NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 901, 22 August 1910, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY.

A surprise was sprung on : Parliament on Friday last when tho Prime Minister announced his -intention to nominate Mr. J. Colvin for the office of Chairman of Oommittees. Wo miißt really congratulate Sir Joseph Ward on a vory astute 'political "move." Ministers had allowed themselves to drift into an oxtrcmcly awkward position in regard to the Chairmanship of Committees. Thoir disinclination to risk offending any section of thoir following by making a selection for the office encouraged a much larger number of membcra than is usual to aspire to tho Chairmanship, and as most of theso members could rely on a small personal following for support the party naturally became very much divided on the subject. To havo chosen any ono of the moro likely candidates was cortain to havo accentuated tho existing differences of opinion amongst tho Government party, and the Phi.mk. Minister rthafflfai'e iliiialaiaA.^eQdjucljmant

in falling back on an unobtrusive nntl personally popular member like Mk. CoLviN. Even with. Mil. Colvin, however, there is bound to> be a good deal of soreness amongst those passed over and their inure, intimate friends. lint while Silt Joseph Wakl) has made a wise choice from the point of view of party strategy, we regret to think that the public interest and the interest of Parliament itself, so far as they are affected by the conduct of the businoss of the House, have not been considered in the matter. Mit. Colvin probably has not an enemy in the Bouse; personally he. is much liked by practically everyone, but it is difficult, to conceive him in the role of Chairman of Committees. There are several members of the Government party better equipped for the position, and, since party service counts in these things, better able to claim consideration from Ministers on that ground. They have been passed over, however, and now that the Pmme Minister has asserted himself, we suppose they will bend to the yoke. It is a great pity that in the selection of those to. preside over our National Assembly members have not recognised the desirableness of choosing the best men available irrespective of party distinctions. Dignity and decorum in the proceedings of. Parliament, as well as the proper dispatch of business, depend veiy largely on the qualifications of those appointed to preside over the sittings of the two Chambers, and, in the Lower House especially, the . selection of a weak or incapable member to fill the chair is liable to have most harmful results.

An interesting little controversy' has been going on in Sydney concerning the difficulty of keeping Sydney engineers in the State. Professor Ohaiais, Professor of Engineering in Sydney University, ascribes the trouble to the want of encoiuagement given to young engineers by the Public Service Board. In New Zealand, the Government seldom'attempts to make use of the very capable engineers from the Canterbury College School—these either drift away to other lands or find employment with private firms. Professor Challis would have it that the Public Service Board behaves very much like our Government in this respect. We cannot presume to offer an opinion, since his statement drew forth an equally convincing statement on behalf of the Board. But what we desire to draw attention to is the fact that the Professor, for all his indignation, does not -for a moment dream of attacking the principle of the Public Service Board. He merely blames the members of tho Board, and not the system "The-Public Service Board," he said (his statement appears in tho Sydney Morning 'Herald of August 10), "wants remodelling. It is an institution which cured agreat evil—political interference in public services." In like manner, the Age, while carrying out a bitterattack on the Victorian Railway Commissioners, who did not agree with the Age's ideas about electrification, was careful to say: "We. are all supporters of the Commissioner system." It is of high significance that no amount of anger against the non-political Boards and Commissioners ever betrays their critics into abating by a jot their approval of the system of non-political control of the public services.

A very useful address upon the effect of "Liberal" legislation •in checking industrial enterprise was delivered by Mr.,H. D. Acmkd at the annual meeting of the Canterbury Employers' Association last week. Apart from farming and raining and 'timber, the wealth of the country, he pointed out, remained almost entirely undeveloped in the industrial- sense. '"Concessions for private concerns in favour of docks, railways, electric light, or water power were seldom applied', for, the simple reason being that they would cither be refused or granted on' such terms that if successful they would be resumed or if unsuccessful left alone." 'Those people who, while admitting, the truth of this, say they are glad that the Government discourages private enterprise must not complain of tho results of this checking of enterprise. The meaning of the unchecked growth of imports in spite of the nigh tariff was put .very clearly by Mr. Acland : "What was the reason that tho importation of wearing apparel had increased from. 13s. a head in 1899 to 19s. in 1908, or that iron and steel imports had increased from iVs. per head to 20s. 1 Was it not because there was a feeling of want of confidence in industrial enterprise prevalent in the country ? A feeling that it was safer to import ihan to manufacture?" This is manifestly the true reason. Capital is'always keen to work in the most profitable places; it flows in freely to any field that offers safety and good profits. That it. does not flow into New Zealand for investment in industrial enterprises can mean only one thing—that the attractions are not good enough. '