NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 126, 21 February 1919, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY

Apparently the Kail ways Department is conscious'that its refusal to permit the construction of a tramway along the Hutt Road cannot he defended. The reply just made by. the Minister of Railways to a letter on the subject from Mr. R A. Wright, M.P., is too transparent an evasion-to be taken seriously. In stating that he could not find any statutory restriction on tramway extension to Wellington suburbs, with the exception of that 'applying .to the Hutfc Road, the Minister not, 1 only evaded .the question at issue, but raised another with which he has nothing to do. It. is for the people of Wellington and not for the Minister of Railways' to say what extensions of their suburban tramways are necessary and advisable. If they are' of opinion that the time has come to lay a tramway along the Hutt Road or any portion of, it they will not be jjut off by an inferential , suggestion '/ from •- the 'Minister that they shoiittl build a tramway- or.'tramways somewhere else. All that the Minister and, ,Ins Department are called itponto do in this matter is to stand aside and leave the jjeople of Wellington to, manage affairs that arc essentially their own. The Minister's only ; choice is to yield gracefully now or to do it later on under pressure he or his. successor will be unable to resist. Even from the narrowest standpoint he has no real interest in- attempting to uphold a restriction that Ought never to have been imposed. 'Judging by the experience of'other countries the railways will ultimately gain'and not lose by. the free development of supplementary'and subsidiary means of communication. >

* . .* * W ■ , If. the German leaders continue much longer in their present strain they will convince themselves, if they convince nobody else, that Germany is ' a _ mucli-injured country with every, right to expect compensation from the nations, whose territories her armies ravagfllt or whos r .'hips 'were. sunk.by her submarines. The answer to all the plaintive protestations of men like-Ebert, ErzBERGER, <ind Rantzau is, of course, to be found in a simple appeal to the facts.. It is instructive, for instance, and of practical, importance where indemnities are concerned, to contrast what is known of conditions in Germany with the conditions-that exist in France. Even Ebekt admits that Germany's factories are in good condition. He might have added that any of them are filled with plant and machinery stolen from Allied countries. As to the plight of France some detailed evidence supplied not long ago by M. Edward de Billy, French High. Commissioner to the United States. He stated that there wore 26,000 mills or factories in that portion of French territory occupied by Jhe Germans, and most of them had been destroyed or stripped of all their' machinery. ' "The invaded districts," he added-, "do not comprise more than 7 per 'cent, of the whole territory of France, but they represented 30 per cent, of the industrial i output of our country and 25 per cent, of the total returns of taxes. ■ From these districts came 90 per cent, of our.iron ore; 83 per cent, of our pig-iron, as ninety-five blast-furnaces, out of a total of 127. were in the invaded regions; 75 per cent, of our steel; 70 per cent, of our coal ; 94 per cent, of our combed wool'; 90 per cent, of our flax; and 65 per cent, of our sugar." The German 'invasion cost France moivi than two million spindles used incotton. and tfool manufactures,- and imorc than twenty thousand looms. Iron and machine works also were systematically looted. These are items only 'in the_ total account. But they serve to bring out the fact that ironr the economic standpoint 'Germany is to-day in the condition of-'a bandit loaded with plunder, while Franc'e;and some other nations are impoverished, victims." These facts are a standard by which to measure the utterance of the men who are liqw hypocritically pleading Germany's cause with as much assurance as if she had not forfeited the character of an honest and selfrespecting nation. 1 r.. .* . • « The- attempt to murder M. Glemknceau which is reported to-day-placed in jeopardy a life precious not only to France but to the world. The aged Frenchman has, an honoured place in the little circle of Allied statesmen who stand as great leaders.of their respective countries in time of war. The manner in which-he rallied the energies of his country for the .culminating, effort which brought victory! can never be sufficiently praised. His courage, energy, and single-hearted devotion were mighty factors in enabling France to obtain the reward, as an English correspondent wrote recently, of four years of admirable and cruel sorrows valiantly endured.

Those who -are familiar with M. CiiEMBNCBAu's powers and of the manner in which he has moved with the times are of -opinion that he is capable of playing as g_reat a part in grappling With the difficult problems of reconstruction—nowhere more difficult than in France— which still await solution. He is approaching these problems in no narrow, spirit. All necessary proof 011 the point appears in his attitude towards Labour. Recently it was made known that he had decided tii enter into relations with the Confederation Genemle du Travail (a powerful federation of French Labour organisations), a thing he had steadfastly refused to do ever since he became Prime Minister and Secretary for War._ "He was making war," as he said, and considered that everybody ought to do the same without argument. Now that ty war is won, M. Clemenceau's attitude towards Labour is marked by conciliation and a readiness to concede its just demands. He has assured its representatives of his most earnest and. sincere desire to give Labour and_ the trades unions which represent it the fullest satisfaction and the place which is-theirs by right in social and economic life. Taking account of his rugged sincerity and- hatred of shams,, such an assurance from ."the Tiger" carries a very different' value to the easy promises'of frothy demagogues. Gratitude will be felt iri all Allied countries . at the failure'of the abominable attempt upon his life.