NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1765, 2 June 1913, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

The result of I the_ Federal elections in Australia still remains in doubt, owing to the difficulties which oonfront the polling officers in securing tho returns of the voting in outlying places, and also on account of the size of the electorates, and the fact that the elections were held on a Saturday. The polls closed at 8 p.m., and the oounting of the votes had to stop at midnight, and will not be continued until to-day. The very meagre information which has como to hand cannot be taken as anything like a reliable guido as to what tho final figures will disclose. It would Beem, however, that the expected turnover of votes against Lalbour in New South Wales may be to some extent realised. On the other hand, Labour would seem, if anything,-to have improved its position in Victoria. Amongst the threatened Liberal seats in Victoria is Ballarat, which was held by Mr. Deakin, who did not seek re-election. It was recognised that Me. Deakin held his scat \largcljr on personal grounds, and that in his absence from the contest it was not at all unlikely that Labour would- capture it. The cable message would seem to indicate that tho returns so far to hand leavo little doubt that all tho members of tho Fisher Government arc safe. The only really doubtful Ministerial 6eat before the election appeared to bo that of the Prime Minister himself. Many who are intimately acquainted with the electorate—Wide Bay—were very confident that Mr. Fisher would be beaten, but on present appearances this view would seem tlo bo falsified. In any case, Mr. Fisiier, no doubt, would have been found another- seat. Thrco women candidates were contesting scats, and all stood as Independents. Miss Vida Goldstein, journalist, had a straight-out fight with Sir Roiiert Best, tho Liberal candidate, and retiring member for Kooyong (Victoria); Miss Ellen Mtjlcahey, teacher, was the opponent of tho Labour candidate, and retiring member for Melbourne; and Mrs. Alice O'Shea Petersen found herself tho third candidate in the contest for the Denison seat. Tasmania. In connection with the Melbourne seat, Miss Mulcaiiey's nomination was a last-minute surprise. No one appears to have expected it. A curious circumstance about her nomination is the fact that had it not been presented, the Labour candidate would have been re-elected unopposed, owing to the official Liberal candidate ocing just one minute too late in handing in his papers. The final results of the elections are not likely to be known for some days, but we should have by to-morrow a very fair idea of the strength of parties in the House of Representatives. The Liberals have to gain six seats in order to defeat tho Government. On present appearances their prospects do not appear to be too chcoring.

The movemonfc for tho reunion of Christendom has been steadily at work during recent years, and negotiations with that object are now in progress in various parts of the world. The work of disintegration seems to have come to an end, and a marked tendency towards unity has taken' its place. At the present time representatives of the Established Church of Scotland and the United Free Church are earnestly endeavouring to find a satisfactory settlement of their differences. A cablegram which we published last week stated that great progress has been made, and that the Assemblies of the two Churches have resolved to continue the conferences considering the matter. The great difficulty in the way of corporate reunion is tho connection of the Established Church with the State.- It is not easy to reconcilc this connection with the ideal of spiritual freedom, for which the United Free Church has always contended, and it is also regarded b ( v many as an infringement of tho rights of other religious bodies. The Church of Scotland, however, is anxious to retain that measure of establishment which it considers necessary for the national recognition of religion, and holds that in spite of its connection with the State, it enjoys great spiritual liberty. Professor W. P. Paterson, of Edinburgh, in summing up tho position, states that the difficulties of the situation resolve themselves into this: Can the Church of Scotland seek and secure the measure of spiritual freedom which practically satisfies the ideal of the United Free Church, and on the other hand, can the United Free Church accept as much of the State conncction as will in substance conserve the national recognition of religion in the form of the national recognition of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland ? This is the problem which representatives of the two Churches are now trying to solve, and further information as to their deliberations will be awaited with sympathetic interest by all who are working and hoping for the reunion of the Christian Churches. Each step taken in that direction makes the next stoo easier. J

The request which hns bcon forwarded to the Minister for Railways urging that the inquiry into tho railway collision at New Lynn, in which a number of passengers wcro injured, should be of a public naturo, seems a not unreasonable ono. Had any fatality occurred, there would have been a public investigation as a matter of courso. It is to be assumed from the fact that a public inquiry is asked for that there is somo unsatisfactory feature known or suspected in connection with the working of tho lino on which the accident occurred, and if this is the case it is the more desirable, in tho interests of tho safety of tho travelling public, that the matter should be cleared up. New Zealand on the whole has been singularly free from serious accidents on its railways, and it is to the credit of tho staff that it has this excellent record. There are undoubtedly weaknesses in our railway management, but, generally speaking, little fault has been, or, wo believe, can be found with the arrangements mado to ensure tho safety of tno travelling public.

A rather neat exposure of tho tactics of somo of our anti-Iteform journals is nmde by the Christchurch Press, and, at the risk of being accused of copying their methods, wo reproduce the paragraph as published by our contemporary:

Thrift is always oommondablo, we suppose j and wo supposo they wcro a thrifty community who lived by taking in each other's washing. Tho Opposition newspapers appear to be adopting this policy in their editorial columnfi. One of them will say something neither new nor true about tho Government, and ono after tli o other the rest of thom quote tho criticism as evidenco that tho country is rising in revolt. There is no particular harm in thi9; and, perhaps, when our friends have so little to .say they must husband' tho little and say it often. The latest achievement of this sort ie rather funny. A monthly periodical which has a well-deserved reputation as a eound judge of faulty enunciation on the concert pint-form recently allowed itself to attack Mr. Massey. His days, it said, nro "already numbered." And now tho Opposition organ in Wellington has put a top and tail to this criticism and printed it as an editorial, and it mil go round and round the Opposition papers. This quaint strategy reminds cne of the twelve supers, who, by marching continuously in at tho wing of the stage and out at the other, represented an enormous army on the inarch. Their trouble is that before they have crossed tho stago throo times tho audience knows their strength by observing that the thin one that limps alwavs comes next to the fat one that shuffles.

We have" ourselves at different times directed attention to this of the Opposition press of circulating matter, regardless of its accuracy, which it considered prejudicial to the Government. One could overlook the bankruptcy of ideas of the antiReform journals just nowifthoy had the honesty to correct their inaccuracies and baseless charges when they aro exposed.