NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1339, 17 January 1912, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

The public will learn with a good 1 deal of satisfaction that tho cong ference which has been held during the last few days between the ship--3 owners and tho waterside workers, assisted by the Federation of La- : bour, has ended in an agreement acceptable to both parties. The men have secured considerable increases in their rates of pay, and the companies, it is to be assumed, have ' granted as much as they believe the trade will stand. The full effect of the new scale and conditions cannot be judged until the details arc available, and even then nothing but the test of experience will be conclusive. Assuming, however, that the agreement is-one with which the general ' public, as well as the parties im- ' mediately concerned, may fairly be t satisfied, it is gratifying to know r that it has been reached by means of 1 a friendly "round-the-tablc" eonfer--5 once between the parties themselves. " They understand the conditions beti' ter than anybody else, and they prei sumably know exactly what they have t agreed to. A compact formed in 1 such' a way should have a prospect' t of a reasonable permanence. 1 The - power to enforcc it may be doubt--3 ful, but the moral influence of 1 public opinion cannot be ignored as > a factor which is certain to be dif rected against either party guilty of i any attempt to depart from "the i agreement arrived at. Sin William Russell no doubt j correctly voices the opinion of New ' Zealand when he states that the Dominion; so far as he can judge, has " no desire at present for federation t with the Australian Commonwealth. 1 As one of the New Zealand Royal " Commission which in 1001 inquired 6 into the question of Federation from 1 New Zealand's point of view, Sir ' William Russell can speak with > authority respecting the possibilities " of benefits likely to accrue to this " country or to Australia from inclu- ' sion with the Commonwealth. On " the subject of Federal defence the 1 views of Sir William Russell will > meet with general endorsement so 2 far as they relate to the depend- " cnce of the overseas Dominions on ■ the British Navy. The defeat of 3 that Navy would almost certainly " place the colonies at the mercy of 3 the conquering foe; and local navies f such as that which the Common- ■ w;ealth has in view would be prac- ' ticall.v helpless against anything but " a filibustering expedition. But : while this is admittedly the case, we I can hardly believe that Sir William !' Russell holds the opinion that New ~ Zealand should do nothing more than ~ render financial assistance to the i British Navy. The naval authorities recognise the necessity for having ■ war vessels stationed in different c parts of the Pacific, and their chief 0 concern is that those vessels should be of a particular class and be, in s time of war, treated as a part of, t and under the control of, the Imperial authorities. Given these conditions a local fleet would be quite J as valuable a contribution to ImJ jjerial naval defencc as an annual 1 financial contribution; and far more >■ valuable to the overseas Dominion J providing it because it would be t likely to bring home to the people, li as a monetary payment never coulcl t do, a proper appreciation of the re- - sponsibilities involved in the main- - tenance of the supremacy of the sea. c At the present time, of course, New V Zealand could do very little in the " way of providing war vessels of its own; but we should he sorry to s think that this country has no higher aspiration than to rest content for - all time with a financial ContribuV tion towards' Imperial naval de,s fence. Sin William Russell is right II in holding that at present our ant nual cash payment lo the Imperial 8 Navy is the wisest policv for this ■ country to adopt; but this should ; not be regarded as a fixed and unalterable policv for New Zealand s ii | It would seem from one of to-day's ~ cable messages that the attack upon Ii Snt EnU Aiin Guby as Foreign Secrc|i lury is just now gathering momen- ,• turn. His handling of the crisis . in Persia has been the subject of a f demonstration in London, at which - "encroachment upon the integrity K of Persia'' was assumed as a fact, and y "Lhe whole (.rouble'' was attributed n to tho "folly and shortsightedness of t. Lhe British Foreign Oflicc." These c accusal ions are not new. They are based nnon-;-a belief that Russia is i' uiing the internal difficulties of

Persia as a means of gaining complete control over the northern part of the country. That would constitute a breach of assurances given by Russia to Persia—assurances which had the express sanction of England, and upon which England virtually asked Persia to rely. It would also have the effect of bringing Russia's frontier a great deal nearer to India, and is therefore regarded as a menace to the security ot that dependency. But the British Government has obtained from Russia categorical assurances that, her action in moving troops into Persian territory was purely temporary and provisional, and that she had no intention of violating the integrity and independence of Persia or' infringing the Anglo-Russian agreement. Upon that assurance the ' Foreign Secretary and the more responsible men among his political opponents felt themselves able to rely. The situation has long been recognised as a difficult and delicate ''hg, _ but we do not know that the British policy of maintaining the Anglo-Russian Convention and at the same time assisting Persia to attain stability of government under its new Constitution has yet become hopeless.