NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 915, 7 September 1910, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

It i& fifteen or sixteen years sinco the Liberal Administration promised a measure to eneoui'ago the beet sugar industry, and the . measure which the Prime Minister introduced in the House yesterday is a very good measure of the distance from sanity and.safety that our legislation has drifted during that time. Wo shall probably have to deal in some detail with the Bill later on, although we hope and believe it will not bo passed this session. In the meantime immediate condemnation of it is required. Divided into two parts, it raakos two alternative proposals, namely, tlw

establishment of State sugar-works or the granting of preposterous privileges to any person who will undertake the production of sugar from beet or sorghum, Even to a public familiar for years with the idea. of. the State as a trader the proposals of Part I of the Bill will seem a little staggering. The Minister for Finanee, so it is proposed, may buy any land he likes for beet growing, and erect any works he likes, and, generally, "do anything that a private person engaged in the manufacture of sugar might lawfully do." But he has greater powers than this. He may appoint on such terms as he thinks lit, unrestricted by any law, as many managers,, engineers, agents, workmen, and servants as he chooses; he may construct, erect, or acquire buildings, plant, machinery, railways, tramways, .and anything else that occurs to him; he may sell, supply, and deliver sugar just as he chooses. The-only restriction placed _ upon him is the necessity of confining his expenditure to half a, million, which, it is needless, to say, will be borrowed. Some humorist has slipped into the Bill an elaborate scheme for the* disposal of profits I The profits from a sugar business run by Sin Joseph Wahd on State loans! The Government's abandonment to the Socialist idea is also so complete •that provision is made for the submission of the - new business, to the jurisdiction of the Arbitration Court. The Act of 1908—a re-enactment of the 1884 Act—has only one operative clause, of three lilies, providing for a'bonus of a halfpenny a pound on tho first thousand tons of beet sugai produced in New Zealand.: The new, measure proposes that as an alternative to. establishing State sugarworks the Minister may ptty a bonus of one penny a pound to any private producer for three years, and a halfpenny a -pound for the next two years, with the further proviso that the first person to take-advantage of tho offer shall have a monopoly,for. twenty-one years, -and shall, after the bonus period, have a perpetual 'advantage ■'• of. onehalfpenny a pouhd against imported' sugar... .'.That- is to say* where the duty does not exceed id. there .will be no excise, -while if ( the du'ty.is more than id. the excise Will-' be at; least Ad: less than the;duty/ A strange'measure from the Government that professes to be down on monopolies. . 'We shall be surprised if the Government does not find that this measure has brought it.several different kinds of trouble. ■■ :•

Some interesting remarks by .the Anglican Bishop of Christchurch (Dit. Julius) as. to the -manner in which- the mind of the -average layman is befogged by an army of amateur ecclesiastical • lawyers will be found in another column. It is to be feared, however, that the professional army' is not much more helpful in those matters.-.' Take, i'oi instance, the particular .- occurrence which prompted the ' Bishop's remarks 7 -the.,wearing of .vestments by the new vicar ' of IKb.'.'Michael's Church, Christchurch.. The,question whether these vestments are legail or not appears on;the fecejoffit'to be' a simple one,i but as a matter' of fact it is very much easier to ask it than to find the answer. The point depends upon the interpretation of what is known as the "Ornaments Rubric" in/the Prayer Book. This only/consists v ot ■' snrao ; half-dozen lines, but whole volumes have.been written : in order ! to cxpletin it. Soma; fifty years-ago the Privy Council, wrestled with the point, and arrived at the conclusion that vestments were illegal, but instead of settling the difficulty, the question has since then been more keenly debated than ever. Three of the Privy Couacil Judges dissented, froin'the decision; one of thorn-' declared that it was a judgment of policy, not law; and another that it was'; 'a flagitious judgment;. while Dr. Stbbiss, the greatest constitutional historian of the time,_ went so far as to say that the decision was "a very disgraceful affair to English lawyers," and that it was a "barefaced falsification, of history." These eminent legaland historical authorities belonged to the "professional army," but '.they certainly have hot proved much more successful than the despised amateur, and .it -is; significant that Dr. Julius' showed his wisdom by declining to tackle the problem himself. ; He prefers to allow considerable liberty on this doubtful point. The Anglican Church in New :Zealand is not bound by the ecclesiastical' decisions of the Privy Council. It has its Qwn Courts,, but they appear to have very little to do. If only to prevent the machinery from getting rusty,'perhaps some kind person will Dring this question, of vestments before . the Bishops' Court, '~■ and so. get a judgment of "our own make." This would,givo the ;New Zealand professionals a chance of showing their superiority over the "army of amateur lawyers" of whom Dk. Julius speaks so disparagingly. \ v '.

"Mr. Hike's charges," ■ as they have come to be known, were again discussed in the House yesterday afternoon,.and as the result of certain exchanges the Prime Minister became somewhat heated.' The member for Stratford, it will be remembored, stated in' the House that he was in possession of information which went to show that certain exhiembers of Parliament had obtained commissions from vendors tion with land sold to the Government. In reply to a challenge on the subject he offered to lay tho whole facts before a Royal Commission of Inquiry, provided the Government would sot up such a Commission. The Prime Minister refused to sot up a Royal Commission, and demanded the names of the members concerned before he would consider the matter. Yesterday he repeated his demand for this information, and attacked tho member for Stratford for refusing to give it. Mr. Hine again expressed his willingness to lay the whole facts before an impartial tribunal, and in response to a remark by tho Prime Minister retorted that during the last election a certain Government candidate and cx-raember had received the support of the Government despite the fact that it had been stated that lie had been; paid a commission in connection with a petition which he had presented to Parliament. It was this remark which appeared to anger tho Peijie Minister most. Ho denied that he knew of any impropriety on the part of the ex-mombcr in question, and added that the ex-member had told him that he could clear himself. Now, it must be quite plain that tho Prime Minister has no right to leave this matter where it is. He will not-appoint a Royal Commission' to Mr. Hine's other charges oh the ground that the names were not given. He will not

commit himself to promise a Royal Commission of 'Inquiry even if the names are given. But in the case raised yesterday lie appears to know the name of the ex-member referred to, and if he wishes to clear the matter up he can authorise a public inquiry immediately. It will be noted that the member for Stratford has offered to place the evidence in his possession before tno Supreme Court Judges, and let them decide the matter* if the Government will authorise this to be done. He even offered to bear the cost of the inquiry when a Government member made an interjection concerning the cost. All he has asked for is a guarantee of an impartial investigation, and in view_ of how much he has at stake this is a reasonable and proper precaution. But the Government" refuse to move • in the ~ matter. It may relieve the Prime Minister's feelings' to shout at Mr. Hike, arid to talk wildly about something he might do on some occasion under certain circumstances outside the House, but this sort, of talk merely leaves things where they were. It leaves Me. Hine's charges unanswered.