NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 577, 4 August 1909, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY.

' We have frequently'discussed in these columns the extent'-to' which tho ; Govern'; mont' has carried its' usurpation of tho; functions of Parliament and its assumpr tion of 'powors that should , properly; bp left in .the hands of <;the judges of the , Supreme "Courk;" In- another part of this issue, under the heading "Law_ and Liberty," we reproduce a vfery, important protest by the Chief Justice of England against a similar tendency on ,the part of the British' Government;: One of the clauses of . the Finance Bill Vests in -' a Government official the right to allow or disallow appeal" to tho. Courts in disputes of ascertain character "respecting assessment for taxation purposes. ' This iclause it. was that moved Lord AivERSTONE, to enter his protest Against tho destruction by the Executive of the chief, primary right of the people-rthe■right of the citizen to, appeal to the Courts of tho laud for protection of his liberty and property; We cite ini'dur article,, wh|ch con-, tains some valuable .observations on tho point, by tho London Tinm, a particular case in which Dr. FindlaYj of all people, defended tho bad innovation that Loßft Alverstone has felt himself- constrained to condemn, But this-is only one case of many in which the Executive has erected a barrier against the entry of the Courts into regions which were once open to them, and in which, to.use Lord STONE'S words,, they should still be allowed to enter "to protect the interests of the subject against,the;Executive.' And we' might 6ife countless cases . in which the' Executive," by taking to itself the power to issue; : Orders-in-Council, has substituted law by edict for, statute law. We do not suppose feat Lord Alverstone will bo dismissed by-our up-to-date Radicals as a mean authority.!

The mteresting .ncoount of the celebration of the Darwin Centenary at _ Cambridge University, .which we publish in another part of this issue, should Berve to remind us, among other things, not to place too much trust .in a contemporary's estimate of. a man's place- in history, even wherl that contemporary is one who ought to'know. - Charles Darwin, ,in the opinion of Thomas Carlylb, had no'placo in history. Carlyle has placed these words on record, and they should be handed down'as a warning 'to _ posterity; "A good sort of a man is this Darwin, _ and well-meaning; but with very little intellect." Yet this Darwin anahis disciples have opened for us a -new universe—infinite alike in its greatness and stnallness— with a history covering a million million years, more or less, probably more. Then just as we begin to Contemplato with natural pride' this wonderful structure which modern science has built, the philosopher' comes along and undormines its very foundations. The question arises, as a modern writer says, i ' Are the coni captions of scienco life-like piotures of any fundamental reality behind tho phenomena whioh alone our senses can apprehend 1 Confronted with the mys- • tory of the Universe, we are driven to ask if tho model our minds have framed at all corresponds with reality; if indeed there be any reality behind the image." These ■_ are ■ the words of a leading scientist, and another of theso very learned gentlemen informs us that the philosophy of Berkeley doaltv tho death-blow to a belief ih the independent oxißtence of. matter and motion as such, apart from experience. In liia delightful paradoxical wa.v Mil. Bal j ! four has told us that we live in a world ; of illusions and that our knowledge of i reality is, based on illusion; that these i illusions refer,, not to things transcendcnj tal or divine, but to what we see and handle, • those plain matters _of fact "among which common sense daily moves \ with its most confident stop ana most ' self-satiEfled smile." Truly the mystery u id tiutw bsoomca the moro mxotorious the

more wo think about thom. Why is there anything at allinslead of nothing 1 No scientist or philosopher can answer this question, ana tho i ordinary man may well exclaim. "Wlio is sufficient for these things? . We havo remarked on provioiis occasions on the Attornoy-Goncrars pubbcbsion of characteristics which single him out from tho commonplace in politics, Tho ordinary makes no appeal, to his Bubtle intelligence, He findß smiill satisfaction and no pleasuro in recounting to an audience facts, however . pleasant, which are obvious. It is much 'moro to his taste to seize an opportunity to pre-, sent obviously unpleasant facts in a' pleasant light, and the more difficult the task tho more ho appears to revel in it. Taxation, for instance, is not a pleasant platform subject for a politician when lie has to inform his audience that: his Govornmont has been responsible for , tho heavy additions to the burden of'taxation which have-been placed on their' shoulders. The average politician would prefor'to shirk the' subject in these circumßtancos. But not so Dr. Findlay. He has set out to convert tho taxpayer • to the*belief that the bigger burden ho is carrying now is really very much lighter than the old and smaller one .ho used to carry, and it is quite a pleasuro to the student of dialectics to follow his 'really skilful evasion of the real point at issue. Dr. Findlay reminds one of the very smart boy Fred, in tho schoolbooks, who set out to convince his, parents that the two i chickens off which .they woro: about to dine were 1-eally three chickens: , • "Fiiwt this is one and that is two As plain as plain can bo: . . Then to the; two you add the one. And two and one make tlireo. ; Which was very smart, n,o doubt, for a very small boy. But the moral.lies in the father's reply to his son's reasoning: ". . . Since what you say be true, I'll take one,, mamma will take one, ~ The third we'll leave for you." We have a 1 suspicion that the AttorneyGeneral's analytical dissertations .have much the same effect on the public mind as the smart boy's demonstration of his cleverness had 'in convincing his father as ,to the actual number of the chickens on the dish. The father . was no doubt proud of his son's, ingenuity, and the public no doubt regards with somo admiration the jugglery of the Attorney-General. But— that is all. _ What will bo of most interest to tho public just now, however, is to discover why the Attorney-General should have chosen the present moment for his lectures on taxation. Is he endeavouring to educate the public to believe that a further addition to their burdens.would be to their _advantago, and that the: Government will during the coming session provide them with this extra<burden? If not, it would be wise on his part to disclaim any such ■ intention, otherwise hi may occasion . unnecessary uneasiness. ( „ Sir Joseph Ward is not. to bo complimontod upon the reply Which ho gave to the interviewer who asked for his opinion on the London, Times's suggestion . that the self-governing colonies should' assist in the work of Imperial defence by constructing navies of their own. He dissented .from the Times's opinion, and added that "the Dominion would most prefor to adhere, to its own proposal;" The only proposal that has been made on behalf of the' Dominion has been the: offer of a Dreadnought. Surely Sir Joseph cannot believe' that the people =.:■ of : • this country are so: stupid as-to think "that there is anything likb a progressive, naval policy in; setting.; aside: every year : for. thirty years a sum of money to';jj>a£'o>ffthe cost of a single ship which, at the end 'of the thirty years, will havo been obsolete for twenty years, and scrap-iron for a decade ? "Yet! that iswhat his w6rds would appear to mean. Th'e only alterria-. tive to this interpretation of ■ them is that he means that the Dominion would prefer to continue its' old ; practice of paying l an annual naval subsidy, rather than spend the money in maintaining a navy of its own.' This policy was a perfectly sound and proper one so'long; as it had behind it tybe weight , of. expert opinion. But tho position has now, changed. The general theory ,of the 2'ims is tho "one which is now endorsed by almost every authority—by the ■ Admiralty, by. loading; Admirals—Sir. John Oolojid; who died the: other day, was almost tho sole survivor of tho old and opposite theory—and by colonial statesmen. The position which we havo taken up—and which, Sift Joseph Ward should take' up —is readiness to support tho principles that have-tho greatest weight of expert authority behind them. Tho Prime Minister will place himself and tho Dominion in a vory foolish light if, h<3 : persists in thrusting on the Homo Government 1 a Dreadnought which, howover much they, might appreciate the action of this country in offering, they do not actually require. If the money proposed to be spent on a Dreadnought can bo put to .hotter :tso it is tho hoight .of absurdity:, to miss, tho chance of spending it to the best advantage. The Dreadnought offer served; its purpose as : a; medium of convoying : to the people of Britain the willingness of Now Zealand to carry • her full share of Imperial, responsibility; Haying served its purpose ; in;, that respect, the most sensible thing for this country to do, is to accept the advice of the experts ds to the host way in which wo can spend tho money set aside ; for naval'purposes.