The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, December 7,1911. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 1079, 7 December 1911, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, December 7,1911. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Mr Monckton communicate .1 with us yesterday to the effect that he had been informed that certain h'oxtou No-License supporters had been spreading a report to the effect that he had sent liquor out to some oi the flaxmills. Mr Monckton denies having done any such thing. We have made enquiries and can hnd no truth in the rumour. The No - License Party state that they possess evidence to prove that liquor was sent out to certain mills, but they do not associate any of the candidates with such reprehensible tactics.

A numbkr 01 people anticipated a lively time at Mr Brown’s political meeting iu the Coronation Hall last night, as it was rumoured that a number of “ barrackers ” were coming from Levin to make things lively. The audience, which was only eclipsed iu point of numbers by Mr Brown’s previous meeting, was as orderly aud well conducted as any of the others held during the campaign, and let us say here that Foxtou has maintained its splendid reputation tor the patient aud impartial hearings it has accorded to all who have taken the platform during the present campaign. Each candidate has been subjected to a few mild interjections, which iu most cases have recoiled on the head of the iuterjector. The audience have had their innings at “ question lime,” but at no time have the meetings got out of hand, and no one has been “ hred out.” Last night, lads under age, were refused admission, as it was ascertained that several of the young bloods were out in the hope of seeing some fun rather than from an educational point of view. We congratulate the Mayor upon the manner iu which he has carried out his duties and the Foxtou public for its sense of British fair play.

To-day intense excitement thrills [New Zealand, tor great issues are being decided and the battle of the .polls is being fought. The candidates representing the two contending parties have poured their wews on things political and sdmelimesipersoual —into the ears

of electors, until many who have not taken the trouble to make a careful study of politics are bewildered, and even up to the eleventh hour, have no deeprooted convictions as to whether the Party of Reform should take up the reins of Government, or whether the Liberal Parly should continue to shape the destinies of this fair young laud. The Reform Parly endorses nearly the whole of the legislation enacted by the Liberal Party. It would be suicidal for them to do otherwise, for no one will deny that the fundamental principles laid down by Grey and Ballauce, and endorsed by Seddou and Ward are in the best interests of the democracy. The Reform Party are satisfied with the foundations laid by these statesmen, but they are dissatisfied with the present superstructure, or to put it plainly, the present administration. They level charges of extravagance against the present Ministry and urge that Ministers should be less autocratic and made more responsible to Parliament. This, they claim, can only be brought about by an elective executive, i.e., that Parliament shall elect its Ministry instead ol this being done by one man. They also urge that the Civil vService should be under the control of a Board outside political control, but responsible to Parliament as a whole. These planks have much to commend them because they are founded on democratic principles, and the time is not far distant when an enlightened people will demand their operation. On the land question, neither the Reform Party or the Government can boast ol unanimity within themselves. There are staunch freeholders in both parties, likewise staunch leaseholders, and whatever party goes back to power this is the rock upon which the great split will ultimately take place. The people will declare to-day whether they are satisfied with the present administration, and while we believe the Government will not be defeated, its majority will be lessened. The licensing issues are creating even greater interest in some electorates than the Parliamentary elections. The Trade is now called upon to tight tooth and nail for its existence, and money has been spent like water to retain licenses. Many people who in the past objected to local No-License but stated if they could vote on the broad issue of National Prohibition would do so, have an opportunity for the first time to make good to-day. The No-License Party in the past have been somewhat hampered for funds with which to carry on their campaign, but this year have been treated handsomely, and the generosity of business people in almost every town has been remarkable. While we do not anticipate that National Prohibition will be carried by the three-filths majority, it will be thousands in excess of the Trade vote.

Near at baud we venture to predict that Wairarapa and the Hull will go dry, aud it will be toueh-aud-go svith Pahiatua. Palmerston will get a rude shock, despite the fact that the hotels iu that locality are, on the whole, splendidly conducted. We will not be surprised if Oroua kicks the beam for No-License and also Wanganui. Rangitikei will not show any marked increase for No-License. Coming to our own electorate, while there will be a marked increase in the NoLicense vote, it is questionable whether the parly will get the necessary two or three hundred '‘doubtfuls’' to do the trick. cStill, there will be a splendid advance on last results. What about the chances of the candidates iu the first ballot tor this constituency? We pick Field to top the poll. The picking of the second candidate is a more difficult problem because comparatively lew votes will separate the other three. Robertson is receiving very little support outside the flaxmills employees vote, but this is no inconsiderable quantity aud will run into 600 or 700. But will it be sufficient to eclipse the Brown and Moucktou quota? We don’t think it will. Moucktou will get the solid vote of the out-and-out Opposition Party which should be equal to Labour, but Brown, despite certain hostile attempts to cripple his platiorm work, has scored heavily, particularly in Levin and h'oxton, aud we will not be surprised to see him bracketed with Field iu the second ballot.

Now, just a word upon the excellent spirit m which the political and licensing campaigns have been carried out. So far as we know fair play has characterised the parties, aud no bad blood has been introduced —at least we know oi none iu this part or the electorate. Let this spirit of sportsmanship characterise the second ballot, and may the best man win.

Nkakuv every one who has visited has made the acquaintance of Guide Sophia, and many have listened to her plaintive recital ot the great and devastating Tarawera eruption. The old lady passed to the Great Beyond on the 4th iust., at her pah in Whakarewarewa. She was the daughter of a British officer named Grey, her mother being of the Ngaliruanui tribe, Taranaki. She was born either in Taranaki or at the Bay of Islands about eighty-five years ago. She went through the awful experience at the time of the Tarawera eruption, on 10th June, 18SO, her whare at the buried village of Wairoa affording shelter to some loity Natives. Sophia guided the last party who viewed the famous pink and white

terraces, and she saw the plautom cauoe that the Natives regarded as a warning ol disaster. Sophia, who was educated at the Mission School in the Bay of Islands, was a fluent talker, and her descriptions of the wonders of the thermal regions and ol the eruption were a source of delight and interest to tourists. Among the notabilities whom Sophia conducted over the terraces was the Duke of Edinburgh, and, on the occasion of the present King’s visit to Rotorua, she conducted the Duchess o York round Whakarewarewa.

Somk interesting remarks on profit sharing and its place iu industry were made by Mr Theodore C. Taylor, M.P., lor Radcliffe, Lancashire, iu the Imperial Parliament, at Wellington this week. Mr Taylor gave the experience of his own firm during the nineteen years they had operated a system ol profit sharing, which had proved entirely satisfactory. The system provided for the payment, over and above the standard rate of wages of shares iu profits, ex : pressed in shares in the company, in which the current rate of interest was paid as on the other shares. Mr Taylor mentioned, incidentally, that the famous socalled profit sharing scheme of Sir Christopher Furness was not really a profit sharing scheme. Workmen were to be sold shares, the cost to be made up by small deductions out of their wages. This was uot true profit sharing, as all the workmen got was the interest on shares they had bought. Mr Taylor subsequently met employers and discussed the question with them.