NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 742, 15 February 1910, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

4 S ■ Sra: Joseph-:Ward signalised his g return to active duty yesterday 8 . after a period 'of indisposition by / taking a principal part m the ceremony arranged to do honour to the • late head of the Public Trust Of- > fice. . Sir Joseph is. usually seen .at - -his. best on. such- occasions, -and ':it - must have proved pleasing to .his 1 friends to note that, his bout of ill--2 health has in no way damped his enthusiasm and that- he has re-en- : ' tered tho field .in -good, spirits. . Most : ". people will be prepared to.agree with j s the congratulatory .'references made 1 to' the guest of . the occasion; . Mr. - I'ovmton during .his ten. years of ■<: office as Public Trustee has done a J' great deal to popularise the insti- , ' tution under his control. Its busi- , ness has-grown in a , marked degree > 1 an'd ijublie .confidence .in. its a'dmin-" i istration has' fully'maintained.'■ It .has:,beeh\a.;-fortunate !thing-;thai - the. gentlemen who have been selected, j; for! thej.position :'of;:P,ublic Trusted i: during-the.past 12'0r15-years have allj ■, proved; singularly successful in l their •j administration of. the office. Mli.,' , '. : ;Warpubton,':.who. afterwards became. ! Auditor-General; Mr. J. G. Martin,: ■ i;., and Mb. Poykton have each in their '. : respective -ways done much; for,'the -. Department during their terms of , olTiob and left admirable records be-! : hind them. The latest appointment . ; appears.to be.largely experimental. ; Dr. Fitchett's , qualifications and i : . past experiencehardly seem, such 1 as to suit'him to the office, but he - will have the advantage of takirig '. over control, at a time when'every-. - . thing is, in'admirable working: • . der.' The future'_ will prove whether ' he the administrative abilities '■ , and tact so essential to the success- ■ . ful conduct; of this la,rge and im- ; ; portant' Department': of tho' State. . The team of Australian cricketers '! .which lowered the colours .of the i ; Wellington .representatives ,- yester- [ day. can hardly be described as a -~ sensational combination.' ;- Its . per- j formances during the first match of , , the tour .wQre, indeed, disappoint- i :' ing.: Those who witnessed the' game I ■ saw.', ; nothing. striking .' from the J ' visitors Cither with' the.'bat or in' j the field, and they had been led to. ] '; exp'ect a good deal. While Arm- h • strong and Bardsley, and, in a les- c ser degree, WHimr, were looked forward to as likely .to provide the 1 i. chief'oxcitement of- there J 'was reported to.be so,much promis- 1 'ihg young material.in : the team thai '< 1 the appearance of these less-known ;; .players , aroused . almost equal inter- ( est/ The- fortunes 'of, cricket, how-. • everj were, against the. "stars," and ; the lesser'lights oh the whole- gave \ a display'that, could.only'-be classed i as' moderatc. It would, of course, t be unfair to finally judge the merits 1 oi the- team on ita ; initial perform- !j ance. While ; it had a decided ad- t vantage owipg to a certain. amount 'J of "stage fright" amongst the local I players, especially in the. first innings,.; it was at-a- : decided - disad- . vantage through the class - of -wicket. fon '.which the game, was played. When .the team gets a little more .j practice on New Zealand wickets it t' will no doubt give a better account, I of itself and give the teams pitted, fi against it some, merry leather-hunt- t; ing. : It; will have to improve a good deal, however, to livo up to its reputation. 1 . . 0 jl •_ The spwehea at the social gather- E ing : of railway servants on Saturday- evening last displayed a sweet : s j re tsonableness pleasing to chronicle: g< .Even the member .for Wellington oi East, Mr! M'Lares, .who seldom speaks before <iny large gathering of unionists without indulging in al somewhat extreme language on the subject of the rights' of .'Labour, moderated his' feelings to harmonise m with the general tono of the,proceed- tli ingsr No one can disagree with the <1< contention that public services should not be run on lines that spell p "inhumanity, and unjust, cruel,'and 3 harsh conditions," and we should.be tli sorry to think, that. Mr. M'Lares or anyone else could offer any evidence that such conditions exist-in tr any branch of the public service in New. Zealand. At the' samo time j? there can_ be.no doubt .that members :.ll of .tho railway service arc labouring ce underl a sense of grievance. in-'per- s.: tain directions. Tho conference just tli held here has formulated these grievances for presentation ,to the Minister and will mako certain requests •in the interests of tho. service as a tei .whole. - In view of the harmonious I on

relations which at' present appear to exist between the members of the service and the head of: the . Department it is to be hoped.that the requests will' be given the fullest and fairest consideration. There :is a feeling amongst railway servants that this has not always been the case in the past.

. Tjie ICnyveti case received fresh publicity last evening when another meeting was held in Auckland and resolutions passed condemnatory of action of the Government in insisting on the punishment of Captain .Knyvett..for :his indiscretion. A Royal Commission of Inquiry into the condition of the defence forces was also, demanded.' It

is a matter for regret that the agitation in this connection should be persisted in. Loed/KitcheneU will arrive in the Dominion .'within the next day or two. to inspect the defences of the colony ana he will .no doubt be requested to express his opinion as to. the result of his investigations. It can hardly be suggested that he is the sort of man likely to cover, up: any., apparent weakness, . and while .his inspection will to some extent be a hurried one, his advice should be .of i a good, deal more value than the findings of any Royal Commission' likely to be appointed. The Leader of the Opposition's somewhat. extravagant language at last night's i meeting appears to. us; to be quite out of proportion to the- importance of the matter under discussion. - While we can acquit Mr. Masse* of any attempt to drag in party politics on a national question such l as that of defence, we cannot approve the wild talk in which he. and ; other members .are indulging on this question. To talk of . carrying the matter even .to the throne • itself" is really malring'the ■ thing ludicrous.