A STUDY IN AQUATION.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 817, 14 May 1910, Page 4

A STUDY IN AQUATION.

_« i There is' an aspect of the agita- € tion against tho Government's treat- B ment of Captain Kntvett which is q of much more real importance than t the merits of the case which our. I Auckland friends have_ taken up I with such astonishing vigour. We E have no intention of discussing at f this time the rights and wrongs of J the episode; what we desire to draw attention to is tho bearing of tho c affair upon the whole question of popular agitation. Nobody who has kept, up his interest in the course 'I ■of events can-doubt that, rightly or ' wrongly, the Auckland public is r profoundly convinced that there has ■ been a miscarriage of_ justice, and j ; one of a nature so serious_ as to re- j quire urgent and unremitting ef- f forts to have the Executive's judg- ] ment upset. Why is it, however, : that the rendering of justice to 1 Captain Kntvett—we use the phrase j of our Auckland friends without prejudice to our view of the merits ] of their case—has called forth ' greater efforts than the rectification | of other public wrongs far greater . than this one can bo and far less ( open to dispute 1 With all respect , to tho Auckland public, the case of Captain Kntvett is infinitely less important, from any point of view , that may be taken, than a scoie of ' ; other public grievances. There is ] the personal'element, to be sure. It , is easier to grow fervent over a per- • sonal wrong than over an abstract ■ villainy. A man. unjustly treated will always arouse sharper angers < than a nation ill governed. Nor are we Bure that this is a bad thing. It is one of the few facts that let us know that human . nature is still strong in humanity. There is room, nevertheless, for the wish that the energy that men aro ready to expend on the, championship of an individual could be expended with equal generosity on Che rectification of injustices inflicted upon a nation. The one virtue of the, Socialistic.idea is_ that it thinks in terms of communities. Its origin may lie in the resentment of individual miseries, but at any rate it does take the nation as the thing most important to be treated. Here is tho dismissal of an enthusiastic volunteer officer treated by the community in which he lives as an event of graver and' more painful import than any othcT event that has affected that community within recent years. If the indignation of Auckland had been artificial, or sectional, or bogus, and fostered only by a clique with' an axe to grind, the agitation would have died out long ago. Yet it flourishes, and, according to a telegram in to-day's Sapcr, is more vigorous than ever, line of every ten of those assisting the Kntvett Committee probably have no acquaintance with the object of their activity; they only feel '. that a man in their midst has been grossly wronged by the Executive, ; and that is sufficient to make them ', wish to move heaven and earth to / undo what has been done. Yet, ali though nearly every one of these people must be conscious of a score I of national wrongs which it is really [ in his interest to remove, none oi them would dream of exhibiting the , same enthusiasm for the righting*of . theso wrongs as they are ready to show on behalf of Captain Kntvett. i It is not as if the Executive's ? decision respecting Captain Kntvett created an evil precedent, or mau- •- guratcd an evil policy. There could not, indeed, be a more purely isoF lated act of Executive authority , than his dismissal. If our Auckland s friends could gain their point, and - secure tho reversal of the Govern- ! ment's verdict, they would gain nothing permanent. Yet they are I fighting with a persistence that is " remarkable, and, from some points s of view, admirable as well. Could I we, however, hope for the same '. ardour on behalf of any ono of the political reforms that aro really L vitally necessary to the country? r Wo hcaT of no similar agitation, for e example, on behalf of tho granting 0 to tho Hobson County Council of ,f tho money voted by Parliament foT " espenditare <W tho county roads but

vetoed by the Minister for Public Works. Such an agitation, carried to a successful issue, would practically establish the principle that what Parliament wills shall not be thwarted by the contrary will of Parliament's servant. Nor do we hear of an equally strong local or national movement for the reform of the administration of the nation's finances. Our Labour friends constantly preach the doctrine of what they call "class consciousness," and

it is their pertinacity that gives them such success as they achieve. The appeal to "class consciousness" is not one that can be more easily or effectively made than an appeal to "national consciousness"; nor is there any reason why the national conscience should not respond to appeal as vigorously as the instinct of fair play for the individual. It is all a matter of system and _ constancy. The methods and the vigour of the Knyvett Defence Committee are plainly a lesson in method and vigour to the friends of good government. If Captain Kjtyvett' is worth the expenditure of all this enthusiasm and energy, good government is worth at least as much.