NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1976, 5 February 1914, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

The special oqnsttibkg, who earned the gratitutje of the whole comiriunitsy by their public-spiritod action durifig the decent strike, received a frcU-dCEejrt'wl.word of praiso from the Chief Justice at the Supreme Court yesterday; They wefe at ob-o time subjected to a good deal ef. taunting <aAci.α-trase by reckless agitators, and one or two instances, 'by people who ought to have known better;'but their splendici -khaviour in rn'aiiy frying cirenmstancos disarmccl their cHtics and put their detractors ta shame. The citizens of Wellington wei-e projperiy ontlmsiastio in their expressions of appreciation, iind the tribute which the Chief Justice has now paid to their trol will be heartily endorsee! by the general pubHc, Sin Bmeet Srou'T was certainly well within the m-ai-l? when h<? declared that the "specials" seemed to havo been exceedingly foi , - beating— far more than would be tha ease in many other countries. When one recalls some of tho rtgrettaMe incidents of dur 'industrial crisis one cannot help feeling-that the forbearance shown by the: "specials", was really\ very wonderful.

The recent appointments of Mil! Hgskixg and Mr. Stkinser td the Suprerae Court Bench apjiear to have given great satisfaction, though seme people contend that t : h6 President pi the Arbitration Court should not be chosen from tb.6 ranks of the legal ■profession. Setting this ftonteation aside, it is. very generally recognised that the choice m-acfe is a good one. The ProTsidenpy of the Arbitration Court is a difficult no'sttion to Ml', Very special qualifications are needed for the office, and the Government has yeason fb be gratifies! at th& apijroba,tien with -which the selection of %ln, StEiKtiEft for this post has been received Even such a- pronounced Opposition jdutnaj as tho Lyttdtim Times is compelled to admit that the Government ciifl be "unreservedly congratukted" on the appointntcnts referrod to, and as regards Mft. STBiNQnR, it declares that "it is no to lijs learned brethren to any that fto other me-ml«r o£ the legal pro-fcSswh wpuki have been so aceeptable to the workers As President of the Atftiitra-iioii Com-t as lio will b?. Titer* has lfltoly fen a sh-eits fceiijig «Biwg both iwrkete and SMployer-s that the President of Court slionhl 1w ft ihhJl o.( ripe, business experience tatiicr thnti a ciipab!o tan-yer. but Mr. Justieo Stringct possesses flie hnsthciss mitid na \k\l as flic lOßfll .mind, and botli ute n'-eiiforooel by a frido Icriowlfltko of nffairs raid ft iiiere Uinn (isiisl oiidttwmenf'of sound common soiifc It \vo«ld he diffl' cult to find -i purely Tjusiness man S3 free from elass coiiseica-ic-ii or class bias or w))St*\i>ritiV£ t?fiii mny \>v us tkc now Presidant Br' the Court is, ami not easy to find one so free from nssoeiotinus tlm't inifflit nri"'oke distrust o.n one side or the other." Mr. SiftixCEti is called uptin "to occupy a judicial position in rhich it is very, hard to give satisfAction to all pafiie*. Indeed, it w>uld'Vjc courting iajhire to aim deliberately at bqing a p&pular Judge by tryirig

to please everybody. A. just Judge inay not .always be 'popular in the narrower sense of the word, but he will gain the admiration and respect of every intelligent citizen who has mo best interests of , his country at heart, Mn. Stiunger will, bring sound knowledge and a quick understanding to his new work, and both employer a»d worker will get fair play from him. More than that neither party has a right to expect.

The crux of the problem of the reunion of the Scottish Presbyterian Churches is the question of spiritual freedom arid Statc-ccmnection. This , is referred toy in the cablegram published in yesterday's Dominion, which states that the representatives' of the United-Free Church appointed to watch the union negotiations have passed a resolution to the effect that no agreement will be satisfactory unless it provides for complete spiritual freedom, and the removal of all statutory connection between Chureh and State. The main points at'issue are vorv lucidly stated in the following words of Professor W, P. .Paterson, of Edinlnitgh:— "Can the Church of Scotland seek and secure the measure of spiritual freeflom which, practically satisfies the ideal <?f the United Free Church, and on the othei- hand caii the United Free Church.accept as much of. the; State-connection <as will j.n euhstatieo' conserve the national recognition di religion in the form of the national recognition . of the . Presbyterian Church of Scotland?" It is con-, tended on behalf of the Church of Scotland that the reduced amount of Establishment or State-connection with which it would bo satisfied would not he ■ inconsistent with the fullest spiritual freedom; but the latest development seems to indicate that the Free Church would' not bo satisfied with anything less than the entire severance of all statutory ties between Church and State: Public feeling in Scotland is strongly in favour of reunion, and it would mean -intense disappointment if negotiations were now to bo wrecked on this rodk of Stato : connection. Now that so..many barriers haw been- broken down, it would be a.great pity if the hope of bringing the two Churches together had to be abandoned, and it is hard to believe that the solution of this. problern . of'. reconciling State recognition with spiritual freedom is beyond the resources of ecclesiastical ,■ statesmanship.