NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1680, 21 February 1913, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

—: —♦ ~~ Thk Mayor plainly is very much alive to. the fact that he will shortly have to faco the electors aiid give an account of his stewardship. His little outburst lit the social gathering of tho Carpenters' and Joiners' Society on Wednesday evening affords proof of his anxiety on the point, and more particularly his concern as to how his actions will be judged by the "Labour organisations. It would almost seem that Mil. M'Lahen fears that during his term of office he has rubbed snouldcrs ovcr-rriuch with what he calls "society," ind that he is anxious to assure his Labour friends that despite His experiences in respect, he has escaped contamination, and still retains all his old contempt for "those who meet their .friends at Government House." While it is possible to sympathise with Mr.' McLaren's anxiety to promote his candidature, it cannot fail, to strike those who read his remarks that it is hardly in keepifag with the" canons of good taste for the Mayor of the city, who presumably has been the guest of his Excellency the Governoiy to publicly attack and hold up tb ridicule those who have been his fellow guefets at Government House.

The Pall Mall Gazette's attack upon the British Government in connection with the .expected grdrit to tho dependents of CaptAin Scom and his dead comrades is disturbingly .sharp in tone. That the Government will do thfc right thing in the. right wd,y is hot. open to doubt, . The Gazette knows that every member of the Government must be keenly anxious to deal generously with overy. claim that the triigic end of these heroic souls, has established upon their fellow citizens in the Empire; it must know also, that Mil. Asquith cannot be expected to act in a great hurry—that he must consider a good' many things.. bbforo declaring the dovernment's intentions. It must be' Some strong reason, therefore, what-, ever it may be, that has driven the Gazette,to use Buch sharp language.' Perhaps, however, tho Gazette is' only. honestly anxious for quick ac-' tion' as d, stimulus to the,'private contributors, ' Mr. J. M. Bahrie is also anxious, and he is asking for a definite statement by the Government as to the funds required, since "confusion in the public: mind is preventing free Subscription.", Two, things 'ai'e certain : first, that Captain Scott's "widow must not' suffer in fortune through any expenditure by her husband, and that generous but reifeonable provision, must bo made for tho dependents of Captain Scott's companions; and second, that- some worthy memorial of the party mUst be' established. We do not think that thore is anything like the same strong reason why the public,, rather than the scientific societies, should subscribe the funds necessary for the scientific work that'has yet to be done before the work of the expedition is complete. The public really .does not know how • .much money is want-cd. -Whatever is rc- i .quired jyill certainly be_ found in ono '.way.,oii another. : think Mr. Mas-!. SKY' should announce, anyway, that the Government will ; grant to'anygeneral' fund -whatever- is considered reasonable. It would be deplorable if ; delay in settling, the principal questions were to result in a. less amplo response from the public tban is due. The victims 1 of tho Antarctic need nothing more than the praise and honour accorded them; but tho people of tho Empire have a moral need of their- own. Thoy need tho merit of having recorded in a practical aiid dignified way, for their own sake and the sake of the future, tlieir admiration for the brave' men who aire' lying for ever in the darkness and silence of tho Pole.

Some time ago, one of the frequent Suffragist outrage's, we observed that these unfortunate women have steadily- and continuously gone f rom bad'to worse. Those few women who timidly held little demonstrations in the streets some years ago would have been indignant and horrified if they had been told that in a short while they would be assaulting Ministers and Wrecking shops. It was reasonable, we thought, to infer that the. shoprwreckers would, have been horrified if they had been told that they would ono day bomb to murder. They have reached the brink of it, wo see. Of; all their atrocious crimes, their blowing-up of Mr. Li.oyd-George's new house is perhaps the worst. To-day's account of the crime shows that , the women laid their plans with great care and executed them in a most determined fashion. Although they apparently did not aim to kill anyone, they had ho guarantee thaty nobody. could be killed. The'most sinister fact about this abominable affair is ,MftS. Drummond's prompt and 000 l expression of, not approval merely, but admiration too. "I think ,it's grand," she told an inter viewer; "Mr. LloydGeoRGE will realise that things are getting serious." Mrs. Drummond added that she approved of anything short of taking nu'ma'n life, and no .doubt she is sincere in drawing that line. But it is.impossible not to feel that these lawless and wicked Women will ere long find themselves committed to still more serious critfics, in'd if loss of life is the, consequence it will only be what the advocates of violence always must expect sooner or later.