NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 886, 4 August 1910, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

Mb. Hugh Ward and his clever Comedy Company will, we feel certain, make "the hit of the season," with the generous proposition which Mr. Ward places before the citizens of Wellington through our columns this morning. The effort which is being instituted to provide funds for the erection of a children's hospital appears to have made immediate and urgent appeal to the popular comedian, and .he has opened his- heart and his purse to the needs of the occasion. His scheme to raise fcho money required is set out in our news columns and does not require to be repeated here. If citizens do their share there is not the slightest doubt that Me. Ward and his Company t will play their part in that irresistible fashion which has won them such popularity in their everyday sphere as caterers for the entertainment of the public. The object i<; a most worthy one; it is backed by enthusiasm and method; and there is no good reason why it should not be carried. through to a successful termination in the record time specified by Mn. Ward. We hope, for the children's sake,_ as well as for the credit of the city, to see the matter taken up in the fine spirit evinced by Mb. Warp and his Company.

There is something pathetic in the protests of some of the leaseholders in Parliament against the persistence of the freeholders in advocating the freehold.. Mil. Geo. Forbes was almost lachrymose on the subject. He could not see, he explained, why a measure passed in one Parliament should bo upset in the next Parliament : it ought to be given a chance to work. When he has gained some real knowledge of politics and of recent political history Me Forbes will find quite clear what seems so puzzling to him now. Mb. Witty is another leaseholder who bewails the refusal of the tenure issue to sink out of sight. No doubt it would be delightful for these gentlemen if Mr. Massey would be kind enough to forget the mandate of the people as easily as many Ministerialists forget their pledges, but we are afraid they must make up-their minds to accept the unpleasant fact that the land question will not cease to be an issue until 'it is settled. Another Ministerialist who is obviously ill at ease is Mr Smith, who says he is a freeholder.. He strove manfully yesterday, but with small success, to reconcile his freehold pledges with his vote against Mr. Massey's freehold motion. His explanation seems to be that ho could not vote against the Government. This threadbare excuse, worthless in the case of any pledged freeholder, is a specially unfortunate one in the mouth of the member for Rangitikei. Many of the Ministerialist freeholders, as we pointed out the other day, were wary enough to pake a mental reservation in giving their pledges on the hustings. Mr. Smith, however, was indiscreet enough to burn all boats at the Eangitikei by-election. With the courage of rawness, or in the desperation of his anxiety to catch the freehold vote, he committed himself in x an election circular to a position that really ordered him to vote for Mr. Massey's motion. '"Now' that the Ministry has accorded me their approbation as a candidate," he wrote, "with the distinct understanding that I still retain my independence on the freehold question, the necessity for taking a hand as an Independent no longer exists." Mr. Smith never dreamed that the Government would take a freehold motion as one ; of lwant-of-ponfidenu). The Eangitikei electors, we fancy, will have a word.to say to Mr. Smith later on. - , •

The members who bombarded Mr. Hike with interjections and interrogations when he made his declara-tion-regarding the action of an exmember of tho Houae in connection with the sale of a property to the Government had rather the worst of the exchanges. The member ior Stratford is a fighter. Though yet young in Parliamentary experience he has tho courage_ of his convictions and is not easily turned from his point. The. friends of the Government have shown extreme sensitiveness of late at any use of the word "Tammanyism," and this must be regarded as a good . sign. Until very recently Ministers and their followers were content to rely on the weight of their numbers and to ignore criticism, knowing that whatever happened in the Houeo they could outvote their opponents. Now they are so touchy that the mildest comments of an' adverse kind frequently provoke from them furious denunciation. ,This can only ba regarded as showing that the rank and file of the Government party are beginning to recognise that the time has arrived when Ministers have to fight in real earnest for their existence. Apart from tho larger issues, such as the land question and the general question of administration, there have been quite a number of unpleasant occurrences of late from a Ministerial standpoint. There were, for instance, features of the E. A. Smith episode, quite apart from tho actual merits of the arrangement, which afforded evidence of a quite astonishing slackness on the part of the Prime Minister's own Department. There were the Income Tax Department exposures, concerning which the public is still kept in ignorance of-anything but an extract from tho report of the secret Commission of Inquiry, tossed to members by Sir JosEpn, Ward in the hope of silencing their demands for adequate information on a matter so deeply affecting the public interest. There" was the amazing appointment of ,Mr. Dinnib to the presidency oi a Maori Land Board—an appointment which has been condemned from one end of tho country to the other. There was the Chr'istchurch police incident. All. these doubtful happenings have assisted to make Government members apprehensive and when Mr. Hike launched another bolt on Tuesday _ night tho perturbation caused in certain quarters-was very marked. We do not pretend to know what ground Mr. Hine has for the charge ho made; but ho issued a definite and direct challenge to the Prime Minister to test the accuracy of his assertion. Ho offered to give cvi-

I dence on oath in support of his statement if Sir Joseph Ward would appoint a commission of investigation. Abuse of the member lor Stratford will hardly appeal to the public as a satisfactory method of meeting this challenge.