NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2158, 26 May 1914, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

So much experimenting in land tenures lias been carried oat in New Zealand that it would be thought that the subject was well nigh exhausted cm this. The Government, however, have,set up it, Commission to inquire further into the question, and if wo understand _ the- position correctly, the purpose'.in view is to obtain the bast expert advice re» BiiGctitig settlement in certain special classes of Grown. Uui.cls, The districts mentioned as being within the scope of the Commission s investigations all include areas of - Crown lands'which _in one way or another call lor speciiil treatment owing to local conditions, or to tho class of land concerned. No ' doubt, the Commission will also deal-with land settlement generally, and sofflc useful information should be made available for Parliament, and valuable suggestions may perhaps be forthcoming. The arcs, of Crown, lands . still availablo for settlement purposes is comparatively small, but that is all the more reason why it should be disposed of to the heat. advantage.

Those tvlio remember ths unconcern which the member for Awayu.a has shown in tlio past to any opposition brought against him hi his own electorate -wilt appreciate the changed condition of things to-day, wlutn it has become necassnvy for hina to cnitst the assistance of.the member for Kelson to stem the tide there in favour of Reform.. Why Mrs. Atmore should be chosen to sing Sir Joseph Ward's praise* hi Awarna •is a little difficult to understand, unless it is that Sin Joseph Wakb sang Mm. Atmoiie's praises in Nelson. This, We believe, is tho,. first occasion on which ! Sin Joseph Warp hiss been suffieii-ntly alarmed about his own prospects of_ election to deem it. necessary to call in outside aeftisfcmiec. The recent visit of Mi!. FiSttta to tile Awnnta electorate would seem to have been very effective from the Reform point of view. As a matter of fact, the supportern of the Government ia the far south i

appear to be particularly confident, just now. Mu. Q. M. f homwhs, by r.o means a strong party man, Wfc ti member whoso -opinion cosiuuatius yespwt-, and who carries weight boi.h in And out of Parliament; addressnig his constituents at Duiietlin last week, was very outspoken in his references to the Leader of the Opposition uud his muspects, as the following extract from ins speech will | show:- i

Wii',.l, {~ Ward had said recently a I Mos«i»i that tho Litoal pui-tv wobM Murays stand for a Literal policy—a policy that would l w jil K i>i.i hefors'the W :> l ?, m ample tinie before the election' mit the fact was ho hud jib jralscv—im- ;<■«» lie meant to Tftwodijcfl Ac Marvellous fa-riago of vague nromKics' maifo at he opting of Parliament M Jflli whoa nc promised to give tho ireoplfi ncuiv ij-verj-Uung they eonld desire. He hnd jiEKI nothing to oiler uf lata years. He held his imrty together by tte power of tho public ijisrse. which he controlled, and the political piitroiw-sij lie was abh> to bttstow. When these tbißijs «ro lost io huh he was loft politically kuiizsupi:, He (the spealcw) held that Sir Josejili Hard was no true L-iberal himstilf. A man who could so far hvirot the political . principles which ln° pro-l-essej as to ask mA aco«pt a i»roaelcy-a form of hereflitarj- distinction which \to did n&fc derive" to 'see introdnoed into these now ftee countries. Aadjvhich was quits foreign to the irne i-vjurit of dwirecracv"-was no Irvie Lilwral. Sir J. ft, Ward bad killed hktseVf politically whi'i'i he intwio that, fatal -st*p, and all tils talk he- cordd uttt-r now akni : c Libettlism w;onld not set liini viifhfc an the ejr33 of thiiiki'iif people w-lw laew what trnp liberalism was. Sis oiiiy ii-opo now is to bring fibont a coalition betw-iiyi ths tetremo Liberals ami the "l?ed iW J The sane sestion of the Worlriug bibii will not support him. . If he .ever comes bad; to power, which I doubt, he will do so by tho ht-li) of His revolutionary Socialists, and they will only sn,|M!M't Inm (if they do it at all) as. a means of Upsetting the pfoWftt. Government, aad they will jettison hini also.

Mit. Thomson is anything but a firebrand, and is inclined to be overgenerous to h;s political opponents. His summing up of tho situation, therefore, beMßies tho more significant.

In an interesting latter which we publish in anqthei- column, Mb. Ai'cTirvn M.vcD-gnau*, of the United States, makes an apijc.il to University stiictonfcj to. take up the scientific study of the ci'trainal, pauiicr, awl defective classes. Mr. MacDonalb has devoted ii.uujh attention to this important subject, and was honorary president of the third International Congress of Criminal Anthropology. He desires to make-' it possible to compare the results obtained in different 'nations, and to iacreaso the eo-ojier-ation betwosn them i« the detection and prevention or crifte. It may bfc difficult to make Mb. MacDosald's proposals fit i« with* our Uniwraity system, or witn the smooth working of our penal and reformatory .institutions;' but his suggestions deserve ths attention of those interested in the study of human abnormality. If the scheme he has outlined cannot ba fully «-Si'ried -out, sojne other means of cooperating with other cottntrks may bo devised, for the scientific study of crime, pauperism, arid mon-tal and moral dofiei-e&cy is a matter of tha utmost, importance for- the protection of society. A great stcjp in advance has been made- ii> Britain recently by the passing of the Mantal Deficiency Act, and its operations will be watched with groat interest, There are some criininal-s who aro really morally insane, and i.u such cases it is quite futile to 'expect good .results ' from ewntitunil punishment. Ths new Act. enables tire authorities to place unfortunate peopk of this kind xinder permanent care ami control, and similar provision is raids for the fcßye-ntinclcd. .As mgafds the morally insane, class, the writer of an article on "the CritniwaJ Mind,'' which recently .apiwarod in ths London Times, pointed -oat that thesepeople aro persons of intellig«"tcs\ and, in many cases, of great personal elmrm. ''They are insane upon one point only—-social -obligation. They r?eog!iiss no moral law; tsm% they are unaware of moral (responsibility,'' ffhe -whole pi'oblcm ef crime is a most difficult one, and 'every effort should be wade to cellcet and classify an.r mfoTination. _ tfeit; is fikoly to assist the authorities in the varimia. civilised countries in dealing were effectively with it, New iZeii

land might well do something to promote this branch of the study ef fiiftEU

The Sports Protection league taK rendered very useful service locally daring the pasfc year - in. assisting local sports and_ gflines clubs to secure rata concessions from the municipality, and also' in working for the acquisition of. the- Day's Ba.y Bush afid playing ground as ii. permanent reserve for'the benefit oi the people of Wc-Hingten. In both these' matters tlio kagitc bestirred itself actively, <wd its organiser. MR. BatttciiAss,. personally worked very hard in the interests', of the sports bodies ami the gofieral public. At themoment, when so largo a proportion of the public are so devoted to sport and games of varioii-ts. kinds, a Sports Protection League »xs# seeai sttnjewhai superfluous, The activities of such an organisation, "however., if properly directed, may serve a useful purpose in assisting to proteafc ■the interests of healthy sport'and recreation in the ftianner witnessed, in Wellington •(hiving the joast few months, but the organisation is 'of vahie also as forming a rallying point should occasion at. any time call for an effort-to resist undue or unroason-rtble. 'encroachment; on the rights and privileges of sports bodies.