The Otago Witness, WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. {WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1911.) THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3006, 25 October 1911, Page 52

The Otago Witness, WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. {WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1911.) THE WEEK.

" ijn.aqcam aliud nattua, aliud sapientia dixit."— JUVEXAJ- - . ii "Good nature and good sense must ever . — POPB. This week, should see the close of. the last session of the present -XxirthHUhni. exaggeration to declare that v■•-'• : it ■">will pass out of sight •' ivh wept, unhoncui edy - and unsung.'' For when tiie session's "most ignoble close, is compared. with- tber triumphal paeans" proclaimed by" the Prime - Minister _at the commencement "of its brief- existence, scarce a single reason for' satisfaction at the work aeeompKsbed can be adduced. From a Government point of ;its proWess" has been marked by disappointment and disturbance, the party has with difficulty be*n i kept in hand by a series of f conciliations' ■ and compromises, the Cabinet Gbimicils. have been-"-rife with dissension, and the last hours of the session have been disfigured by a stonewall, engineered—so it *i& alleged—to; burke discussion on an unpleasant topic. Againas is usual—the closingact ol the session has 'been the rushing through both Houses of a mast; of ill-considered and undigested measures, prolific of trouble for future Parliaments. The restiveuess of tibe members of the-Lower House has been ap--DaTent for weeks-past: detained in Wellington whilst Opposition candidates are hard at work in their electorates the anxieties of many Ministerialists, fearful of being dispossessed of their seats, has known no botmds. Indeed, quite a number, so soon as the Public Works Estimates had been disposed of, made no secret of quitting Wellington for good, inorder to prosecute their electoral campaigns. Apart from the professional politician, to whom Lord Dudley has-been devoting some attention, and for whom the attraction ' undoubtedly lies in the honorarium, it is at times. difficult to understand tibe fascination which the prospect of Parliamentary life holds for the average man,! ... • ". \. .'„ ~...

The Minister'of PubHc Works must surely •■..« . e -£ th&ftiiri the side of

, Blonfncss «»d Blrntders.;

the' ’Prime Minister, ’ fdf Mr RoiJerick McKenzie’s blun- ■ <Jers and bluntness have

passed into a proverb. Sir. Joseph Ward’s success as a politician has to .a extent rested upon his gift of suave diplomacy which enables him to deny soft impeachments with sufficient force and sgemirig conviction, to. enable him to pur--she with impunity the very policy of which he is accused. The records of the' past few .years,reveal,, for instance, ■ that the policy of the Ward Government in respect to railways, and public works is that of “spoils to- the victors,” but the Prime Minister has always been at pains, when such an insinuation "has been made against him by Mr Massey or one of the Opposition lieutenants, to explain the business in quite" another Way. Nothing is further frCm the Prime Minister’s political. temperament than any admission which would seem to justify an Opposition attack., For tins and. other reasons the amazing - blindness of Mr Roderick McKenzie’s manner of speech cannot fail to prove extremely disconcerting to Sir Joseph Ward. For the Minister of Public Works loses no opportunity to proclaim the gospel that any constituency which desires to have a railway, or to see a. fair expenditure on public works within its boundaries, must, as a first step towards so desirable a performance, set itself to return a Government candidate. Or, in other words, the Minister utters an overt threat to all constituencies which meditate favouring an Opposition candidate that they are doing this’ at the risk.-of being left old in the cold when the annual distribution of loaves and fishes takes, place. Mr McKenzie’s recent, utterance .in : regard to the prosecution of the Oplinake railway is open to no other construction.; here are the Minister’s own words::—“He had.no doubt that the railway would be made before long, when Taranhki returned two- jnembers .. whowould advocate Taranaki requirements in a reasonable manner,- and not in the excitable manner in which they were put at the present time.” Yet with remarkable inconsistency, it was the very Minister, after reproving the Taranaki members for “excitability,” who, from his place in the House, smarting under the strictures of Sir George Clifford in respect of the report of the Racing Commission, said: “Sir George Clifford dared not say to his face what he had said- in' that memorandum, because if he offered such comments to him" in the street,/he would, have to stand punishment for them.”' Thanks to. Mr McKenzie’s blunt admission as to the real proceednre under which public moneys are distributed, the Ministerial cup is filled to the brim, and election time should see a universal running over. For the blunders of speech on the part- of the Minister of Public Works have been accompanied by blunders in action, of which the electoral census is only one of many glaring examples. Despite the expenditure of many thousand pounds in a worse than useless censustaking. it is becoming increasingly evident that nothing short of the arduous labours of a greatly, increased departmental staff will enable, the electoral rolls to be restored to a -proper condition for the polling day. Indeed, the wasteful methods of the Government, if only the light of publicity could be cast on them all, would ensure a righteous retribution. Tire instance of the increased cost, of railway construction is a case in point. In £902 it was possible to construct railways

at an average cost of £9500 per mile, which. cast has steadily crept up until to-day it costs close upon £II,OOO to perform exactly the same work. Aad_ this explains one of the reasons why railway extension throughout Otago has been so shamefully retarded. The tiroes are ripe and rotten ripe for a change in Administration, and electors everywhere should realise their responsibilities to the full, and, rising to the occasion, seize the opportunity which the coming election presents.

In these days of international and national unrest, when both irrafft'sar i* l the Near East and in the »»jy "Far East the skies are full ~../.. ,'.'-. v ..,,,., of .alarming portents; the celebration of Trafalgar Day is endowed with: a. special significance. It typifies that supremacy-on the sea whieh has becoJne the heritage of every British subject,' arid it gives new'meaning to Swinburne's stirring lines, written on October 3,. 1896, in honour of the anniversary of the great, naval battle:

Seft., that',art-> ours,- as we are..thine.. wl.p:®* rua-me . Is on-s with even aa light with -.... f1attae,......... . y- ' Dosit thou/ as we, thy chosen of' all men, know This day'of days when death gave life to fame?

Dost thou not kindle above and thrill be-low With rapturous reeord, with mem-arial siow, Remembering this thy festal- day of fight, And all the joy it gave, >and all the woe 2

Never since day broke flower-like forth of night . ■ . , Broke such a dawn of battle.. Death in sight. Made of the man whose life was like the sun A man more god-like than, the lord of light.

There te none like him, and there shall bet none. When England bea.TS again as great a sort, He can hut follow fame, where Nel?«ra led, There is net and "there cannot be- but one.

As-earth has but one England, crown and head -i : ' Of all her glories till the sun hv dead, Supreme in peace and war, supreme in sons- •"■ ■ '. t - ' , Supreme in freedom sane© her rede was read. « , . . .-, .- ■ •- '•..''••• N

Since first the «oul that gave, hex speech . grew, strong . .... . . To help the right and heal the wild .world s wrong',' ''"'' .. So she bath "but one royal Nelson, born To reign on time !above". the yea.ra'that throng.

The music of his nam® puts fear to scorn, And thTill&onr twilight through with, sease - of mora;'''" "•' ''•-' ' ' ; n ' As Ew*}a.hd ; w»3,' how ■ should net-England be?- 'v-.-i*'-> i '-'■ ' : ■ ; ' x ■ No tempest yet has left her banner tarnNo year bias yet put out'•the day when he Who lived 'and died to keep our kingship tree "Wherever seas by wra.rrinsr winds 'are worn, Died and was one with England, and the sea..