NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1984, 14 February 1914, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

Oke of the most noticeable- things about 'the tactics of a section of tfao opponents of Reform is tlw almost; child-like 'faith they appear to have in the use of catch-cries, and in the invention <vf some objectionable title when referring to tho supporters of the Government, Thus it is that we find them constantly referring to the Reform Party as "Tories" and " reactionaries" _ and "the Squatter Party," and this' is done with a pcisistenee which may be taken to indicate a firm belief that it is a very damaging method of attack, ■ It is somewhat difficult to follow the line of reasoning by which those who adopt, these tactics arrive at the conclusion that they are going to be of any material benefit in assisting. Sin Joseph Waiis to regain the Premiership, which is, of course, the. object iii new. No doubt there are a certain number of people who swallow their politics vendy-madc and who do not trouble to think for themselves, and some of these may acertpt it as a fact that because a party is abused by an opponent as being "Tory" or "reactionary" it, must therefore bo "Tory" 'or "reactionary." But the proportion of simple folk who allow themselves to be led by the nose in this fashion

must be small, and any advantage gained through influencing these must be more than coufiter-biilauccd by the eftcet of such tactics on the more intelligent portion of the community. What, for instance, can a citizen who follows current events intelligently think of a journal which day after day persists in a wearisome reiteration of the assertion that the members- of the political party it opposes are "Tories," when ho knows perfectly well that "Tories" in the sense meant to bo conveyed are practically as extinct in New Zealand as the moa ? Naturally _hc arrives at tho conclusion that the journal in. question is very ignorant, o.r wilfully misleading, and in a great many cases- probably his judgment also advises him 'that a critic who is'forced to resort to such stupid and dishonest tactics, imiit have a very bad case to- bolster up. It is very astonishing, when one comes to consider how wide the field for criticism in the politics of New Zealand really is, that there should be resort to such transparent humbug. There is ample room for disagreement on matters of policy, and no doubt on matters of administration as well, but tho great majority of those who speak or write in the interests of W&rdism appear to find it easier and more t,o their taste to call the Government names, than to attempt to criticise their policy and administration on reasonable and honest lines. No doubt'this is mainly due to tee weak and demoralised state of the Opposition party,_ and there, is, in consequence, little likelihood of any change for the bettor. Sir Edward Carson's speech on the Address-in-Reply in the House of Commons has given -a new turn to tho Homo Ride question, he appears to have stirred the House deeply J by his frank and earnest statement of the position. Mr. Redmond admitted that, he had been deeply moved by the speech., but. ho- con It! not agree to the suggestion that Ulster should be excluded from the jurisdiction of the; Dublin Parliament. He stated, however, that he accepted the new situation- arising. out of tho Prime Minister's action in taking tho initiative-in makingsuggestions. It -is not easy to understand exactly what this means, but it certainly indicates -that theNationali.its realise that some con-' cessions will have to be made if a settlement is to be reached. How far Mr, Asqthth is prepared to go has not yet been disclosed, but thenappears to be a good deal of significance in the remark of-the phicl Secretary for, Ireland (Mr, Birrbll) that they were approaching nearer to peace- when Sir Edward Carson admitted that the exclusion of Ulster would get rid of the fear of civil war. Mr. Lloyd-George was equally conciliatory when he declared that the Government was prepared -to go to any limits, consistent with the principles of the Bill, to allay legitimate' fears. It has nor. however, yet been made clear whether ■ the "exclusion" solution would be regarded as "consistent with the principles of the Bill." Mn. I!edjioxii apparently still holds that itwould not, but there i$ evidently a growing feeling among ,the Liberals in favour of this modification of the Home Rule scheme as it- way out of the difficulty, and. Mr. Asghtth has! himself stated that lie would be prcpared to-consider- .any. proposal .that would not interfere With- the establishment in Dublin of an Irish Par' liamorit, and a-ii Irish Executive responsible to it, and provided that no permanent or insuperable ba, would be erected in the way of Irish unity. That Liberal opinion is moving in tho direction of exclusion is ] indicated by the' Daily Chronitlc's expression of alarm, and its asser-; tion that "there has been far tou-j much Ministerial talk about. Ulster's exclusion." Taking all things into consideration, the two parties seem to' be drawing closer together, and Sir Edward Cmos's'speech has cer- j tainly made the outlook more hopeful. A crisis in Australian Federal .politics seems to -he approaching. The Prime' Minister (Mr. Cook.) how declares that the position lias become practically impossible. _ Not even non-contentious legislation can ha passed owing, to the evenly-divided state of parties in the House, and the overwhelming Opposition majority in the Senate. • Mr. Cook foreshadows an appeal to. the country at aft early date. The Liberals have been faced with almost insuperable difficulties ever since they took over the administration after the defeat of the Labour party at- the last election. The business.of He .country • has-been obstructed in every possibleway, and lh;- proceedings of Parliament have taken the form of a bitter and prolonged struggle. In the Hjouso the aim of the Opposition has; been to prevent any legislation from being passed, and the Labour majority in tho Senate has . practically taken the control of business out of' the hands of the Om-ernmcnt, It has been evident for some time past that an intolerable situation has been reached, and that a dissolution is only a question of time. Both parties havfi been manoeuvring for position in connection with 'he coming appeal to the country. The La-hour party is anxious to' confine the dissolution to the House of Representatives, as they do not. want to endanger their majority in the Senate, while the Liberals are aiming at a double dissolution, which means that the members of both Houses would have to face the ckctors. Mr. Cook seems to think that it is about time to terminate the present state of affairs,, and that the people of the Commonwealth must \be . asked to make a definite decision in favour of'one party or' the other, and thus put an end to the existing deadlock.

A flutter has been caused in Auckland by Mr. G. Fowins taking advantago of his position iis President of the Congregational Union to work in a political address at the annual gathering of the union. Mr, not present at the meeting, being either in England or on his way there, but had thoughtfully left his little boinb to be exploded in his absence. The Opposition journal in Auckland appears to be mightily upset over the indiseretio.i of its ex-protege in attempting to drag the Congregational Church into an appearance of accord with his single-tax ideals; but its alarm is uncalled for. Like the versatile gentleman who represents the Hutt electorate, the Hon. G. Fowlps h».u proved himself on more than one occasion a false alarm _ politically. Ho went forth some time ago to preach a new evangel, and the good people of Grey Lynn promptly deprived him of his seat in Parliament. The fact that his Successor was a Labour-Socialist appears to have impressed him, for he next appeared in the fold of the LaboarSoeialists. He found himself u»-' comfortable there,, and has since been ttandirn'nc around pioufjhina a lone-

ly furrow or co-operating with Jim single-tax friends, Mn. Ftiwi.os is reputed to have lic.cn successful in business, and as his interests aw said to bo chiefly cunfined to trading in the cities, it is not unnatural, perhaps, that he should regard the land and the landholder as fairer game fo.v the tax-gatherer than anyone else. His horror of rent, interest, and profits, however, is less easy to understand. II would seem, however, that he, like so many others, is determined to cut himself totally adrift from his es'gtwhilc Wardist associates; and this, perhaps, accounts for tho distress at the Auckland Stnr over his conduct.