NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 978, 19 November 1910, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

One very great service which Me. Hine' and his counsel, Me. M. Myers, have clone the country. in connection with the charge made in respect of the Nai Nai purchase has been the'oxposure of the vory bad bargain made by tho country as the result of'the "overriding of-the'Gov-ernment Valuer's report on the property. It will bo remembered that the Government Valuer, Mr. Caverhill, inspected and'valued the property, and as a result set down its value at £80 per acre. He also pointed out that owing to its swampy nature; its distance from the Hutt railway station; tho absence of any industries employing laboiir in its vicinity, etc., it was unsuited for workers' homes. Despite this expert advice of an experienced and responsible offioer, the property was bought by the State at £150 per acre, under circumstances stated in our issue of yosterday. What has been the result 1 Tho land,, which cost the country £21,472 10s,, and on which over £1500 has sincc been spent for drainage, etc., has prove a white elephant of a most costly kind. _ The interest charge on the price paid for the property at 4 per cent, 1 be over £800 a year, and this charge I has been going on ever since 1005., j The land has never been taken up 1 for workers' homes—Mb. Milur, as i Minister for Labour, scorned tlic idea of it being used as such—and the total income derived from it .'today is £133 per annum, mainly from grazing rents. And the loss—the difference' between the interest charge and the rents received—is going on all the time, and adding to tho sum sunk in this preposterous purchase. The evidsnce adduced by Mr." Hike should have a good effect in .acting as a warning against the overriding of expert Government officials in such cases in future. The exposure made should certainly ensure greater care being exercised by the Land Purchase Board, which, by the way, .it is only fair to say, is not to-day composed of tho same: officers who acted in 1905.

The Land Bill has been dropped. The Government has fled without firing a shot. We cannot pretend that wo aio sorry, since the abandonment of the Bill is the last essential to the perfection of the country's opinion upon the behaviour of the Government in connection with this supremely important question. When we have more space we shall have something further ,to say, but . we doubt whether it is possible to supply any finer comment than an extract from our report of the' discussion in the House yesterday! upon the Peime Minister's announcement of the 34 Bills that aro to be proceeded with this session. Here is the passage: - Proceeding, Sir Joseph Ward said that ho could not agreo to the proposal made by Mr. Ueed that part of tlie Land Bill should bo proceeded with. Tho Bill contained new policy, and he thought it was desirable tho country should have an opportunity to consider it. Mr. Mussey. You will have another policy next j'ear, won't you? Sir Joseph Ward: It will depend on tho requirements of tho country. Mr. Ell: The policy is always Rood. (Laughter.) Mr. Mnsscy: "Which ono? Mr. Ell: Every one. Some of our Ministerialist friends who have been plunging on tho Bill ought to inaugurate a competition, offering liberal prizes for the person who guesses most nearly what new policy tho Government will back down upon next year. :

The Attorney-General has been singularly unfortunate in carrying out his professed desire to spread the net more widely for the bookmaker. We pointed out yesterday tho curious contradiction which appeared to exist, as the result of one amendment introduced by Dit. Findlay. The Bill as passed by the House provided a.penalty for every bookmaker "who makes or offers to make any. bet on any racecourse."

Dr.. Findlay's amendment dealing with the definition o£ street specifically provided for the exclusion of "a racecourse on which a race meeting is briny held." There arc other clauses which the Attorney-General states safeguard this'apparent reopening of the door to tho bookmakers, but wo do not think the public will be satisfied with this explanation. What is wanted is a plain and definite clause abolishing the bookmaker. We cannot understand why the Government has refused to insert a clause in the Bill specifically declaring that bookma-k----ing under any circumstanccs is an unlawful occupation, and fixing a substantial penalty for anyone convicted of the offence of bookmaking. Dr. Findlay and the Government must not be surprised if the public view with 1 suspicion any tinkering with the Gaming Bill during it final stages. Tho attitude of certain members of the Cabinet towards the question of the abolition of the bookmaker has fully warranted the doubt which exists of the Bill passing into law in a form which will secure tho end aimed at by those opposed to the bookmaker. It is • really very astonishing _ how the friends of the bookmaker in high quarters venture to defy public opinion even when so convincingly expressed by Parliament and the country, as we have soon it expressed during the past few months in and out of Parliament.

A booklet styled The Impending I Strug ale, written by Dr. E. Bor/GHEiTr, of Wellington, has icastad )us /or review. Dr. BoRGRETCf's ) views regarding the future of Bri- ) tain and her overseas Dominions ave fairly well known to readers of The Dominion. He holds the opinion that Britain's only chanoe of maintaining a leading place amongst the nations of tile world is to abandon what he terms her "Individualism," and to aspire to a higher national life, which he styles "Nationalism." - There are some passages of the booklet specially addressed to those guiding the destinies of Australia, and which are equally applicable to New Zealand. Democracy, he states, is the last stage in the evolution of a nation—the different stages being aristocracy, middle class, and democracy—and England, America, and Australia have reached the final stage. To quote: Three are the evils which all democracies suffer from and die for. They need only to be mentioned to be understood. They are (1) An ever-growing tendoncy towards city life. (2) An ever-growing tendency towards State support. (3) 'An ever-declining birth-rat's of the fitter stock, leading to the survival of the. unfit. Protectionism, old age pensions under the non-contributing system, and a natural selection, on the test of the stomach instead of the brain make these evils, worse. ' It is impossible -to attempti to describe in detail the process of evolution which Dr. Borghetti ;depicts as taking place in Europe—a process based on struggling, suffering,' and the intermingling of races for the elimination of tho evolution from Individualism, to Nationalism, and from Nationalism to But his idea for the redemption of Australia and New Zealand appears to bo, 1 in brief, the. importation of j, im- ' migrants from those Continental countries which are ; free from the evils of present-day democracy, and a natural selection on the .test, of an instinct which requires a social organisation of a high order, which must lead, to a survival of the mentally fit. Dr. Borghetti, following the example of. William James, commenting on the writings of Italian, thinkers of the day, says: "I want to be frank with you: Individualism is doomed," and in saying this he proclaims the doom, of ..the .British Empire unless it changes its type of civilisation. To the Britisher suffering from what is commonly known as "swelled head," we would commend Dr. Borghetti's booklet as a wholesome tonic. It is | quite probable that he will disagree ' with much that the booklet contains, but it certainly can do him ho harm to view himself and his race through tho eyes of one who unquestionably is not blinded by British prejudices, and whose evident sincerity disarms tho possibility of offence at his blunt outspokenness.