NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1726, 17 April 1913, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

The admirable behaviour of the crow of the warship New Zealand, which is at present so conspicuous a figure in Wellington harbour, is the subject of much favourable comment in all quarters. They strike the observer as a very fine, well-conducted lot of men, who arc anxious not to bring discredit on the uniform they wear. They have shown that it is quite possible to bo good-humoured, and to amuse themselves thoroughly without being disorderly, and no one cxpects them to stifle the natural inclination of healthy young fellows to get all the enjoyment they can when off duty. The warship herself, as she lies at anchor in the harbour, is an excellent object lesson illustrative of tho might of the British Empire. The world's tour of the New Zealand was indeed well worth while. It will certainly do something to bind the Empire closer together, to foster the proper pride of the overseas Dominions in the King's Navy, and to femind them of their duty to chccrfully carry their fair share of the burden and responsibility of Imperial defence.

The people who are protesting against the intention of the Railway Department to discontinue the running of the "second" Main Trunk express between Auckland and Wellington are taking up a very unreasonable attitude. If there is sufficient traffic to enable two trains a day to pay their way, the Department would, of course, bo very foolish to curtail the service; but the plain fact is that spcofld express has been given a fair trial, and it has been proved _ beyond a shadow of doubt that it is not a financial success. Tho simple question is: Arc the trains to be run on business lines,'or are financial considerations to be thrown to the winds in the management of our railways? No doubt the authorities would be only too pleased to meet tho wishes of everybody if it could be done; but the people of New Zealand expect the working of the railways to show a certain percentage of profit,_ and this cannot possibly be done if business methods are to be overridden by local agitations for services which can only be run at a loss. The efforts that are being made in certain,quarters to prove that it would pay the Department to continue the second express are extremely unconvincing, and if the Auckland business men who are protesting against tho action of the Department in this matter would only apply to the management of trie railways the same principles on which they run their own businesses they would probably notbc so eager to insist upon the running of the extra train.

It is a generally accepted fact that the indirect conscquences o£ political and social actions are often more important than their immediate effects. The truth of this statement is being strikingly exemplified in connection with the suffragette outrages in England. This deliberate and continual . violation of the law of the land threatens to undermine all respect for public order among a considerable section of the community, and deplorable exhibitions! of violence may result. The reckless and criminal conduct of these foolish women cannot be expected to go on much longer without evoking very serious reprisals. When women cease to act in a womanly manner; some men are apt to forget the consideration which it is customary to show to the sex, and as a consequence not long a.trc some very regrettable roughness was shown to the suffragettes in Wales. A cablegram in yesterday's issue announced further trouble of the same kind. A largo crowd in 'Hyde Park pelted the speakers at a suffragette meeting, and at Wimbledon a similar gathering was characterised by much disorder. These outbursts of hostile public feeling towards the lawless women are now becoming so serious that the Home Secretary has ,felt it necessary to prohibit the _ Women's Social and Union from holding open-air meetings within the metropolitan area. The militant suffragettes apparently arc too shortsighted to see the danger of their conduct, or to realise that if the resort to violence is to become general the women must suffer most. Law and order are the main safeguards of the weak; the strong, if necessary, can take care of themselves. Our civilisation ultimately rests on respect for law, and the alternative is a reversion to barbarism—to the bad old rule "that they should take who have the power, and they should keep who can." I . =============