MOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1532, 30 August 1912, Page 4

MOTES OF THE DAY.

The Legislative Council is to bo congratulated not only on accepting tho principle of an elective Upper House—which it did by carrying the second reading of the Legislative Council Elections Bill—but also on , the emphatic manner in which it dcclaredits belief in the principle. The majority of 16 in a poll of 32 votes —the defeat of the opponents of the ■measure by three votes to one—is a victory over which the Leader of the Upper House may well feel elated. No doubt Mr. Bell's very nble speech in introducing the measure had a good deal to do with the result of the vote, for his treatment of the issue made it very difficult for any member professing democratic views to vote against the principle embodied in the Bill—the right of the people to choose their own legislators. ' But while a great advance has been made in inducing the Legislative Council to affirm the elective principle, the Bill is yet a very long way on the Statute Book. Many of those Councillors who voted for the second reading are in pronounced disagreement with some of the details of tho measure, and when it gets into Committee it will have a very rough passage. On present indications it seems probable that the Bill will be greatly mutilated, and if that should prove to be the case the.Government will no doubt have to consider its position and take such steps as it may deem desirable to give ,effect to the will of the people. So far the Leader of the Upper House has shown little inclination to give way on any of the material points of the Bill, and it would seein that the Government is determined that so far as its main features are concerned the measure must pass unaltered or not at all. Its progress through Committee will in the circumstances be watched with close interest. The Massey Government does not appear to have so far bestirred itselt very much concerning the Cook Islands. It is true that some indication of the intentions of the Governnent was given in the Financial Statement, and it is also only fair to :oncedc that Ministers have been r'pry fully occupied during the short ;ime they have been in office with nore important matters. But it is just as well that the Government should be reminded that certain mat;ers yet remain to bo cleared up in :onnection with tho troubles at the Islands; and that these matters will require to be faced. The cases of Dr. Dawson and Ex-Pomce Inspec-. tor Reynolds, for instance, will require to be gone into. By the last (bail from the Islands news came to band indicating that important new svidence concerning the late Administration is now available, and urgent demand for a full inquiry is called for. The farcical nature oi the inquiry by the Chief Justicefarcical in the sense that no evidence was given on oath, and that the complainants refused to give evidence unless ffae inquiry -was an open one, with the press present and the witnesses examined on served to complicate the position. The findings of Sir Robert Stout in such circumstances were not only practically valueless, but they tended to aggravate the sense of grievance under- which those at the Islands who had made complaint were suffering. When the Estimates relating to the Cook Islands come up for consideration, members no doubt will want to know the intentions of the Government, and Mr. Massey, we trust, will be in a position to give a satisfactory answer. Quite properly the Opposition last evening subjected the Government's proposals to increase the 'graduated land tax to a fair amount of criticism; but the bulk of the speakers could hardly be described as hostile to tho Bill. As a matter of fact the criticism was on the whole, of a quite friendly nature, and if members on the Opposition benches now and then took a somewhat pessimistic view of the probable effect of ■ tho proposed■chnnges in the direction of breaking up large estates, that was only to bu expected. It would be asking too much to expect any Opposition to concede everything that is claimed for a Bill by the Government introducing it, and no one can blame the opponents of the Massey Government for discounting somewhat the merits claimed for the changes now under consideration. Sin Joseph Ward, who was quite moderate in his criticism of the measure, did not, raise any very material points for the Phi.uk Mixistkk to answer ; but Mn. Massky nevertheless broke now ground and dropped a hint or two of interest. Apparently the Government, has new proposals for securing the subdivision of large, eslat.es without further borvpwinp for the purpose, of purrhtiEß, There are various ways in which this

might be done, but probably tho Government will extend the principle of encouraging private subdivision by guaranteeing approved purchases ol estates by small groups of settlers. However, whatever course the Government proposes to take it is abundantly clear that it intends to fulfil its pledges in the matter of promoting land settlement as rapidly as possible. It is Worth noting that Sin Joseph Wakd last evening admitted that many owners of large estates had in recent times been cutting up and selling their properties, and most people know that this has been going on very extensively. The exPrime Minister also acknowledged the injustice of unduly penalising the owners of large estates by increased taxation without first affording them a reasonable time in which to dispose of their land, If this sort of thing goes on our Radical friends will ere long come to recognise that the landowner is after all a quite respectable member of society, and something.more, than a target for their abuse, and a victim to be singled out for persecution. The member for Matatira will no doubt receive tho thanks of .the farming community for his efforts to stimulate the interest of the Government in the question of encouraging farm labourers to come to New Zealand from the .Mother Country. There is a great scarcity of farm labour in Now Zealand at the present time, and no hope apparently of remedying it except by immigration. Farm life appears to have little attraction for the colonial youth bred in the towns, and there is, furthermore, a drift of the country-bred to the towns, which has a serious side not fully appreciated. While this state of things exists the encouragement of suitable immigrants is tho plain and obvious remedy, and it is quite time that the situation was v squarely faced. Tho antagonism of Labour to an active immigration policy no doubt deterred the late Government and its predecessors from attempting any vigorous effort to secure suitable immigrants, for farm labouring purposes, but it is satisfactory to note that the Massey Government is prepared to move in the matter. The new High Commissioner has been instructed to take steps to endeavour to secure the class of immigrants wanted, and the result of his efforts will be awaited by farmers with very real interest. . '