NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1519, 15 August 1912, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

The deputation from Martinborough which waited on the Mftiister for Public Works on Tuesday last and urged the necessity for the construction of a brnnch lino of railway from Featherston to Martinborough was able to put forward some ] good reasons why this work should bo placed on the. list_ of authorised undertakings. Martinborough has been going ahead in recent times and with the assistance of a railway,' would progress at a still faster rate. Tho member for the district, Mr. Bcchanax, and other speakers, particularly emphasised the fact that there was sufficient evidence available to show that this railway, if constructed, would prove a paying and no doubt this will have due weight with the Minister. The Government should, at the earliest opportunity, give its serious attention to tho whole question of future railway construction with a view to laying down some general scheme of railway development based entirely on the needs of the country as distinct from political considerations. The Dominion is paying dearly now for its political railways, and' the new' Government would do well to move warily if it is to escape the discredit which attaches to past Governments in this respect. A day or two ago the contractors for the Glira tunnel petitioned .Parliament to be released from their contract, and without touchingat all on the merits of their contentions, it is safe to say that it would bo tho best thing possible, for the country if not ji penny more were expended on that work. Tho <lino of railway served by the tunnel will prove one of the biggest white elephants this country has ever possessed. It is never likely to pay, and if the Government had tho courage to stop further work on it indefinitely they would be rendering the country a great service. Perhaps it is too much to expect the Ministry to take up tho heroic course suggested seeing that the work has progressed so far, but the Continuous Ministry has_a lot to answer for in putting this undertaking in hand when other urgentlyneeded and profitable suggested Hues of railway are being neglected.

Perhaps, when they have thought more deeply upon the inwardness of the party system in politics, not a few of the minority in favour of an elective Executive will revise their opinions. All of us wish, of course, like our ancestors before us, that Parliament should consist of individuals, always voting precisely as they felt on every occasion, and subject to every of temporary grouping in the lobbies. But it is only want of thought that prevents the'supportsrs of the elective Executive—or, perhaps we should say, a readiness to make unwarranted nssumptions—from realising that _ the party system would come, back in a week after being apparently driven out of doors. "We- have often contended that so long as there aro two sides h> a question, the party system will endure. The severest ti-st of the reasonableness of the party system in a practical world is propounded in tht! qnestio'i: 'Is ihere any l-r.-n] fi.niiKluli'Mi for tlii? division of political life as we have it here!

Does it correspond to any facts in uiituvo I" These questions wore asked, nnd answered in tho affirmative, by C'axox J. H. B. Mastekmak in it recent lecture at the London University. He believed, he said, that the two main political parties do represent two great in human nature, nnd he, used a whimsical but- very apt figure to illustrate his point: "St. Paul's Cntlicdral and Westminster Abhor did to an extent correspond with tho iilenl.s of the two pai-fes. Liberalism was, in ;i word, tlio (.iolhie spirit of niinslor Abbey. It was .1 policv of aspiration, irregularity, a of the value of tlia individual. It disliked monotony, and rather tended to welcome rhnnge. On tho other bond, the Conservative, party was much more like Si", l'aul's Cathedral. It. lik«l stability, order, system, (hat which was rounded and complolo and Folid. It feared clinngc, and fell back it|)on the unchunsiiiK elements of life wherever it could." The He form Government quite meets the test of Liberalism here suggested. Canon Mastermax proceeded, by the way, to point out that between Socialists and Tories there is much in common: both are prepared to sacrifice the individual for what they think is the larger welfare of the community. It may be worth while to recall Mit. Gladstone's opinion: "I am always disposed," he said, "to view with regret the rupture of party ties—my disposition is rather to maintain them. _ I confess I look, if not with suspicion, at least with disapprobation on anyone who is disposed to treat party connections as matters of small importance. My opinion is that party .ties appertain closely to those principles of confidence which we entertain for tho House of Commons."

While we cannot regard the offer of tho Ferry Company to sell tho G23 acres of Native, bush at Day's Bay for £0230 as being prompted by any high philanthropic motives, it is nevertheless an offer which deserves _ sympathetic consideration. This particular piece of Native bush is so close to tho city that its value as a public park and pleasure resort is very great. The bush contains some fine specimens of our New Zealand trees and shrubs, and it would undoubtedly bo a great pity to see it destroyed for the sake of providing build-, ing allotments in a locality where there is ample, room for residential settlement without this destruction taking place. Experience has shown that in these matters unless someone takes a definite lead nothing usually happens, and it would , bo a good thing in the circumstances if the Mayor of the city called a meeting of the Mayors of the surrounding boroughswith a view to combined action being taken to ascertain whatthe purchase would involve and what likelihood there is of the money required being forthcoming.. Tho matter has already been brought under tho notice of the Government, the idea being that tho State might assist by way of subsidy or in some other way, to ensure the preservation of this beauty spot for the people of the Dominion. But if anything is to he done in the matter—and it is plainly desirable that tho bush should, if possible, be saved from destruction—then the local authorities will have to take tho lead and place the proposal on a practical basis for tho consideration of all tho parties interested. rO'-.l" ::-',.r/.TJ.TT3 The suggestion that a special instruction by • Cabinet that a certain solicitor Vi Invercargill should not only receive all the ordinary Crown Law business, but all-tho Government Insurance business as well, was a quite common course of procedure under' the Ward rcyimc, 'does not strike one as a very safe defence to put forward in view _ of the facts advanced by the Minister now in charge of this Department; Mn. Fisher, it will be recalled, stated that tho head of the Government Insurance Department, held that the Cabinet instruction that all the legal business of the Department in Invercargill must go through one favoured individual, was detrimental to the interests of the Department, arid a little thought, of course, makes it quite clear that this would'bo the case. In our news columns to-day the Minister points out some of tho reasons for this. But unfortunately for those who aro attempting to defend the action of tho WAnb Government on the doubtful ground that this was not an unusual thing to'do, Mr. Fisher now comes forward with an assurance that it was not only an unusual thing but that tho edict issued, was confined to Invercargill alone. An attempt has been made to sot lip tho defence that tho solicitor thus favoured by the Ward Government did not reap any great harvest out of the privilege extended to him. This may or may not be the case; but it does not in the least affect the principle objected to: that is that in granting this special favour to any one solicitor the Government acted in a manner prejudicial to the interests of an important State Department and in consequence against the interests of those doing business with that Department.