NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2198, 10 July 1914, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY.

The , sudden collapse of the Ad-dress-in-Rcply Debate was a little ■unexpected, but it could, not in any :case. nave been very long delayed. The attitude of the Opposition throughout has been somewhat/weak ,and uncertain. One or two Miriis;ters found it'worth while' to' say' a , few -words in the Debate,;,but with , the ; exception of the Hon. James Allen, who replied the Leader, of the Opposition, none of them treated the Debate-very'-', seriously: . A ; feature of yesterday's.'proceedings wasthe,.baiting of Sir Joseph Ward on 'the. subject 0f... naval policy. '..The story of his exploits at the.last.lm.perial •Conference, with his magni- ■ ficent- proposals, to scatter ; Dreadnoughts'over the waters'of the world: has been often told, but it was still potent to lend a. touch of-brightness and humour' to the closing passages of a somewhat dreary Debate. The Opposition Leader has not yet learn-, cd to accept; with philosophy the laughter that salutes his navalideas whenever; they ; are elaborated, and insisted' on making .'a long- series' of wonderfully.-.- tangled "personal ■ explanations',' ■■>• during , 'the:, time: .that should have bacn devoted to the sti p.-i'p'er.-adjournment, and afterwards,, but he; really need' not be ■alarmed., .His.',proposals to, 1 impose, impossible taxatioii.'on: the Dominions-and set up 'ah-'impossible "Parliament.•.;of Defence" to' control ah'.impossible fleet arc meantime: an .admirable cpntrib'utiohi to 'humorous literature : and. ; 'hq:,orie-hvillvever--.quarrel '.with them.-,until-; an attempt' is made to carry them 'into effect.';.-, The Opposi-. . tion : is , ,toibe congratulated oh liav : ing.'seen the wisdom-of■ avoiding any attempt io\prolong : the , Debate fur--ther. It is to :their credit that they have(realised . the; uselcssness' of 'any, Attempt ; at obstruction "at the pfc;sent stage of the session; and- it is, to' beJhoped that: they will. continue in , this taopd.. and' so. enable the Ser-ious'-'work.of'.,thp session to. proceed satisfactorily;.v ,:-;■. ■ ■■ '■ ."-.... - :

■)'. 'In ' .the ~ Tongariro: ■ National .• P ark ,: .the :■ Dominion at arice'■'. a , 'magnificent holiday ground and a'; . great .'natural , ' reservoir .for.' reg'ulat J j ung! the flow of its' principal inland .waterway.. '.With.the: plea: iofyester-. "for: the .pr.ptectipn of. the. park and/its development as •a ■ tourist, reserve all who .know'this ;little-yisit«d reser.vo will. bn in hearty■ 'agreement.. -.A'holiday climb oyeiv the slopes; of' lluapehu and ■ Ngauruhbcioffers : as. completa'."a relaxation., : from the cares-arid worries of'every-' day' life", as it' is possible to obtain.. Each season, however, sees but a few ; score visitors..to.the" National Park, 'despite '.'the fact that, ifc-jsV right '"on the. line,- and readily accessible "from;iall parts of the ,Island. v The reason is not far to seek-, for _the accommodation at. present consists only.'of one .dilapidated hut' situated' oh the.; opposite side, of 'the mountain frqin. the Railway,, and.ac-.'. 1 cessible- only ?. by -a twenty ; .ddd. mile 'tramp or'/nde-from Waiouru.. "The 'boundaries of- the'.: park _ are, badly, in need, of proper definition,: arid it .has. been "alleged! > that already; sawmilling, has.. begun in . a: portion , :of the area which it was ■'proposed some yearsago toinoludeinthe park. The vegetation"on the .western..side of the lluapehii-Tongariro chain has a valuable effect, in regulating, the flowof water,in the Wanganui River and'.its tributaries.; The Wa'nganui ■floAvs through- a portion of the Island where , road metal :is exceedingly scarce and its protection and development as a waterway are therefore a,work of first-rate importance. , ■The decisiori: of the .Government to appoint a; representative Board to guard the park should ensure the -proper.conservation'of this great' ."natural^asset..'■-. .. ''■.-■ ■; ''■ :j:: : ■

.The rivers will .undoubtedly pro-, vide the chief source of power for the industries of New . Zealand < in years to come, and. it was natural that' the subject should come up for discussion at the Local' Bodies' Conference yesterday. Mb. Wilfoed, with his usual impetuosity, was for the immediate harnessing .of the streams in the vicinity : of-tho City. Most people who have followed up the subject will agree that , the wisest, course is towait.untirexpe'i'ienco has been obtained of the' Lake Coleridge scheme, now neafirig completion. .'lf that justifies proceeding with the-erection of a big power plant at Waikaremoaria-.this work will undoubtedly have to take pre-' cedence of-all Mothers in;the! North Island, and' will : absorb all the money: which the .'State is 'likely to have available- for water-power schemes-for some, years to !.cbme. .'To; fritter tho money.. away. _on small. , local schemes in the meantime youldbe the-heig'ht of folly. '• ■'■:.'

The alliance: between the Opposition and the Red Federation-Social Democratic oombiuation is getting, on.' : When.Mr. M'Combs, member for 'Lytteltbn, was speaking in the House of Eepresehtatives last night, he seemed almost as anxious to prove that Sir Joseph Ward was a man :with a real grievance. -and that the members of the' Mackenzie Govern-, ment were slaughtered innocents, as he was to prove that the Reform Government was .responsible for the strike in 191& That Mit. M'Comns did not succeed in proving any of these contentions is beside the 1 point. The interesting thing is that ■ ho should bo anxious to prove ;thein. He was quite fervent in declaring, that the Waihi . strike would have been more quickly ended had .the Mackenzie Government remained in power, and his voice positively shook with indignation when he' asserted that Sir Joseph Ward was excluded, "for political Weagpiw,"from the negotiations .which, arose

out of tho waterside strike of 1913. Apparently the Social-Democrats have decided to postpone the funeral of the "Liberal" party, at which they have promised to officiate a littlolatcr on, and aro-minded meanwhile to be wondrous kind to the prospective corpse. Their reward, presumably, will be the assistance of the Wardists to get back to Parliament. '■;.'■■■.

The conferences held on Tuesday between Professor Prince, the Canadian Fisheries Expert, , and the fishermen and fish salesmen of Wellington show the urgent need of placing our fishing industry on. a more satisfactory footing. Tho discussions also bring to light some of the . difficulties in the way of reionn. It is quite certain that the 'Dominion is not making the ■ best use of its fish supplies and that there is a great deal of waste. The existing methods of disposal are defective, the result being that neither the fishermen, the salesmen, nor the public are deriving the benefit they have a right to expect from the large numbers of fish of many excellent varieties which are to be found in. New Zealand, waters. A v far greater ampunt.of fish might be sold in the Dominion if the supplies could be distributed in a more regular and expeditious manner: Our fishing industry requires to be reorganised ;in practically all its departments, and the report of Professor Prince will, in consequence, be awaited with great ■interest. .'•'.'.' ■'■■ : ■.-.. .' . ■■ '