NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1852, 11 September 1913, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY.

It is with,a great deal of pleasure that we welcome Sir Joseph Ward back into.the fighting ranks of the "Liberal" party. Without a leader the party has been a source of diversion, but littlo else. No ono knew exactly what it stood for, or what it meant to do—least of all the members of the party itself. Now, with Sir Joseph Ward back as loader we know exactly where we are. Tho policy of tho party is to be everything it used to be: that' is to say, it will consist of promises of everything that can be thought of likely to please as many sections of the public as possible. Sir Joseph's interview, as supplied to the press, is one of those delightful products of his leisure moments with which the public became familiar during that stressful period when the member for Awarua and his colleague, Sir John Findlay, strove so desperately to buttress up the crumbling fortunes of "Liberalism." There is, for instance, all the old charm about this glowing picture of the future policy of the party:

"The future policy of the party" (declared Sir Joseph Ward) "would aim at the extension and development in every direction oi' legislation that would tend to increase that prosperity [of tho country] and assist the masses."

Could anyone ask for moro than this 1 If there should bo scoffers inclined to regard this statesmanlike utterance as somewhat vague and shadowy, let them turn to this further evidence of the oracular wisdom of tho returned leader:

We live in an age, ho said, when political problems are constantly changing thoir aspect.

Nothing daunted, however, at this startling discovery, he proceeds:

It would be his continuous effort, acting on the lines of tho Liberal party's past achiioveinenfs, .to meet each niew demand as it arose with legislative measures for tho benefit of tho whole country.

All the ills of humanity, it will be seen, are to be swept ruthlessly aside by Act of Parliament. It almost reads like an extract from one of Sir John Findlay's stirring addresses to the electors of Parnell. The party, we are sure, will be greatly encouraged and stimulated by Sir Joseph Ward's pronouncements. They will at least perceive that it is quite the samo Sir Joseph who led them where they are to-day. His methods and his matter alike are' unchanged.

In reply to a question in the House of Eepre'sentatives yesterday, the Minister for Education incidentally remarked that "there is undoubtedly a deficiency of qualified teachers of science in New Zealand at the present time, caused to a large extent by tho smallness of the number of students taking science courses in the University." It would be very interesting to know the reason for this scarcity. It is decidedly disappointing to find that, with four university colleges, each having a wellequipped science department, New Zealand is unable to supply its own wants in tho way of qualified teachers of science. Some time ago, Professor Easterfield drew attention to the difficulty of meeting tho demand for men to investigate chemical problems from the commercial point of view, and stated that he had frequently been appealed to by manufacturers to give tlicm men fit to carry, out scientific investigations connected with modern industrial processes, and had been compelled to reply that he had not got such a man in the place. _ This is a matter that ought to receive careful attention by our educational authorities, and now that we arc hearing so much about University reform, effective steps should be taken to discover the cause and the remedy of the deficiency referred to by Mr. Allen.

i The importance of sea training in a country like New Zealand is too obvious to- require argument, and yet very little of a systematic character is being dorto to fit an adequate proportion of our young people for sea life. This matter was discussed from tho defence point o! view at a meeting of the Canterbury branch of the Navy League, held last week, and it was resolved that steps bo taken to purchase a vessel suitable for a training brig. _ Mr. Dougall, who proposed tho motion, stated that in view of the possibility of something in the naturo of a local navy policy being adopted, it was of importance to show that New Zealand could provide men of the capacity and ability of those who manned the ships of the British Navy. The proposal as outlined by Mr. Dougall is a very modest one, and, from the nature of the case could only provide an elementary introduction to sea life; but it would do something to create in the minds of some of tho Canterbury lads a desire for a naval career. It would at any rate be a beginning, and if it proved successful, its scope could be extended, and similar experiments could be made in other parts of tho Dominion. Money alone is not sufficient _ for naval defence; 1 men of the right stamp to man the ships aro also wanted; and with this object in view, something should bo done to arouse tho interest of tho. youth of the country in naval matters, and togive them a rudimentary training in seamanship. As a step in this direction, the effort to establish a training brig on the Avon will be watched with sympathetic interest.

The motion of censure in the Australian Federal House of Representatives directed against the Attor-ney-General (Mr. Irvine) for holding a retainer for the Marconi Company has been defeated by 32 votes to 31, and it now remains to be seen whether the Labour Opposition will attend to the business of the country or continue tho obstructive tactics which they have adopted from the beginning of the session. The Government have a very effective instrument in the closure for preventing deliberate waste of time ; out so far they have been disinclined to use it. It is a most- drast-ie provision, tov it enables a majority a 6 once (o ' (jviug likMte to « close, cither in 1 Committee ol the Whole or in the Kouse, and have any subsidiary j question, as well as the main question, forthwith voted upon, and the I debate ended, provided that 2-1 members vote in the affirmative. It is liecoming quite clear that if the GovI ojnmont is to mako c.ny t progress at;

all, it will have to resort to the closure pretty frequently. The policy of tlie Opposition is to prevent any Bill from reaching the Senate. In this way_ they hope to avoid that Chamber being involved in a conflict with the House which might give their opponents grounds for aslang for a double dissolution; whereas by blocking all business they think the Government may be forced into a position which would result in the Houso of Representatives alone going t-o the country. If tho Government, with the assistance of the closure, could get the Electoral Bill through the House and into the Senate. they would force the latter Chamber into the fray, and bring about a crisis which might end in the members of both Houso having to face the electors once more.

One would have thought that by this time the people of the United States had lost tho faculty of wonder. Things that would astound the average New Zealander are passed over as mere commonplace occurrences by our American friends, who seem to be rather proud of their reputation for "staggering humanity." And now a cablegram, informs us that they are "amazed and shocked" because their Secretary of State (Mr. Bryan) is endeavouring to earn an honest penny by lecturing in a big tent. The lecture and the big tent were bad enough, but the shock seems to have reached its climax when he began to share honours with a troupe of magicians, jugglers, and other entertaining people. It is, of course, impossible for anyone to shock the average American newspaper, but somo of the papers seem to be pained and shamed at "the spectacle of the Secretary of State hawking a once honourable title about the country that thrift may follow spouting." With that charming frankness so characteristic, of American journalism, the New York Sun deprecates Mr. Bryan's absences from Washington and his post of duty, and laments that "the mighty-mouthed democratic protagonist of all the political and moral virtues is content to be a loafer and a shirk." It is only fair to the gentleman against whom this gentle insinuation is launched to point out that ho explains that ho does not allow his lecture dates, which are made subject to cancellation, to interfere with business. The problem which the papers have been wrestling with is thus stated by one of them: "How is it that a man reputed to be worth from a auarter to half a million dollars, who is enjoying a salary of 12,000 dollars a year, and, furthermore, is supposed to be the personification of' Democratic and 'Jefferson simplicity,' is 'forced to take to tho lecture platform in order to live decently 1" All sorts of answers have been given to tho conundrum. Mr. Bryan's own solution, and ho should know, is simply this: That the lecturing tour is necessary in order to bring' his income up to his expenses. 1