THE Kaipara Advertiser, AND WAITEMATA CHRONICLE. WEDNESDAY, JAN. 3, 1912. THE YEAR 1911.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 3 January 1912, Page 2

THE Kaipara Advertiser, AND WAITEMATA CHRONICLE. WEDNESDAY, JAN. 3, 1912. THE YEAR 1911.

New Zealand will remember the year chiefly as the year in whujh the political tide turned against the Liberal Administration of the previous twenty years. The philosophers said it was the practical realisation of the chief benefit of democracy which is mute ability ; the politicians were divided between denunciation of the ingratitude of the " mob " and thank" fulness for a day of retribution from a continuous Ministry, Some joyed percipitibly in the prospect of office long desired, Jong deferred, And thoro was more " boohooing '' than the Dominion has ever heard in its life.

In Britain the constitutional crisis was the leading event. It did much aad promised to do more. Of the first series the most striking from the personal point of view is the making of Mr Asquith's political fortune. For sixty years the Lords have baffled al| his predecessors of the Liberal persuasion, when they tried to baffle him the enemy twitted him with inability to avoid the fate of the others. But he hung on to his task and finallj stripped the power from the Lords so effectually that they are admittedly the minor partner and are waiting for radical reform of their constitution. The national Insurance Bill is tho first fiuit of tliis tremendous Liberal victory, uud manhood suffrage with a probability of tho adult complement of that measure is sure to follow when Irish Home Rule has put the whole Empire into the right tune for Federation, and the disestablishment of the Welsh Church shall have paved the Ava,y for tho adjustment of the relations between Church and {State on a more modern and more logical basis. The uiuin fact in connection with this constitutional victorj is that tho way is now paved for the full practical development of Liberal principals on the lines of much needod reform, to the great benefit uf suffering humanity. The change of ] 911 is the complement of the victory of 1832, each, be it noted in passing, effected by a threat of unlimited addition to the nominated Chamber for the purpose.

This note is emphasised by the in* dustrial unrest of the year which saw the strike carried to the highest level of danger ever reached in history. That in its turn has a special accent in the development of more amicable relations between capital and labour; and for that, in turn, there is a special mark of thankfulness in the year's history, it) the headlong manifestations of malevolence on the Continent of Europe whose anarch j set inborn1 on to tasks which make all English hair

stand on end. The worst of these happenings is the series of disasters to the French war-ships, culmination in the explosions on the Liberty. Olose observers are now certain from the many facts culled from the history of the French Navy, that desparate men have been systematically at work for years on the nefarious task of anarchic destruction. The whole industrial situation points to a state of things which can be coped with only by such a constitutional development as has occurred m England.

Of wars, the year has had several narrow escapes, particularly the es«< cape in the Moroccan affair. There is little doubt that the German diplomats wanted to force the hand of France, imagining that Britain had neither the power nor the -inclination to interfere. But Sir Edward Grey proved the very determined existence of both factors, and Germany had to eat humble pie. The result is that France was left with a free hand in Morocco for the development of the African Empire, Britain being confirmed in the possessionof Egypt with as much security as can be guaranteed in the present uncertain condition of European affairs. Of these the interesting or perhaps dangerous point is* the fighting between Italian and Turkisharmies in the useless deserts of Tripoli.

China placed a big mark against the year with a rebellion which has actually begun to spell a republic of federated Chinese States, of which the President has already been provisionally elected, while the last days fell upon a Court and dynasty packing up their possessions and principles in readiness for abdication. It is noteworthy that the danger of European seizure and partition of the breaking up Empire is prevented by Japanese and British agreement. It is also noteworthy that at the same moment there is in Japan, a widespread agitation for higher wages and improved conditions of labour according to the western standards, for the " preservation of the race" as the speeches and documents in connection with this propaganda have it, It is possible that this preludes an uplifting of the status of labour throughout the east, which will take the sting from the industrial aspect of the famous " Yellow Peril." That may in conjunction with the Chinese upheaval, prove the very greatest of the landmarks of the year 1911. Already has the Chinese Consul at Wellington declared that, given success to the new departure, China, instead of exporting her people, will want more than she has for the development of her own resourses.

The Imperial Conference is another landmark with its better relations between all the Imperial partners. The Coronation of George V. and the Delhi Durbar with the establishment of the old Mogul capital as the chief city of the Hindustan, are noteworthy ovents. As are the fall of the Laurier government in Canada, marking the victory of the Imperialist ilea in Canada as completed. The United States made a step towards the Democratic side during 1911, and established in f ireign minds hopes of a considerable abate" ment of the protective principle of tariffs. The year was marked among them by the working of the Anti-Trust law, with what effect still remains to be seen. Indeed this appears to have been advanced to the first position among the subjects of importance of the year. A very black mark was put on the year by tho sheeting home to certain Labour Unionist officials—after the most skilful detective campaign on record—of tho diabolical dynamite outrages of which the culminating horrcr was tho destruction of the office of the Los Angelo3 Times in 1910,

The year was on the "whole prosperous, and in the arts was distinguished by the advance of aviation, by the de* velopment of wireless telegraphy, and the improvement in connection with

the bigger shipping of the internal combustion engine. The storage battery also advanced a step towards wonder working. There is, for instance in New Zealand, a clock which a storage battery keeps going for 1000 hours, A huge development of traction is no ft- on the cards,