NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 736, 8 February 1910, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

The' < Australian Labour - member who, according to the cable, has become "sick of Parliamentary., life " because the Labour party, in the Federal Parliament has ..pursued; at times 'a policy of expediency . must, have entered Parliament deeply im-; bued with a fallacy very common in Labour circles.'; This is the fallacy' that, the champions of. Labour in Parliament or elsewhere, should prove, immune from .the. difficulties, and temptations which beset leaders of other parties. The Hon. J. M. FowleE:blames the first Federal .Labour Ministry because,■it"'-."main-tained a precarious existenoe by giving -away planks of its platform." He does not consider that a precarious existence ; may compel unpleasant sacrifices. If, as seems evident, Mr. Fowler, is an average Labour member, it probably never occurred to him, till he was. shocked and shamed by the event, that a Labour Ministry could ever occupy a precarious position. It is uncohI scioualy assumed for the most' part by trados unionists that Vhen they have a sufficiently strong party in the Legislature the present laws which govern party warfare will somehow or other be suspended, and Labour will to realises'all its desires.. They do not. reflect that Labour members will develop the ■same ambitions as other men, or that new responsibilities will force Labour leader? to take a wider outlook than'is A taken by their party as a whole, or that Lalwur, as a ruling

power in the State, will have to encounter the .same difficulties and opposition as fall to the lot of other dominant- parties. They: are therefore surprised and shocked: when successful Labour does meet, with these common dangers and vicissitudes, and when its leaders employ' the common methods to preserve the "precarious existence" ot the party. Me.; Fowler is aggrieved because the Labour leaders have had "one eye on the electors and the other on the Treasury benches," and he de-. Clares himself "sick of political" adventurers." He ■ does not show, however, that Labour's representatives have acted any ' worse: than other members of Parliament: His disappointment is the disappointment that will come to all those : hopeful "progressives" who cherish the fallacy that \ human, nature, changes to keep pace 1 with - legislative policies. ....

Although for the present there are no _ evidences of ; any actively violent feeling ■ in ' New South Wales against: the imprisonment of Peter Bottling, it is not to" be supposed that, public opinion in' Australia has made: up its mind to adopt into the natural order of things the application to industry of the legal cations on which the ordinary criminal law.'is based. Time—but not ; a very lone timewill be required for the full- realisation by the.public of what the 'penal clauses of ccxjrciveindustrial legislation really mean. ■' "We have: before now given our reasons for regarding as utterly vicious a law that involves the doctrine that men' should be; prohibited,, under 'pain of imprisonment, from going on stride. That law cuts at the very foundations of true liberty. ' The view which is taken in Britain of the doctrine of "imprisonment for strikers", is. •well illustrated by,.the following extract from a recent editorial in the London Morning Post, a newspaper of Conservative opinions:

' Mr. Bill' ii framed on lines most startling to the ideaa and prejudices of .the ordinary Englishman; It is'I proposed to give the police, power to enter any house suspected of being, used tor purposes..of the sprite, and to make the' meeting 'of' two' or' more people for purposes. of'', a : strike or lock-out into • a ponal offence ' punishable; with 1 a year's imprisonment. The idea of the liberty of the subject is rudely flouted by such, proposals, and could bo fait to justify them in this country, but a state of war. • :.v.' It is difficult to imagine any other British journal holding a different view from that of the Morning Post,. and. this although wild Radical doctrines are eating their • way into the heart of .British Liberalism. To talk of"the liberty of tho subject" in this country is, we know, .to ezEose oneself to the ridicule which has een directed by our own Radicals at, among things," the.law;of gravitation itself. But there is no justification for the belief that sound principles will never again oome into thoir own in New Zealand, and it is sometimes useful to remind New Zealanders of the existence,of ooun-, tries which still cling to some of those principles. •. ■

The discussions which- have taken place , recently on the Harbour Board's' practioe of transacting a large;proportion, of:! its. business, in' committee will have a good effect if they induce the .public to take a closer interest in the Board's affairs. In accordance with the soul of good- . ness in things evil, .it .is' to. be hoped' that the • financial check which the' Board had last year will! con-: duce to . the '.same desired; : result.The Harbour Board' Controls an annual revenue of close on £200,000, and during recent years large, developmental works .have been undertaken, some. of which : are. still, in progress. For the year ended September ; 30. the revenuefell, ;; from £176,709 to £165,422, a _dccreai», ; of £11,287 as compared with'increases of £20,178,'; £14,033,: and £16,012; for the three preceding years. Although the; secretary's! report states that the working expenses have- declined* in a quicker ratio than the revenue, ana that the fall in revenue is ' almost entirely owing to the : unusual depression' ,in the. ' import ' trade, Btrong criticisms - have been passed by -'one "or .two , members', on' the Board's administration. The Mayor, De. Newman,' stated at' a meeting that the Board was "saddled with extravagance of the deepest dye, and tho life-blood of the harbour was being destroyed.';' Several of the works for which contracts 'have been; let have been especially exposed to criticism, ' and • when ; the chairman, at the last meeting, moved the; usual motion that the Board /go into mittee for certain business,. Me.. Fletcher declared that if projected works were considered in public "we. might not have the same bungling as in tho past few years." _ It is just possible-that the Board might, carry out its undertakings with: less mistakes if more of its proposals could be discussed' publicly, but on : the. other hand,' the financial and, .other transactions of such a body as the Harbour Board must, in a great many inst-ances, be . dealt with more safely and, advantageously: in, pri* vate. We cannot take exception to the ' regulation which the chairman quoted as defining classes , of business that. must bo taken,! in: committee,' and members of the Board have always - the > opportunity to speak openly on a given question when the report agreed to in , committee is received. At the same ':' time ; the Board should avoid taking' business needlessly -in committee. What is required is that the public should un-, dprstand the way in which its affairs are transacted, and that it should be able_ and ready to take an intelligent interest. in .their administration. We should like to see the : impending election mark the beginning of the end of the public's apathy in this mattor. 1