NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 896, 16 August 1910, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY.

There are many, arguments against State landlordism, and so few in its favour, that the supporters of the freehold might very well content themselves with waiting for the other side to find something calling for a reply. A point, however, which is worth attention is submitted to us by a correspondent. It is iipt the smallest'of the Crown tenant's difficulties that he cannot easily ■ obtain advances from companies and private lenders. Advances are required everywhere, and it is quite" impossible for the Government to find all the money its tenants need, for the best develop- 1 rnont of their holdings. The lender of money requires that he shall have absolute security, - and this he cannot generally: get from a.State tenant; If .money is advanced on leasehold, and default is made, what is the lender to do 1 He may not be permitted, under the Land Acts, to take possession, so that his security may vanish. . It is generally allowed that there is now abundance of money awaiting investment, but, as the Hon. T..'Fergus pointed out in Duriedin the other day, and as .Mb. Hakold Beauchaup, has. pointed out, lenders are not satisfied with the political outlook.' ;If this money— and a great deal of it is made up of the savings - of the people—cannot find an outlet on land security in New Zealand,- it must drift elsewhere. Of course it is possible for the Government to amend the law so as to make a State lease as good a security as any other. But .that would be to complicate the law still further. The simple and natural remedy is to discard the principle of State landlordism, and grant the tenants the right to purchase. We had a cable message tho: other day about labour ' matters in America which is worth a little comment. There is a strike of clonk makers in New York, and ' the Supreme Court has granted an injunction forbidding intimidation b,> the, unions. It has also called on the'strikers to show cause why the injunction shall not be made per manent, since the strike is an illegal attempt by the workmen to estab lish an industrial monopoly. lit June last the American -House of Representatives, in voting money fot the' Attorney-General to institute prosecutions under • the Sherman Act, inserted a proviso that no part of the sum voted should be used in prosecuting the organisers of labour boycotts. Mr. Taft has always held that a labour boycott is a conspiracy in restraint of trade. ■ As a judge, as a member of the Government, as a' Presidential candidate, and as President, he : has fearlessly proclaimed this opinion in the teeth of Labour. So he' set *-himself against the tricky class legislation of June. The New York Evening Post voiced a very general opinion when it praised the President's action. The President' uttered the thoughts of many hearts when he asserted that it ■would be "improper legislation" to exempt any class, poor or rich, from the impartial application of the anti-Trust law. If tho proposal were simply to amend tho law itself, that could be fairly debated; but the attempt to nullify it must be resisted. President Taft sets this forth with great clearness and force. The politics of the business evidently did mt concern him in the least; he merely spoke out his honest conviction. As ho despised, the swords ; of Gomrjers all through tho campaign of 1908, so nonhe shows that he is not to be swerved by any threats about losing the Labour vote. This latest deliverance of his will deepen the personal impression which the President has been making in these last weeks, and must lead'many to echo the Hosea Biglow exclamation: "By Time, I du like a feller that aint a Feared!" We wish the head of the Government in this country were this kind of a "feller." .; ■ . ■ The Minister for Public Works is usually a very'blunt speaker and often a very tactless one, but he excelled himself in the latter respect in his attacks, on Mr. Hine last Friday evening. Ministers have shown remarkable anxiety , to draw tho member for Stratford into a full disclosure of his**chargcs relating to improper commissions paid to members of Parliament, but Mr. Hine,

after specifically setting out the nature of the charges, has refused to do more until he receives an undertaking that his demand for a Commission of Inquiry will be granted. Me. M'Kenzie, in the course of his speech, went further than other members'of the Government party has ventured in attacking Mr. Hike on this subject. threatened the member for Stratford that he "was sure to be made a marked man until he disclosed the particulars." When asked if this was a threat Mr. M'Kenzie replied: "No, it is purely a matter of justice." We should very much like to know what the Minister meant by his attempt at intimidation. If members are to be openly threatened in this manner things are coming to a pretty pass indeed in the Parliament of New Zealand. Fortunately Mu. Hike is-not the sort of member to be bullied into a compliance with Ministerial wishes, and the tactics adopted to intimidate him are not likely to win the confidence of the public in the attitude adopted by the Government in this matter. The impression is gaining ground that the Government is "playing for time." Why?