NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1392, 19 March 1912, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

London papers tell of a remarkable attempt at_ despotic rule in Croatia, a province of the AusfcroHungarian Empire. The elections which took place there last December resulted in a complete, reverse for the Government. A writer in the Spectator states that "in spite of corruption, intimidation, and the use of troops on an almost unprecedented scale, in spite of wholesale confiscations of the Opposition press, the Opposition parties succeeded in retaining 63 out of the 88 seats of which the Croatian Diet is composed." The Government met the situation by the simple expedient of: dissolving the new Diet before it had even been allowed to meet. A Royal Decree expin ined that the Diet's "party groupings offered no prospect of fruitful activity." Foreseeing the indignation of the Opposition newspapers, the floverninent, simultaneously with the issue of (he Decree, confiscated all of I hem. It also on (he same i-vening took the precaution of throwing the leader of the Peasant party into prison and citing the lender of the .Serb Independent party on a charge of political libel. We sympathise with thu Mipprcsand CronUun newspaprrn. Tho advertising boycott which wcj

jhave to contend with is n very mild .affair r< mi pa rod wifli l!i>' eonnValion ! which they haw In fiuv. lml- it is lln> I saniir kind of thing. The difference is i nii'jvly ;i matter of degree. The Croatian lyraniiy and the Now ZeaI land tyranny are alike in their inj tent inns, but the one has greater opj porlunities than (.lie other. So, too, ■ the holders of ufiii:;. , in Croatia found I moans of preventing the voice of the i people at tho elections from becoming i effective, and their brethren in this country have found other means of doing the same thing. If New Zealanders could he so weak and foolish as to go on submitting to such treat-, went, a majority of forty against the Government, would ultimately matter as little as a majority of one.

To "spoils to the. victors," as a cardinal article of "Liberal" policy, we. find we must add "gratitude to the deliverers." Mn. It. M'Kenzie, who may or may not next week bo a private member, but who at present is Minister for Public Works, has written a letter to Mr. Atmore, M.P. for Nelson, as follows: —

"In reply to your letter of the 29tli ultimo, with reference to (lie number of men employed on the Nelson section of t!<s Midland railway, 1 now have to state that I have the plans of a mile l>eyond the Olenhops station, which have been npproveil by Cabinet, and I have given instructions to the Department to have the number of men now working on the works increased up to 21)0. 1 expect to get a further section of tile plans approved at an early date, so that the work may be pushed on with greater dispatch than it has recently been."

Comment is hardly necessary upon this pitiful recognition by the expiring Cabinet of Mii. Atmore's services during the short session. "Those who support us, I am with them"— was that not what Mr. M'Kexzje said at-Opunako ten months ago! But what will the Nelson people think about it? They may be glad, in some, measure, to see. the railway going ahead, even by a mile; but they will recognise why the men on the work are to be increased up to 200. P>ut it will take far more than this sweetener, and more than these extra votes, to persuade Nelson that Mr. Atmore is a representative to be retained. It will take more than the Spoils party or anybody else can do or promise.

The decision of the Government to push this railway work ahead at this time is obviously a party dodge. It raises the general question -of the competence of the Government tn do .anything at present outside the strict routine of business. The Government is to resign this week, and yet it is acting as if it possessed the confidence of the country and had before it the prospect of that unlimited term of power that it boastfully promised itself right up to the day of the second ballots. Beginning with its indefensible action in making the Governor say that his Advisers were going to carry out an enormous propramme when all the time, on tho PnniE Minister's own statement, his Advisers had privily decided beforehand to quit office, the Government has gone from bnd to worse. The Prime Minister, although he has announced "emphatically' , his intention to become il private member, has actually declared, as one stating a course of action within his control, that the Governor will not call Parliament together before June. He has also announced, in a speech in Auckland, a largo scatter-cash policy. And within the past few days Cabinet , has hurriedly decided to commit the- country to an instant commencement of the new Parliament buildings. The Christchurch Prra.l asks: "What can possibly b". his object in rushing the country headlong into liabilities when he knows the Treasury is depleted, and when he has formally announced that he intends to retire, and thereby absolve himself from the responsibility of meeting the engagements to which ho is committinir the country?" "Who' can say 1 Perhaps he is moved by some muddled notions of strategy; perhaps he is moved by • desire to make things unpleasant for his successor. Perhaps, however, he is moved only by his patriotism and his deep regard for constitutional methods.

At a meeting held by Mr. Payne, M.P., tat Grey Lynn, last night, a resolution was carried by a large majority demanding that he resign his seat. Nobody can_ have the smallest doubt that a similar resolution would be carried everv time an open public meeting was held in that bamboozled electorate. No doubt our "Liberal" friends may say that Mr. Payxe is not bound by a resolution carried at a public meeting—even a large public meeting. In the abstract that may be sound. But argument on the point is rendered unnecessary by Mb. Payxe's own statement, which, we venture to say, is one of the most deplorable things we ever read. Here it is:

I am going to ignore all such resolutions. I defy you and your resolutions. I am going to stay in that House just so long as it enables me to prove what I am.

Is any further proof required 1 We are very glad that Grey Lynn is demonstrating against its representative. It cannot get rid of him until the next general election, of course; but it will in the meantime have succeeded in arousing the public to a realisation and detestation of the most sinister of the innovations introduced by "Liberal-Labour" politics into the public life of the country. Mr. Robertson, the member for Otaki, is in exactly the same position as Mr. Payne. We do not envy the Spoils party its possession of their support.

We do not know how soon the Federation of Labour hopes to complete its organisation throughout Now Zealand, and carry out its President's threat to "bang Auckland's head," but it is clear from Mr. Webb's speech to the minora at Huntly that the Federation is not at the present time able to promote the general strike which has figured so largely in the rhetoric of its leaders. "The recent industrial events in Auckland," according to Mr. Webb, "meant that the employers had thrown down the gauntlet to the Federation, hoping to draw them out in their present unorganised state, but the officials of the Federation were not falling into this trap." We hope the members of the Wellington City Council now realise how they wen , , bluffed by the agitators who threatened them the other day with a general strike, but even if (.here were some, substance in such threats, it by no means follows (hat the Auckland City Council should yield to the demands of the Federation. A few months ago we might have said (hat Mi:. Paim; was making a mistake in insisting (hat his Council eoiild only (real- with (he Labourers' Union by, means of (he machinery provided li'v (he Arbitration Act, and we :,|j]| think that, nuclei' norma ! cirrumstnnw.s it is better for einnlnve.r , " -nd employee;; to compose, thoir differ' .ences without going to the Court.

But it has lately been made clear that wlir-ve the Federation of Labour is concerned, the, circumstances are very far from normal. We have had Hi!. , declaration of Mr. Hickky, one of the leaders of the' Federation, that the workers should "tear up" their whenever it suited them. After this it is no wonder if employers refuse to negotiate with such an organisation. Tho Mayor of Auckland, Mi!. Part, expressed the oh. vions truth when he said that an agreement with the Federation of Labour did not guarantee any pet-, manence, as it could he broken the day after it was made. Of course, (he HiCKEY policy is only a temporary aberration, but it is unfortunate for the Labourers' Union at Auckland that they should be, even indirectly, associated with it. The appearance of Mn. Payxe, M.P., the man with the. new Liberal-Labour doctrine of pledges, on their platform last Saturday will similarly prejudice, their cause. The Federation will eventually discover what is known by the rank and file of unionists, as well as by Labour leaders all over the world, that it pays to keep scrupulously every engagement, and that a reputation for good faith is one of the greatest assets of any organisation. It will also find, after what has occurred, that such a reputation in its own case will take some time to earn.