THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2558, 25 March 1903, Page 44

THE WEEK.

■sn^u)n sited nitnrs, sJind tapientU dlxit."— Jotikil. "Good paiure and (Md iense must erer join."— Por*.

The four latest appointments to the Legislative Council go to lesislattTe strengthen the growing conConncil viction that the Upper Appo ntmests. Chamber is regarded by the Government as a convenient Jumping ground for political failures whose ijnly claim for this distinction is the unquestioning support they hav«> given to - the present Administration Of .he quartette who have jnst been gazetted, the only man who, by. the widest stretch, of imagination, can- Tba. considered to have rendered ■ufficient service to- the *ranfcry to render him worthy of- such a call, is Mr W. Cam,- , cross, .formerly M.H.R. for the Taieri, and how resident at Eltham, Taranaki. As Ministerial Whip, he was deservedly popular in Parliament, but it is questionable whether mere popularity, apart from other qualifications, merits his promotion. In bhe case ol the other three nominees, a moderate amount oi self respect would, incline' them to refuse a position to which Ihey have absolutely no claim, quite apart from the Inbiousness of their being able to satisfactorily discharge the duties which the appointment to the Council involves. Mr" Thomas Thompson, of Auckland, had -Un opportunity, both as private member and Cabinet Minister, of proving his legis- . lacive capabilities, and it would be difficult to describe Aim as anything but a failure in either capacity. ' Whenc comes it, then, that he should be elevated to the .Upper House". Of the two new councillors — Mr F. .Trask, of kelson, and Mr A.

Baldey #f/££«l £usk jSoutiilaadit— it mz

be said that in private life Messrs Trask and Baldey are worthy colonists, and in the comparatively- narrow sphere of their particular districts they have no- doubt acquired considerable renown, but that they have made a mark in the political world cannot be claimed by even their nearest and dearest friends. The condition of political degradation into which the :olony is swiftly drifting is plainly seen "by one outstanding fact. It is openly asserted that these calls have been made on the grounds of purely private friendship. Mr Trask is a particular friend of Mi" Seddon, while Mr Baldey stands in the same relation to Sir J. G. "Ward, is a common explanation given for the appointments. An Upper House nominated after this fashion puts into the hands of an unscrupulous Administration a weapon by which the will of the people can be completely ignored. There is only one remedy, and, although a drastic one, the sooner it is applied the better. The unsatisfactory nature of the Government's latest nominations to the Legislative Council should be the signal for a; universal agitation in favour of an elective Upper House.

Unusual interest is being shown in the Licensing Committee elecThe licensing tions, • and a considerable Cdixmittce amount of feeling is being Election*, imported into the struggle, especially an those electorates where the recent local option polls have been voided on the ground of alleged irregularities. In many of the electorates where the reduction issue wa3 carried two rival sets of conimitteemen are in the field. The prohibitionists have nominated men pledged to carry into effect the full 25 per cent, reduction allowed by the Act, and to insist unon ten o'clock closing ; whilst, on the other side, are candidates, variously named "Independents," or " Moderates, " who promise to administer the law impartially, whatever that may mean. In the cases of Bruce and Newtown, where "No license" was carried, but has since been voided, the issue is a more complicated one. The prohibition candidates for licensing honours have declared their intention, in the event of their election, to refuse to grant any licenses whatsoever on the ground that, before fresh licenses «-n issue, a. new poll of the -electors must be taken. The result of the elections will be watched with unusual interest, for the votes given to-day will go a long way to decide -whether the voting at the last local option poll was a mere flash-in-the-pan^. an outburst of indignation against the evils and abuses of the licensed liquor traffic as ajb present conducted, or whether i* 5 the settled determination of the people to have that traffic restricted and its conduct reformed. One notable feature in connection with the polling in November last lias just been brought out in the figures published by the Acting TtegistrarGeneral. Of the total number of voters 56.54 per cent, were men, and 43.46 were women. Compared with the polling in 1899, this gives an increase of 12.01 per cent, on the part of tha men, and 14.65 per cent, on the part of the women, thus showing that the women of New Zealand are taking a greater interest in the local option poll than formerly. And, if the women of New Zealand really make up their minds that the liquor traffic shall either be reformed or swept away, they are in possession of the power to carry then* resolution into effect.

It "certainly seems as if the fight in the flourmillinj, trade is going to The Fight to be a fight to a finish, Amongßtthe with the result that the Flourmlllers. fittest alone will survive. The immediate result is that, whereas a few weeks ago the price of flour was £13 per ton. it :an now b© bought at anything from £9 up to £10 10s, and bread, which was being sold at 7jd and 8d per 41b loaf, is now retailed at s^d and 6d. Owing to the independent action of a number of the flourmiUing firms, who claim the right to conduct their business without interference or restriction of output, the Milling Combine is on its last legs, and cannot hold together in its present form. Coercive measures, taking the form of a bakers' boycott against the free millers, have miserably failed. The Wellington tfnd Dunedin bakers have surrendered unconditionally, and it is a curious commentary on the stand taken by some of the Canterbury bakers that in Tiniaru, where flour is quoted at £9 pei ton, bread is still sold at 7£d the 41b loaf. The foundation plant on which the Flourmilling Combine rests is that, by ap organised restriction of output, the average price of flour throughout the year would be enhanced by £1- per ton. As the total consumption of flour in the colony is about 30,000 tons in a year, a tribute ot £30.000 i? what the public pays .o the combine. The free millers assert that, by running their mills night nnd day, ih'V can manufacture flour and make pi.ds meet with an average p ont of 10s per ton, as against the 30s per ton profit secured by the association, with its restriction ot output. Now thafc the bubble ha& been pricked, nnd the rublie ne informed oi the fact!;, it is unl'k.-ly tha* the combine v ill ever again as>L-"t its sway.

l \Ye asserted last week that the Piemier's proposals for giving pieferThe Failure ence to Unionists piacticallv of Trades amounted to o cotife-sion of Unionism. failure on the part of the leaders in the Trade Union movement-. A working man writing in the Nineteenth Century takes the same view, and Although liis remaiks are 7 primarily addressed to workers in iie Old Land they may, with, advantage, be considered by New Zealanders. The writer starts out v with the enquiry, Why, seeing that in the United Kingdom there are about seven non-unionists to one unionist- workman, 'hould such a preponderating majority submit be ruled in thit high-Landed and autocratia way by a comparatively few in jpoint of numbers.. 3x wai oi amwtnnx.

this question, the writer goes on to give his thirty years practical experience of Trade Unionism, first as a unionist, and in after years as a non-unionist artisan. He says : — " The general principles of Trade Unionism were in their inception eminently calculated to help forward the social and material progress of the working classes. That they have failed so signally in winning the adherence of the workers in a much, more marked degree than they have yet achieved is deplored alike by thoughtful workmen and students of social economy. Nor can this failure to extend their sphere of influence be attributed to want of definiteness in the rules of the societies ; they are as plain as a pikestaff as regards both, rights and duties. And although there is not, as has been lately argued, in words any rule to restrain the diligence of the workmen, it is clear that as an organisation they have not resolutely discountenanced the 'go easy ' practice, but rather sought to palliate the proceeding. This laxity on the part of the unions in not urging upon their followers to give of their best in this connection, is eating the heart out of our industrial life, and is, in view of the increasing intensity of foreign competition, deplorable in the' extreme, as is also the mistaken notion that by limiting the output the work will go further round indefinitely, and thus provide labour and wages for an increased number of workmen. It is to my mind a distinct falling away from the- best influences of the mediteval guilds, as they are exemplified in the fine morality of the inscription on the banner of the glovers of Perth: 'The perfect honour of a craft or the beauty of a trade is not in wealth, but in moral worth, whereby virtue gains renown. 1 " It i 3 a striking commentary on the Premier's proposals, that in the Nineteenth Century article we read : " The unions can be made more popula. and influential among the working classes by making them more free. The unionists and non-unionists being allowed to work together, without unnecessary friction, would tend to remove some of the acerbities which exist between employers and employed." The words with, which the writer concludes are conceived in the right strain, and could with advantage be taken to heart by every working man : — " Finally, we ought not to forget that it is upon the strenuous industrial Ufe each man giving of his best for the best wages — that the greatness of our industries has been built up, and by which it will be maintained in the coming years."

Mr Henniker Heaton is well-known as an enthusiast in matters of An Aunnal postal reform ;. the amount Saving or o f success bis enthusiasm Sixty aniions. hag achieved is simply surprising. His latest scheme is devised to make English farming pay by means of an, agricultural parcel post. Mr Heaton points out that of the 77 odd million, acres in the: United Kingdom^ nearly 30 millions are uncultivated, of which 1,225,000 were in cultivation eleven years ago. And while the fields are becoming deserts, the labourers who used to till them are emigrating. All this time England is importing, annually, butter, margarine, cheese, eggs, apples, lard, condensed milk, potatoes, bacon, and hams to the tunfr of sixty millions sterling, every pennyworth, of which might be produced in her own. soD. The fact that England continues to import more and more agricultural produce, and to export more and more agricultural labourers, is the cause of considerable heart burning in, the Old Land. Mr Heaton contends that the whole question resolves itself into- one of getting produce quickly and cheaply to market. Ths Belgian and French produce imported ( into the United Kingdom has the reputation of being anything but fresh, and is made eatable only by the liberal use of diemical preservatives. It is appalling to reflect how many kegs of Belgium borax and French acid the average British .middle class baby assimilates at the most critical period of its existence. According to Mr Heaton'a idea, what is wanted is a system of collection and distribution of produce to be undertaken by the Parcel Post Department. At present the progress of English agriculture is retarded by high prices and the absence of quick transit facilities. Mr Henniker Heaton's scheme embraces a system of local depots along the country roads, to which parcels of produce would be brought by a certain train from the neighbouring farms and cottages. A postal van — motor cars where possible — would collect from these depots and convey the parcels to the- nearest railway station. Mr Heaton says he made a similar proposal in 1891. but it was shelved, and he calculates that its rejection has already cost England sis hundred and sixty millions sterling.

Temperance reformers who are looking for the day when New Zealand tWjuor shall evolve as a prohibition Prohibition In colony will d< well to the States, watch the trend of eventß in the United States. Of the tlnee solitary States which remain prohibitionist, — Vermont, North Dakota, and Kansas, — Vermont has just seceded and gone over to a policy of high license and local option. The New York Outlook, a journall of well-known religious and temperance reform proclivities, comments on the incident vs follows :—" The county, as well as the State, is tc be congratulated on the election in Vermont in which, by a s-niall majority, prohibition has been voted down, and "the policy ot high license and local option has been substituted. Small as is the majority, it is about the Mine as that by m hick prohibition was established in 1852. It ib reported that the rural vote was in favom of retaining, and the town vote for the change. There is no one method of legal enactment respecting the sale of liquor which works equally well in ill communities ; but, in our judgment, o wide experience extending o\cr many States and for many years, has proved that the policy of State prohibition is morally disadvantageous to the community. It does tc some extent closu the open fcalooni, but it promotes secret drinking-placss ; excites the spiiifc of lawlesanes^; leads communities to v hink tlie^;

are victims because they have incorporated virtue in % statute ; tends to public corruption and blackmail ; and, in these- and other «vays, pays far too great a price for what is too often the appearance rather than the reality of total abstinence. A minimum license fee, fixed by statute, with local option by towns and villages, and possibly— though this experiment has yet to be tried — by wards in the larger .-ities, gives far more promise of practical results than prohibition. It has been, suggested thafc the Vermont Legislature may direct that the sums received from excise fees shall be expended in temperance coffee-houses, reading-rooms, homes and cures for inebriates, and the like. There are two advantages in this scheme r one, that it will prevent local communities from voting for license in order to reduce their general taxes ; the other, that it will tend to attract from the saloons, where they exist, by setting up alongside of the saloons counter attractions."