NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1602, 20 November 1912, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY.

' -« —. The evidence of the witnesses called at the inquiry into the death of the Federationist striker Evans has cleared away .any doubt which may have existed as to the circumstances under which Constable Wade' was shot. In the absurd "manifesto" issued by the Executive of the Federation ,of _ Labour, and which purported to give the facts of position at Waini, a deliberate attempt was m.a.de, jj&hal-t .the constable might- ; have been'"shot by one of the Arbitrationist workers. "If the constable was really endeavouring to restrain the 'scabs,' " the manifesto stated, "he"'would of course hayc been facing. them, and since he was shot in the stomach, the bullet would have been fired from the crowd of blacklegs." The men who put their names to this assertion professed to'be in a position to place the facts before the public. .They claimed to know the facts, .and yet dared, to suggest the possibility that the constable 'might nave been shot in the manner stated. The li'yewitnesses of the shtfoting who gj.vo their evidonce on oath at the inquest yesterday, all not only flatly contradicted the suggestion of tho Federation Executive, but showed that there was not even a shadow of foundation for it. The shooting of, the constable" took place away_ from the crowd;, the- man who fired it had fired other, shots and when pursued by-CoNStABLE Wade turned and shot him in. the stomach. Then the constable, seriously injured though he was, managed to struggle on, draw his baton, and strike down his assailant before collapsing himself. From beginning to end the leaders of the Federation have shown- themselves to be utterly unworthy of crudencc intheir presentation of so-called facts connected with the Waihi troub'e. Even in so grave a matter as the resort to flrear.ms involving the loss of life and serious injury these men persist' in their wild and reckless misrepresentations. The Waihi bio will not have been without value to the public if only for the exposure it has led to of the unscrupulous methods and tactics of those who dominate this Labour-Socialist organisation. •

! One can discern in the British Government's mild and orderly fresh start with the financial clauses of the Home Rule Bill some signs that the carrying of the Banbury amendment has sorely shaken the Bill. The delay—it will be nine or ten days— in the progress through Committee will greatly embarrass the Ministry, and will.make practically impossible their plan of driving their four coaches abreast—Home .Rule, Welsh Disestablishment, Franchise Reform, and the Trade Unions Bill. _ To keep its head above water by living, up to its undertakings the Government will have to go near beating the amazing record of 1893-4, when Parliament, meeting in January, Bat until September 22, resumed on November 3, adjourned for Christmas, and continued untii March 5, to meet again on March 12 and sit until August 25!. The mails bring fresh evidence of the impression which the Ulster movement has made upon even tho reckless extremists on the Government side. ' We noted some days ago the Daily News's recognition of tne seriousness and reality of Ulster's refusal, and, more weighty still, Mr. 0. P. Scott's counsel of infinite caution and deliberation on the part of the Government. To these signs we must add the trembling of even that desperate "forward," Mr, Massingham of _ tho Nation. Mr. Massinghah warned the Radicals to think that "there may still be something fairly due to Ulster in the way of a formal appeal to the British electorate," and to "consider whether, beneath the sound and fury of Ulster something like one solid political grievance may not be found to lie." The ultra-Radical Star went even further, and admitted that "the present Home Rule Bill has never been before tho electors." It even wondered "why any Home Ruler should hesitate to submit it to the electors." Mn. O'Brien, as we were informed by cablc a few weeks ago, suggested that Ulster should bo convinced and not simply coerced. And.

Mr. F. Hugh O'Donnell, formerly 1 vicc-prosidont of tlio Homo Rule Confederation under Mr. Butt, urges that provision be rnado in the Bill tluifc rill new legislation by the Irish; Parliament shall only operate in N.E. Ulster after a favourable poll of the people is recorded. AVe reprint Mit. O'Donneli/s letter, which should help our readers to understand that the Home Rule problem is less simple than it looks. One cannot help wishing that the wholo question could be submitted to a .Round-table Conference composed of, sav, Mr. Balfour, Mr. Redmond, Mr. O'Brien, Lord Dunraven, Mr. O'Donnkix, Sir Horace Plunket, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. It is within the ,bounds of possibility that some such conference may come in the end, and that it end in the extinction of tho rival bitternesses and bigotries and the beginning of a new day for Ireland.

We should say that a great many people not unfriendly to the "United Labour party" have been at the attitude of that party during the trouble at the Northern mines. They did nothing to assist the En-gine-Drivers' Union in its stand against the Federation's tyranny; they did nothing to aid or reassure the Waihi victims of Federation terrorism; and now, so far as they are doing anything, they aro doing what they can to take the side of the revolvers and gelignite party against the public authority. These facts are dealt with very trenchantly by The Voice of Labour, which is, as it claims to be, "the only Labour newspaper in New Zealand." This journal, in its issue 'of November 15. complains that the policy of the U.L.P. Executive is damaging to Labour's chances at the next elections, The leading count in its indictment of the U.L.P. is set out in these extracts from its article: It has devoted whatever energy it has expended to truckling to tho Syndicalist Federation of Labour; even going 60 far as to say that there was no necessity for the sending of police into Waihi to maintain law and order there. Instead- of openly fighting, and repudiating aa "Tho Voice" has done, and l making it plain to the people of New Zealand that the United Labour party is a party of constitutional reform, and therefore tho declared enemy of Anarchism in every shape or. form, the Dominion Executive, dominated by the Syndicalist- sympathisers, i£ not at heart Syndicalists "themselves, who have got on to that body, has adopted a rail-sitting attitude right along. . . . They have at last come down off the' rail and openly declared themselves the allies of the Federation of Labour, the open champions of the mob that represents Syndicalism, Anarchy and 1.W.W.-ism in New. Zealand,. At their last meeting they passed resolutions congratulating the Labour members in tho House on the work done during the session, the said members' "work" (with the exception of Mr. Veitch, of Wanga-. nui), consisted mostly in Anarchistic protests against the maintenance of jaw and order in Waihi—in plain English, in actually supporting the federation'of Labour in its Syndicalistic tactics. -. .''; Instead of boldly declaring against the Syndicalist tactics in Waihi, it is seeking to curry favour with'the Syndicalists, instead of making it' plain and definite to tho voters of New Zealand tho U.L.P. is opposed to Syndicalism and all its work, it is enly helping to keep back the progress of thp party by 1 glorifying- th<J' men who in tho House supported the Syndicalists in Waihi. "The Voice" warns the National Executive that if this pro-Syn-dicalist attitude is persisted in it * must eventually lead to a cleavage in tho party j 5 L&Briti'r v party Hides'; to gain by .assailing'the Government, for'its' enforcement of law and order we cannot guess. For the moment. However, we have aimed only .at showing that a representative Labour organ nas indicted the United Labour party as a real friend, even if it pretends to be the enemy,: of the lawless Federation. /