NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 626, 4 October 1909, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY.

Headers of The Letter's ofQueen.Victoria will not requjro'; to be ; told •■ that there! is nothing' at all' improbable in the suggestion; that the. King is. something 'more than l - a spectator- of .'the fight.* On many occasions the late insisted on the modification of' acts and policies submitted to her by her Ministers. , ,As LoßßEsnEn.said.in a leo : hire'at the JRoyal Institution last. March, referring ';to: ..her ■'..■Majesty's , ./ papers: " Through the close-written volumes of journals to which I-■ have- alluded there can bo traced ; this-; firm ; conviction, un-. challenged, as jt seemed', to her, that it was' her duty and function to! choose the best mon'-to govern her .country' and her people, and_ • to; watch carefully lest: in foreign affairs 'or v domcstic politics, or ■■ in: Administration' or an; Legislature, or' in r the choice of instruments, ,7icr- Mipisters —as she deemed them—should betray her confidence or swerve-from" the; paths, of their/, predecessors.' She laid 'strong stress o.i precedent;-and.' although she , ) rarely ■ expressed views on, domestic, affairs,' she believed herself: to be responsiblo for continuity in the. forms of'government . and for '■' stability in ' foreign i policy.". Her.Majesty did not think, with I her grandfather, that the best man .to govern the country was thb'man.most willing to carry out the Royal will.. She ] wished her Ministers-to understand and carry out the. will of the' people, antl i she was a.very,-acute critic of their, policies, v In her timci.".the. criticism;.or remonstrances of the Sovereign led 'almost always to reconsideration, and almost in-J variably to the amendment. Kino EdwAiid is very unlikely to remain indifferent to the.domestic affairs of his kingdom, , arid: it 'is quite .possible..,that Lpn» Lansdowne's : forthcoming' visit to : him, and his. recent entertainment of Lord Eosebery,- mean that''those enthusiastic opponents of the Budget have been-conr sidered proper subjects for the reception 6f a majestically impartial and detached view of the situation*' There can be-no constraint, of course;. it would be .an. evil thing, if British: -statesmenv were. to. feel themselves • bound to: : ",the\ King's opinion." But it is a valuable, thing to have a moans.of forcing both.parties .in an aciite political conflict to.listen to the opinions of a mediator of, unequalled authority, of proved shrewdness, and of a patriotism;beyond dispute. Both parties will feel,.surer of'.themselves in their, final resolves, and the nation will feol secure in knowing that' there "is fifm'ness and honest conviction on, both 'sides. -~

TnE Ministerial journal in Auckland makes a very violent'attack on our Auckland- correspondent in: connection with the report supplied by' him of the Peime MiNisTEß's.reocptiort.' It will boromembored that this, report stated ; that, tho rkoeption' could not kkv described as other than lukewarm; that there were evidences of hostility from a section' said to bo Socialists; that while there was a '.' fairly large crowd" at'the landing place and " a good crowd " : at. Albert Park, the street crowd was small; and that a strong force of police wns present. - ' Our contemporary describes this account' as "a farrago of nonsense and downright lies,"- and. : 'in---the .'course of -its subsequent,, remarks descends to. a level of abuse and vituperation which happily- is seldom seen in the columns of the Reputable press of this country. 'It oven'goes so,far as to insimiato that '/the -'report, which was supplied; by. oiir regular, corro; s'pond«nt, was manufactured or its points exaggerated in our own ofiico. Ther'o is not,., of course, ...a... shadow of truth in',' this insinuation.; nor havo we tho. v "slightest.'''-reason to believe' that: , our 'correspondent, who 'is , an oxporienced journalist, respeeted .in ; his Brofassion, did other than record the. Ac-

tual facts. The same, report, wo believe, was published byatlcast one other journal in Now Zealand. If confirmation of our correspondent's estimate'of the attitude : of the public on' the occasion were needed, it is given in the columns of the Auckland Herdd. ..That paper from tho outset; had warmly advocated that tho Prime Minister • should 'be welcomed home in a proper spirit and had urged that tho welcome' should bo a' national' one to an able public man-who had represented tho country in.the councils of the nation, let in the course of its lengthy report' of; tho -proceedings not 1 a single mention is-made of the reception being of an enthusiastic nature.. On the contrary, on the following day, the writer of its weekly column, under tho , heading Local says: .' "TJjo reception in Auckland was not bo warm as I should , havo liked to see it. The volunteers did not turn out in great numbers, tho Socialists tried- to spoil, the programme, and tho great bulk of representative citizens we-ro, not prominently present. The Prime ',-Minister deserved better than this for his. work: at the conference, but there is no denying the fact that many people have, been' estranged.," Th'o .volunteers nil over the Dominion have their knife ;rnt<> the Deparmental heads:; tho 'Tai'W b"d ■ policy hns estranged tho general public without pleasing the Socialists, and upon various local matters' Auckland has its'usual grievance'."' ;' ' ".. . '.■'.■-. ■•■ ". " . .• ' ;

(This apologetic note from a paper which had striven valorously to stimulate pub- | lie enthusiasm for-the reception Bpeaks (for itself. '..We should not have taken any notice of the vulgarly abusive comments of the Auckland Ministerial' journal but for. the fact that we are growing, a little tired of what appears to bo an organised attempt, on the part: of certain Ministerial journals to misrepresent The Dominion. The, Auckland, Star- is peculiarly [unfitted, to lecture .any other, newspaper on journalistic ethics and no more striking evidonce of this, could be given than its own- report of SiK Joseph Ward's reception. ,■ The; Star, with its distorted .vision,:, could/see nothing -but enthusiasm throughout tho w-010 proceedings,' and it deliberately. _,suppressed every ■ reference to the hostility, which so far as we know* every, other • paper, in .'New. Zealand recorded, whether they; liked -it or not, as' a matter of plain and obvious duty to the public. Thisis the paper which now has the. impudence to lecture on " tho dignity; of journalism," 'and which stoops, to a malicious, and, we believe, quite unwarranted,- slander, on: a press correspondent of. recognised repute.. ;.:,,. . -'. .