NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 596, 26 August 1909, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

Not a little attention was attracted in England by the publication of a cabled summary of Me. J. A; Millar's statement to the deputation that waited upon him early last month in reference to the unemployment difficulty. The. Spectator, after quoting.Mr. Millar's figures as to the public works expenditure, and his startling announcement that no fewer than 130,000 persons, or .one-seventh of the population; aro dependent on the State, made these interesting observations i New Zealand has one-fortieth of, our population. Therefore, if we plungo as deeply as New Zealand into social reform, wo shall bo spending something like ninety-six millions a year ou public works, and have some five million two hundred thousand workers dependent upon tho State. Yet, in spite of that,; we,should still, like New Zealand', bo faco to face with a very large proportion of the population out of employment. The Spectator recalls the comments of tho Economist upon Sir J. G. Ward's references to the ueod for more banking capital:. ■

Tho "Economist" tells us that if this means that it is difficult to borrow in Now Zealand, tho country has no ono to tlmnl: but hor own Parliament. Now Zealand legislation haß driven mortgage companies and funds intended for mortgagos out of tho oountry, "Unfortunately tho effects of a great deal of that legislation wero not. at onco apparent. The orrors of Hctldonißtn are only gradually, bocoming clcar, to tho public at large." Tho viows of two journals of such recognised standing and iniluenco as tho Spectator and the Economist must be rcgardod with interest and respcct. Tho Spectator's translation of the New Zealand figures, into thoir English equivalent is most useful. When the Dreadnought offer was made, tho admirors of that impetuous gift Were quick to point outj for tho better exemplification of what the offer meant, that it was equivalent to a British outburst of eighty Dreadnoughts. The National Debt of this country is equivalent to a British National Debt of nearly 000,000,000. If the, cost of govornmont in Britain wore on the samo scale as in New Zealand, it would amount to two hundred millions sterling! If Britain nationalises tho railways, . and proceeds on New Zealand lines—losing, as wo showed / tho other day, at tho rato of at least £230,000, a year on the average—the'loss per anuum would bo £10,000,000, or two-thirds of tho amount of taxation aimed at in the Budget! If tho_ expenditure of tho British Government in departmental- ad-, ministration and under permanont ! appropriations increased at the pace set by Sik J. G. Wakd—an _ average riso of £500,000 a year—tho increase would bo £20,000,000 a year. If the public would get into the habit of looking at the finances of this country in this way it would realise ; more thoroughly what tho waste and extravagance of the Government really amount to.

The Rev. De. Gibb ' may reasonably congratulate himself upon the stir created by the article which ho contributed to our columns a few dayß ago. His strictures .upon colonial manners and the arrogancc oi the New'Zealandor, his allegations of incivility .and "swelled head" have been discussed by a succession of animated; and sometimes indignant, correspondents. No doubt' the general public has enough good souse to consider whether, thorc is not something to bo. learnt even from the most .unpalatable of Dn. .Giro's remarks. The idea that New Zealand is "God's Own Country," the centro of created things, raised above the operation of natural laws, is one which wo have more than once or twice endeavoured to correct. It is,.;however,' a fallacy which is paralleled —thotigh not; always expressed with the same naiveti—in many other countries, Americans < have an ; immense reputation for bragging of their country, and if Englishmen do not /equal them in this respect it is perhaps because they take their own superiority so much for granted that the idea of perpetually advertising it does not occur to them. "Swelled bead," of the kind referred to by Dr. Gibb, is a perverted form of patriotis'ta. Similarly,, the incivility— whether freqiieut or uncommon—of tram conductors, policemen, and others is an unfortunate, but by no means necessary, accompaniment of the t sentiment of democracy. In the' United States, whero it has .boon' the fashion to boast of the absonce of claas distinctions, the amount df rudeneßS' likely to be encountered by ..a; traveller in a dajr's journey seems ;to have been at one time much greater than it ever was in New Zealand. Readers of Mark Twain may remember his satirical references: to the- "noble and .gentlemanly" _ American hotel dorks, and the calculation that' in'' a -b trip one will be insulted "only'' three times, by the railway, officials. -That was a good ; many years' ago, and American democracy appears to he less truculent to-day. But even if New Zealand is not, alone in her foibles,' that does not make them virtues; 7\Vhy should not all'Of ,us be modest as 'well as. patriotic; courteous as well as free? : ':

T«he extracts from the official roport on strikes and lock-outs in the United Kingdom, which we publish in another column, are most : interesting and instructive, especially when read- in connection with recent cablegrams regardthe present labour disputes, in the United States .and Sweden, and the trouble within our own borders at Otira.' It is quite startling to'learn that in the United Kingdom alone, during the year 1908 over 10,000,000 working days were wasted by strikes and. lock-outs. The greatest loss was caused by the cotton spinning dispute in which 120,000 workers were concerned, the of working days thrown away being no fewer than 4,750,000. : Of the 399 disputes referred to. in the report; only 8.5 per Cent, ended in favour of the men, while 25.2 per, cent, resulted in favour of the employers, tho remainder being. _ compromised. From whatever point of view: this question is regarded tho argument against the strike and the lock-out is overwhelm: ing. This is quite plain to' all intelligent people, but the difficulty is to find some other method of settling disputes which will be workable and will give" satisfac-. tion to both parties. _ Arbitration of course at once suggests itself as the trueremedy, but our own experience in Now Zealand has shown that, however attractive it may be in theory, it is very far from-being perfect in its practical application. We may eventually devolve 'something out of tho voluntary system adopted'in Canada, but, as has been demonstrated here, compulsory arbitration must fail when put to the final test.