PUBLIC OPINION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9305, 4 August 1908, Page 1

PUBLIC OPINION.

« FROM YESTERDAY'S NEWS- , PAfEIiS. (By Telegraph.): MAIL SERVICES. 1 Pending the consummation of a genuine fast All Red service, every advantage should bo taken oi fiucii facilities as are ottered by the Vancouver route, but the Ail Jtted design is the objective to be kept in. view. x\ot the "steady Keeping in view" of traditional ministerial commonplace, but the persistent, alert watcluuiness aud restlessness wnich may inauce the linneriai brovernniout to 00-opexate eiieciiveiy in tmo work.— JUjiheain " «tar. J3 , „ . THECOAL MINING SITUATION. It will be a fortunate circuuifitance if it can be eaid tnat at a time vnien, as it Had been asserted, striKes are in the air, tiie ouiciaie at the lieau or the Miners' Union, wnile anxious to make tue best terms they ican lor the worisers, are animated, by an earnest aesire to avoid any action that might ten<t to precipitate strne, or even to produce a state oi tension between the employers ana the woiKere in tue industry. — . " Otago Daily limes." COMPULSORY MILITARY TKAJLNUsG. Sir Joseph Ward says there is a tremendous current of oojection amongst a large section of the community against compulsory military training, and he is unprepared at the present time to bring <iown any proposal iavouring the introduction or a compulsory system in New Zealand. It is singular that the sirenuous advocacy of tne most influential newspapers in the dominion in favour of this reform j has not called forth the strong objections of which the Prime Minister speaks, and it is extremely significant that it is the Executive oi the Farmers' Union, representing probably the most conservative element of public opinion hereabouts, which has felt called upon to urge the necessity of '. adequately providing for the defence of i the dominion. — " i\ew Zealand Times." FARMERS' POLITICS. Without seeking to establish a separate parliamentary party, which would have been the logical outcome of the Auckland appeal, the Union comes out into the open, as a political organisation for the protection and advance- j ment of its members as a class. Should ' this narrow policy become an effective reality at the elections in rural con- . Btituencies, reprisals are bound to fol- | low, and a sharp and deplorable di- ; vision between town and country will result, but the disaster will probably bo averted by the inability or' the Farmers' Union to put its ill-judged : scheme into opera Uon.-— " Evening ; i'ost." NATIONAL DEFENCE. i Sir Joseph Ward, in reply to the farmers' deputation, and on every otner possible occasion, drags in the bogey ot " conscription," and professes j to speak for great numbers who are ! against that European system. It is a very doubtful patriotism which quibbles over matters affecting the national safety and, possibly, the national existence. It would be the easiest mat- '•■ ter in the world for the Premier and the Minister of Defence, if they favour ! the universal training of "youths," to bring in a measure having that purpose. Not only the Farmers' Union, but the labour unions, as far as they have been sounded, are unanimous for "universal training" up to the age of twenty-one. — "New Zealand Herald." SECRET COMMISSIONS BILL. j Considering the nature of the evil with which the Bill attempts to deal, ' and the difficulty of coping with it in ' any other way, - we believe that it will . receive a large measure of support, j both inside and outside Parliament. It is, of course, generally known that the practices to which the Bill refers are by no means limited to this country. Possibly it may seem, from comparison | with the English Act, that the penalties attached to breaches of the law by this Bill have been somewhat unduly exaggerated, but the importance of the questions that it raises is hardly open to discussion, and wo believe that its principles will be heartily endorsed by public and political opinion I throughout Now Zealand. — Auckland i "Star." '