A DANGEROUS PRECEDENT.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 May 1917, Page 4

A DANGEROUS PRECEDENT.

The decision of "the Government to aslc the Minister of Justice to advise the Governor to remit the sentences on the men who were convicted at Auckland on Monday will arouse surprise and indignation throughout the Dominion, while the pitiful apology contained in the statement (published elsewhere in this issue) made to the press by the Acting Premier adds insult to the injury. Its reasoning is certainly an insult to the intelligence of the community, for no amount of sophistry canhide the woeful pusillanimity of the Cabinet. The questions that arise are whether the laws of the country are to be observed or not; whether one section of the community can defy with impunity laws of the land, while the other sections are punished for so doing; whether the country is to he governed* by responsible Ministers or a handful of lawbreakers; whsther law and order are to prevail, or to be set at nought. Cabinet has virtually decided in favor of the lawbreakers, and thereby a most dangerous precedent u£S been created, the effeot of which will probably tn T «gr»

reaching. To pander to the strikers by an exhibition of such repreiiensible weakness is a practical admission of inability to administer th& affairs of the .Dominion, and it is a terrible price, to pay for patching tip a rent tlmt should never have been allowed to exist. The public have had to bear the brunt of the inconvenience caused by the strike, and have made considerable sacrifices—all in vain. They knew there was a vital principle at stake, and were prepared to undergo sacrifices to have the principle vindicated, only to find that the full power? conferred on the Ministry in order to deal promptly and drastically with strikes, have become a dead letter, owing to the want of courage, io use tho weapons provided for the purpose. The Government lias commit',oil a disastrous and unpardonable blunder in remitting these sentences, which wero thoroughly well deserved. To Use the current colloquialism, they have ''given the show away," mul we arc- at the mercy of disgruntled hewers of coal, who have gained a victory instead of sustaining a crushing defeat. Surely the effect of this Ministerial weakness will be a stimulus to the committal of other aets of lawlessness. The. internal enemies of the country now know their power, and they have proved their avidity to utilise that power. It is high time to put our honse in order, and vindicate the laws of 'the land. A Cabinet that can play fast and loose with vital principles and laws cannot expect to retain the confidence of the country, which may well blush with ,shame' at the Government's incompetence.