NOTES OF THE. DAY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1474, 24 June 1912, Page 4

NOTES OF THE. DAY.

The appointment of the llox. J. R. SixcuiKi,'.;M®Ci,represent. New Zealand on .the Imperial Trade Commission, in. place• of S.sR ; Joskkh: Ward, was -probably. iiiilueiu-od by the fact -that Mr,. Sixa.uiijiappcns: to bo itf/England;. Dominioii ; had been jolae<;d in a very unfortunate position through the behaviour of tho member for Aw'arua iii accepting the office of :Ke.w Zealand reprcscntative£'hold.ing/it ainti.l. : jt was ;tcs' late to appoint anyone else ill time to attend lite opening of the Comnns-' sion's sittings.. it withouc'Tdnyv previous 'indication, his intention to do so.. :®ie , ..MACKEjri; zie Ministry,'in --his sor, apparently has restricted _its range of selection to the few people who Imppened to' be. in England atsie I'momenti,. and ; ' 'syhoVjTOiild; in consequence be' able t-6 take up their work on the out delay. _ While there is something to be said in favour of 'this course, it does not necessarily. follow that the step taken iyai; the best. The Commission will- sit lor ,something like three years, and if the services of a more suitably rcprcSeufcafiye could, have a little .further' delay it' wpiild have been better to ■ have waited even the length of time necessary: to' travel from New Zealand to London.. Possibly the appointment; of 'Mif. Sinclair was made to "save the face" of Sin Joseph Ward as much as possible, as the less .delay there is in securing representation for the Dominion on the Commission i.he less; likely the public areata '.show'/thc'ir rbsentmiint' of the ex-Prime Minister's ihconsidcrate behayio.ur. The appointment of Mr. /Sinclair'' .may :not ;.have..'.beeii' the best choice possible, and .it has a' distinct political ilavon'r—he .'is. one of the numerous body of nominees of the "Liberal''' Cfo.vcrh'meh't' : in the: Upper House—but the office nevertheless jnight easily 'liave : been con- 1 ferred on a less suitable supporter of the Ministerial party.

Tirr, letter from the secretary of the Federation of. Labour which IvJ." publish this inbrriiiig throws some new light on the balance-sheet of the Federation,\.particulars., of. which were published in .our columns a few days ago. It- would seem that 1!r. Semple'S. little j;uint to .Australia, where he was reported to be w.orking to bring about an agreement;between certain of the labour unions' there and his:.;ii}vn!.. , E H b , dQr.at , i6n'. here, was not a business trip at- all, but a holi.day visit; Also that the trip too'k thirteen; weeks, Instead' 'pf six;, and; that Mr._ Skjiplb was acconipaniefr' by his w.i.fe: ami family. In these cnximisfaiVceE it. ; is/ cpntendeci, it-lias, the cost of the trip to the Federation, '■ £110, was ii.ot exccssiyb; : Y\"e are not inclined is one entirely, for the contributors to the funclsi.bf: the; Feclcratipn. .It;; should be noted, however, that the £103 contributed by different, unions towards, th'e cost of the trip: appears, in the balance-sheet as "donations to r/rlc(>atcs iK^.w'ea'stle..'' which would s.cem to. amply'that'''the... .vii'sit: was regarded as a busitsesK one. Howover, as; we;¥efnark|d /iri::pur.;preyi6us: reference, to the matter, there are. other labour leaders who find the task of labour leadership still more p rofitable/tha n. :i t;jsi tp'those ■aHsdcifited with the Federation of Labour.

The A\)sti;a.ii,iin: cricketcrs', iwhp. wound up v. il.t' it handsome win agiirisii, S.omc'rset,. \y.il}' . .jo-'clay: meet t.!:n pick of Enrrlinni in the first of the Tftat games against the Mother

Country. The 'team has confounded its clitics and delighted its. fvicncl's-; in ks performances up to ciiUe, tor although it hasi not escaped flc.fo.aJjj it j has .emerged triumphant, from those, games oil which most- depended. Its victory over tlia powerful M'ii'ryl.O-' bone team was <i, most meritorious ones and valuable to the team for its moral effect, while its handsome win oyer tho South Africans gave it a "leg in'' in the first. Test, England .als.p scored easily against the South Africans, and it is fairly plain njcfiy that the struggle, in, the Tests, will really be, as was anticipated, between the Australian and the English teams. What the result will be it is impossible, of course, to say ; but tlio: fact that tlu: Australian loam is expected to put up a hard fight in significant. of. the enange ill,public- opinion as to the merits of the team. AVlum it. left Ausi rail a its chance's were in most, quarters regarded as hopeless against, the ver.y fine: .set of' players which England is known to .possess just now; but to-day, while; tho odds are .still in favour of the ' Home team, they are not greatly so. May the lies.t team w.i'n,.