NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1044, 6 February 1911, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

—f A correspondent directs attention in this issue to what appears to be a very real danger in connection with the Rimutaka railway line. According to him, on more than' one occasion recently tho train running on this line has encountered stock which has strayed on to the rails owing to the line being unfenced. Anyone familiar with the railway route over tho Rimutaka will appreciate the deadly risk attached to the derailment of a train at almost any spot between. Kaitoke and Cross's Creek. The Railway Department, we believe, exercises a, very proper care in the running of trains over the range to the Wairarapa, and the rate of speed on the incline on the Wairarapa side is very slow. But the risk from stock straying on the railway lino cannot be safeguarded against except by taking such steps as will prevent them getting on to the lino at all. Our correspondent suggests that the cost of fencing the unfenced portions of this line would probably do less, than the costs which the Government would incnr in case of a -serious train accident there. Probably this is true, but the question of public safety calls for some greater consideration than a balancing of possibilities of this nature. The fact that no serious accident has yet occurred on the line through the trespass of wandering stock affords no guarantee of . future immunity, and tho Department will do well to inquire into the matter and see what can -bo done in the direction suggested.

An .interesting feature of tho latest effort of the Prime Minister on his speech-making tour was his references to the question of land settlement. It is probable that three I out of every five persons in the Dominion do not know who is tho Minister for.Lands in the present Government, and most of them would be very much surprised to learn that it is Sin Joseph Ward. This is easy to understand when it is b'orno in mind that in addition to the office of Minister for Lands, the, Prime Minister, is also' Minister for Finance,. Postmaster-General, Minister for Telegraphs, Minister for Defence, and Commissioner for State Forests. Any one of the' larger Departments mentioned, coupled with that of Finance, would be quite as much as the.average politician would be prepared to say he could do justice to; but Sir Joseph Ward has laid himself out to carry the whole burden. It says much for his industry that he knows as much as he does about' the various Departments under his control, but it is absurd to pretend that he has an intimate acquaintance with all of them. His lack of knowledge is often demonstrated during the sitting of Parliament when inquiries are made by members on largo and important questions which he would be expected to be familiar with. He is a.irapid thinker, however, and quick to grasp a point, and usually' covers his ignorance of the matter in question from all but the'experienced ob'servcr. His refererices.to land .settlement in his Auckland speech; reported this, morning, will, wo fear, not, convey much to the general reader. If Sir Joseph Ward had given some idea of "the nolicy"—that is, of _ course, the February, 1911, "policy"—of the Government in regard to land settlement, it would have been extremely interesting, and would no doubt have afforded ground for ' entovtainine sneeulation as to how far it would differ from the Jitlv policy of 1911, and tho election Dolicy of tho same year. As it is, his recourse to statistics must ■be taken as an evidence that the February policy is not yet fully matured. There is very little that is new in. Sir Joseph Ward's latest speech. While not unanimous, he appears, according to the Press Association report, to have had a very good meeting, and to have belaboured his onponents in his very best sfcvln. A speech from SiJt Joseph Ward these days without a violent assault on someone, nameless or otherwise, would be a distinct novelty.

. Amongst the papers read at the Science Congress in Sydney was one by Me. H. Braddon, 'of Dalgety and Co., on our industrial laws. The paper dealt very largely with the question of compulsory arbitration, and Mr. Braddon pointed out that the compulsory' principle of fixing wages had now been in use in New Zealand for sixteen years, in Victoria for fourteen years, .and in New South Wales for nine, with the result, it was contended, that the relations between employers and employed were distinctly less .happy than they wore twenty years ago. Employers resented the one-sided actioij of t)jc statutes, and_ yet were helpless because of the capital locked up in their businesses'. The decisions of the Courts had certainly increased wages, and were therefore in favour of the. employees, .but the provisions of the law. had not ..prevented the men from striking when it suited them. It therefore appears that the employer loses both ways. He has to pay more wages, bufc_has no protection against industrial disturbances. In addition to this, Me. Braddon pointed'out, the old relations between employer and employee no longer exist. _ To-day men only obeyed tho union secretary, and though labour was not as plentiful as it bad been, tho unions discouraged immigration and the apprentice. Mr. Braddon asks whether this can be good for the country,'; and the answer docs not appear difficult to fifid. On the whole, ho'thought the Wage Board legislation of Victoria preferable to 1 tho compulsory arbitration of New South Wales and New Zealand. The outlook in tho Dominion, he stated, was distinctly gloomy because "it looked as if the period of expansion was ended, while the industries could not stand added burdens."' As to the future, he considered an open defiance of the Act very likely, and a general resort to strikes. Already many unions were cancelling their registration under the Act-, getting ready for an up-

hcaval. Such an upheaval, Mil. Beaddon thinks, the employers will probably welcome. Tl.ey are tired of the restrictive conditions, the multiplied awards, the reduced output per man, and the continuous surveillance by Government inspectors and union secretaries. Not. a pleasant picture tliis after sixteen years of compulsory arbitration.