NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 532, 12 June 1909, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

The public mil find a really pleasing ?n« ? y fV D w dlly s IT , " of the Pr°<*°dsilence of the Government majority has the Ministerialist benches spoke up yesterday in support of the Phimb Minister ! We are most anxious not to bo backward whon congratulations are in order, and we do most ieartdy congratulate these gentlemen, if not on the matter of their speeches, yet at any rate on the fact that they spoke at al. Their "disciplined silence, as a benighted Ministerial journal in the South approvingly calls it, was becoming a little oppressive. It was probably a Tittle oppressive to a gJod many of the Government's followers/The readiness of some of these gentlemen to talk long and often when they were not required to talk, and when no nave issue was at stake, encourages the belief that hey must have .felt very keenly a condition of debate in which they could only appear as "A Voice," genera ly saying no reeled off an Imperially confused platiCJrth T)f P p lal > » m P«<»teaneM and gratulated on the completeness of his authority over his followers. Few men fa, his position can boast that they are abk to compel such devotion as we have vril nessed since Monday. The country mkht be disposed to feel a little impatien a the silence of the Ministerialists, and to doubt their courage, their possession of fon ' B nd f^ ei f rc eard to their reputetrill , But , t ! ,a , t be to overlook the fortitude which they have exhibited in braving that very doubt. The Piume Sα W Col " mand Of Si^nce- W hi c h' JiVT eraciousness for which he is noted, he was pleased to relax a little yesterday-was really not a bad tac ica eZ\J ,°« rta ' n ly helped along the idea that he is the only man in his party. And his party does not seem to mind

The Peime Minister seems still to be .unaware that the. effectiveness of his talk abouti the.f'tnuton" who "damage the credit" of the country was killed by ridicule long ago. Ho still makes vague insinuations respecting "some peoplo" who' have attempted, for reasons unknown to weaken the country's financial position " He even attempted to suggest yesterday that theserunnamed persons arc responsible for "the headlines in -the Australian papers ! Really we canribt follow these fancies. pnofecU more at home with facts. It is obvious enough to everyone excepting the Pjume Master that such injury as Hie country's credit has sus . tamed is the natural reflection of the facts, and is therefore due to the Govern, nient responsible for those facts. We take no light view of our functions, but we cannot pretend, for instance, fchafc the effect of our articles upon foreign obseryors can possibly . bo compared with the effect produced by the fact that a member of the Ministry can enthusiastically'advocate an inconvertible State note issue. All the newspaper, opinions in the world would wei K b less with foreign financiers than tie fact that a member o tho Ministry can advocate, without the -Government's disanproval, the borrowing of four millions a year, and as much more as the country can .lajr ita haude on. A aewßpaper hai

joss influence with the people who lend tlie.ljovDrnment monev than the Gbve'rnmonts own balance-sheets, which show that while taxation is increasing,'and the public debt growing too large to think iiuout all at once, and the revenue showing .a decrease, the expenditure is leaping up by half a million "a year. For yews past the Peuie Minister has been exhausting the resources of the language in an attempt to represent the financial condition of the country as magnificent Beyond belief. Ho was never, more enthusiastic, his incitements to plunge never more vigorous, than when the financial barometer two months ago gave warning of coming trouble. Should he, then, be surprised if, when the facts turn out to bo as dark as his languanv was brirl ■ the foreign investor decjcles that the I'ltijiK Minister of New!7naland is a reckless financier 1 If, knowing the actual arm of things, Sir Joseph W*bd had gradually preached and pracrl'.-.yl the docln?j l P rudence . the forcifn investor would have been disposed to regard the sharp check to the country's prosperity with a little more ; equanimity. The i lUME Minister .surely does not think tho public is so foolish as not to know all theso facts.'

It would bo a neglect of duty to omit w, give prominence to the Hon. J. M Gotvan's view of the battleship offer. ~^ ew Zealand," he said yesterday, should feel like a son pouring his first earnings into his mother's lap." Could anything be more mal apropos 1 Many things have been said, and are still being said, concerning the Dreadnought offer which have made, the cheeks of sane Imperialists to tingle, and Mn. M'Gowan's statement is one of them. We have sufficient confidence in. tho good sense of the P ubll ° to behove that they do not share ittß. M. Gowan's emotions. It would be an incomparably keen delight if we could really feel, as a nation, that we had poured our first earnings into tho lap of Uritain, but by no stretch of language can the Dreadnought offer be described in those terms. There is no Now Zealahdcr who does not.take pleasure in the thought that tho moral effect of the offer has been large, or who is not anxious that this country should bear its share of tho responsibilities of Empire. But there is no thoughtful person in this Dominion who does not regret that we have to borrow money from our British mother to pay for our gift to her. Despite the unexampled Pr ?? p iii ty of Ncw Zealand during tho past fifteon years, nothing has been put asl j te m, mßet the c* ll °f the Empire's heeds. Tho extra cost of govcrnment-the xncrcaud annual expenditure—in Sin Joseph .Ward's three years of office would ?? y ,r^ a Drc adnought and a cruiser. Mr. M'Gowan's ill-chosen language will serve the purpose, wo hope, of' bringing home to tho people what we should aim at doing, and what we have not. done. _ The city's now Mayor has not been long J n stirring up things in connection with the affairs of the municipality. His statement of the financial position, published yesterday, shows that the Council will have to act with care and circumspection during the current year. It was only to be expected that his disclosures regarding the finances would not be palatable to some of the lato members of tho Council, but the city is more concerned to know the truth than to trouble very much about their feelings. It is not to be assumed from the. Mayor's statement of the position that the condition of affairs gives occasion for alarm. It is a good sign that the position has impressed tho Mayor and Councillors i with-the need for-economy and careful administration, and it is a further evidence,, .if.such: that continuity of office is'not in the best interests of .the public. Now'officials see th "?fs "V a new light, and, possibly, from a different point of view:.Mr. T. W" HisI.OP has .risen to defend his actions as Mayor, and some of .the old- Councillors have protested that tho disclosures made by On. Newman arc stale news'. We are not much interested in these opinions: what is of real concern,is that matters aro not quite so satisfactory with the finances of the city as wo were led to believe. The amount of overdue rates is a scandal The real position of the abattoirs loan appears to be largely a matter of bookkeeping, but Mit. Hisnop's explanation of 'T*™ '? not entirely satisfactory. : Thero certainly seems to have been carelessness in the manner in which tho transaction was handled. The outstanding .fact, and it is one upon which citizons can congratulate themselves, is that there is evidence that the new Council is determined to probe the financial position and to take nothing for granted. There is much to hopo for in this.