What the Papers Say

Observer, Volume XXVII, Issue 41, 29 June 1907, Page 3

What the Papers Say

THE Government have a very large majority in the House, and it will be remarkable indeed if they cannot get some sort of a Land Bill put through during the present session. The Government have nothing to gain in an appeal to the country. — Masterton " Age."

Rifle practice should become part of the education of every schoolboy, and it should be recognised that to make him a good citizen, it is as necessary to teach him rifle practice, as it is to teach him any other subject in the syllabus of education. — Dargaville " Bell."

If all the teachers in all the schools counted as absolutely necessary (and where is the school that does not come under the designation ?) were to be paid according to their merits, relatively with the employees in other callings, the Treasury would refuse to foot the Bill. That is the plain fact. -^-Blenheim "Express."

Possibly no one in New Zealand regrets giving women the franchise, but all are fairly unanimous that their voting in Parliamentary elections has made very little difference one way or the other, except that it has occasionally resulted in men being preferred rather than measures. — Carterton " News."

At present the colony is virtually without a mail service of its own, either wholly or in part, and it is time that the questions at issue were finally settled. While we may be seeking the shadow of Sir Joseph Ward's ideal fast-service scheme we may be losing the substance of a practical working scheme for mail connection. — Nelson " Mail."

We believe that almost all colonials would rather eat foodstuffs manufactured by colonials from colonial ingredients than foodstuffs manufactured abroad, providing always the articles are as good as those imported. — "Wellington "Free Lance."

Never has Mr Hall-Jones been so necessary — never will he be so missed. For the coining session will be a batch of surprises to all and each. And when surprises are in the political air, the services of an old administrator always count for much. —Reef ton "Times."

It is a matter for sincere regret that the Government do not intend to stand firm by the land proposals of the late John Ballance,,who based his policy on the principles of State ownership. We would have much preferred to see the Government absolutely refuse to part with an acre of the public estate, and stick firmly to the leasehold. — Wanganui " Herald."

The towns are in favour of Mr McNab's Land Bill, and the farming community are against it. That is the position, and the only question to be decided is which is the stronger of the two through their representation in Parliament. — Oamaru " Times."

Is it not a reasonable suggestion that if the Government agree toimpose "a heavy graduated tax" upon excess estates, that tax will be to a large extent evaded ? 'It is human nature to avoid taxation. Napier "Telegraph."

It should not require a scare to bring the public mind to a sense of the risk that is run by neglecting ordinary precautions against a visitation of plague or fever, yet it inevitably does require something drastic, and we must accept the appearance of disease as nature s warning that her laws may not be broken with impunity. — Hastings Standard." • • m

An employer is generally a: man of sufficient substance to meet the payment of any fine inflicted upon him. A worker is not always so, and, unfortunately, he is not always willing to abide by the decision of the court. — Napier "Herald."

The indispensable preliminary to the introduction of the Bible into primary schools is unanimity among, the Christian bodies as to what shall be taught. In England — whence we obtain the most comprehensive illustration and pattern in this regard — men despair of any solution save that afforded by the secular or New Zealand system. — Dunedin "Star.'"

If last year's Land Bill was a complicated matter, each of the three Bills which the Government will now introduce in its place will be comparatively simple ; every member will have to say " yes " or " no " to each of them ; and opposition to one section of the proposals can no longer be made a ground for blocking both of the others. — Wellington "Post."

The general interpretation of the Arbitration Act, from most employers' point of view, is that it is a splendid instrument with which todeal a blow at a 1 competitor, but an outrageous thing for an employee to use against his master. That is not our view. — Petone "Chronicle."

The one fact that must have impressed Mr McNab above all others in his peregrinations is the clamant desire everywhere for land. There is a genuine earth hunger throughout the country, and the cry of the people is undoubtedly for closer settlement, and against the aggregation of large estates. — Gisborne " Herald."

It is clear, if the Government adheres to its reiterated declaration that it will force the Land v Bill through the House, the storm of the coming session will rage round this question, and, if the Ward Ministry in its present weakened condition seriously challenges the House on the Bill,- then disaster can only follow fast and follow faster. But there is much virtue tin " if."— Cambridge " Independent."