Rangitikei Advocate. SATURDAY JANUARY 2, 1909. EDITORIAL NOTES.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9334, 2 January 1909, Page 4

Rangitikei Advocate. SATURDAY JANUARY 2,1909. EDITORIAL NOTES.

THE latest indiscretion of the Kaiser in allowing reports of his views on political and other questions to be published in an English paper caused little surprise in foreign circles, which have become accustomed to regard the Kaiser as a sort of infant terrible, whose utterances, though sometimes very trying, have to be borne with all the placidity possible. In however, the situation has-been considered in a much more serious light and ail parties in the State have for once united in condemning the Emperor’s things are in the Ministers maw

foreign policy, but the Kaiser may select and carry into effect a totally different course. Such a divergence of ideas is naturally not conducive to satisfactory relations with foreign Powers, but the German Constitution provides no adequate means of checking the Royal prerogative, and,, therefore, the protests that have been made are quite ineffective, unless the Emperor chooses to be gnided by them. It would need something of the nature of a revolution to introduce constitutional government, as it exists In Britain, into Germany, and Parliament is not prepared to take any very drastic course of reform. Things will, therefore, remain as at present, and the only hope of preventing the recurrence of unfortunate incidents is that the Kaiser will have common sense enoogh to see the unwisdom of some of his past utterances and carefully avoid similar indiscretions in future.

THE feeling that the railways are very badly managed seems to be growing very general, and even the faithful supporters of the 'Ward administration do not hide the fact that great reforms are imperatively required. We do not allude at present to the general question of railway finance, but to the unsatisfactory relations of the railways to the public they are supposed to serve. Every holiday that occurs the whole service is hopelessly disorganised, passengers are not provided with seats for which they have paid, and the carriage of luggage is a matter in which chance plays the leading part. It would have been expected that after so many years’ experience of the traffic at holiday time the Department would have made some efiort to cope with its requirements, hut every year the authorities seem quite taken aback by the great demands made on the railways and give up any attempt at proper organisation to deal with the traffic.