NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1351, 31 January 1912, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

We have been refraining from comment upon the humorous and pathetic plight of our "Liberal" contemporaries, and we have no desire to criticise them, or rectify their errors. The stern and unquestionable criticism and rectification of plain fact will come along in a little over a fortnight. But we must note a particularly amusing thing in the "Liberal" Dunedin Star. On Thursday last it had an editorial attacking the Reform party rather hysterically, and this was followed by another editorial on "The Neglect of History.' , in the course of this second article it said:

History must be looked upon qs a collection of experiments, from which general maxims of civil wisdom may bo drawn, lor instance, the pages of the Past make it abundantly clear that Power is more dangerous to a country's liberties than Vice. We have to observe the almost universal corruption of it apait from severe restraints. "There is, in fact,' , says Wordsworth, "an unconquerable tendency in all power, save that of knowledge, ... to injure the mind of him by whom that power is exercised." From the tyranny of King John, the despotism of the Tudors, the faithlessness of the SHiarte, and the unicrupiilousncss »f Wnlpole, Maeauhiy educes the following political principle: "As we cannot, without the risk of evils from which the imagination recoils, employ physical force as a check on misgovernmerit, it is evidently our wisdom to keep all tho constitutional chicks on misgovernment in the highest state of efficiency, to watch with jealousy the first beginning-, of encroachment, and never to suffer irregularities even when harmless in themselves, to pass unchallenged, lest they acquire the force ol precedents."

We ■ fancy that this passage from Macaclay is one of a hundred we have quoted over and over again during the past tour years from the historians and philosophers of Britain. It, and the Star's preceding argument, are the. essence of all that has'been hold by ourselves and the Reform party. And it is saddaning to reflect that when the friends of Reform spoke of the evils of long Power, and of the need for keeping checks on misgovernment, and of the importance of challenging irregularities, the Star's was not the. least loud voice in tho hostile pack that yelped about "the credit of the, country," and "the sort of thing that keeps good men out of public life," and the other things in the revert owe of the hater of Reform. "It seems strange' , our contemporary concludes, "that a subject tho study of which is so fruitful should have fallen into abeyance." But, the public very wisely behaved last December as if it had been studying history. And so it had—the his'tory of Wardism.

For the present the interest of Home-Rulers and anti-Home-Rulers is centred in the dangerous ferment in Ulster. . Buf. the more thoughtful friends of Home Rule knowthat the invincible hostility of Ulster* for all its importance, is less important as a practical political fact than the difficulty Mr: Asquith will find in carrying out his compact with Me. Redmond. The Nationalist leader promised his people that the first and immediate sequel of the Parliament Act would bo the . introduction of the Home Rule Bill, and Me. William O'Brien urged Ireland to disbelieve Mr. Redmond. He was laughed at and reviled; but he has been justified by events. The Radical Government that bargained with Mr. Redmond and promised him Home Rule as the first fruits of the "Veto" Act has had, as Mr. O'Brien knew would happen, to pacify its larger shareholders—the Radicals and tho Discstablishcrs. We were told the other day that Welsh Disestablishment will take precedence of Home Rule, but in the meantime Mr. O'Brien has been able to justify all his criticisms. Speaking at Cork shortly before Christmas he showed how Ireland had already been forced by Mn._ Redmond's policy "to pay a terrific price for the bare promise" of a Homo Rule Bill being carried during this Parliament, Mr. Redmond and his paymasters, he pointed out had "botched their relations with the Liberal party and with the Unionist party alike":

the Insurance Bill wonld be their ruin rind they had.lashed the Unionist pai-tv by every species of stupidity and insult into a fierce campaign against Home Rule They had Mr. Redmond swearing to the country that Homo Rule would 'he first business of tho new Parliament the moment the Veto of the Hou'O of Lords was gone. Well, the Veto of the House of Lords was gone nnd the first session had gone. It hnd been consumed not in advancing Home Eule but in forcing against the will of Parliament and, us he believed, against, the will of English as well as of the Irish people, an Insurance Bill which would bring nothing to Ireland except fresh burdens if ever it should bring anything at all! A few days ago Mr. Asquith published a pamphlet called Home Rule Notes" in which he stated first that tho prejudice against Home Rule was fiercer in England at the present nioment than ever ?t wa=. He also stated that tho Bill could only be passed into law by being pas-'ed through three successive sessions, nnd that could only be done if the English constituencies continued still to (five- their unchanged confidence to the Liberal Government. They were told that positive.lv the last obstacle to Home Rule was gone the moment tho Veto of the House of Lords wa.s abolished, but Mr. Asquith now that the Veto of the Lords was abolished, raised a far more formidable obstacle to Homo Rule by announcing his ManliMfl Suffrage Bill for niixt year. The. nmi=f> of Lnrds would "accept m.i.nhdd suffrage and throw out the Homo. Rulo Bill, the result being the Government would bo forced to go to the country for another general election. Then with the unpopularity of the Insurance Bill there would be smfLshed up at the polls th? la=t hopes and promises of the Molly Maguiros wlki had gulled tho .country, "nnd ' tl'r-i'r hout-3 of glnss would ba shattered. Thn Insurance Bill, as applied to Ireland would prove a fraud and a sham, '

This is the comment of a Nationalist who has suffered heavily for his devotion to the Home Rule cause and who is an infinitely more shrewd student of politics than Mb. Redmond.

Two Southern newspapers help us along to-day with some interesting rumours as to ths plans of Sin JoSEru Wapd, The Dunedin Star "predicts"' that the Government will

resign just before Parliament meets. The Matavra Evsign_ prints an assurance from a Wardist politiciancan ii be Mp. M'Nad ?—that the resignation will take place on February 14, and that after Mr. Massey me'ets the House as Prime Minister, Mr. Thomas Mackenzie will move a vote of warit-of-confidcnce in the new Government. Nobody who knows him will doubt that Mr. Thomas Mackenzie is really dreaming of this funny little scheme as a possibility—and nobody who knows him will fail to be amused at the idea that Mr,. Mackenzie could ever head a party of more than one. A good many people, of course, have suspected that the unhappy "Liberal" Government, would resign in the hope of somehow improving its position tactically. Nobody has ever doubted that a career of trickery anci fraud such as the "Liberals' " career has been would not wind up with a final attempt at one more trick. Mr. Massey, we may be sure,' has fully considered all the possibilities. If he chose, he could make his own terms about taking office,' having behind him a majority in the House and a keen and vigorous majority in the country. But there is not the least occasion for anything but amusement at the attempts of the "Liberal" party to pretend that it is not dead and buried. We are grateful, however, for the unexpected delight of hearing of Me. Thomas Mackenzie in the matter.

So far as can be gathered, it is probable that the tramwaymen may go upon strike this afternoon. Perhaps it is too late to hope for success for any appeal to the men to remember, first, that by striking without due notice they will rentier themselves liable to individual fines of £25 each, and, second, that no strike of land transport workers has ever wholly succeeded. At the same time we do hope that tho men will not subject themselves and their families to hardship in so bad a cause as that in which they have been preparing to fight. Success for them will mean such a defeat of the public interest as the public cannot afford and dare not afford. It is not too late, however, to give a final reminder to the public and the City Council that there must be no surrender to the agitators who have been misleading the tramwaymen. There is at stake none of those rights, or claims, for which men usually strike. The men have not behind them the morality of a discontent with bad hours, bad wages, and bad conditions. They are simply demanding what cannot be conceded, namely, the power to dictate the details of tho tramways management, They have been led into supposing that some grand "Labour principle' is at stake, or at anyrate into believing that their honour will be tarnished if they fail to act as unreasonable beings. We shall be very sorry if it becomes necessary to make them see tho unreasonableness of their attitude bv making theni suffer for it; but if they insist upon making fools ol themselves in the belief that they arc being heroes, then tho City Council and the public have no choice but to teach them the needed lesson.

The average New Zeaiander reserves for his own politics most of the attention he has to spare for political matters just now. Yet the situation in Britain is worth watching. The cables do not make it appear to change much, but it is nevertheless changing. Six years have passed sinci- Sm Henry Cajif-bell-Banneeman found himself in charge of a huge majority, and a change is due if "the pendulum" is still working. Th.it a change is coming is also to be inferred from actual facts. When Captain Campbell won the North Ayrshire seat for the Unionist? on December 21 he brought up to five the number of Unionist gains since the election of December, 1910. When the present Parliament reassembled the Liberals returned outnumbered the Unionists by one. The numbers were: Liberals, 272 Unionists, 271. After the Ayr election the numbers wereUnionists, 276; Liberals, 267. The difference is small, but its significance is very great. When Parliament met the , Coalition majority over the Unionists was 127, and at the_ present time the Coalition majority over the Unionists and Independent Nationalists is 101. The Mornvju Post thus'summarises the Unionist hopes:

A net gam of 59 seat? would give tho lauonists a majority of ono over everv party in the House. In January. 1910 there was a Unionist gain of over a hundred seats. With the Unionist cause steadily advancing, not only in tho North and South of England, but in a mixed urban and rural constituency in Scotland, v.-lio shall say that the experience of two years aero will not be repeated when tho whole of the Kingdom has an opportunity of declaring its will?

There is every reason to believe that disaster, as complete as that which has overtaken our own "Liberal" Government, is gathering to smash the Radical-ridden "Liberals" of Britain.