NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1593, 9 November 1912, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

'v ■■■■'« ■, ■ ■',' ' It was Dr. Johnson'-who counselled'We of'his friends to "avoid •poverty" as n curse. He had his own Johnsonian reasons for this quaint lapse from humour, but in regarding .poverty.as a curse he came very near to the modern Badieal spirit It is an .odd"! reflection that in thjsage, .when bur Radicals, or a prominent section of themj profess to stand upon the New Testament, the things most detestable to the Uadieai mind are said by those who .recall the teaching of the Founder of Christianity. The other day the ■ Archbishop of Liverpool dealt with tho question, starting from the fact that modem social reformers appear to insist that poverty it "a very great, if not the greatest of all, misfortunes—a thing to be shunned almost like the pestilence,'* All the ends and aims of modern philanthropy, he pointed out, and of all Socialistic schemes for the so-called betterment of mankind seemed to be directed at the destruction of poverty altogether, as though it was the one great evil of the world. One.cannot expect the Socialist, who fancies that the very heart of man can be changed by passing art Act of so many clauses with two or three schedules, to agree with the Archbishop that there will always be poor men in the world. It would bo much pleasanter if there could be no poor at all,'but poor there will always be while men are imperfect. The oddest thing of all is that the Jacobins' method of abolishing poverty in New Zealand and everywhere else is atee which would leave untouched the inequalities of men xwd, merely Aggravate matters by lessening the means' of life. They would wreck the world's efficiency merely in,order to redistribute the world's discontent

An incident that occurred at Llatiystumdury, in Wales, on September 21 last, must have rather opened the eyea of a good many British Liberals to the character of soMp of those people to whom Mk, LloydGeorge specially appeals, The Chancellor visited this unpronounceable "village of his boyhood"— in order to open a hall which lie had presented to it. There was a _ great demonstration, of course, but it was not until a few Suffragettes interjected "Votes foT women" that the Lloyd-Georgites present really rose to the occasion. In the festival air of the meeting the ladies could easily have been escorted out by tho police. But the mob went mad: the gallant fellows rushed at the women, and punched them and tore out theirhair. The Daily News, an enthusiastic supporter of Me. Lloyd-George an'd all his works and Welshmen, reported that only for the presence of the police the women would havq ; been murdered..' As it was, "one was thrown over a hedge and her clothes torn from her back. Others were fiercely struck and only rescued after a prolonged conflict between the constabulary and the crowds." The Daily Chronicle, another Kadical paper, givc3 a stirring account of the way in . which two policemen, with their arms around one of the unfortunate, women, fought their way through the howling mob, who had heard their beloved champion interrupted. Another account said that "the women of the village laughed and clapped their hands as their men folk struck with their sticks at tho Suffragists' white faces."' 1 After. tßis abominable performance ' the Lloyd-Georgites returned with re* newed vigour to the completion of the day's festivities. The Chancellor, to be sure, deplored the atrocities, but apparently he did not do what he might have done, He. did not go] home and think out why his friends behave as they do behave. Instead, he went nn with his Bpeech, talked of the "unsavourinesß" of hie Dolitical

oppononts, and of chivalry 1 And ho lidd a very pleasant timo at tho concert in the evening. A good many people must havo been puzzled ovor the attack which Sir J. Ward led on Thursday ugainst the appointment of the new K.C.'s, For our own part wo simply cannot understand the motive of tho ex-Prime Mini&ter at all, He was tho head of the Government which was responsible for the first batch of ILO.'s a few years ago, and we cannot recall that anybody dreamed of making any objection to the gentlemen then honoured. On Thursday Sir J. Ward actually declared that] ho did not know how such appoint- \ nujnfcs arc made! He might just as reasonably havo said he does, not, know how loans arc raised. He also suggested that the new K.C.'s were appointed for political purposes, and the lofty-minded member for Christohuroh North helped him to prccipi-1 tatc a most' absurd attack on the ' Government... For 'the gentlemen whoso appointment was attacked by the Opposition we feel no concern: their professional standing does not: need our defence to the attacks qt the pettior sort of politician. All the appointments made have been quite good ones, those made during tho Ward Administration included. It may bo urged, of course, that purity and Hnsdoin died with the WaRD Government; but wp are not equal to arguing such a queer pro-; position as that. That the. "wild men" of the Opposition should blunder badly to the very end of tho ses-sion-'and their behaviour in this matter was a bad blunder—is. not surprising; but it really is astonishing that the member for Awatua should, in the absurd hope of making apenn'orth of political capital, make himself so ridiculous. At the time of tho attempt, upon Mr. lloqsevelt's. life, we ventured the ■ opinion—which has been abundantly justified—that they were wrong TVho concluded that a. "sympathy vote" might sweep the ex-President back to tho White House. The American newspapers containing accounts' of the affair are no\y to hand. It is. plain, to begin with, that Ms injury was of.no moment, and thai; ho knew' it, He used it in the manner of the born demagogue. A patriotic statesman would nave contested himself With saying that lunatics are always with tts. Mr. Roosevelt, however, ■ sought to use the. incident to make capital against his .opponents,' "1 : would not," he said, after. a. mclodramatio exhibit of his ; red r sta ; inqd. vest),. "I woiild not speik you in*: sincerely within five minutes of be* ing shot," and he proceeded to say that' the shooting was a natural ire: suit of the "foul mendacity . and abuse, that have been heaped upon mo by the papers,- not, only, in the ; interests of Mr. Debs, but :of Mr. Wilson and Mr,', Taft:," And he went on to put Mr,, Pecksniff'himself in the shade. We in New Zealand are not unfamiliar with the coftrse-tortgued, Sadical who, in language surcharged with libellous violence, applies'such term's; as ''filthy' abuse" to plain an.o\. orderly-.state-., 'meats of simple facts. The denia> fogue is the same everywhere^-from . .meric.a to Itfew Zealand.. It is amusing that Mr... EopSEVfiLT, the ' most' reckless dealer in 'foul political language many years', should cehsuTeihemaniaerg bfthe supporters'of Br, Wilson and Mr. Taft. But the American people, judged him as the . peoplo; here recently/ "■'. judged certain local politicians, ; famous for] their. vituperative . capacity, who ! sought to parade a. martyr apd to impute the guilt to their political opponents.