NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 613, 16 September 1909, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY.

■ r-« —. .Not' much,attention has been attract by the statement in which Dr. ' Fikdlv attempted last week to supnlv a Rfoificfi cal disproof of the recldeJ% of tt Bont-day Liberalism." The public i quite unmoved by the threadbare dcvici of, slightly to paraphrase Bukke, "com pJimontmg the contrivances of the Gov ernmont with what is due in a irrcat dp gree to-the bounty of ProVidence." Bu' there is ono point in the Attorney-Gen oral s statement t deserves some no tiee. It is contained in this passage • i !; terest ' l'V (1 on t)io public deb in 1891 wa5'J81,660,237," equal to £2 13s. 6d per head of the Luropoan population. lu 190S the total interest paid on tile nu'bli dobt was £2.187,410, equal to £2 7s. 3d no head of the European -population. . Let these facts and ■figures answer the re treated misstatement that the country i groaning under a crushing burden of'debt. Db. Findlay did not tell his audiono jnat una taxation Ear head h^-insima

' during the same period from £3 05.,2 d. fcc over £5. But it is worth while oxamininf , the singular doctrine contained in hi: 1 statement of the position in relation t< I the public debt, namely, that providcc the amount paid per head in interest oi the public debt does not increase, all i; well. The gross debt of New Zealand is roughly, £70 per bead. According t Dr. jFindlay, there will bo'nothing to b alarmed at if the debt is still £70 pe head when the population is 44,000,00 C \Vhcn, that is to say, tlio population i equal to that of the British Isles, it wil 3 be quite satisfactory if the public deb ; is £3,080,000,000. This is only abou £2,373,000,000 more than the British No tional Debt, If tlio amount of dobt pe lioad in this country is quite reasonable thon Britain is neglecting its duty i ■ failing to bo equally'wise. It ought a once to raise a loan amounting to £2,373 . 000,000. It is quite plain that Dr. Fini lay's safo level will not bo cxcccded if th Government borrows £70 for ovcry addi tion to the population. That, indeed, i in effect practically what tlio Governmen 3 has been doing. Wo wonder what th - financiers of other countries will thin - of the doctrine that every time a baby j j born, or every time an immigrant' ai I; rives, Sir J. G, Ward should rush off i hot haste to the money-lender in order t J raise £70 in celebration of the event. f The reappearance of Haul's come) which is announced in a cablegram-pul ' lished in another column, provides a • impressive illustration of tho wonderfi : accuracy of modern astronomical prcdii t tion. In his presidential address at th _ recent meeting of the British As'sociatior [ Sir J. J. • Thomson referred to tho nee , of a thorough knowledge of mathematk for those engaged in the study of physic ' in its higher branches, and this need 'i i perhaps even moro urgent in tho ease c ; astronomy, for some of tho calculation s made aro extromoly difficult owing to th ; number of complicated factors whic [ have to be taken into consideration. Fair ( ous among these calculations was Hai ley's prediction regarding tho reappeai ance of his comet in 1768. The in vestige i tions of astronomers have brought th ! comets into the region of 'law. and, ordei ; and now that we are able to undcrstan . their movements wo are no longer afrai , of them. The' mystery surrounding thes \ strange heavenly bodies which appeare ; : to : come suddenly from nowhere struc terror into tho hearts of our ancestori ' who regarded them as omens of disastei Tho appearance'of Halley's comet i . 1060, for instance, ijras. connected b . superstitious people with the l Norma Invasion, and even at the present day j comot, like an eclipse, is regarded wit fear by savage race 6. An eye-witness c the, effect .of tho eclipse of 1878 upon tribo of Red Indians states that it drov 1 the poople almost frantic with terror, h i last an old Indian took a piatof in hi hand, and, mumbling a few unintelligibj : words, aimed at the .darkened orb. Tlia very instant was the conclusion of tota ity, and the awestruck Bavages. saw. th sun begin to shine,again. No one coul persuade them that tho pistol shot ha nothing to do with tho matter, arid tli old man's reputation as a wonder-workc was firmly established. Astronomy is; on of tho most fascinating'of studies, '.an modern methods of investigation regarc ing( the heavenly bodies has given a fatfe .blow to superstition, though no doiil some people still retain a feeling of aw when they look at a cometj because son: astronomers who.have an inclination fx wards the sensational have predicted thn our earth may one day meet with a tei riblo accident through a. collision wit one of these wandering bodies. Hov ever, authorities! differ as rogards th probable effect of such, a contingency ■and ( somo of them "declare that our litftl world might bo none the worse for th experience. This.is certainly reassuring but no one is anxious for a practical dc moristration.lt might'put an. end t more things than an interesting sciontifi theory. ■' ; ■ The methods of a section of tho Mil isterialist press a,re sometimes vory.amui ing. Our readers will be greatly intei cstod, wo aro euro, ,in the attitude',tha tho more intelligent section of that pret is ,taking up on the, question of lafid ter ■ure. Tne local evening paper' stand alone, so Jar as we are aware, ill its ir dignant denunciation of the fashion -. i which the Government is. preparing t betray its "leasehold" friends. The Mir isterialist organ in Christchurch is : bui dened by few scruples in the matter. I admitted, last week, that tho success c what it calls "the party of retrogression 1 "has_ been secured by no ■ chanco vote" "It is the result of tho persistent agita tion that has boon conducted by Ml Massey and his friends, aided aud abei ted by the Farmers' Union, during th past decade.-" .It goes on to cnumerat the "abundant signs that the Govern ment is contemplating an amendment t the Land Act that will save the face of it less progressive friends." This strikes u as being a charmingly ingenious way o putting the position, and it deserves t tako rank with that classical.example *o hinting delicately, 'which was supplied b; Lord North when ho threw Fox, out o the Cabinet; "His Majesty," wrot North to Fox, "has thought proper t order a new Commission of tho Treasur, tp bo made out, in which ! do not se your name." The, land,nationalises.ma; expect to find the Government sayinj very shortly that it has been though proper to devise a new land policy, ii which the, principle of the. inalienabl lease docs not appear. For the present to-be surp, tho Christchurch journal which possibly has been asked by . the Gov ernment to break tho news gently, hint that tho leaseholders may savcvsomethini from the wreck: . • . "The leaseholders will have to mako th best of tho position as they find it, and i they can save the national endowments an | preserve tho renewable lease, with it 3 periodi revaluation, thoy may well consider tho ex pedienoy of allowing the leases-in-Derpetuit to go. Tho fortunes of political warfare hav' brought them to a 1 place where they canno reject every compromise as unreasonable." Translated into plain English, this mean that the leaseholders must make up thei minds _to grin and bear the sacrifice o their ideals in order that the Govern ment may enjoy a littlo longer the sweet of offioe. It is, pretty obvious that "thi fortunes of political warfare" are rapidl" bringing tho Government to the .poin where it can no longer insist on anythini against the growing sentiment of tin public for. reform. ■ And when it ha reached that point the public will prob ably decide that the Government must bi thrown out of the way altogether.