WHAT THE PAPER SAY

Observer, Volume XXXIV, Issue 23, 14 February 1914, Page 3

WHAT THE PAPER SAY

MR MYERS and Sir Joseph said: "It is unwise to raise a longdated loan upon such a tight market. It is better to wait for a fall." The " Reformers " cried in reply : "There will be no fall. You are ruining the country by such a policy." Well, notwithstanding the brilliant political ability which was to rescue the country from all the ills of Liberalism, the fall has come, and in the loan of the present we have the indisputable proof. This point should be remembered by those who wish to take their politics with an open mind. It is pleasing to congratulate Mr Allen on achieving this success, particularly after making the bad bargain he did over last year's loans; but if his predecessors in office had not acted with foresight and wisdom his present achievement would not have been possible.—New Plymouth " News."

Thus all the Labour leaders with brains—Larkin excepted, for he has brains of a sort—are against Syndicalism and for the ballot-box. They realise that a strike accompanied by organised collective violence invites reprisals; between such a strike and an armed revolution there is no difference in principle, and unless the malcontents are prepared to go to the length of revolution they had better leave violence alone. To appeal to brute force, and then complain be-, cause the law inflicts it back again, is neither logical nor courageous—Wellington "Post."

When Mr Allen goes on the market for the renewal of Mr Myers' loan and the unconverted portion of Sir Joseph Ward's it is most probable he will secure the money on better terms than he raised his own loan in January of last year. Poor man !He may wriggle'and twist to the utmost of his ability but " facts are chiels that winna ling," and he must make the best of it. But what a time the Liberals will have at his expense when the House mee ts ! — Christchurch " Spectator."

The English people, although careless about the development of their colonies, and especially careless about colonial national sentiment., are clear sighted enough to put two and two together, and recognise that Ausralia's gain is attributable to her Anglo-Saxon blood. In short, the day too long deferred is at hand when the value of a Dominion to the Mother Country i? to be measured by its breeding rather than by its bullion and the numbers of its people Gisborne " Herald."

Mr Allen's statement that " it is for the country to say" whether we shall or shall not go in for an "extravagant policy" is equivocal and evasive. Neither in Parliament nor out has a single Minister given a plain and straightforward outline of the Government's proposals. Shuffling and evasiveness is the characteristic attitude of Mr Allen and his colleagues. Surely the people .vho have got to find the money are entitled to know what is going on behind tit scenes Christchurch '" Star."

The advent of the Commissioner system awoke in the Service a feeling of the necessity for- the existence of a strong Association to maintain the rights and privileges of the Service, and to give expression to the aspirations and desires of its members.— " Public Service Journal."

The land question now is very little a question of tenure and a great deal a question of settlement. "What th© country wants more than anyhing. else is a policy that will double and treble the number of people on the land— the number of people in profitable occupation of small holdings. This is the policy for which the advanced wing of Liberalism has been contending for years and for which it is contending now. The country can expect no such policy from the present Government. —Lyttelton " Times."

Sir Joseph Ward is doing the Dominion a great service by drawing attention to the enormous financial burden that threatens the country if the naval scheme is persevered with, and we further believe that the majority of the electors of New Zealand "•o matter how they may differ from him upon other political questions, support him in his views upon naval defence Eltham "Argus.'"

Unobtrusive telegram from Auckland (M.L.) :—" The farmers' Union has commenced the organisation of a -cmstabalary corps, for use during industrial unrest. Tbe men are to be formed into companies of 25 in all provincial districts, and are to be always ready.''' Assuming the staten.cnt to be true, there are big possibilities ahead of Maoriland, unless Premier Massey firmly -advises the Farmers' Union to drop its swaddy foolishness' and get along with its proper business of growing oats. The trouble is that the special " constabulary corps " idea is liable to spread. It might, for instance, seize upon the wharf labourer, and the railway man, and the miner, and even the neripatetic shearer might be laid hold of by a patriotic lonsring to wave a gun. as a " special " during times of industrial turmoil. And he would soon know as much about the special constabulary profession as any other fellow—as any cow-merchant, for example. Under these conditions the next strike would probably be interesting —and horribly sudden for the comparative handful of cocky constables.— Sydney " Bulletin/

It is hardly conceivable. New Zealand, especially Otago, feel somewhat the same shock which startled the Empire when Her Majesty Queen Victoria laid clown her sceptre. Men could not well imagine the British Empire separated from the sovereignty of the great Queen-Mother Victoria. Almost as difficult will it be for residpnts of o<-»<n> and Southland to picture to their minds the Supreme Court of that district unadorned by Sir Joshua Williams. Until a new and forgetful generation shall arise the Dunedin Court will be to those who frequent it fragrant with the memories of a noble character, strong in profound learning and graceful in eminent virtues Dunedin "Star.'"

The new General Manager of Railways may be able to improve the position if he is given a fairly free hand, but at the moment it looks as if a large shortage in the earnings compared with those of last year were inevitable. If the Government's purpose has been to show the inefficiency of Ministerial control it has succeeded admirably —Lyttelton " Times."