NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 700, 28 December 1909, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY

A remakkable article on "Tho Tammanyising of a Civilisation" appears in tho November number of M'Glure's Magazine., . It is almost impossible to conceive tho extent to which _ Tammany influence is exercised in some American cities. The picture conjured up by the writer of/the article in question may strain the credulity of thoso unacquainted with the gross and flagrant evils which movo in the train of the "slum politicians," "ward bosses," and the corruption of the police and lower magisterial officials. The article shows that'the l traffic in poor , and illiteratefemale immigrants for immoral purposes has been developed under Tammany supervision to such a pitch ■ that these wretched whito slaves are now supplied as a regular business to all the great . American cities. It shows that the demoralisation of the people by saloon-keepers who are protected in, their illegal practices, by bribed police has reached ■ a stage that is appalling. It shows that under the system of administration which Tammany has created human life is from ten to twenty times more insecure throughout the United States than throughout the British Empire. . Here are some statistics. During the past 15 years the number of murders in the United States has been 133,192.: But during tho four years of the American Civil War the entire number of men in the Northern; Army who wero killed in battle or died of' wounds vas no more than 110,070. Truly, the murderer is abroad in the United States. The States of New Yorkand Illinois,' with a population of less than 14,000,000, require 572 judges ,in their courts, while England and Wales; with a population of 32,000,000, require only-92 judges of the same general status.'' President. Taft is quoted as having said in, a speech at Chicago last September "It is not: too much to : say, that the administration of criminal law in this country is a disgrade to our civilisation." . , Tamma-ny recintly secured a victory for its can ; didate for the Mayoralty of New York, and there is much speculation as to what the result will be.

The chorus, of protest against tho new - railway servioes on the Welling-ton-New Plymouth, and WellingtonNapier lines grows in volume daily. Complaints as to the inconvenience caused and the failure to meet tho requirements of the public continue to pour in,' and thore appears to be little doubt that the new arrangements provide for tho most unsatisfactory service that has been .arranged by .the • Railway: Department for a great many years. It is to be doubted whether the Department is even making" the savin? it : expected by .the cutting off of certain of the regular/trains,' and it certainly cannot have gained greater revenue by the course ; followed. Special trains, as has bfeen pointed oht; have been running day and night to copo with traffic which ordinarily was undertaken _by the regular trains, and the maximum of ; inconvenience is occasioned to- everyone. We have no doubt that tho railway officials are doing their utmost to cope with the situation created for them by: the Ministerial head of the Department;, but anyone who, has had business with the traffic. and ■'passenger departments during the past fortnight will-have some idea of the state of muddlement which . exists. Christ- 1 mas-time, of course, always brings extra traffic, but it is open to qiies.tion whether the traffic this year is as heavy as on some previous occasions. ! Yet 'tho public have..never been sOi greatly inconvenienced. The Minister will find that ho may save a littlc !! money by, cutting off an odd train or two, but he will lose a lot of money'by making railway travelling inconvenient, and unpopular.

The apologists for: the: action of the Primi: Minisieu in refusing lo obey the \will of; Parliament as expressed on ' Dccomber 3 by 35 votes to 25 are attempting; to make it appear, that the position was not made clear, to members when the veto was taken. This, of course, is absurd. The ' Prime Minister did all' that was possible, but members apparently felt that they . were; already payi:ag a very high jirice: for the servioes of the High Cfommissioner's Department, and that this extra £400 to an outsider was an unnecessary luxury. There can be no doubt at all that this is so, and that at a time when tho Government is preaching economy the expenditure of this sum is quite indefensible. It is, really! very amusing to note the hard straitu to which, the', defenders of this payinerit are driven. Tho nonsense that has been ■ talked and written oiy the subject, of the .value of' the services which Mr. Reeves might render the country is only likely; to influence .those {who know nothing: of the 'conditions'' which- exist..'. The'; High. Commissioner should bo in a position to obtain a great deal more information on financial matters, affecting this country than can be gathered by Mr. Reeves, and this is no discredit to Mr. Reeves, who in his private capacity cannot pretend to : have the same opportunities as tho official representative of Now ' Zealand! • As a matter of. fact, both Mr. Reeves,' as.High. Commissioner, and bis successor in the office were, and; are, forced to rely on outside advice in connection with financial operations. The sum involved in the vote is compaiatively . small,;, but that is no reason why it should be wasted in tho manner proposed.: Wo are quite aware that Sir Joseph Ward' dominates a .sufficient number of his party to be fairly certain under given conditions to gain his cnds. : ■ The exercise of this power, however, is not likely- to do either the head of the Government or the party as'a whole anything but harm with tho country. It was stated that the members of the party wore to be given a free hand on the Estimates, but presumably that liberty will be taken away in an endeavour to force Parliament to bow to the will of its Prime Minister. .It will not be. an easy thing for tho Government to reconcile its professions of economy'with its action. in this matter; nor will it be easy for certain members to explain to their constituents their meek subjection to an autocracy at complote. variance with thoio democratic "principles which thoy are pledged to uphold. .