Rangitikei Advocate. SATURDAY, MAY 1, 1909. EDITORIAL NOTES.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9433, 1 May 1909, Page 4

Rangitikei Advocate. SATURDAY, MAY 1,1909. EDITORIAL NOTES.

THE politicians give most of their attention to the interests of those who live in the towns, and this is particularly true of Ministers. Consequently when any retrenchment becomes necessary, the departments in which conntrv residents are especially interested are the first to be attacked with the prnning-knsfe. On the present occasion the Ministry has began its work of retrenchment by cutting down the Department of Agriculture. This Department, it may be noted, deals with the interests of those «?ho create all the wealth of this country, and the industries concerned would amply repay all judicious expenditure. We are prepared to admit that it may he desirable to reorganise this, as well as other departments of the public service. Bnt there are others which are absolutely useless, and some'that are even injurious to tbe interests of the; people. For instance why not abolish the Department of' Labour w Inch has had such disastrous effect on our industries, and which appears to exist for the sole purpose of giving effect to the theories of Socialists? Why not abolish the costly and useless State coal merchant business, and all the others which merely come into competition with private enterprise? Why not abolish the Government Printing Office, and get the work done at half the cost? Why not also cease publication of the useless and misleading Hansard, and also waste less on bulky volumes containing reports which have been previously published by every newspaper in the country? Why not cut down the number of Ministers, and generally of Parliament? Why select as the first victim the very Department which should be of most service in promoting the prosperity of the people and aiding the progress of the country? The only reason is that Ministers despise the farmers and their interests, but fear the labour agitators in the towns. We trust that |when Parliament assembles, those members who represent country districts will give earnest attention to the requirements for successful working of the primary producing industries, and will succeed in impressing tbe whole community with a sense of their importance.

THE President of tire Arbitration Court appears to have preference to Unionists on the brain, and whenever tbe subject conies before the Court gives vent to some or other extraordinary obiter dictum. The other day at Napier he'said it was “positively silly" for employers to object to preference. Referring to this remark the New Zealand Times says “Not long ago the country was scandalised by half-a-dozen indivldnals—half of them city workers forming a Farm Labourers’ Union in Canterbury, and asking the Court to grant preference rof employment, thus forcing the whole rural industry of the province into a position that would have been intolerable. Opposition to preference on that occasion was not as Judge Sim himself admitted." Mr Justice Sim was very much concerned at because workers outside unions have no standing before the Court, and, therefore, he urges employers to compel all their employees to become unionists. As the total membership of the Unions is about 30, 0ut) it is obvious that moat of tbe workers in the country are quite happy, without unions and do not realise that they are outcasts because they cannot appeal to the Arbitration Court. Though it is to be regretted that the President .of the

Court should hold views which are considered unsound by the majority of people, there can be no doubt that his constant harping on compulsory preference will do great service *by drawing attention to .the precipice over which he seeks to drive the employers.

WITH great unanimity the Wellington Trades and Labour Council has condemned Mr Lanrenson’s propocal to reduce the income-tax exemption to enable the money to ba provided for cost of New Zealand’s Dreadnought. The Lords of Labour say they are wholly opposed to such expenditure, and give this as their reason for condemning the proposal. The fact that if the exemption is lowered then some unionists may have to pay the tax of course does not influence these disinterested persons. So long as a tax has to be paid by “the other fellow” it receives the hearty whole-souled approval of the Socialists. Some day, however, the will try to discover why any class should escape taxation, and why every man should not be compelled to contribute something to the coat of governing and defending the country.

THE Timber Commission has evidently set out with a strong desire to increase the price of timber. At Taihape it has actually thanked the witnesses for giving, evidence in support of restriction of import of timber. It might have been reasonably expected that the Commission would be impartial, or that if it was not, It would refrain from comment till it had heard weighed ail the evidence. In this connection we may mention that, according to the Year Book the total value of the timber produced by New Zealand sawmills was £2,581,639, while only £9521 worth was imported from America.