NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1212, 22 August 1911, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

It is interesting to note that the Mayor of Wellington, Mr. T. M. Wilfoed, will preside at the reception and banquet to be tendered to Sin Josurn Ward and party on their return to Wellington this week. On the occasion of Sin Joseph .Ward's departure tongues were set wagging over the the Chief Justicc and not the Mayor of the city occupied the chair at the farewell banquet, and it was pretty generally known that friction had occurred over the_ matter. The Mayor absented himself, and attended a picture show at Petone on the night of the banquet. The trouble would appear to have been smoothed over by the committee, which is organising the reception, apologising to the Mayor % What the apology is for is not quite clear, but no doubt Mr. Wiword and the committee know all about it. Now that harmony is restored it is t-o be hoped that the functions will pass off pleasantly. Sir Joseph Ward will probably have had a surfeit of banquets and receptions, but will no doubt be glad of the opportunity afforded him of saying something about his experiences at the Imperial Conference.

In a recent article upon the state of business in the House of Commons the Spectator had some observations which have some pertinence to recent political developments in this country. Discussing the wholesale invasion of the rights of local authorities contemplated by the National Insurance Bill, the Spectator observed that "few employers deal with an office boy in the arbitrary manner in which this Bill of Mr. LloydGeokgl's proposes to deal with the great municipalities and county councils of the Kingdom." Clause 4G of the Bill proposes that if complaint were made of the way in which the existing local authorities arc enforcing various laws relating to health, 1 the Government may appoint a : "competent person" who shall have' power to give orders to the local authorities. This "competent person" would also have the power to place any financial charge he might choose upon any employer who in his opinion has failed to do his share of carrying out any Act relating to the health of workers. "Until recent years," the Spectator caustically observes, "it was the fond belief of Englishmen that their property and their liberties.would not be taken from them except by due proccss of law in the King's Courts." Summarising its criticisms, our famous contemporary declared that it approved of the principle and the objects of the Bill. No member ,of Parliament, however, it pointed out, has any right to assist in passing a bad measure solely because its objects are good, and it added a passage that should ho noted for reference when, as will very likely happerf, Mn. Fowlds brings on his Town Planning Bill again:

Good objects and sound principles arc of very little value unless they arc accompanied by a clear conception of. the practical means for overcoming the 'necessary obstacle to any reconstruction. In. t'lo short time left to Parliament for the discussion of this Bill, it is finite impossible so to amend it as to get rid of its essential vices. Therefore the best thins that can happen to Iho Bill is its voluntary abandonment by its authors on the understanding that an entirely new measure will bo introduced next year. The only objections to this course arise from the absurd theory _ that a Minister is eternally discredited if he produces a measure which proves to bo impracticable when examined by competent clitics. This is a very common theory with Cabinet Ministers, whoso position seems always to tempt them to believe that they have the omniscience as well us the omnipotence of divine beings.

Before, the opportunity passes we must call attention to tho interesting discussion upon the new electoral boundaries Lhat took place in the House of Representatives on Friday afternoon last. The only really fruitful thing that was said upon the principle of electoral adjustment came from Mit. Fowlds. Tho inconvenience and confusion of tho existing system are obvious to ovcrj 'body, but of course the principle of one vote one value (apart from the established difference between the urban quota and the -rural quota) must be kept supreme. The great drawback to Mn. James Allen's scheme—a fixed minimum of seats for the South Island, and a North Island representation proportionate to population— is that it would mululv enlarge the House. Hit. Fowr.ns suggests that the country should be divided into large electorates, each ' of which would return a group of members. Such a change would naturally require some system of preferential voting to perfect it—without the principle of "proportional representation'' it would hardly be much of a change for the better. We take it that Mit. Fowlds will agree with us upon this point, and we should be very glad to see him urf" the reform upon' his colleagues. Electoral reform is very necessary, as we have often said, to supplement that rc-

form of the system of public works expenditure which will relieve the nation from the Executive domination that thrives upon the conflict of petty local interests in a House in which no interest not. national ought to receive consideration.

Possibly 110 member of the Ministry is more popular personally th.'in the Acting-Prime Minister, Bin James Caiiiioi.l. His pleasant ways and easy good temper soften the criticism of opponents who differ with his policy and condemn his administration, and he manages without any apparent effort tq keep oil excellent terms with everyone, ft is not surprising in the circumstances that the movement to celebrate, the anniversary of his birthday yesterday should have met with the support it did. Why any particular Minister's birthday should be celebrated by a public gathering of the. kind determined on is not easy to , understand, but if any good reason I is to bo found it will probably bo discovered in the personal popularity of Snt James Carroll himself. We are pleased to join with his friends in congratulations approprij ate to the occasion.

Immigration is not a particularly popular policy either in this cornytry or in Australia at the . present time. Despite the fact that the normal increase in population is not sufficient to promote the development of the country and iill up the vast areas of unoccupied territory in the Commonwealth at anything like the rate that could be accomplished with so much greater 'benefit to everyone, there is a reluctance to embark on any really activc immigration movement. No doubt the objection rai:.:d as t'o the difficulty of securing the right class of immigrant has some ,*'eight behind it, but is the right sort of immigrant being encouraged ? It is particularly interesting to observe that West Australia has decided to follow the example of Canada, in a mild way, in the matter of encouraging oversea settlers. Not only is a vigorous immigration policy to be pursued, but a direct incentive to people to take up land is being offered. Settlers arc not only to _be given the opportunity of securing farm land, but' the Government will also undertake to provide farm buildings and cattlc for stocking the land. It would seem that with a public works policy embracing the construction of a dozen railways, phis the encouragement of land settlement on generous lines, West Australia has a boom period ahead of it. Incidentally it' is worthy of notice that the-Government proposes to repeal the Arbitration Act, and substitute Wages Boards, which have proved so successful in Victoria.