The Star. FRIDAY, JULY 20. 1917. EDITORIAL NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12064, 20 July 1917, Page 4

The Star. FRIDAY, JULY 20. 1917. EDITORIAL NOTES.

THE BOARD OF TRADE. •} We liavo previously expressed the opinion that the Board of Trade, which \ 'lias now been perambulating the Dominion for a considerable time, has accomplished much less than it ought to have done, and much less than the \ country expected after the fulsome propises which were made by those responsible for bringing it into existence. .And we cannot say that'the defence by the Minister of Agriculture of that body has changed our views. The Hon ,\V. D. S. Mac Donald's speech in the course of the Address-in-Reply on Wed- , jiesday night certainly contained nothing to cause a change of opinion. iWe were told before the board was appointed ihat it was going to accomplish something in the nature of a modern miracle: that it was going to jealously guard the interests of tho consumer; that it was going to put fi period to the unrestricted reign of the Exploiter; in a word, wo were promised •that tho establishment of the Board of Trade would almost bring about the millennium. Wo recollect how, after Parliament had granted the necessary a-jthority for setting up the board, the Government allowed much valuable time to pass before the necessary appointments were rftade, and from tho' passing of the Act till the board began •its work nearly twelve months were allowed to pass. This did not inspire us with confidence that tho Govern- > inent was very serious in its intention to place impediments in ttfe path of the profiteers. That the men ultimately I placed on tho board are earnest and desirous of accomplishing something substantial for the benefit of the coun-< try we have never entertained any doubt, but the powers of thfe board are relatively small, being limited largely to making recommendations to the Min- , jgtry of the day, and we know that - ' .

many important recommendations have not been acted upon by the Government. We believe that the failure of the board to accomplish more mttst be attributed entirely to the reluctance of Ministers to act upon its recommendations.

In his speech in the House on Wed* nesday the Hon W. D. S. Mac Donald claimed that the board had saved the country hundreds of thousands of pounds. That may be tho case; we do not doubt but it has done some good; but wo contend that it would have accomplished very much mor o had not difficulties, and quite unnecessary difficulties, boon placed in ( itspath. Such a body is in a. position to confer incalculable benefits on the people of the Dominion, but with the "brake on" its sphere of usefulness has been greatly circumscribed. Whether or not flour would have reached £2O per ton lyufc for tho board's efforts is, to say the least, open to argument, but why the board should have fixed the price of bread at Pukekohe, Hamilton and a few other insignificant places, and did not fix it for the Dominion, is quito incomprehensible- These are.not the only places where bread is regarded as the "staff of life."' Why, again, should the Board of Trade regulate the price of milk in the Dominion's capital and not elsewhere is difficult to understand. The board opened butchers' shops in Auckland, and retaliated rents m Dunedin. These isolated efforts are, to say the least, a strange method of .handling large questions. If Mr Mac Donald's explanation is the best defence that can be put up for the Board of Trade, we are afraid it will be somo time before that body will be regarded by the general public as a. ''boon and a blessing to men," as we were promised it would be. Bodies like the Board of Trade possess little value it they are simply advisory. They should be given tho same powers of action as those jn the Home Country, to which the Government has relegated many large departments of activity. There reference to the Government is almost purely formal, and it is seldom indeed that the Administration of the day runs counter to the recommendations of the boards and commissions entrusted with the task of solving great problems, such as those submitted, to the Board of Trade. The board's decisions should he made to apply to the whole Dominion and not to sections of it, as has been the ra.se according to the Minister. We believe the members of the board are inspired with an earnest desire to justify their appointment, and to do something which will benefit the country as a whole, but their efforts have been rendered largely abortive throMgh tho refusal of the Government to back up tho recommendations made. A Board of Trade with the "brake on" is useless in such times as the present, when the Government should encourage rather than discourage bold and fearless action.

CABINET CHANGES. Under the stress and strain of war conditions any weakness in a Government; caanot long bo .concealed, and consequently little surprise need bo felt that, after sevon mouths of office, it has been found necessary to effect a partial reconstruction of the Lloyd George Administration, several important changes having been a few days ago. There can be no gainsaying the fact that tho Government as originally constituted was a strong one, being composed largely of outstanding personages, although it would be egregious to contend that tho whole of the material of which it was composed was indisputably tho best that could bo gathered into the Cabinet room. ; A British Cn«lji.Mon Cabinet, without such men as Mr Asquith and Lord Grey is, of course, something in the nature of an anachronism, inasmuch a<» they are both men of outstanding ability in statecraft. But after the happenings of December last it was iinpossibh that either statesman could join the Cabinet', although they gave ilie new Administration their wholesouled benediction and extended to it their loyal support. After the recent .Mesopotamia revelations it was clear that .Mr Austen Chamberlain could not retain his position in the Cabinet a.» Secretary of State for India, and in due course his resignation was placed in the hands of the Prime -Minister. During his parliamentary career, which lias extended over more than twenty years, Mr Chamberlain has held various Ministerial positions, but it is questionable whether preferment did not come to him because of liisj .ancestry rather than from any personal claims on account of ability. In Britain ancestry still counts for much, and, of course, there wasatimo when the Right Honourablo Joseph Chamberlain was a leading figuro in Imperial politics, and naturally his son could not be entirely overlooked when tho loaves and fishes in the shape of Ministerial places wero being apportioned. fie certainly showed some aptitude for political life, and his maiden speech in the House war, a distinct success. Among those who congratulated father and son on that occasion was the late Mr Gladstone. Tho report of tho Mesopotamia Commission placed some of the blame for the comparative failure of the expedition on the shoulders of the Secretary of State for India, and, following British precedent, bo had no option but to tender h;3 resignation.

His successor in the important office, the Eight Hon E. S. Montagu, although uuite a young man as politicians go in the Mother Country—he has not yet attained his fortieth year—has already pioved himself a highly capable man of affairs. S.ion after his entry into the House of Commons it was predicted ihat he "was destined to reach a very high position in the political: life of the country, and his achievements up to. the present have been such as to fully justify the confidence reposed in hun. He idled many important positions under Mr Asquith, and every step he Ims taken during iiis very active political life has left him with an enhanced reputation. Prior to the coming iftto office of the Lloyd George Government 1 he held the position of Minister of Munitions, and in that capacity did admirable work. The precise reason underlying tho removal of Sir Edward Carson from tfye head of the Admiralty to a seat in the "War Cabinet is difficult'to understand, but probably must be attributed to noa-

success in the great office which, he held since December last. Mr Balfour's administration of the Admiralty was severely criticised, and when Sir Edward Oarson was placed at its head ive wero promised that things were going tc happen. But things went on much the same as formerly, and it cannot be said that) under Sir Edward the Navy differed in any way from what it was under his predecessor. It did its work, and did it well, but there uere no new developments. In his new capacity Sir Edward will have no administrative dutie.>_. and as Mr Bonar Law's successor in the War Cabinet we cannot conceive that his duties will be of an important character, for Mr Bonar Law was a. member of that body more in name than reality, and was expected to attend "but seldom. Looking at nil the facts of the case, it' would appear that Sir Edward Carson mis received something in the nature of an " Irishman's promotion." His! place at the head of the Admiralty has b'cen vaken by Sir Erin Goddes, a captain ot industry. Mr Lloyd George has once again gona outside the ranks of parliamentarians to secure tho allossential man. If the appointment! will prove as satisfactory to the nation as those of Sir Albert Stanley, Sir Joseph. .Niaciny and Dr H. A. L. Fisher the country will, we ale sure, have nothing of which to complain, and it is worth mentioning that tho Premier put the new head of the Admiralty to a severs test before he placed him in the high positir.n. The return tc power of such n virile man a& Mr Winston Churchill was inevitable, and Mr Lloyd Georgo has shown his usual discernment in placing him at the head of the Munitions Department. In his new position the former Fir& Lord will find ample scope for his energy, and wo have no fear but he will abundantly justify the appointment The new rearrangement of portfolios should certainly give added strength to the Government.

HOLLAND THREATENED. There can scarcely be any doubt that the Germans are ready to seize the earliest convenient opportunity of dealing with Holland much as they have dealt with Belgium, and of making nse of the Netherlands ports as bases of attack upon Britain. The bullying tone now adopted towards tho Dutch Government as the result of the recent British capture of enemy merchantmen and the destruction of others is given a col6ur of excuse by the allegation that som© of the British destroyers were in Dutch territorial waters, but tbe pretext only very thinly voi'ls tho determination of the Germans to violate Holland's neutrality whenever such a course seems to them expedient. '•Military necessity" is tho only law the enemy recognises, and whenever this law of the strong hand appears capable of enforcement by tho German armies, there will no longer bo safety for the people of the Netherlands. Tho Germans make a show of violent indignation at the reported infringement of Holland's neutrality by the British destroyer .squadrons, bub they conveniently forget their own repeated interferences with that neutrality, tbe deliberate flights of Zeppelins and aeroplanes across Dutch territory, and the wholesale destruction of Dutch shipping. Holland has already received sufficient provocation from Berlin to justify tho sharpest protests and threats of armed action., but the Government has prudently suffered many insults to pass for tho sake of peace within its borders. Tbe overrunning of the maritime kingdom would, of course, bo attended by certain disadvantages in the lengthening of tho enemy's front, but there would bo immediate gains of valuable shipping and of ports from which to launch naval efforts and aerial attacks against the British. The Belgian harbours of Ostend and Zeebruggo have been rendered almost useless to the foo by tho constant Allied watch and tbe tremendously heavy British bombardments. The Dutch ports would provide new and safe bases for destroyers and submarines beyond the effective range of the monitors' guns. There is also tho constantly growing temptation to lay lawless hands upon the products of fortile Holland for half-starved Germany's use, entirely cutting off the supplies to Britain. The Dutch for their part are fully prepared to the limits of their capacity to maintain their independence by! force of arms. Their milit.iai army, which can be raised if needful to a war strength of nearly half a million, has profited by the tragic lessons at Holland's doors, and is well drilled and efficiently armed. Military service has never been popular among the Dutch, but the events of the last three years liavo driven tho necessity for preparedness well homo to every citizen. There is a very serviceable and well-munition-ed artillery, ancl the aerial branch baa received much attention and has been kept abreast of the most modern developments in flying warfare. Holland's navy includes about a dozen armoMred vessels of considerable size, besides many coast defence vessels and torpedo craft. Moro directly serviceable against an invader is the ability to call to the nation's assistance, tho waters of the ocean by the opening of the dykes and canal sluices. Tho Dutch, therefore, are not without means of offering a determined resistance to any attempt to override their independence. by armed force, and it is tiko.ly enough only the knowledge of this fact that pre,vents the Germans from making an immediate thrust towards tho narrow seas about Britain through tho neutral low country.