PUBLIC OPINION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9113, 19 December 1907, Page 1

PUBLIC OPINION.

FROM YESTERDAY'S PAPERS. (By Telegraph.) - KEIR HARDIE AND HIS CRITICS. There ,was some justification for the feeling against Mr Keir Hardie two j months ago, when the papers were j busy reporting his alleged speeches. 'There is practically < none for it , now. We ourselves criticised strongly Mr j Hardies repeatedly alleged^ statements, j but We neither called names nor advo- | catedhis deportation. We also noted that Mr Hardie disclaimed the ino6t odious of the statements charged .to him, arid that Lord Mlntb, the Viceroy of India, ' after their publication in the London Press, " cordially " received Mr Hardie at Government House. We therefore watched for confirmation of j the one or the other, and published I some of the evidence. That evidence supports Mr Hardies denials. , As for the County Council of Patangata, we can but. respectfully hint that what is good enough for the Viceroy of India should not be unacceptable to the fastidious palates of that centre of equity and -research.— Dunedin "Star." HOUSING PARLIAMENT. • Of course the money for the building will have\to be paid by the people in some way, but that th© subscription project would fairly adjust the proportions of the burden we are not prepared to affirm. The opportunity for exhibiting their patriotism now given to the people is certainly unique.. Perhaps they will regard the object as something 'to be given by all the members of the family to trie "head of the household by way of a Christmas pre^ sent, or by a grateful aggregate constituency to a faithful aggregate /of representatives by way of a Christmas box.— "/ New Zealand Times.'" , THE MAJORITY VOTE. -The only hope lies along the lines of the\ Absolute Majority Bill, of which the .present Minister of Lands was, as a private member, a strenuous advocate, and possibly from within the Cabinet he may. be able to overcome the-objec- | tions which Sir Joseph Ward used to make against it. No doubt it requires careful scrutiny to insure that the element .of chance does not creep in again through the method of counting the' contingent vote, but , surely anything will be better than the chances of s\ second ballot. It is to be hoped that the Premier will not be long in letting -us know the direction ,in which the mind of the Cabinet is moving. -=— " Evening Poe*J>." .7- THE AMERICAN FLEET. . 'Upon paper the American navy is already second only to that of Britain, land while Britain is working to maintain a : two-Power standard the Ameri-cans-are reported to be considering a "two-ocean standard," which would give them what they regard as ample | strength on both their eastern and western seaboards; in other words, the Washington Government aims at keeping, in the Pacific as in the Atlantic a fleet capable of meeting any force likely to be brought against it, thus accentuating the race for superiority which lis already making navy-building a \ crushing burden upon the peoples of the world, which new policy makes prominent a fact that has excited the keen- | est interest in Europe, that the Washington Government is leaving its Atlantic coast comparatively defenceles*. for the purpose of displaying its naval strength in a distant ocean, and upon a mission which may possibly cost it dearly and detain it long. — " New Zealand Herald." | PROUD AUCKLANDERS. Auckland has good reason tp be proud of its atheletes to-day. The victory of our- cricket team over the Canterbury eleven was not altogether unexpected, but not even their most sanguine supporters would have ventured to predict so overwhelming a triumph. The capture of the Plunket shield is an achievement that not only places Auckland at the head of the cricketing districts in the dominion, but justifies the claim of superiority put forward on our behalf last year, and confirmed by the opinion of the last English touring eleven. One of the most satisfactory features of our success is the prowess displayed by several men whom we can claim as Aucklanders born and bred. Admitting that the presence "of an English professional improves tue character of the play, we are inclined to regret that in such a competition the teams are not wholly composed of "colonials," but the immense improvement that has been witnessed in Auckland cricket during the: laat two or three seasons speaks volumes for the wisdom of the policy of importing professionals to train our rising athletes, and in the present instance we venture to believe that the superiority of the Auckland eleven was iso marked that even if we had to depend purely upon " local products " our team would have still secured the victory. — Auckland " Star."