NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2407, 12 March 1915, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY

The point meed by Mr. W. J. Birch in his letter this morning is one that has troubled many people. Everybody desires to aid the starving population of Belgium, but no one doing so wishes to relievo the Germans of their obligations and so increase their powers of resistance and prolong the war and the suffering it must entail. The best aid we can give the Belgians, as Mr. Birch points out, is to drive the Germans from Belgium. Unhappily before this direct solution of tho problem can be achieved it is possible that famine and pestilence will have placed a great proportion of the Belgians beyond our powers of succour. We have to remember that the fate of Belgium might have been very different had it not so strenuously resisted the German advance. It was the British Government which when the crisis came ac!vised Belgium "to resist with, all the means at her disposal"—and nobly did sho respond—and _ promised assistance. While there is a moral obligation upon the Germans -to prevent the civil population of Belgium from perishing through famine, all the evidence points to the fact that that obligation is being treated with the same cynical disregard as the other calls of honour and good faith. If the Belgian people starve to death before the German Armies are driven back to the Rhine our promised assistance will have availed little. It may be that the Germans are merely bluffing us into feeding the Belgians and laughing up their sleeves as they see themselves relieved of this expense by our credulity. Is not that a chance that we must take? And is it not better that we should take it than take the other chance? And 'shall we not at a pinch both succour the Belgians and beat the Germans i

Is it the policy of the United Federation of Labour and the Social Democratic Party to belittle those who enlist in the Expeditionary Forces and to discourage recruiting? We should be sorry to think so, but it is difficult to draw any other inference from matter appearing in the Maoriland Worker. The Worker is the official organ of the two. bodies. We do not recollect ever seen any explicit statement editorially of its views on the duty of the citizen in the present crisis, but it prints from week to week much anti-war matter. A section of the paper is reserved for an "open column," and another for signed articles, for the opinions expressed in which the writers -are stated to be solely responsible. Presumably the opinions expressed elsewhere in the journal are .in accord with the views of the executives of the two organisations. This week we find the following in the weekly jottings of a regular contributor, signing himself "The Vag.": —

. What's wrong with the world? A few short months ago this Vag. and others were pouring out the pi'ai6e of the men of the Wild Wet West Coast. These men wero the hope of the working class of New Zealand. They were tho best-read, •and understood the "class war", from A to Z. Now we find them blowing that they have sent more men to the front than any otlier part of New Zealand. What's wrqpg with (be world when the working class will consent to be the tools of the loafing class all the days of their Uvea?

The. executives of the Federation and the Social Democratic Party owe it to themselves definitely and unequivocally to repudiate or endorse such sentiments as these.

The appeal of the Board of Agriculture to farmers to increase the area under wheat by about 27 per cent, is a step in the right direction, and will give tho country a lead as to what is necessary to., meet' the requirements of consumption. We hope it will be followed up by other steps, and that the Government will ascertain the intentions of the farmers and gain knowledge as to the prospect for next season early enough for it to be usefully acted upon. If it should appear that the farmers for any reason are reluctant to put more land down in wheat, the State may have to consider the advisableness of growing the balance itself, and we see no reason why this step should not in case of necessity be taken. It is becoming clear to most people that there' is no hope of a permanent solution of this problem by an artificial regulation of prices, for in the end any price fixed either by the State or in thg ordinary course of business must move in sympathy with the state of the world market for wheat.

The discussion in the Press of war taxation is remarkable chiefly for the various a,nd excellent reasons which most of the contributors have discovered for taxing "the other, fellow." We are all agreed that a war tax is inevitable, an.i we are all ready to sacrifice our neighbour on the altar of patriotism. It is unfortunate that a good deal of party spirit has been imported into the discussion. We note that Mr. Robert Fletcher opposes an addition to the Customs duties. We do not propose to take issue with him on this point, on which much can be said on Doth sides, but is it quite the thing for Mr. Fletcher to insist that the Government is "definitely pledged to a reduction of the tariff" 1 This is harking back with a vengeance to days a good way the other side of August 4, 1914. Mr. Fletcher might as well dig up an expression of opinion by Mr. Allen ! that defence expenditure should not exceed, say, £500,000 per annum, and then accuse him of inconsistency because he has expended something in the neighbourhood of two millions during the past six months. Cannot Me. Fletcher sec that at the present juncture w# 'should reserve our superfluous energy for onslaughts on the enemy rather thiln on fellow r-fltuil.i'ynieti, even though they may' he opponents iu ppliticß i