The Daily News WEDNESDAY, JULY 3. THE PRESENT SESSION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 3 July 1907, Page 2

The Daily News WEDNESDAY, JULY 3. THE PRESENT SESSION.

The session of Parliament,begun in earn est last evening, promises to be a warn and interesting one. Last session wa evidently stalled as a sort of excuse t adjourn in time tor Sir Joseph Ward t leave Die country on an important mis sion. It did not seem to matter muc during that session who sat in the llous or who did not. lor nothing oi' much eon sequence, except imprest business. wa done. The House contains at the pre sent time probably more young and com paratively young men than usual, and i is to be supposed thev are all aching t 1 distinguish themselves. Tliey will hav many t>]>portunitios. They have already sliiiwn their intentions by asking perti neiit questions and it is probably to tlr 'young men we may look in the futuri I for bolil handling oi' political questions I In a young politician's desire to increast (his own prestige, the people may gaii ! something. Apart from the land (pies tion, a solution of which is hardly likeh |to be found during the session, one o ithe mo-t important matters to be deal fwith (and which it is hoped will not be jshelved in the inconsequential war oi common politics; is. to reiterate what wt said yesterday, the revision of the la iill'. .Mr Hogg, always a strong advo leate of the workers and a man who ha? jdone much to create public opinion on the land question, will make an attempt to have the .Flour Duly Abolition Act passed. The commercial element in the House is very strong, and Liberal as it believes itself to be iu theory, much ol its liberalism is toward vested interests. Thus the J louse may feel more disposed to protect the local industry of wheatgrowing and llour-milling than the pockets of the people. Free-trade- in the "stair of life," which means primarily Jlour, would prevent the humiliation and robbery of the people by bands of commercial brigands who at present are able to delinitely decide what every person in Xew Zealand shall pay for the bread lie eats. The flour duty prohibits the importation of Hour from Australia in a large measure, although all millers really prefer Australian flour which is more economical than the local product. It is conceivable that the. abolition of the Hour duty would dc no harm to local' industry and its advantages would be of great use oulj when tiie supply of Xew Zealand wa> short and the price high. The productiveness of the Xew Zealand wheatliek is four times as great as the productive ness of the Australian wheatlield, and il the Xew Zealand grower contented him self with the protits that Auslraliai growers are salistied with, he need hav< 110 fear of competition. One of tlx troubles in this connection is thai wlujal might be shipped from Syduej ' and landed at a Xew Zealand wluir at a less freight than would be charge*, by interprovincial steamers or the (jo vernmcitt railways. Cheap freights am large production, coupled with some rea patriotism on the part of Xew Zealaiu commercial kings, would solve the dea bread question. With this question is also bound up tin question of revision of the larill'. A: we have so often pointed out, the pre sent larill' was devised to fatten the oc casioua! trader at the expense of every body else in Xew Zealand. The Judo pendent Labor League at Dunedin ha: pointed out (and there is every rea sot to believe the assertions made) tha iluring the past fifteen years wages it New Zealand have increased by 8 1 /- pe cent, and that during that term the cos of Jiving has gone up 30 per cent. Kea sons? First and foremost, the liigl price of land. Then the tariff, de vised not for the benefit of the populace but of person**. Then the natural re taliation of the persons who object h the rank and file having privileges. Al of which i> food for the thought of ou young men politicians, who are moi'e con cenied with the immediate future of tin ■ colony than ihe blast;, aged politieiai who lias lost interest in anything tha does not immediately all'cM. himself. Ti be clearer. The aged politician is usual ly a man whose striving days are over 'J'o him it is no concern personal); whether a live-room house can be reutei at 'is Ud or 27s lid, because he isn't poo enough to bother. Emphatically « measure for the people is the one jutro duced by -Mr liornsby last session whicl aims at weeding the quack and his nos trums out of the country. For tin healthiest country iu the world. Xev Zealand consumes a prodigious quantity of medicine. Throughout Australasia there is now a determined campaign il progn>> against unscrupulous quack* and one fearless magazine is exposin; these frauds by entering into most mi nute details. This suggests that tin Slate should do what the Press is nov trying to do at imminent risk to the ex chequer of the Press, for under our libe law* a newspaper may not tell tin truth if the truth is damaging to tin person of whom She truth is told. The re cent allegations against a Southern mai known to be unqualified and accused o manslaughter emphasises the real nee* of Slate interference, if it is possible to force makers of "medicine"' to stat its constituents on the vessel containing il, it is not impossible for the Statu"; medical servants to publish in the State' papers the names of all suspected quacks llie names and constituents of ail inedi cines sold in Xew Zealand, and warning; about those nostrums which are knowi to be injurious. There is, too, an immense deal of quack cry ju connection with the iood suppP and tile drink supply of the people, ou lliere ,-:eems to be lailure ou the par of the Sutc to name those Xew Zeahuu manufacturers who are known lo indulge iu injurious adulteration. The auggea lion made a week or two ago thai ed ible» manufactured in Xew Zealaiu shouul, if they were of pure quality, b( (ioveriimeiit marked, is a good one, bin we are reluctantly compelled to say lha very may articles of diet commonly man •ufuciured and sold iu Xew Zealand haw no chance of getting the Government ap pruval uniess the quality is improve*, and tiie harmfulness removed. Then is nothing more important lo Xew Zea laud than infant tile protection, a mat lei ilial will shortly be discussed in Far iiaiiu-nt. Shocking revelations have beei made lately about the trailic ill lillh children, and judges have commented strongly on the numerous case* in whicl UH/theis had got rid of their oll'sprinj. by paying a *um of money to womei who make a trade of babies as if the} were lire wood or groceries or bags ol wheal. When the State begins to real i>e thai a child is a greater asset lo tlu Stale than u new calf or a prize meiim. (aiihougli its mother may not think so) the Slate may give more attention l< ehildrcu even if il is at I lie expense ol prize blood stallions and imported pestiu the shape of deer and chamois ami nth'T u-eje-,s wi'miii. All these matters ejop up pcrenially in Parliament inn Parliament has up to now been toe old. too well oil', and too tired to do nni'h else than make speeches about them. The. hope for reform lies with the young men of Parliament, who in a natural desire lo become Premiers may do .something useful for thu people as well for themselves.