The Otago Witness. (TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1919.) THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3426, 11 November 1919, Page 39

The Otago Witness. (TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1919.) THE WEEK.

WITH WHICH 18 IKCOEPOEATKD THE 80UTHEEK IIEEOUET.

"Nunquam allud natura, allud eapienti* dlxli. , »- —Juvenal. • .- "Good netaro and good scum mast ever iota."-* Popb.

Twelve months ago to-day, at the ( . ..- eleventh hour of the. Armistice eleventh day of the. Anniversary, eleventh month, the bugles - . sounded "Cease fire," and ■ the greatest war of all time was at an , end. The men in the front line -when ,- that order was. given have testified to the solemnising effect of the sudden, still-, ness which fell upon a world at war; ears which for over four years had grown accustomed to the incessant and deafening" din of the continuous bombardment were dramatically assailed by what an' Irish poet has accurately described as the noise, of silence" whose "tumult is more loudthan thunder." The awe-inspiring silence, " though quickly broken as life, resumed its normal course, was a thing which wilt never be forgotten by all who experienced its emotion; it is a fitting thing, therefore, that by Royal Proclamation, an en- • deavour is to be made to perpetuate that memory and by extending it to the remotest part of the British Empire/ make.'. it the cherished possessor, of every, true'Briton, woman, man, and child. In a finely-worded message, addressed "To all " my people," His Majesty recalls the stu-j pendous truth that the armistice," the "first ! anniversary of which will ho celebrated-to-day, "stayed the -wide carnage of the four preceding years and marked ■- the victory of right and freedom." The King expresses that the .people '\ of the British Empire "fervently wish to \ fierpetuate the memory of that great de- • fverance and of- those who laid down' their lives to achieve it"; to which end - His Majesty enjoins "a simple service of '■ silence," when, for the : brief space of two ', minutes, there shall be. Va ' complete : suspension 9f all our normal activities'.'* \ It is hoped that in the "perfect stillness'',. [ thus induced, a reproduction of the still- . ness -which" fell. upon the battlefields of* ; Europe "wdien the bugles sounded "Gease , firing," the thoughts of everyone "may ■ be concentrated on a reverent r.emeni- : brance of the glorious dead.".k This hope '*' should have full fruition in every part of ; the dominion; the Government has issued;"; orders that all trams -shall stop . and-.;all ? work in Government establishments. shall- > cease for .two minute on the stroke .of • eleven this: morning. It may be taken ; for granted that. municipalities every- 1 where and all employers of labour "will see . to it that a'similar silence; shall.be. ob- ;• served. .'A request has been, made that all ;■ traffic shall cease, and that in the schools > there shall-be, a cessation.- of all it only needs that, every individual citizen > do his. or her part for the-silence to be .- complete from the North Gape to the; Bluff. , In this arresting fashion ; there will 1 be brought to mind a remembrance of .the ■: deliverance from- dreadful war, -wrought : by the victory of a year since and also ■'. has a reverent remembrance of .the braye". men who. laid down their lives to bring, about that victory. . In. the words of. oiie \ of the bravest of the brave—the Hon. Julian GTenfell, who fell fighting at the front on the fields of Flanders : .

The fighting 1 man shall from the sun Take warmth, and life from, the glowing) earth; Speed with the light-foot winds to run, And with the trees to newer birth; . And find, when fighting, shall be done. G-reat rest, and fullness after dearth.

The thundfering line of battle stands. And in the air Death moans and sings: But Day shall clasp him with.strong hands, * And Night shall fold him in soft whige. .

The longest Parliament in the history of ', r the Dominion, with a term ' The Leng °* office extending over : Parliament, five years, ! has at length "• come to an end. The oir- ! cumstances under which the life of the : late Parliament was extended for two '• years beyond its normal and constitutional period were so exceptional that it may safely foe assumed that they are not likely • to occur again within the memory of th© ' present'generation. While" admitting that: the action of any Parliament in extending. ; its own life creates a dangerous precedent, yet it is difficult to imagine that any; good purpose could have been served by precipitating the'Dominion into the_ .throes "_ of a general election while the Empire'was locked in a death struggle with a powerful I foe. At the same time there will be a general feeling of relief that the .term of ; office of the members elected to represent the constituencies in 1914 has como to an end and that the people once more have an opportunity to exercise their suffrages. The past five year period ha* witnessed some of the mightiest changes . the world has experienced and movements are at present in motion destined to effect changes in our social, system even J more mighty and far reaching..' . It is . well, therefore, that at' . the • general . election now fast approaching there should ' be a sort of political stock-takirifr on the part of the people generally.. The. long . Parliament had . as .its final -phase one . of the shortest sessions on record ; which, , extending over rather more than three. months, was nevertheless of ' much useful and essential legislation, j The programme of the Government, which was successfully carried through.almost In its entirety, was. both and pro-: gressive 5 it included legislation ; !in thel interests of the returned soldiers; it. dealt '■ withtho housing problem; with the eh-• couragement of settlement on • the land ■ and the prevention of land aggregation. It dealt with profiteering and also increased the old-age pension j It included

aeferal measures arising out of the peace settlement and provided for the responsibilities placed upon the Dominion by the terms of the Peacs Treaty. The Government would have found it well nigh impossible to put through this programme had it not been for the active assistance, not only of the members of the Opposition, but of all the members of the House, with a result which reflects credit upon all concerned. In short, the speedy and intelligent fashion in which the business of the country was transacted during the session now closed, furnishes the strongest possible argument against the tactics ■ ordinarily pursued when party politics are in full swing To put it plainly, the people as a whole are tired of party politics, especially when, as is the cr«o in New Z-aland at present, there are no vital issues at stake between the main parties. There is a call for the inauguration of a new political era in the new Parliament. With little-more than five weeks to go before the General Election, r ail « a i a surve y of the P ohtic ? ' Son situation finds to use sportprospects, ing parlance, Mr Massey first favourite, the odds against Sir Joseph Ward, and the Labour a dark horse. It is the general opinion that since his return from the Homeland Mr .Massey has o reatly improved his political position, and this largely owing to his adroit handling of Parliament during the session just closed/ Indeed, the Prime Minister is credited, as the outcome of his sojourn in Europe, with developing qualities of leadership and of showing a tact and ability m the management of men which even his best friends scarce believed him capable of. It is also the general opinion that just to the extent in which Mr Massey '©political star is in the ascendant, so Sir Joseph Ward's political fortunes are on the wane, and this chiefly because the Leader of the Opposition has exhibited so much of the purely party spirit ydiich too long has been the bane of Dominion politics. Ihere is also discernable a growing feeling of sympathy with the ' just aspirations of Labour and which in a community so largely consisting of "workers"—u-ung the word in its widest sense —seems likely to culminate in a largely increased Labour roll. The fly in the Labour ointment, however, consists in the fact that the leaders of Labour in the late Parliament — Mr Holland, Mr. Sample, Mr P. Fraser, and Mr M'Combs—are men who, by their consistent espousal of revolutionary socialism and their attitude towards the war and the terms of peace, have forfeited both the esteem and confidence of a large body of the electors. Speaking broadly, it may be said that there is not a leader in sight, either of the Reform, the Liberal, or the Labour parties who exactly answer to, the type of man for whom the majority of electors are looking; but that in default of . a new star arising in the east, probabilities point to Mr' Massey retaining the reins of government, at least for a time. ) The key to the present, political situation can plainly be discerned in the disinclination of a number of -the candidates for political honours to tie themselves to any particular party; _ this preliminary essay in independence is indicated in the labels attached to the names in the lists of candidates. Outside of the three recognised political parties, the Reform Party, the Liberal Party, and the Labour Party, there is a bewildering variety of candidates, eufficient to represent almost any blend of political and parliamentary thought. Thus there are among the candidate, IndependentLiberals, Progressives, Independent-Pro-gressives, Progressive-Liberals, ModerateLiberals, and Liberal-Labourites; whilst least one man presents himself as a Democratic-Liberal and another as a. Moderate-Democrat. These 1 . labels, in actual parliamentary life, count for but little; in the aggregate they may be taken to signify a Jeep dissatisfaction not only with things as they are, but with any hope of improvement along the lines indicated by any of the existing political parties. At the same time no sympathy is shown with revolutionary socialism, at least until every known mtchod of constitutional reform has been attempted and failed. It is this combimtion of independent forces and influences to bring about reform which renders the political situation so intensely interesting. The electors as a whole have an intelligent idea of what they want, but they are by no means certain as to the be.~t way to accomplish their object. And the man or the party who can show a way to keep down the cost of living, to stop profiteering, and land aggregation, and to ensure to every worker in the community a fair reward of his labour, at the same time stimulating production to the point of national prosperity, that man or that party will have the ball at his feet. There will be „ issued thi«. week by four of the principal newspapers Inter-Imperial of the Dominion —one Trade. paper in each of the four chief centres of population —an Empire Trade supplement, especially designed to direct attention to Ae faramount question of the development of nter-Imperial Trade. From a variety of causes, all more or less directly connected with the war, there has, since 1914, been a gradual shortage of the trade formerly carried on between Great Britain and New Zealand; that is to say the needs of the New Zealand .people pre being supplied to a lesser degree from the Homeland and to a greater degree from America, Japan, and other countries than was the -ease before the war. There is no need to stress the point that this in itself is a weak link hi that Imperial chain, which in other directions the war has done so much to ■stimulate and strengthen; just because the Homeland is and must be the principal market for New Zealand produce, it is essential, in return, that New Zealand should draw the bulk of her import from Great Britain. There is need therefore, that British /manufacturers

everywhere should be kept well informed as to the potentialities of the New Zealand market -ad should strive to cater for the especial needs of that market There is also need that the buyers of the Dominion should show a preference for British manufactures and should educate, the consumer in that preference. Another side of tha Inter-Imperial , t Trade question ■"•onsists in the importance of demonstrating the productive possibilities of Now Zealand soil and the extent to which she is able to supply the wmts of the people of the Homeland. One lesson taught by the war is the absolute necessity that the British Empire shall develop into a self-supporting and self-reliant community, at least in so far as the food and clothing of her people are concerned; und thn better the people at one end of the Empire are informed as to the wants and the productive energy of the- people at the other end of the Empire, the more nearly will this ideal be attained. The circulation of this Empire Trade supplement, not only throughout the Dominion, but scattered oveT the United- Kingdom; should serve as a means to this end, and we direct attention to the enterpriso and invite for it an intelligent perusal.