocably, .to: jfexSain ,;&: part of tlie Empire, a"rid -.fliexe.'js. np room for aiiy..further reference :to American tendencies' suich as,.make..the. ba'ckboiie of ; 'the party freely."in, «'§&' jjust-'no'-iv; arid so, unbhishirigly. in London and Qtta'wa. :.-sVl£:Eisbe"r: fbr.Ahstraiia, who has succeeded to posir tlou.of wftliout.-bhe, misiyoratory of-"that' gentleman, did good service.' in this'.&ecti6n 'also.. ;He talked, or t'ho'jieigh'horligbd of a - - great and powerful > nation', as. an advantage,, combating the idea that such a thing is necessarily ;3jie precursor of .annexation. -■■' lt >vas refreshing to hear him declare his .•fervent wish that Australia might .as a : umt. pf the Empire enjoy that great advantage, the fruitful. i>.arci'it of . knowledge,..appreciation, eft. operative immigration, investments and mutuaL confidence. ■ After a wholesome speech, like that no one, will venture to take it. for granted that' the propinquity of the States to Canada means the'loss of the Canadian Dominion to the Empire. These speeches both hacked up the speech of the Prime Minister of Great Britain on the pronounced loyalty of the oversea dominions. That speech is a sample of the strong commoiv sense and the clear knowledge of principles which led the party to which Mr Asquith belongs to grant self-government to the Boers in the face ;of .all the predictions of all the prophets of evil to the contrary. If there, has been nothing but generalities so far* these at all events have cleared the air of mephitic vapors.

They- make us regret with even more than the original force the decision of the Conference to exclude the press. That'decision by the way was stultified in tlie. very first announcement made after it was drawn lip. Results not reasons—to use' the words, of- Sir Wilfrid Laurier—were to be the fare served out by tlie official suiriroarisers of tb.o Conference work. But they- proceeded to give lis the reasoning of th<> tpefll-rei's who opposed: the .motioii for ' light. Lucky if wits-they, did so, for the.y enable *iis tu appreciate tlie hollmwu-M----o£ the case for elose b'nrougbship asorosente'd- by the close borough men.

Nothing caii he more futile than the Laurier reason for closeness, namely

that results are the only things that maiilr-r, and there is not an nsFemb'y in the'••vovkl having any regard for the f,i'-c-( dr >:• and value of debate which v.:!' not sav so at the fir.t asking.

For futility, however, it is hard to ?;-v "ivheHior the Fisher' reason that lo _go int.i f(.:ii:ii'.ittop would: draw attention t-r. wWi-lC p!i!<-fS, ::V tilt; .Uouith IO:y-..n; siir.r luibli'-iry would -proven! freed, rn: (•!' xpe.-ch. do not both go .beyond tnc Lanrier reason. The report, in facr. enables us to see that some other reason was given to the . delegates wliich the official reporters were not. permuted to divulge. It may be suggested that this is the fact, that confidential, information, must be on the table of the Conference all the time, to enable, the. members to undersea 1 ;! the business before them. But thar. is a thing very unlikely; for, to. begin with; most 'of the subjects for discussion are not affected by confidential information—such as uniformity, of procedure and of certain laws. and., to e,nd with, the general question of defence can be debated without any reference to the plans drawn up by the War Office or the Admiralty. The real reason we are uio.ro than ever driven to the conclusion is the fear of some rash jingoistic, utterance which might, .in the heat of debate, or the fulnJment of some ambitious programme, burst forth with a -vengeance. All th rough "the reports of celebrations )ii.different parts of the overseas there are instances, of speeches by ambitious .statesmen calling on Britain to draw the sword a : nd let drive at the enemy, all couched in "the Erkles vein," and applauded to the echo. It would not surprise us to learn that sonic of these speeches have been mentioned among the reasons which the official reporters have not been permitted to forward. A\'e can understand the resolution being withdrawn by the New Zealand Prime..Minister for this reason, rather than for the reason that he was unlikely to get supporters enough to ravrv it. That, is a thing which he never did in his life, being always anijbitious'to place, his conduct on record for future reference.

It is very.."gratifying to the earnest reformers who The Indeterminate abound throughSeh'fence. out this Dominion that the ; iiideternimate sentence is ho, longer in the a'cade'm'fo stage,' but that it has, on tile contrary, passed to the stage of justific'atioin The opinion cxpressed : by. soveral of the prison- authorities, . founded on the,, experience already gained, is .that the treatment is most salutary. In the adoption of the new treatment the- mother idea ; was that; as human nature is not radically bad, there must be some method of appealing to tlio good portion possessed by the ordinary convict. The Administration thought this method of the m- ■ determinate-sentence would prove, a good method of-appeal. It thought so, because the convict system would be relieved of the pressure of the old practice of making punishment too degrading,, uninteresting, and hopeless; for the possibility of reform. The indeterminate was. to substitute useful practical knowledge: fon.general ignorance of work of all -.kinds, and to add the habit of that industry which: most-, convicts were, forced to-• believe under the old svsteni had become, atrophied' by vice and crime; : In other words; the substitution was of self-respect for despair.' It meant the recognition of the good in hiimaii liature.aijd the coupling! of- that -recognition to a practical ap- !■ plication. •Therein lay the hope of success-- ■■That hope has not .been disappointed so far:. On the contrary, alreadv we. have-the. detunedprisoners, benefited." Tfc- is ii'ot\the money tbey carn for t&efnsMtfes or their /families — the' amount-, is too trifling to be mentioned.except, iii connection with the p-sity luxuries which; Idom r large.in the atmosphere "of a prisoiiV It fsVtWe di's--c'n-'verv. that it is possible to,'earn anyth'ing and l -to'-' goi;-ori 'tfoin'g-^o■-. jegulady andrat.-Svotk'wMch vbeTore long- be'cpmctj | eon'gerifa.'y .Quarrying is mentiohed as! i cspe'ciallv apt -to: h'rin'gl.but the" ipdiisj try and the rHWiicliy-have a ! 'marife't always. Avails. ! TKe men- take- toV itf'-'aiid- dor'well with ; tlio ffrn. VoiiWction iitltheif regenerate, : hearts 'that' it"-.'-willVproVe ./their: she'eti i anchor in the to face; ; on leaving the ,of ;We better .iu-j ' nuen'co 'of tTie : prisons.: : Wejafe''aw&r,<| ; ttiat-.tWe' bufcshortfriyhi|ra»' to} Bxit;the hopefuln'ess'of: Mo- system- is nP*~ gst':lßhWeia r , '■■ aWd-UtWeVe ; is' every ' ''iekfeiin 'tov nelTeVe- "that the Legislature ' n\aujSirat>p3 last, year a ieally farisXihstantial reform, of the rbf : tfe. ;'..; ~ ;.. '....- ■