NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1655, 23 January 1913, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

"The Federation [of Labour] . . . has been uncompromising, and its leaders have spoken and written as though every worker who disap; proved of their revolutionary, methods wa3 a fool or, a rogue. But tho failure of the anti-social. tactics at Waihi 'has provided an object-lesson which the extremists' of the Labour, movement can'scarcely have misinterpreted . . ." ■This passage—with which we agree—is the coro of a very helpful little article by; the anti-Reform newspaper in Christjchurch on the Federation's conference. But the Christchurch paper was not warning its ."Liberal" readers to leave the unclean thing alone. It went on to say that the Federation is going,to bo good, and then it lamented the division in the Labour' ranks, and had_ some smooth, words about the necessity for "healing the breach." Like Mr. Webb, it .wishes "Labour", to forget ''petty" differences over'"mere details" (such asgelignite and revolvers). And why! Well, .to do our contemporary justice, it gives its,reason plainly, and its reason is based in a love for the Labour party. It says frankly that what it is* afraid of is that at the next general election Labour may be unable'"to join effectively with the other progressive sections of the community." Really, we think Mr. ■Semple and his-friends may be per-' mitted the grim chuckles' with which they will read the broken'"Liberal" party's pathetic little revelation.of its quaint little hopes. s :

! From Australiai\ files to hand.yesterday, we. gather that the Ta_smanian general election to'-day. will be contested. on a straight-out: issueLabour versus Liberals. The policy of Labour in' Tasnianian politics has been to oppose everything, practically, merely for opposition's sake, and there arc indications that the, community at'largo is, growing tired'of these tactics, that a revulsion of feeling has taken place. As an* instance, in point, the recent poll' of the ratepayers of Hobart on the tramways purchase proposals', was' marked by a heavy'opposition Vote from Labour, on account of what its. adhercnts'termed the "donkey vote," or plurality of'; voting... ,A. subse; quent analysis of the votes, however, made the fact quite clear, 1 that even had the poll been taken on the 1 one-' ./.system,'.■ there W.ould still'havo been a result of two to one in favour of, the/ proposal. This is regarded as.a bad omen for Labour's' expectation of capturing four of the six seats in the Hobart electorate to-day. ,< One factor in the situation is.the determination of the electors that whatever happens! the winning side must a working majority of from 13 to' 17, that the ludicrous state of affairs which, precipitated: the dissolution—when, the, balance of power was held .by one man—will not recur. The voting, therefore, will be ,on strict party The Tasmaniari election, from the fact that the Australian Federal elections take.place in May, is of more than usual inixiijest, for the result may be of some significance in regard to the larger issue.

A cable message from Sydney to-, day rqports that the Grand Lodge of Orangemen of New South Wales has' passed a. resolution protesting' against the appointment of Sir Gerald Strickland as' Governor of Now South Wales,-he being a Koman Catholic, whereas the population of the State,is overwhelmingly Protestant. This is no doubt a counterblast to the adverse criticism which has emanated from the Eoman Catholic Archbishop of Tasmania (Dr. Delancy) with respect", to the. appointment.of the Hon. W. Ellison Macartney*) a Pust Grand Master, of an Orange Lodge in Ulster, as Governor of Tasmania. Since the King's representatives in tho oversba dominions have no administrative authority, it is difficult to understand these 'objections. Wo certainly cannot sympathise with, them. The suggestion' that the theological "colour" of a State 'Governor can possibly be of some advantage to a particular denomination is too absurd to entertain for a moment, yet —unless we must impute a spirit of sheer bigotry and persecution, which we should be reluctant to do—that is tho inference one is entitled to draw from the objections of tho Roman' Catholic Archbishop of .Tasmania to' the Hon. H. Ellison Macartney, and of the Grand Lodge of Orangemen of New South Wales to Sin Gerald StricklAnd. This frame of mind is worse even than that ,of the Australian 'Labour Caucus, which thinks that "Labour" Judges should be placed on the High Court Bench. Tho Orangemen's resolution, perhaps, was passed merely by way of rebuking—and it does most effectively rebuke—the deplorable- protest by the other side against the appointment of the new Tasmanian Governor.