NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 757, 4 March 1910, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

Field-Marshal Lord Kitchener's message to the members of the New Zealand Defence Forces at the close of his tour of inspection is what one might have expected, and is, on the whole, satisfactory. No one probably looked for any eulogy of the military skill of our forces in the -field. Wo are all too well aware that the excellent material available in the rank and file of the volunteers has-had too little opportunity for field work to display any marked

degree of proficiency in the mimic warfare in which they appeared before Lord Kitchener. In most cases they did quite as well as could be expected of them, and the manoeuvres were no doubt creditable enough in view of the amount of training received. But Lord Kitchener is impressed with the "keenness" shown by all ranks, and that, after all, is' a good beginning. What is now wanted is to turn that keenness to the best account. . It is fairly certain that the report handed to the Government by Lord.. ' Kitchener will be very much on the lines of that presented to the Commonwealth. We know that he does not favour the creation of an up-to-date Military College in the Dominion— wo are not big enough for that yetbut his general advice as to training and numbers will probably be on the lines of that tendered to the Federal Government. Now that Sir Joseph Ward has received the FieldMarshal's report, there is no reason for delay in making it public. Naturally the Government cannot be expected to make a definite announcement concerning the extent to which it can be given effect until have carefully considered it in all its bearings on the finances of the country. But that is ho reason why it should not be made public. At the present moment the interest of the whole community in the matter of defence has been thoroughly aroused. Lord Kitchener's report is never likely to receive.more'attention from the public than it would' receive if published immediately.

The warning embodied in Lord Muskerry's address to the Imperial Merchant Service Guild, reported in our cable messages to-day, really breaks no ncw_ ground. Lord Muskerry complained "that while so much attention was focussed on the great increase in the German navy no attention was given to the extraordinary increase in the German merchant navy trade." Yet the matter to which he refers has been a subject of discussion for many, years past. In one of its reports, the. .Tariff Commission last year analysed the course of the export trades of the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States. ThiG showed that the annual average increases of exports of manufactures in pounds sterling' between 1883-87 and 1903-07 were:— , ■' '

. United Kingdom, 80 millions, or 41 per , cent. Germany, 98 millions, or 102 per cent. United States, 94 millions, or 294 per cent. The exports of manufactures to protected, foreign marjects between 1895 and 1907 increased as follow:— United Kingdom, 29 millions, or 37 per cent. . Germany, 64J millions,. or 112 per cent. United States, 33 millions, or 330 per cent. Tho figures showing the increases in exports to British Empire markets are very remarkable: — United Kingdom, 59 millions, or'9s per cent. Germany, 6 millions, or 135 per cent. United States, 26 millions, .or 315 per cent. The exports to neutral markets, Buch as the Far East and South America, showed the following increases :— United Kingdom, 52 millions, or 100 per cent. Germauy, 34 millions, or 140 per cent United States, 36 millions, or 330 per cent.

A writer in a recent issue of the World's Work, discussing the AngloGerman rivalry, quotes a great many, figures to show the remarkable development of Germany in its: industries, trade, and commerce. At present, he says, Germany stands considerably behind Great Britain, but she is swiftly gaining ground through the more, rapid increase of j her population and the broader agricultural basis of. her life. Here are some of the figures quoted:—Between 1894 and'l9o4 German foreign trade increased from £360,000,000 to £600,000,000. Its share in the sea trade of the world has grown at a rate about four times as rapid as 1 the growth of its population. During the ten years ended 1905 the German merchant ,navy rose from £18,600,000 in value to £40,405,000, and the increase has gone steadily on. Lord Muskerky's warning, it will thus be seen, has good foundation.' According to more'than one German writer of note, it is this expansion of trade that forces Germany to build warships to protect her interests abroad, and to meet the emergency which sho anticipates will arise out of the _ increasing keenness of the competition for the markets of the world.

We have had occasion to complain of the treatment occasionally meted out to The Dominion by somo Ministers of the Crown in the matter of keeping back items of news on public-questions which aro supplied t.i more favoured journals. Several Ministers, the Prime Minister is amongst tho number, have behaved with reasonable fairness in tho matter. They do not as a rulo run after this paper with news, but whon asked a direct question concerning any public matter they usually show that courtesy to our representatives and that regard for the privileges of tho press which it is customary for all public men in British- communities to extend to reputablo public journals. Unfortunately, this is not tho case with all tho members of tho present Cabinet, and a case in point occurred on Wednesday last to which in ' fairness to our readers \vc deem it advisable to direct public attention. We were aware some days ago that the regulations .governing the issuing of licenses to unrogis--1 tered race clubs had been prepared, and, as the matter was one of very wide public interest, applied to the Minister for Internal Affairs for a copy. Mr. Buddo stated that he was not in a position to give the information, but that it would be available on Tuesday and The Dominion would then receive a copy. On Tuesday our representative called for the promised copy at 5 p.m., and was told that it would not bo available until next day. Naturally ho had to accept tho Ministerial assurance. Yet tho regulations appeared in the Ministerial journal—and we believe also in every other metropolitan morning paper excepting The i Dominion—on tho following morning and must have been supplied the same evoning that our representative was told they, would not be

available to the press until next day. The only explanation that we have been able to obtain from the Minister is_ that after our representative left him he changed his mind, and, deciding that the matter was one of urgency, gave it to the Ministerial journal lor general publication. Mr. Btodo may think this explanation satisfactory, but the public will probably regard a Ministerial promise as an obligation not to be so lightly laid aside.