THE WORLD'S PRESS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 78, 8 May 1914, Page 6

THE WORLD'S PRESS.

.THE INSURANCE ACT. "o,The Insurance Act has ' done some- * thing to mitigate the evils of poverty ' at the most critical moment in .the life <jf ; working woman, but it only touches the fringe of the question. The ; ipoor are still left to bring their child-, ren into the world under conditions which destroy both mother and child, and leave society with the burden of lives that have been ruined by ignorance .-aid- poverty. Some idea of the . magnitude of the national wastage and human ! misery that result from -this cause niay be gathered from the article of Mrs; Penibdr Beeves.—'' News and Leader." COI>ONEI> SEELY* S ERROR. We c ! annot sp.jn r ,up the Radical view - better than in the words of the "Daily , Chronicle '. . . no individual can escape the consequences of an error so enormous; and when he (Colonel Seely) tendere'd. his. resignation, to the Prime Minister he took the only course left open to him. ,We, hope that in all the ~ circumstances he may withdraw it." What the. consequences that Colonel Seely "cannot escape" may be heaven only knows, but we should , like to apply Mr Churchill's adjective to the new code of morality which is considered good enough for the Cabinet Ministers - of to-day.- —"Evening News" (London). THE NAVY ESTIMATES.

The Navy Estimates call for meditation, not because statesmen have a doubt about the necessity of a strong Navy —those who have the doubt are hardly in touch with the real world,— but because the growth of interest in many branches of State activity, the constant extension: of the functions of the State, and the .ever-louder cry for efficiency cause ever-increasing demands on the public purse, y. Governments have to do far more than they used to do 50 years ago, andi whatever they do costs money. —'' Morning Post.'' IN DANGER OF A SMUDGE. And if Government (N.S.W.) bricks are black it is hard to imagine how the Government responsible for their colour can continue white. The very Caucus must, therefore,':;become involved in the weird kaleidoscope. And if the Government is blaek, those who support or sympathise with the black Government which makes the black bricks must be included in the dark™ brigade. Thus the Political Labour League itself is in danger of getting a smudge if it has not given itself one already by the action of its members in declaring its own socialistic bricks black, while those of the bloated private capitalist .are admittedly without a speck.—''Daily Telegraph."