NOTES OP THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1798, 10 July 1913, Page 4

NOTES OP THE DAY.

The enthusiastic spirits who modestly appear from time to time as "the general committee" are evidently very anxious to convey the assurance to Sir Joseph Ward that the "Liberal" party is willing to welcome him back with very wideopen arms. The draft programme for the reception includes the hiring of the steamer Duchess, the engagement of no fewer than three brass bands, a reception in the evening; and then the wildly enthusiastic citizens who' attend are to be invited to escort Sir Joseph to Parliament Buildings. There again, no doubt, the same intense enthusiasm will be evinced by the leaderless gentlemen who were once led by him to disaster. And all this enthusiasm, we are told in the advertisements, is quite non-political. The whole business, of course, is political party tactics, and no one will be inclined to blame the supporters of Sir Joseph Ward for endeavouring to mako the most of the occasion. The only objectionable feature about tho matter is the pretence that this stage-managed welcome is non-poli-tical, and a spontaneous outbreak of feeling. Sir Joseph Ward has been to England on a holiday visit for his own pleasure, and if his friends aro so delighted to see him back that they want to hire a steamer, three bands, and the Town Hall to givo full vent to the joy they experience at his safe return; it is for them to choose the means, and they have no reason to make tho pretence that the reception is anything but what everyone knows it to be. It will be difficult for Sir Joseph after being so handsomely received by his old supporters, to turn a deaf ear to their entreaties that he should once more take up the leadership of his old party. Despite his past failure as a leader, he could hardly do worse for his party than it is doing for itself at present,

Socialism is tho openly-declared objective of the new political party given birth to by tho Unity Congress. " It calls itself the SocialDemocratic party, which is a nice, high-sounding title, and frankly and enthusiastically sets out that its goal is "the Socialisation of the means of production, distribution, and exchange." There are no apologies from the Congress for this sweeping advance of Labour into the forefront of revolutionary Socialism. One delegate did suggest thatsthe word "gradual" should be introduced into the clause, thus providing for "gradual .Socialisation," but the amendment was lost on the voices, and the extremists carried the clay, ns they have done throughout the sittings of the Congress. It is just as well that the public should clearly understand what the Unity movement has developed into. The danger ahead for the new party now lies in the secessionists who will, no doubt, endeavour to undermine its influence.

The public must have noted with a good deal of amusement th« tutf, •lon, rlionnvArv Mb., fit. FOWLDE Cl£

his deep sympathy with the cause of the worker, Mr. Fowlds, it will be recalled, was shrewd enough to get out of the Wajid Ministry beforo its collapse, and his repudiation of Wardism no doubt assisted in some measure to accelerate the downfall of his late colleagues. When the Grey Lynn electors rejected him for Mn. Payne, there was some excuse fur Mn. Fowlds regarding the strength of the Labour-Socialists as very much greater than it actually was. He might very well have argued to himself that if the brand of Labour-Socialism could carry Mr. Payne into Parliament against so formidable) an opponent as Mn. G. Fowlds, what could not Mn. G. Fowlds attain to under the same brand? Of course such reasoning could take no account of the chief factor in Mr. Payne's success: that was the Reform party's vote. However, shortly after his defeat, Mn. Fowlds suddenly blossomed out as a shining light in the cause of Labour. He travelled throughout the country delivering addresses, and' prophesied great things for the movement which was to sweep into oblivion existing political parties, and replace them with a powerful Labour-Socialist Government. By some means he succeeded in securing the position of delegate to the great Unity Congress now sitting here, and in that capacity gave notice of the highly-objectionable motion with reference to the Bank of New Zealand to which we directed public attention a day or two ago. Now Mr. Fowlds finds that he has chosen uncomfortable bedfellows; that the constitution and platform of the Labour Unity Congress are too revolutionary for him; and we are told that his Labour-Socialist associates received notice of his retirement with ironical cheers., Probably his co-delegates felt there was nothing in their platform and constitution more revolutionary than Mr. Fowlds's own resolution. However, be that as it

may, here is another secession from the Unity movement'. The withdrawal of Mr. Fowlds from the Ward Ministry was followed by disaster to both the Ministry and to Mr. Fowlds himself. Will history repeat itself?

The report' published in The Dominion yesterday morning regarding the visit of Lieutenant-Colonel Collins to Ilipa Island will enable the public to estimate at their true value the allegations which have been made regarding the treatment of the young men undergoing military detention for refusal to comply with the provisions of the Defence Act. The plain statement of military authorities at the fort is in itself sufficient to satisfy all reasonable men that the punishment is very far from drastic. .We are told that the youths in question "got just the same rations as the artillerymen, and as much of it as they cared to have." In fact, they have been treated with much more forbearance than they are entitled to, and if any further justification of the action of the officials on the island is required, it is to be found in the description of the conduct of the youths in the presence of Colonel Collins himself. The mere perusil of the report is quite enough to convince the most teuder-hcarted that any sympathy felt for those youths who have been sent to Ilipa Island is utterly wasted. Their behaviour during Colonel Collins's visit shows how little reliance can be placed on tho wild rumours spread by opponents of tho Defence Act, and makes those members of Parliament who have repeated these allegations, and asked for an inquiry, appear rather foolish. In future, similar allegations, unless backed up by really strong evidence, should be ignored, and the law should be allowed to take its course in the ordinary way.

In view of the rumours that are afloat in connection with the New Lynn railway accident it is highly desirable that the request for a public inquiry should be granted. The fullest publicity in all matters which concern the safety' of the travelling public is highly desirable.- The Minister for Eailways is not opposed to the open investigation of the causes of the accident, and he says the Department courts an inquiry ; but the law gives him no power to take action in this direction. 'He states, however, that if the request for a public inquiry takes the form of a petition to Parliament he will give every facility for such an investigation to be held by a Committee of the House. This seems a very reasonable suggestion, and no doubt those who have interested themselves in the matter will take advantage of it. The proceedings would, of course, be open to the press.

The member for Mataura (Mr. Anderson) gave expression to a real grievance in Parliament yesterday afternoon in his question regarding the railway freight on imported hardwood and foreign timber generally. It appears that hardwood is charged at rate and a half, which means, as Mr. Anderson pointed out, that country wheelwrights, building contractors, and manufacturers of doors, furniture, etc., are handicapped in competing with similar industries in centres on or near the seaboard. This is so manifestly unfair that it is surprising that the practice has been allowed to continue for so long. If it is considered neccssary_ to protect local timbers from foreign competition, such protection should be confined to the imposition of Customs duties which press evenly on town and country alike. The fact that the present method has beon operating for many years does not make it any the less unfair, for no mere lapse of time can make a wrong of this nature rie;ht. The Minister ■ for Railways did not in his reply attempt to justify the extra charge from the point of view of equity, but contented himself with the statement that he did not propose to make any alterations in the railway charges at the present time, as he intended to go fully into the matter with the new general manager (Mr. Hii.ev) when he arives. Perhaps it is undesirable to tinker with railway rates with a general overhaul in near prospect, but there cau be no doubt anout the injustice of the position as shown by Messrs. Anderson, Pearce, Young, and others.

Old Parliamentarians cannot fail to bo struck with some of the changes which have come about in the House of Representatives as the result of the deposition of the Continuous Ministry. For years past, for instance, it has been the custom of the supporters of the Government to avoid in every possible way any criticism of Ministers. Now and then tome more nutcpakan wombcr would express dissatisfaction with Mink-

terial actions, but as a rule they deemed it their duty as party men to profess to believe that black was white, so long., as a, Minister said such was the case. The result was, as we have so often shown doing the days of Wardism, government by Cabinet with Parliament as a mere recorder of the views of Ministers. To-day there is <1 great change. Members of the Deform party exercise a very free right of criticism. In the House yesterday afternoon, to take a recent illustration, the Opposition looked on in joyous amazement when member after member on the Government side freely and frankly criticiscd Ministerial answers to questions relating to .railway freignts and other matters affecting their constituents. The Anti-Reformers have been for so long accustomed to submit to the dominance of their own leaders that they find it difficult to understand the conduct of the new party in power. They have grown so used to the atmosphere oi insincerity and timeserving, in which the so-called "Liberal" party lived, that they cannot understand straightforward, plainspoken methods; nor can they see that the hands of Ministers are strengthened by fair and honest criticism. It should be remembered that in the majority of matters which arc dealt with ou Question Day, Ministers have to rely on their Departmental officers for information, and the local knowledge of the member for the district is often sounder than that of tho Departmental officials. Thus Ministers are assisted in forming a sound judgment by free discussion in the House. Why, then, should such discussion and criticism be confined to the opponents of the Government? Ministers are not infallible, and they arc more likely to receivo sound advice from their own followers than from their opponents. It is in the interests of good government that members should exercise the full liberty of speech which they are entitled to under tho rules of Parliament. It was one of the mistakes of tho Continuous Ministry to "gag" it's followers; it bred discontent amongst tho more honest and straightforward and kept Ministers in ignorance of many matters which would have helped them to administer the affairs of the country in a sounder manner and with greater justice to all classes.

The French Chamber of Deputies has adopted the three years' service clause of thd Army Bill. This means that an additional year has been added to the term of service, the alteration being deemed necessary in order to strengthen the Army in view of the decision of Germany to materially increase its military power. The opposition to. tho proposal has been mainly confined to the Socialists and extreme Radicals, who have vainly endeavoured to stir up public feeling against the Ministry in this connection. Some time ago tho Government prohibited all demonstrations, whether for or against the Bill. This gave rise to a heated debate in tho Chamber of Deputies, the Government's action being approved by the large majority of 348 to 180. The voting gives a good indication of the strength—or the weakness—of the Opposition in tho Chamber to the three years' service. The fact of the matter is .that tho vast majority of the people of Franco recognise that some such measure is a national necessity in view of the military policy of Germany and the international' situation.