THE WEEK. The Otago Witness WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. (WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 1909.)

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 25 August 1909, Page 51

THE WEEK.

The Otago Witness WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTH ERN MERCURY. (WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 1909.)

" Nunquam »llud natnra, alind i»pientia diiit."— JUVMAL. " 0-oed nature and good sense most ever join."— Popb.

The most significant happening' in th« political world is unHenourlng doubtedly ihe presentation the Leader —handsome alike in its inof tfce trinsic worth and its reOppoiitfoa. preaemtative character —

made last week to Mr W. F. Massey, the popular leader of the Opposition. For, while deservedly, popular with all classes of the community, it is to the farmers of New Zealand that Mr Slaaeey has especially- endeared himself, thanks- to the brave and anyieldinpr fight fie has ever consistently maintained in the interests of the freehold. Sines the of Sit William Hussell from the Leadership of the Opposition, "Mr Maeeey, "with -a ,-valiant little ban^ oil . folßbwers v has fought an uphill fight, and has persistently proclaimed the trijtli of tfoo maxim made famous by that veteran Parliamentarian, Lord Randolph Churchill, "that the busmeeG of the Opposition is to oppose. It is not too much to say that but for the vigour and trenchant) character of Mr Massey's opposition the state of 'public affairs would bs in a-much worse plight than to-day finds them. And the expense of all this effort, covering, in many cases, lengthy tours throughout the Dominion, has been borne by Mr Massey out of his private purse. For, in New Zealand, we have not yet attained to the Canadian standard, wlieiie .the Leader of the Opposition is provided" with a salary, in i-eoognition of the valuable services ')* gives to tlie country. The public presentation made to Mr Massey on Friday lasfc must be. taken as an acknowledgment on the part of a, large sectior of the public of the rqal benefit which New Zealand has received as the outcome of his labours as Leader of the Opposition. There art not wanting signs that the turn of tha tide is coming and that the party th« leadership of which descended from the late Mr-Seddon to Sir Joseph Ward will shortly meet its Waterloo. But Mr Maesey is probably right in declaring that' he would like to see the present Government remain in office long enough to suffer froir its own ems and fhort-cojningH, and to show up its own maladministration. It is naturally difficult to forecast th« political future, but it is safe to say that in the coming session of Parliament a largely augmented Opposition, who are in good heart and in splenuid fighting trim, will give a good account of themselves. To what extent they will be able to score off- th-e Governm«nt remains to be seeai, but few people would be surprised* if. ere the rcesion is closed Sir Joseph Ward should find himself in several exceedingly tight places which will tax allhie ingenuity and bonJiommie. So far as the farming community is concerned^" tbey have liad more thnn enough of a Cabinet comprised of men whose inclinations to land nationaliEatioir and other pernicious socialistic doctrines spell ruin and disaster to the honest, hard-working settler. And it stands to reason that a. Government led by a man Hke Mi Massey, who has ever made the freehold a cardinal plank in his political faith, would be much more to their liking.

Meanwhile, Sir Joseph Ward is hurrying back to the Dominion, after The PnmUr having played his tramp and Katal card at the Naval Confer-

Defeice. ' ence. And fco contradictory are the ' reports in circulation in regard to ' the daemons of that Conference that it is impossible tc say. whether the ' Premier has w<Jn/or lost the odd trick, although probabilities point tothe latter contingency. This much is evident, that in obstinate adherence to his "Dreadnought" offer, and his rigid disinclination to surrender this child of his imagination, Sir Joseph Ward has found himself in active antagonism to

botih the Commonwealth authorities and the naval experts at Home. So far as can be gathered, both in Australia and in. London, the opinion is strongly held that the defence of coast lines of Australia can beet be^ompassed by the creation of an Australian -navy, chiefly conjpceed of standardised cruisers, •which will be available for service in any part of the world, should, occasion arif*. And as time goes on these cruieero will, as far as possible, be built in Australia and manned by Australians. With a view of giving world-wide experience^ to this Aus- j tralian navy, a system of interchange is contemplated, under which, in the vessels of the Australian navy would be transferred to the Mediterranean fleet for a term, their places being meanwhile taken by British vessels. And as it is obvious that New Zealand would not be . able to create and maintain a navy of its own, the natural inference is that the Dominion will have to act in concert with Australia, thus destroying, or at least minimising, that initiative upon which tie Premier has hitherto plumed himself. On the other hand, a later . statement . throws doubt upon these conclusions, and declares that New Zealand will , provide a Dreadnought, as originally contemplated, in addition to continuing the £100,000 subsidy. And it is also announced that this Dreadnought will be attached to tfra Admiral's fleet foi the China and Pacific station, and with the 3eet will pay occasional visits to Hew '■ Zealand. In addition, the Imperial .authcriti&i are to build and pay for two orn&ers, three destroyers, and two submaTiines, which will have their head- , quarters in New Zealand. If this latter statement is to be accepted as official, it bears the impress of a compromise upon the original plan, and designed to defer to Fir Joseph Ward's susceptibilities, j Of course it will be necessary to' await the full details of the decisions' of the , Conference before- passing final judgment, I but it is to be hoped that Sir Joseph , Wa.rd, in . his zeal to uphold tlie dignity ; of the Dominion, has not marred what, at : this distance, appears, from an Imperial point of view, a consistent whole. j ; / j j The Premier, however, as soon, as he ' sets foot in New Zealand ; Minicter* will find more pressing proon the Wobble, blems than those of naval defence awaiting bis at- . tention. For, if the Minister for Railways ] is to be beLi«v*d, there is every possibility of an ' early dissolution, followed t by an appeal to. the country. Considering : the nature of the gathering which on ' Thursday last met to honour Mr Millar, ['• his utterances were remarkably pessimistic. Reading between the lines, he seemed , J to say. " While we hope tor the beet, i ' we must be prepared for the worst." i , For palpably the people of New Zealand j,j will not accept Sc weak ' an explanation i as that tendered by Mr Millar ; namely, [ that tha Government is suffering because ; , of the financial stringency which has come ' i over New Zealand through no fault of _< the Government. Clearfy ( any Govern.- j j ment which permits an ■ extravagant rate , • of expenditure, and only retrenches when j ' absolutely compelled to do so, i& to blame i for the serious consequences which follow. ! Even Mr Roderick M'Kenzie has modified | ; 1 the truculent tone which he at first . j •adopted when touring Otago, and in his ' , later utterances he has evinced a dis- j , ■position to meet indignant settlers more ' than half way. His wobbling in the i matter of the Lawrence-Roxburgh railway . .would ba amusing if it were not so j : serious. After all his talks ament the j : mprits of rival routes, ho. has at length admitted what was sufficiently obvious ' from the start — that if any railway /is •' constructed, it must be by the Lawrence- ; Roxburgh route. ' For whatever may be i * eadd in favour of the Clutlui Valley line, I •the money already sunk in the Lawrence- | , Roxburgh venture forms an unanswerable ; ', The only point upon 'which ] ■Mr M'Kenzie declined to commit himself is as to th<3 date on which work\ on the ' railway is to be resumed, and UiaC is j exactly what the settlers want to know, t .When Ministers begin to wobble, and i §*int at a dissolution, it may be taken , .00 a sign of their consciousness of their ! own wioakt^iis. It is an old device, -when i any Gov&ra.i:>*at doubts the loyalty of its own supporter?, to suggest the possibility of a dissolution ; for the prospect of , •having t£> fight for the £300 a year before ■the {weasribed term is ur does not allure I a o«riain class of parliamentarians. Taking ; ' all tliees things into consideration, it is ' .evident that the present Administration j Jis not looking forward with too mucn . | expectation to the reckoning time which the opening of Parliament promises to bring. The sorrowful fact that day after day j goes by without bringing • The Peril* of the lea^t tidings of the the D«n»- missing Waratah suggests the terrible possibility ' -Jthat that ill-fated vessel, with nearly 250 ; souls on board, will never again be heard , .of, and that the nature of her fate will I - for «vet be only a matter of pure con- • Ijecture. That genial American humorist, • Dr Oliver Wendell Hojmes, whose cen- j .tenary falls this week (he was born on 'August 29, 1809), in his "• Hundred Days in Europe;" has a suggestive passage j jbearing upon this point. While crossing from America to Engl-ana, he thus solilo- ( quiee.s: "No man can find himself over jthe abysses, the floor of which is paved j v.mth wrecks and white with the bones I of the shrieking myriads of human, beings I .whom the waves have swallowed up, .without some thought of the dread possibilities hanging over bis fate. There is : only one way to get rid of them : that .which an old sea-captain mentioned to me — namely, to keep one's self under ! opiates until he wakes up in the harbour [ inhere he is bound. I did not take this serious advice, but its meaning is, J 'that one who h.as all his senses about him 1 cannot help* being anxious. My old .'friend, whose .beard had been shaken in , many a tampeet, knew too well that there

is cause enough for anxiety. What does the reader suppose was the source of the most ominous thought which forced itself upon my mind as I walked the decks, of the mighty vessel? Not the sound of the rushing winds, nor the sight of the foam-crested billows ; not the sense of the awful imprisoned force which was wrestling ' ixi tbe depth below nie. The ship is made to stniggJe with the elements, and the giant nas been tamed to obedience, and is manacled in bonds which an earthquake would hardly rend asundei. j No ! It was the sight of the boats hang- j ing along at the sides of the deck — the boat*;, always suggesting the fearful possibility {hat before another day dawns one may be tossing about in the watery Sahara, shelterless, fiiteless, almost foodless, with a fate before him' he dares not! contemplate. No doubt we should feel worse . without the boats.':' still, they are dreadful tell-tales.^ To all who remember Gericault's 'Wreck •• of tbe Medusa' — and those who- have seen, it do not forget it — the picture thie mind draws is one it sbudders-at.. To be sure, the poor wretches j in the painting were on a raft, but to j think of fifty people in one of these open boats? Let us go down into the cabin, I where at least we sßall not see them." j

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