The Otago Witness. (WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1917.) THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3315, 26 September 1917, Page 36

The Otago Witness.

(WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1917.) THE WEEK.

WITH WHICH 18 INCORPORATED THB SOUTHERN UEHODHS.

"Nunquam allud. natura, allud eapientia dixit." —JU' EHAL. . „ "Good nature and good sense must ever join. Pop*.

According to recent intelligence the Pope is optimistic that peace The Pope negotiations will be entered and Peace. upon before Christmas, and that the war will end by the New Year. This hope is said to be based upon the nature of the reply made by the Central Powers to the Pope s Note, assuming that the reply will eontain such precise peace conditions as may prove acceptable to Great Britain and her Allies. The particulars just made public of Germany's reply to the Pope do not, however, encourage any such optimism. So long as the Kaiser persists in affirming that Germany did not start the war; so long as no mention is made of the evacuation of the invaded countries, their repatriation and restoration to pre-war conditions; and so long as the term "freedom of the seas" is interpreted to mean Great Britain's deposition from her present proud naval supremacy, the situation holds little hope of peace. It is difficult to credit the Kaiser with sincerity in the assertion that the war throughout has been waged for the defence of Germany; but his motive is clear when the demand is made, as a condition of peace, that all conquered territory shall be restored. Germany manifestly designs to play off Belgium against the annexed German colonies, which renders it all the more imperative from the Allies' point of view that Germany be dispossessed by military might. Among the German peoples themselves there is evidently a growing division of opinion respecting peace, and which dates back, most markedly, from the resignation of Bethmann-Hollweg m July last. That resignation was the direct outcome of a crisis in the German Reichstag, in which Herr Erzberger, the leader of the Catholic party in German politics, played a prominent part. _ Herr Erzberger in a recent speech to his constituents declared that the effect of Germany's submarine campaign on the Allied position was that the Reichstag ought to consider a way to' shorten the war, and that a peace was not possible which depended upon might and oppression. The fact that the Catholic newspaper Germania was suspended for publishing this speech 'in full shows that Herr Erzberger's agitation i* viewed adversely in German official circles, and Dr Michaelis's promised peace statement in the Reichstag will probably define the official position. Meanwhile Herr Erzberger is carrying his campaign further afield, It is reported from Budapest that the Cardinal-archbishop presided over a pacifist meeting in that city, when Count Karolyi and other Hungarian politicians were present. Herr Erzberger was the principal speaker, and. a resolution was carried in favour of peace on the basis of the Papal Note. In Hungary, where dissatisfaction with the war grows apace, and in Austria, where Roman Catholic sentiment is strong, it is probable that the Pope's peace proposals will have widespread approval; but, until the Kaiser and his advisers become convinced that the game is up from a military point of view, little practical progress will be made towards peace. The recent British successes on the Western front should go far to produce this necessary conviction. It is quite on the cards that, beaten in the air, outmatched in artillery, and forced to admit the superior prowess of the British soldier and the stronger strategy of the British leadership, the German military staff may confess themselves beaten. In which case the peace talk to-day current may prove the prelude to a dramatic denouement, when the Pope's optimism will be more than justified.

The event of the week, so far as domestic

The Government and Li (|nor Restriction.

politics are concerned, has been the complete capitulation of the National Government to the clamour

of the advocates of the early closing of hotels, and the passing by the Lower House of the Bill providing for the restriction of the sale of liquor to after 9 o'clock in the morning and before 6 o'clock at night. Apparently, until the actual division was taken on the motion to delete 8 o'clock from the Bill, no one, not even Mr Massey himself', knew exactly how members were going to vote. Immediately the numbers were announced, the Prime Minister, making a virtue of necessity, himself moved the amendment providing for 6 o'clock closing, and which was carried by 44 votes to" 26. Whether closing the public bars at 6 o'clock will materially diminish the quantity of liquor consumed remains to be seen. Possibly, with the increased prices for liquor, it 'may prove effective in this direction. There'is talk of a referendum on the issue of Total Prohibition and Compensation, State Control, or Continuance.

These are important questions to take up so late in the session, and it may be suggested that the public is scarcely qualified, while the war is in progress, to bring a sufficiently dispassionate judgment to bear on the subject. The taxpayer, with so many calls upon his purse, may well be appalled at the prospect of finding the interest on tha millions that would be required as compensation in addition to the demand that will be made by the Finance Minister to make up the deficiency in the revenue that would result from a violent change of policy. A less suitable period for securing a fair expression of the popular mind on the subject could hardly be chosen.

The New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children is Tha Baby Week organising the Campaign. Dominion a "Baby Week campaign on the lines so successfully carried out by Mr Lloyd George in Great Britain. The dates for the Dominion are from Sunday, October 28, until Friday, November 2; and we feel sure that the effort will command the sympathy and support of the general public. The war, with its dreadful slaughter of the flower of the manhood of the world, has forced into strong relief the valuable and essential asset of the children of any nation; henceforth the babies "will be treated with greater consideration than has hitherto been extended to these helpless little mortals. The aim to be kept in view is to" ensure that the quality and physique of the children born shall be the best and highest possible, and that every effort shall be made to keep down the death-rate. A lamentable incident reported this week in our own city reveals the need of education as to the value and sacredness of child-life. It is, alas! one of the accompaniments of war time that illicit relationship between the sexes should be on the increase, and that numbers of girls and young women should incur the responsibilities of maternity without the shield of respectability which marriage confers. The organisers of Baby Week will do well if, in addition to their other activities, they can succeed in fostering a public sentiment of svmpathy with such young mothers. While it is in the- highest degree reprehensible to wink at immorality of any kind, yet' the State is to some extent responsible for the inauguration of a military regime under which the ordinary family ties are broken and social restrictions removed. This renders both our young men and young women more susceptible to temptation, in view of which fact it is essential that the utmost precautions be taken to safeguard the welfare and health of all illegitimate offspring.