NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1502, 26 July 1912, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

In another column we giye tho main points of the Christchurch morning papers' comment upon the Hon. i. M. B. Fisher's exposure of the somewhat reckless disregard for facts displayed by Me. G. W. Russell and his Christcnurch apologist in, connection with the advertising boycott. M.u. Fisher showed conclusively, from official records.that Me. Russell had continued the boycott against The Dominion, and that he was incorrect in saying he had issued instructions for the boycott to cease. We need not trouble any further with Mr. Rotsell, who has- got himself, into the unpleasant "position of (1) condemning and repudiating a practice which he had always backed up; and (2> of having all the same persisted in maintaining toat practice. ,Ha would have shown to better advantage if he had frankly defended thf boycott policy. Nor need we trouble with his Christchurch apologist's cheerful effrontery, in persisting in its argument after being fully exposed Dy the facts. We only wish

to draw attention just now to itj opening observation that "with thofficial records at hie elbow," Mr. F. M. B. Fisher "has some advantage in discussing the distribution of Government advertising." He cer tainly has the advantage of being able to make public the facts that the shattered Liberal" party used to take good care to keep from th.3 public's observation. He has| the advantage of being able to quote facts against the baseless assertions of people like Me. Russell and newspapers like the Christchurch organ of ■ tho Opposition factions. Wellington people will understand now, when they read the absurdly crude avoidance of the issue aimed at by the Christchurch paper referred to why tbe Canterbury "Liberals" were so foolish as to disregard, last De comber, the nation-wide awakening to the necessity for ejecting the Ward party. The only excuse for their apparent incapacity to think clearly must bo their mistaken belief that their newspaper would not as it actually did and still doe?, consistently mis-state facts. But our Canterbury friends will speedily wake up; and it will be a sore awakening for the Russells and their journalistic apologists.

Further news is cabled to-dav concerning the new spirit of murder and violence which, by its timid truckling to the strikers in London, the British Government has produced in those misguided men. Last month'Me. Ben Tillett said to a mob of strikers: "If our men are to be murdered, I am going to taku a gun and I will shoot Lord Devonport." On the following day Mk. Tillett quoted with great satisfaction, as the Radical organs gleefully recorded, a brief letter from Lord Devonpout, saying: "I regret I cannot meet you at present, but should I do so I shall certainly horsewhip you for' a mischievous scoundrel, who ought to be shot' Mr. Tillett read the reply he had sent, challenging Lord Devonport to a fight with bare fists, and concluding, "Come along if you not a scoundrel!" Unhappily for this unscrupulous fellow, it turned out that the letter had not been written by Lord Devonport, and that the strike-leader's heroics were accordingly the flattest and dampest of squibs. To-day we learn that Mr Tillett called on the strikers f. join in a prayer that God should strike Lord Devonport dead. The strikers responded, to the invitation and sang &■ song insisting that Lord must die. it is no use moralising upon the state of British public opinion when this ghastly outrage can be perpetrated in London. It is no use, either, to cc pect that any of these ruffians will be laid by the heels for having threatened and advocated the murder of a specified fellow-citizen. Tho Government has surrendered to the dockers as completely as Mr. Andrew Fisher, the Australian Prime Minister, surrendered to the Brisbane strikers. Can anybody wonder that the strikers, seeing the Government ready to shirk their duty of giving ordinary protection against assault and murder to the free workers, have concluded that the whole of the King's laws have been suspended in their favour? The pious strictures passed upon Lord Devokport by Mr. Ramsay Macdonald are not greatly assisted by the villainous language of Mr. Tillett and his dupes.

The Official Year Booh of tht Australian Commonwealth for 1912 has been sent to us from the pffiea of Mr. G. H. Knibbs, tho Commonwealth Statistician. This wonderfully able publication, which every public man ought to . possess himself of and study diligently, has already a reputation which makes our jjraise unnecessary and is a model

of its kind. Wβ notice it here in order to take the opportunity of suggesting that the time has comu when the New Zealand Official Year Book_ should be revised, and made sufficiently useful to bo wortfi publishing. Let anyone accustomed <o reading the newspapers reflect upon the point, and he will realise, pvshaps with astonishment, that the New Zealand Year Book is v<!rj rarely indeed cited as an authoritv by any New Zealand journal, whila the Commonwealth tear Book is thp. standard authority, in Australia and outside of it, for facts concerning nearly every phase of social and political life in Australia. It is a more voluminous publication that the New Zealand Tear Book, but it appears less voluminous through the orderly, clear and scientific way in which it covers the ground. Tha New Zealand woi>k has hardly changed its shape since it was originated about twenty years ago; it contains masses of unnecessary information and figures; it covers no subject thoroughly (even its best section, that relating to vital statistics and population, being extremely poor in comparison with the corresponding section of the Australian work); and it is altogether a very poor production, which the Commonwealth Statistician would not be far wrong in holding up to his officers as the way not to do things. From the Australian worK anyone can get a good picture of the people, the country, the national finances, the legislation, and the industries of Australia; and the student and politician arid statistician can get nearly all the figures they can wish to have. This cannot be said of the New Zealand annual. If a Year Book is worth publishing, it is worth being made really useful.