THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 1906.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8179, 11 July 1906, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 1906.

With the approaohing arrival of Sir J. G. Ward in the Colony expectancy, running high as to what will eventuate vfhen once he is here, seems to And vent in endless speculation, and the number of "tips" and quid, nuncs at the present time seem to be more numerous than reliable. If Sir Jospeh Ward would accept, say, the opinions of the New Zealand Times, and do exactly what that journal temporarily thinks should be .done, he would, of course, in the eyes of that orgau be a great statesman, and absolutely right in all things—well, for a week at least. But, Sir Joseph is somewhat of a rarsr avis in oar Parliament—he hfia

a mind of bis own, and a strong miud, too, and plenty of oourage with which to back up hia opinions. There is not very muoh in the Government party of which Sir Joseph need be afraid—the only trouble that he might have may be in connection with* numbers, but as Ihere is not very muoh valuable material, in the "numbers," or cyphers, there is no reason to suppose that the new Premier will be any more afraid of his party than thelate Premier was. There is oertainly a very general ooosensus of opinion that upon Sir Joseph's return there will be a good deal of "washing-up" indulged in, not to say hard scrubbing, and several Ministers and various members probably look forward to that time somewhat ruefully, especially those who were more or less disloyal to the late Mr Seddon, although pledged to support him' when returned. "The new found liberty" of many members, of which we hear so muoh, striues one as being an ironical phrase, for there are quite a number of members in the House who have been returned simply because they were servile supporters of the late Prnmier—exoept for their whole-soul allegiance to him they would never have been where they are now. The painful weakness of the Government party at the present time illustrates mu&t forcibly the tremendous strength of their late leader, and one of the directions in which he used his power. To possess liberty and not to exercise it is, to say the least, to rlisplay wonderful absence of backbone, but i how oan those so situated prevent the painful exhibition. If ao one will pull the strings of the political marionettes bow are the Sgures to move? Whether Sir Joseph Ward reconstructs the Cabinet or not it seems improbable shat by nis aotion he will creaie mother "Liberal" party. If a strong cnan is appointed to the vacancy in the Cabinet and there is a general opinion that Sir Joseph will favour strong, not weak, men for lis colleagues—wh«re is the opposi;ion ia the Government ranks to jome from? On the other hand if ;he Cabinet is reconstructed to the jxtent of three new appointments, ;bat is, two members of the prelent Ministry patriotioally retiring, ;here will not be any opposition jflered by the Government party. Strong opposition will, no doubt, some in tims, but it will be a ;enuine opposition comprised, ;here is some reason to believe, of ;he present Opposition and Ihdepenleut Liberals—not a mawky pawky rarty consisting of old and disjointed Seddonites dolled up in iew olothes that, don't fit. Sir Joseph Ward unquestionably posleases great ability, but in our jpinion he will never have the bold )u the people of this country which ais late chief had. He will never jppeal to the hearts ot the people ,n the manner that Mr Seddon knew so well how to do. But he is a jtrong man, and will, no doubt, put forward a strong and vigorous policy, which, in the oourse of time, will create a healthy opposition, [here is, therefore, some reason to nope that bofcro long the politics jf this country will be more investing, uud calculated to be of ;roater buueflt to the people as a vbolo fcbnn has tieen the case for rears past.

A epeuial number of the "Victory," and the last annual report of the social work of the Salvation Army has been handed to us. Bat a brief perusal of the publication mentioned serves to emphasise the extent of the noble and invaluable work carried on by the Salvation Army in the interests of humanity. In describing the Army's work Charles Kinsley's phrase, "musoular Christianity," has not infrequently been borrowed, but the efforts of the Army are not merely "muscular," but humane and noble in tho extreme, and are such that can only be accomplished by men and women of a high type, who solely look for their reward in tho consciousness of doing their duty by their fellow men and women in accordance witty the dictates of their religioua convictions. In tha "Foreword" oiio can road bstwean the lines the spirit of the Army—the spirit of love for humanity. Inter alia the report states that the latest published statistics show that there has been a steady increase in illegitimacy In each of the States and New Zealand, with the exception of South Australia, and Tasmania, and "as a people there confronts ub to-day cause for deep concern." The peroantage of children born out of wedloofe is one in every sixteen. In 1904 nearly 7,000 of such births were registered. The report goes on to say: '"We are careful in our endeavours to wipe out many aspersions that are oast upon oar national character. Here it is a question of infinitely more serious moment than much that engages the attention of our legislators. There are contributory oauses for the piling up in these statistics of demoralisation which should be faced squarely and resolutely. This is not so much a question," ndds the report with much truth, "for Parliamentarians alone, as for parents." Th* report is very complete, Mnd in the course of it tho view that tbe Army takes of criminals and

its methods of dealing with them Is emphasised. There are no lees than fifty-three institutions ia Australia and thirteen in New Zealand in connection with the Social Enterprisea with whioh the Army is engaged. These sixty-six institutions represent an organised and nonsistent effort for ooping with social problems, and the work entails an outlay of over £I,OOO a week, bat the larger uroportion of this is raised by the industry of the inmates.