Rangitikei Advocate. THURSDAY, MAY 9, 1907. SECOND EDITION. EDITORIAL NOTES

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXII, Issue 8808, 9 May 1907, Page 2

Rangitikei Advocate. THURSDAY, MAY 9, 1907. SECOND EDITION. EDITORIAL NOTES

IN dealing with the subject of preferential trade at the Conference the visiting Premiers have all along had the undoubted advantage of an attacking position, while the British Government had merely contented itself with defending its policy. Mr Lloyd George was, however, quite unable to resist the temptation of showing the Premiers that the attitude of the British Goverumut, was not duo to a sense of weakness, but was really caused by a chivalrous desire not to press their adversaries into a corner or to gain a victory on merely technical ground;. The President of the Board of Trade pointed out that the British Government might have proposed a resolution advocating free trade throughout the Empire, and have developed an attack on the protectionist policy of the colonies instead of merely defending the British freetrade position. The press, which now complains that Britain is deaf to the appeal of the colonies, might then have been engaged in declaring that the colonies refused to listen to the Motherland’s appeal to bo put on equal terms with her children, wlxo had slammed the door in the old mother’s face. The Government, however, said Mr Lloyd George, did not adopt that course, as it recognised the unfairness of ignoring local conditions and exigencies. Needless to say, such generosity was quite wasted on men like Mr Deakiu and Sir Wililam Lyue, who simply used the occasion to endeavour to browbeat the British Government, though, as Mr Lloyd George pointed out, they 7 knew perfectly well before they left home that the Ministry was pledged to freetrade. Wo note from Bio report that his speech was largely in the interrogative form, and t..at Mr Deakiu frequently replied to his queries. From our knowledge of Mr Lloyd George’s debating powers wo cannot doubt that the interchange of thrust aud parry was an interesting spectacle, or that the nimhlewitted Welshman proved quite able to get under Mr Deakiu’s guard. One of the points to which Mr Deakiu lias never replied in all his lengthy orations was that made hy Mr Lloyd George when ho stated his conviction that a tax on food —which the colonies demand —meant casting an undue share of the sacrifice cu the poorest part of the population. Nor do wo think that Mr Deakin would readily find a reply to the statement:—“A tax on raw materialwould fetter us in the severe struggle with our foreign competitors. Such a sacrifice would weaken our power aud make further sacrifices impossible. Wo ought not to he called upon to make it. Mr Deakin lias asked the British- Government to do what no protectionist country country would do—namely, to tax the necessaries of life or liveli’. .-od which we cannot produce ourselves, hut which the colonies cannot supply sufficiently for many years.

WE have received a copy of the School Journal which has been provided by Government to replace to some extent the readers at present in use, and thus to meet the complaint that too great expense is entailed on parents by the 'purchase of books. Wo do not feel enthusiastic about the journal, but it is well to remember that it is comparatively easy to criticise the choice of selections made, nmeh'easier, indeed, than to replace them by more suitable extracts. The true test of the work will bo the reception it receives from teachers and scholars, and it is as yet too early for this criterion to bo applied. We must protest, however, against the inclusion of so-called humorous paragraphs, which would be hardly worth a place in the weekly supplement of a country paper. There is also one real defect in the journal which needs immediate attention, and that is the very slipshod English which has been allowed to pass muster. The editor should take care to include none but 'the best examples of English prose and verse, but he is evidently not. only not a purist iu such matters, but is absolutely devoid of literary taste. If wo turn to his remarks on the visit of the cadets to Christchurch wo find the following ‘‘ In only very rare cases did boys seem to think that any good manners they might possess

were to be kept for State occasions, and that the courtesy expressions ‘ Sir, ’ ‘ I beg you pardon, ’ etc., were too precious for every day use to a. stranger. Yon may know the boys I mean.” After consideration wo conclude that this sentence moans that the boys wore very polite, but to many readers it would convey quite the opposite impression. Or take again the passage quoted from a letter written by a Rhodes scholar,which no doubt was not intended for publication. The writer, in describing a visit to au English public school, says, “One of the hoys showed ns all over, and it was indeed most interesting. In Row Zealand one cannot realise what position the great English public schools take in the country. At Oxford, of course, I could not help noticing it, but I understand it much more since I have soon several public schools. They really do turn out a fine class of men, and the best arc all characteristic.” This kind of stuff may pass muster in a letter, but cannot be described as a m&del of Oxford or of any other kind of English.