NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 629, 5 October 1909, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY.

j -The Prime Minister wasgiyen a very ! hearty /reception last, evening % the ,wojmons branch of the local. political organ- j Jsation associatcd-with.the: Government..■ Although not a .very, large \ affair, it was in complete: accord with the principal guest of the evening, and the proceedings worb agreeably harmonious. /Sir "Joseph Ward has been ealled'on to make eo many i speeches since he landed in New Zealand on Thursday last on h> return from the Motherland, that he could : hardly bo ex-! pected. to, say - any thing now ; concerning ms ■ work';and his experiences abroad. l His speech , in the main was on the lines' of.that. , cfc!we.r.c'^jby, c reception' hero on Saturday..\;Thoro was one point,' however, which while not entirely new. is of. interest. : Sir ■•Joseph, referring to :the million , loan v.faiepd Avhilo,' in :Londoii, .stated that . .portion ' "-'of--the' half-million borrowed ; .for.-. Advances' to.. Settlors had .been .used to., meet all. the outstanding demands!• which,i had. accumulated during- thoporiod 'of ! scarcity of funds.: It is a little surpris-/ rog-.to learn that, there were no fewer than one, thousand applicants for loans waiting the time when the. Advances'to Settlers; Department would bo in a position to.meet their- requirements.. .It would bo a matter of much general interest to'"ascertain', thedotails. of- this advance's made ■by'the l State since tho.formation'.of .this money-lending Department, , .' To.'pub'lish th.p: : names.'of,, those, .who. have-borrowed from the Department would of course be< improper, but a: complete return showing I tho BcpaTate: amounts advanced, arid the .class of property against which advances' have been made, would bo o£ particular interest and;-would. disclose nothing'that should not be known tp the goneral public. It should afford a valuable insight | into tho work of. this Department: :.';.''

. Lord, Plunket's'■-tact, '■■ cojrjiled with''&■ directness of speech calculated- to carry conviction to tue.Native mind, will.'probably, smooth over ; tho unfortunate differonce ■which occurred yesterday ih'cbnncctioh with' the opening of tho Maori College and Hostel. at Otaki. .It is to be regretted- that, tbo .Natives;-''.whoso forefathers, as was pointed out, provided the endowments •.-which; have permitted the establishment of the college, were not consulted in connection with tho ceremony,,. and that they Should havo been given any reason to think themselves slighted. We- cannot, believe that' any such slight was intended, and no doubt his Excellency's appeal to the common sense- of the Natives .■ at, tho gathering which he afterwards attended, wijl assist to smooth away any, ill-feeling gencrated. ■It ; is satisfactory ,to note that the College,. Trustees' are impressed with .tne necessity for making.the,colloge something more than a school .of religious instruction and . somotbing ;,more, than an institution at which tho younger generation of Natives might learn ■ to read and write. To inako 'the most of the Native ho must be trained young to follow some occupation congenial to him, and it has been found that carpentry, bootmaking farming, cto.i appeal to him strongly. I cchtiical instruction therefore is to form part of, the teaching at the 'college" and there can bo no doubt that practical instruction of this kind will in time have amarked and beneficial influence on the race. •' -■■■■■■■ .'■■..•-■;"■-- :"•.-■'.•■•'■-• -.-- :

The Queensland general > election • has resulted in the reproduction, on a minor scale, of the position in .the Commonwealth Parliament. Tho coalition Government has boen returned to power,- and holds 40 of the 74.seats. Of the remaining 34. seats; the official Labour party has secured 28. ; Although, therefore, the Government has a majority', and a majority, sufficiently small to tighten the coalition, the strength of , the Labour party is a very remarkable, and significant thing. It was really in Queensland that the Australian Labour mpvoment originated, and it has been in 'Queensland that the forces of Labour have been most powerful and most successful, -Labour's capture of power in tho Federal Parliament was due only to the split botween tho - two parties -which roccntly coalesced-under tho leadership of Mn. Deakin and Mr. Cook. ; The Queensland Labour party went to the polls on Saturday mainly as the champions of an advanced land-tax, but.it carried with it the' Socialistic .platform: decided Upon at the Convention hold' in' May ]pQ5 t soon after the coalition between the ..Kicistoniks and the Labour party under Mm Moroan, At that conference, Mn. Keimholu, then member for South Brisbane moved:

"That the objective of tho Labour move- r ment is tho establishment'of a co-opera-tive commonwealth by the furtherance in National, State,, and Municipal Legisla- < nV/ i f , ollowin E principles':—(a) In lolitics >x thc principles of Democracy, complete self-government vested in the People, every adult 'standing on equality at the ballot-box. ,(b) In Economics, the principles of Collectivism.. The scientific organisation of Labour.; the equitable distribution of tho product of Labour by tho Nation, State-and Municipality owning and cooperating, in the interests of all its citizqns, the monopolies and ■ larire industries of tho community." This proposal was rejected in favour'of an .amendment affirming as" the objective ". the securing of the full result of their industry to all producers by the collective ownership of, monopolies, and the extension of the industrial and economic ;" nc V ) on sof.tho State arid Municipalities. There-is, of courEO, no difference those'two policies; the second intho: first-disguised in order to allay tho lv a ?£ l r ho , P ublio - lt is quite plain tnofc. tnc Labour objective is simplv Socialism, and tho realisation of this fact by moderate men will probably result in tno Philp-Iyidston coalition remaining nra and durable. Queensland is beginning to realise that the real battle ahead pf.it. is,, as Senator St. Ledger says in His recent volume on Australian Sncw/MOT, Constitutionalism versus Socialism. "