NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1276, 3 November 1911, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

The campaign for the Palmerston North seat has been opened by Mr. M'Nab, who apparently is going to cover the outlying portions of his electorate before speaking at_ Palmerston North. He has an initial advantage over his opponent, Mil. Buick, owing to the illness of the latter. Mil. Buick, who was taken ill during the session, is now well on the road to recovery, but it will probably, bo some little time before he will be able to do any platform work. This, however, is not likely to seriously militate against his chances of success. He is a very old resident of the district and he is far too outspoken for there to be any room for doubt as to his views on any of the more important political questions of the hour. As a matter of fad; Mr. Buick's plain straightforwardness should prove a valuable asset to him in the present struggle. His opponent possesses greater gifts of oratory and is skilled in the arts of the politician, but wc doubt very much whether this is any great advantage at the present time. The public have grown weary of the plausible political shuffler, and Mr. M'Nab's political past, notably his weathercock behaviour on the land question, will not be any recommendation in his favour with the electors anywhere. Still, he is certain to make an onergetic fight for the seat, and the supporters of the sitting member cannot afford to take matters too easy. The idea is being circulated that if elected Mr. M'Nab will have a good chance of securing a placc in the Ward Cabinet. This is a somewhat doubtful recommendation. There may not be a Ward Government after the elections; but in any case, even assuming that Mr. M'Nab has some hopes in the direction stated, it is worth while recalling that the doctors of Mat-aura rejected him even when he held a portfolio in tho Ward Ministry. Unless wc are mistaken it is the only occasion during the past 20 years on which a member of the Ministry has been rejected at the polls. Possibly, however, the example set by Mataura may lie copied by other electorates during the coming contests.

The date of the general election has not yet been made known, but it is generally anticipated that the first ballots will be held on Wednesday, December 6, and the second a week later. There is no reason why the dates should not have been announced days ago, but presumably the Pnntu Minister hopes to gain some tactical advantage by keeping his opponents in ignorance of the exact date until the last possible moment. Candidates who wish to book halls for the night before tho poll are inconvenienced by this delay, but otherwise there is little to bo gained or lost by not publishing tho information. On present appearances there will be a larger number of second ballots at the coming elections than was the case in 1008. Tho Labour candidates will probably poll better in most cases than they did last time, and the Opposition candidates will certainly do so. The second ballots, of coursc, mean extra expense to the country, as in addition to the usual cost of conducting the election, such as payments to returning officers and poll clerks, printing, etc., the expenses of the two candidates left in each second ballot are paid by the State. The limit of exuenditure

by each candidate between the first and second ballot is fixed at £50, so that for each sccond ballot the conntry pays up to £100 for candidates' expenses alone. At the last general clect-ion there were 23 second ballots; while 011 the present occasion it looks as though there would be about 30. It is worthy of note that in 1908 fifteen of the candidates who headed the poll at the first ballot were successful at the second, and eight were defeated.

Discussing the probable appointment, of Mr. Redmoxd Barry to the position of Solicitor-General for Ireland the Glasgow Herald, touches on a point which, in view of recent events, is of interest here. It mentions that Mr. Barry was not the only Richmond in the field, Lord Justice Cherry, who was the Attor-ney-General for Ireland a few years ago, being considered to have prior claims. The Herald then adds:

But there is a strong objection to the promotion of Judges to higher offices on the ground that tho tendency of such a practice would he to undermine the independence which Judges should fee! towards t'lie Executivo Government.

Our readers will no doubt rccall that the protests made against the payment of large sums, in addition to his salary, by the Ward Administration to the Chief Justice, were based on the ground that no member of the Bench was justified in receiving favours of this or any other kind at the hands of the Executive. The principle, of course, is generally recognised, and the comment of the Glasgow llcralcl is only what would be expectcd. In New Zealand, however, when similar views were expressed, those giving utterance to them were bitterly attacked and charged with assailing the integrity of the Supreme Court Bench, and eo on.

The London Tablet, the most important organ of Catholicism in the Empire,_ gives prominence to a special article calling attention to a little-considered aspect of Home Rule. Regarding Home Rule as "accomplished fact" the writer asks: "How docs Catholic England stand to face tho future?" For thirty years, he points out, Catholics in England have been divided over the Irish question, anc! have only been iirtitsd when education has been an instant issue. In the intervals the Catholic Home Rulers have been politically awake all the time, while English Catholics have dozed politically, and "the result has been that we have allowed the Irish party to be regarded in the public eye as tho only articulate representatives of Catholic interests in the State." The passing of Home Rule, the argument proceeds,_ will mean that "the Irish voice will count no longer in a struggle at Westminster, and the British Liberals will be. able to introduce "an Education Bill, an honest Bill that declares openly against ,the Catholic view." To fight this Bill will be all the more difficult because "tho Homo Rule controversy will have engendered false prejudice against the Church." Moreover, "even the English Churchmen will be less cordial in their fellowship after Home Rule has been carried in tho teeth of their defence. If it is a fellowship at all next year, it will bo one of bare political necessity, holding together, on their side only so long as the 'pOril is actually at the door. And such a union, known to bo hollow in sympathy, will not make the Asqtjith Government vcrj much afraid. A special course of treatment for Church schools will entitle the Churchmen to retire, and leave tho Catholics isolated and beaten." It would seem that Home Rule will have to encounter the opposition of English Catholics as well as that of the defenders of the Protestant minority in Ireland.