NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2139, 4 May 1914, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

There has been much activity of .1 late amongst these who Irani bantJod togethe-r in an endeavour to prevent.! the- people of the Dominion from being granted an opportunity of stating through the' ballot-box whether or not they wish their children to have the tight'to receive Bible lessons ■in the State schools. A great deal pi ingenuity has been shown in raising objections, real and imaginary, to the introduction her© of a, system whieh has been in 'successful operation in most of tho States of Australia for many years, but it cannot be sa.id that any convincing evidence, has been forthcoming to Support the idea, thai what has been a success, in Ans* tralia must prove an evil here. Ther& is iirt overwhelming weight of <*«'- tfcnee in. favour of the contention that the system of Bible teaching in use in several of the- States of Australia meets with general approval where it is in operation, and has been carried on for many years past without sectarian or amy other strife, and indeed without any serious hitch at all. It is a- little- curious that in ; the controversy which is now proceeding throughout the Dominion cm. the question of Bible teaching in State schools, the opponents of the move- ; nienfc .should elevate so much of 'their [attention to attacking the suggested 'system of instruction when the immediate issue is whether the people.shall be permitted to say if they wish any Bible instruction at alt to be given. What the ■Government is ashed to do is not to introduce legislation to provide; for' Bible lessons in State schools, but to introduce legislation to give the people the right' to say whether or not they 'desire that their children anal] be 'given tlw opportunity of ..receiving Bible lessons in their own schools; It would almost' seem that an endeavour was being made to keep oat of sight as much as possible the real issue, that is, theright of the people to state in a direct way—by means of a referendum—their wish in this matter so vitally affecting the welfare of their ■ children. The contention of the- Bible- > - ! in-Sclsoois League is that tho people j ; should decide the question for timm-' ' selves, and they ask the Government \ to give the people the opportunity to ' do this by way of a referendum,* \ Is the abssoca of a policy, Sin ' Joskph Ward has to find something j with whieh to fill in time during his public addresses, and this is the sort .< of_ stuff he uses, the extract quoted being from tho Press Association's re-'- 1 port of his Mosgicl speech last Jri- I day evening:'— • Sir Joseph 'ft'atd referred to the. time 1 vrheu he- U& sought a seat on the Bkff v HrtibaiiT Board. The* same «ipi?ris>'iie'e E with regard to the OpMisltion had been : f met -with, awl even Cfiifieso had bees j carried t« the pailmg-bedth in ftotorniTS. Those who tdjspcs6nt«l the Liberal *■ Party and were emlenvoatijig to U\\ag * alkiiit a hotter condition <i£ thiiujs twenty ■' years ago were l-o-duy bring fought hv ih's) j. -.aura clf>.=~, which wrni- to (Ik* estVnt of. using nHfortnmil* OUinosn nlid wttiiij,' «■ :hoiii to exercise tl-ieiv votes orgaiust a [JritishsDr simply because he had d'oHe has ? July. (Applause.) } S T o doubt the Leader of the Oprwsi- }' ion is experiencing some difl'ieulty U«fc now in "keeping up appear- v inces" politically,, but it is really [,

Ie pathetic to find the head of a once w powerful party descending to thii 3f sort of twaddle in tho hope of gain a- ing a little maudlin sympathy. Th« m picture ho seeks to draw of the "nriff- fortunate Chinese" being dragged k in the poll by the callous-hearted and r- unpatriotic Mpsscyite to cast theii if votes- against "a Britisher simply ben cause he had done his duty" is ahnosl io too touching for words. How the ina fclligent Wardito must writhe undei is the affliction of this dreadful balder, re dash. And yet, as has been demong dtratod again and again, Sir Joseph ic Wabo imagines that the class of stnfj it. we. have cjiipted is good eiectioneofin-fi •e material. It represents his estimate ?- of tho intelligenco of the ptiblic, and a- accounts for his consistent failure as ii a leader, g ■ . — , , i-e Quite a number of farmers shottl-d i-e b. placed on the land within the nest i- month or two, as. the. result o-f the a, consistent efforts of the. Government i- in the direction of the suhdivtsion of t- large estates. The Pbim.B iJisrsJEH io to-rlay a-nno'ttnees the aequisition oj v - three more blocks of laud—one in ■I Cantßrb-nry, another 18 Bawke's Bay, j- and the third in the Auckland Proit vjnce—the .net result of which will d bo 40 more farms availaM-e for small .8 farmers. It is the habit of the opt- ponents of the Government to decry i- the B«forni Party as th.? friend of i- the squatter and the big landholder, and names stick for a time even when > they are falsely given. Some of the ct pnblic undoubtedly have.- beeri dee ceived its this way, and have been led :;, to believe- that it is a part of tlw y policy of the Government to ehe-rish s the. big estates and encourage the fc large landholder. The-re is not a i- single action by the Government to > fond colour to the alkgation that it e is tho friend -of the ''%g mail", as !- against the "little rn-aia." On the- eons trary,_ there is mueh-evitten-ec.-ta the cl opposite effect, as ! witness the increase .- in the graduated land tax: the in- ? crease in the ineotne tax on "large inf comes; and the purchase of large e estates for .closer se'fctlSment. • How- , ever, the Government will no dou-hfe s live down the Misrepresentations of e its opponents in this 'particular e matter, the accttmuia'tinir. ffiass of t fcvidciTO in the way of siibdivisions of r large holdings being sufficient to canr vin.ee any but the- -most 'hopelessly i biased partisan.