NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 666, 17 November 1909, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dr. Findlaj, is to' bo complimented upon the attitude which, he adopted towards the deputation that waited upon him yesterday to request that Mr. Din-, nib's" reply " to the Police Commission's report should be L'ud before Parliament. Kothing could bo better, Inoreovpr, than the Minister's clear and carcful statement of tho principles which determined his attitude.. 'We call attention to the matter here only because there seems to us to be soinething radically-wrong with opinion when a deputation of citizens can seriously ask a .Minister 6f the Crown -to reverse the whole theory of Royal Commissions. The members of yesterday's deputation, if they had given the matter careful'thought, would' Have realised that their request ws.s. really out of all order. For it was only want of thought, Wo are sure, that blinded them to the fact, which Dr. Findlay stated with admirable clearness, that a " reply " to Mr. BiShop's report is a thing impossible and inconceivable, as would be a " reply " to a Full Court judgment. If the report'.amounts to an unfavourable opinion upon the. Commissioner of Police, Mr. Dinnie does: not by that fact acquire the right to traverse the report in the;way desired. 'To.concede that right' would' be utterly/intolerable, and destructive of all order and good government. In the circumstances wo could alfnost wish: that Dr. Findlay had stated his caso with Severe emphasis,' for the appearance of the deputation '.was undoubtedly a B.vmptom of a general public tendency that wc havo frequently noted in the past^—a tendency, that is to say, to'make Hght of tho principles that underlie the strict ,conventions of law and mcnt. Laxity in these matters is notoriously tho first movement towards anarchy; or, at the .least, - towards, instability in'.' out: most' pJecioiis -institutions. It should, not be.' necessary for us to add that this view can be strongly held 1 side by:.sido .with a Strong desiro that in acting upon Mr. Bishop's report the Government will Eec- that -. justice, is done to everybody concerned. - ;

A question, of; public importance.-'.is involved in tho .brief discussion in Parliament yesterday afternoon upon the inquiry which : Judges : Chapman ' arid Cooper, bavb been conducting': in reference "to', cortain charges brought against, a high .officer of an- important Public Department.' To a question. from Mr. Masse? 'as to' when, or_ whether, Parliament ' would reooivo tho roport of the Judges, Sib Joseph Ward replied in effect that hecould not say. anything definite in the absentxj of the report.' .That is a position, not easy to attack. . But tho Prime Minister will not ba treating with fairness the official concerned, the-general public, or the Legislature, if, lis appears to' bo, his intention, ho refuses to give Parlia-' ment any satisfactory information when the Judges -have ,concluded their work. As-most people know, the nature of the charges made has been widely talked about, and the public can rightly , demand that, the veil shall be torn away and the wholesome , light of publicity allowed to enter. There is one aspect of the affair that must not go unnoticed. Tho Executive has engaged two Judges of ( tho Supreme Court, to hold an inquiry behind Departmental screens into a Departmental ' matter involving tho public interest That is a legal, but a most improper thing, unless the full report is published. ,Tho'; judicial system 1 will' .begin | to rot if the Judges can bo used by the Executive as private ! experts in evidence in cases affecting the public. The judiciary "can be kept strong and,'w'holcSome, and can retain the confidence of the people, only by_ being kept independent, and plainly visible in its activities. The employment of Judges in. the present instance leaves the Government with no alternative but to give the public, through Parliament, the full details of the case and the finding. ' If the Government for any reason : refuses to take . this ■ courso, what Will bo the impression left on tho public mind? '

Our advice, in out article of yesterday, that Old lleform Party should insist on obtain) ng a statement of the Government's intentions for - the session had the effect of bringing tho Prime Minister to a Sudden realisation of the danger of playing with the HouSe any. longer. Ho produced the statement required without any fuss., The Government desires to' pass into law a great number of very important measures, and as it is obvidusly impossible that theso measures shall receive adequate treatment in five weeks, it is proposed that the House shall adjourn until tho end of January, sit for _ a few and then-'-'adjourn until June, l&ll. Sir Joseph Ward-can do many things with impunity, but the public will not be so utterly dull and sluggish as to consent . . . to this further stride towards tho practical abolition of ' Parliamentary government. The Prime - Minister's object is to sccufo that' the Executive, shall for over a year run unchecked by Parliament; and that is an idea that had better be abandoned at once. Fifteen months of Executive v administration without Parliamentary Contrblr-this is a little more than democracy Will endure. The country will be quito satisfied :if Parliament settles the-urgent' questions; it does not desire a mafcn of hurried legislation.; 'It .is: significant thftt the PIIIMG MtNiaiEii onjy promises to bi'ilig down a. few bf the important measures,' attd :to.i brihg. theni down' at leisurely intervals. He intends, of course, to adopt the old driving tactics in Deccmi bcr if he can nianftgo it.' Ho left this in

no doubt yesterday by his cool suggestion that only he and Mr. Massey should speak on the Financial Debate. , Ho even suggested to Me. M'Laiien that an hour's speech on such a big Budget would be useless. This of course involves the extraordinary doctrinc that no Budget should be. debated. Tbo wide scope of the Budget, so far from supplying a reason why there should be no debate, supplies the strongest reason why, by a series of amendments, tho_ House should be given the; amplest facilities for, dealing with the principles involved.. The two things to _be, guarded against arc, first, the old driving tactics, and second, ythe doposition of Parliament and the establishment of a long period of uncontrolled .Executive administration. , .