Rangitikei Advocate. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1910. EDITORIAL NOTES.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9690, 25 February 1910, Page 4

Rangitikei Advocate. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1910. EDITORIAL NOTES.

THE meaning of Socialism is thus defined by a writer in tne London Tines:—“That tbe State shall own all the laud and the mines and their produce, agricultural and mineral; all the factories, workshops, machinery, shops, houses, railways, shipping, tramways, cabs, and all the capital. It means further that the control and management of all shail be in the hands of a mighty host of officials. And it means that the worker will be rewarded not according to his merit, for that wonld re-introduce private property and the unequal distribution of wealth, hot merely according to his wants—that Mr John Barns would receive no [jfmore than an unemployable

wastrel. The worker will not be able to choose where to live, what to work at, and who to’ work under. All this will be determined by officials for him, as well as whether he is producing as roach as he should and not consuming more than he ought. England under Socialism means England under a withering officialdom.” The average Socialist does not stop to consider what the effect of his theories would be on his own liberty and his personal affairs; he only sees that socialism would deprive others of what they possess.

THOSE who strongly support the increase of Britain’s navy, and who view with some alarm the development of Germany’s power, will no doubt hold the opinion that the mantle of the prophet may have fallen on General ‘'Chinese” Gordon, whom the Empire lost at Khartoum. Captain Pardy, late of Baker’s Horse, who in 1882, was acting as his aide, when he was reviewing some troops at Dordrecht, in the Cape Colony, says he then remarked—‘‘So far as England is concerned, she need not, for the next quarter of a century, be under any apprehension of serious difficulties arising with any of her European neighbours; but in 1910, or thereabouts, there will have arisen a naval Power i|whsoh may prove mightier than she, and should she —Germany —gain the supremacy, England will become extinct, both as a sea and a land Power, and all her dependencies, including India, will fall into Germany’s clutches. Yon may live to see this. I shall not, hut when that time comes, remember my words.”

IT has often been remarked that Labour leaders when they get into Parliament are more apt to sympathise with those whom the Socialists call the ‘‘Capitalistic Crowd.” They kick away the ladder by wlucn they climbed up to political heights; but very often they kick because they resent the attacks of Labour agitators who want to secure positions for themselves. Labour is seldom just to those who have gained anything, Mr John Barns is among the latest to discover this, an his candidature for Battersea at last election was violently opposed by local demagogues, because ha had gained Cabinet rank. The two men over whom the South Clifton strixe occurred in Australia, have also been made to realise that "popularity la fleeting. They were heroes for a time and the popular sympathy wfeh them caused the whole body of miners to cease work. But after the strike ended, and .they were taken back they were treated to a hostile demonstration by a large crowd, in which a woman was prominent.

THE Health Offper at Fremantle must either be a humorist, or is using his official to check the ardour of lady enthusiasts in the cause of prohibition. He advises the members of the Women’s League to turn their attention to cookery for'combating the liquor evil, which he largely attributes to bad cooking and a monotonous diet, driving men to drink. Possibly the official hiim self has suffered from bad cookery, but hia statement baa the support of a New Zealand Judge, who, from the Supreme Oonrt Bench, once declared that a great amount of crime was due to fat merino mutton, There is probably a substratum of truth in the theory that as good cooking helps digestion, bad cooking may set up a craving for stimulants. Possibly also a for She Promotion of Comfort in the Home would be of greater service to the State and “mere man” than any other kind of League.

THE City of Brotherly Love is not living up to its name, according to the telegraphic news, for in Philadelphia there is practically civil war, and in that great centre of population troopers and strikers are furiously fighting pitched battles in the streets, which were only cleared at the point of the bayonet. The resort to force by labour is always regrettable, and fortunately so far onr labour troubles In these lands have not led to bloodshed. The only compensation in the case of Philadelphia’s civil war is that it will be soon over, and will effectually settle the trouble for some time to come.