NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2117, 7 April 1914, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

A PEiiSiSTEST rumour in circulation is to the effects that Mr. D. M'Xaken will Jμ persuaded to stand clown in the present Mayoral contest in favour of Mr. T, M. WiLfohd. The idea is that if this arrangement is made, 818. M'lnuiEiMviH be given a clear rttfl lor the Bftst scat at the General Election. Mb. WiO'ORB, when questioned by a representative' of The Dominion a little . time _ ago, waxed facetious concerning his intentions. Probably he lias iio liking for a contest against the selected oJt the Social petnuciats, Mi?. H.o-i-usd, on account of the possible effects on his candidature for the Hutfc seat at the General Election. In any case, Mil. Itf'UKßSi when attacked by the lied federation clement at his streetcorner meeting' en Saturday evening last, denied most emphatically thai he was in any way associated with the Liberal l';u'tj-, and certainly conveyed the impression that'he intended'to go to the poll-against all eonmrs. Should MR. Homan» also go to the poll it will be interesting to compare the relative voting, strength of these rival leaders oi fcabouv.

fliE employers e£ ■wa.tevaide lahour at Lytteiton have adopted tftc only course oijen to them in deciding to ' eontjfiuo to giro preference o£ employment to_ thoao men who came to the assistance of the community at tho time- of the waterside workers' strike. The requests of the old employees that tho pr-efereftce rtile shoiud be relaxed, and that all should now be placed oa the same footing. ' involved the committal of s breach of him on the part oJ the cMptoym _tthieh would have been most unjust k> the rf«mb?i'3 of the new union, and a direct affront to public opinion on tlif o,iu'slh:.ti. It is unnecessary to ivcapiuilak tin , iMmimstauees under which the old hands sacrilicHtl tliciv jirivtioges, siiHkc it to point oufe tliat, (iiey did m in the face of the plainest of warnings as U> the consor]iicnces i>l then' action. Moreover, even after striking they had ample time to reconsider their position ami

to go back to their old places, but refused to do so. The fact that they now -fiiid themselves at some disadvantage is unfortunate for them, but why should ot-hcTS wlio took their places and carried on the work which they refused to do be sacrificed? As a matter of fact, the old.' watersiders at Lytteltort have escaped lightly enough. The new union mm arc not numerous, and it is only when work is scarce that they benefit by the- preference rulo. That advantage they arc fully entitled to_ so long as they do their work satisfactorily.

"Thebe are several by-elections with great issues ahead," t This mysterious reference to coming events, for which no explanation is given, was Hijde by Mil. AsQintH in his speech at Lacfybank, a report qf which appears in our caWe columns. What* ever may be the correct interpretation of tke remark it certainly soejiis to indicate that the Governm«nt docs not intend to go to the country at an early date ji it can avoid it; but unless Mb, Asquith • .and bis colleagues caii extricate themselves from some of the difficulties which beset them on evpj-y side they may have to face a general ejection in the near future, whether they" liko it oi' not. The prospect of further by-ejcctiqns must be a somfcc ®i aaxiety to the Liberals, judgirig by their previous experiences, as shown in tho following record of by»filections compiled by the London Ti/nw '• —Since tlnv general election in Dccerate,, IWO, the Uinenists have woj» ; 13 seats front the Coalition, in addition to Exeter, awarded to them on a scrutiny. Tho following a*e the : •seats gained: — ClioHeiilinm Mid-I.ethian OMham Bdw and Bramisy Switli Seraiiwct NewmnAjt Iso-rtii Ayrshire Jteadine South Jianohestqr Smith Laiw.rk Civjws ,-. Bettmal Grecsu Noith-Ws-st Manchester The only seat lost is Leftdeudcvry, and the* net gain on a division is : therefore 26 votes. The seat at Bow and Bromley wits won by the Unionists from the La-bcmr Party. The Literals won a goat from Labour at Ha-nley. but this, of course, does not ' affect tho total Coalition vote, When Parliament met after this General Elcctionof Dwn*bei\ J.9JO, there w'as a Coalition Jnajority qi J2.6 3 tho party Sgurag beifig: Unieflists, 272; i Liberals, 272.; labour, »1S; National' [igts, 76; Independent Hfttloaalists, £, The state pi parties in the Heuse of Ooinmons is now as follows,. Me. Kenvon, M.P. tot Ohestei'Md., being reckoned as a Libcrftl;-*. Unionists ..,.. ~,-.. 255 ■ ■ Liberals 266) ' Labour .....»: '•— 39 1 303 Notionalists 7tti Independent Nirfciiroalists SI Coalitipji iivajerity 98 I . .. ...-.■■■■ ...' . If our readers haw not grown w«ary of the frequent exposures of the inconsistencies and misrepresentations of the local Aiiti-Refortn .journal, they may derive a little harmless ajnusemeiit ftpin .the perusal of a letter whirfi will'ta foit.nd elsdwhore in this issae. A ■ pondent with a good menjtjyy Mcalls ; an incident contiected with the 'declaration of the pells at tho General Ejection-in 19U, and contrasts the.vj'ew the- JVW ttealtaid Times took of it then withit&.desc.ripfeo.n-of , the sapw incident to*day. Tho AntiKefcirm journal, it might ■ be esplateed, though 4t tells its readers it is opposed to such ■ disorderly be l havia/wr, is plainly, deriving much satisfaction from the howling dwn of ' Mr. friSHßft by *'.Red Feds,". which,, on the first occasion on which it occurred., it regarded as "a wholesome faet," whateVe]. , that niay mean. Indtlentally, it recalls that .Slit Joseph \Vab.d y&s "howled down ,, en General Election njgKt when -at-' tempting to address a street gftthefing after the result of the- elections had been deelared, and it attempts to wftgest that the Ee.fo.tra Party did tfie howling down, and ?tre now, merely getting a, BOland foj thoir. ■Qhivm,' fho amusing part of ths. business is to be found "in the two 1 ■delightfully conflicting versions which the' Tl-vidt .gitss of the- happenings ■α-n that memorable election ■night which marked the downfall of Wordism. Oβ Saturday last, when it suited its purpose to liold Sir Joseph Waeo up as a martyr, it said that after he had been howled down in his attempt to address the crowd, they "fftlknwA him to lite residence like ft pack of mnjviaos," That is the' version of to-dfty. In 1911, when the finm was extremely anxious to avoid giving publicity to tho manner in which the election crowd had shown, its joy at the overthrow of Wardism, it described this incident as follows:— Tlw Prime Minister, an subsdqtichtly leaving for his-iiom*, -iras followed l)y a largo cfoivd of enthusiastic supporters to Aivanm Hfltise. There, in rtspsmse to calls, Sii' Joseph Wartl WeflS' adilre.s-Wil tbciii, and. Nt the cte, "For Wi a jolly gos4 feliaw" wgs heartily sung. Thus, in tho course- of loss than three years, the Tines, to serve the exigencies of the moment, has converted "alarge crowd of enthusiastic supporters" of Sir Joseph Warb into a "pack of mamacs" tracking him to his home. To-day, also, to suit its purposes, it charges, "the Reformers" with howlisg Sib Joseph Wars down; whereas in 19-11, to suit its purpose '.at tfetfc time, it explained the same incident by stsjiirtg that the naise was dne to the cheering and hooting and couviting-.ottt of "various factions" present, and finally sought tg convey the idea that a "juvenile element" close to the balcony from which Silt Joseph Ward was attempting to speak was chiefly responsible for the prolonged disturbance, It is to be feared that oar Anti-Reform friends, arc very hard pressed just now, or they would haf-dly take the- risk of exposuro of SiKili glaring inconsistencies foi , the sake of EO petty an end.