THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. MONDAY, JULY 22, 1907. POLITICAL MATTERS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8492, 22 July 1907, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. MONDAY, JULY 22, 1907. POLITICAL MATTERS.

With three Land Bills to discuss, the Tariff to revise and various proposals of minor importance. to. consider, there is plenty of work ahead of the people's representatives. The work of Parliament for several sessions past may have been somewhat of the "flat, stale and unprofitable" description, but it is now beyond question that the session of 1907 is destined to prove a memorable one in the history of the colony for some years to come. It is evident from the Tariff revision proposals, and the alterations that have been made in the Land Bills that the Government are more anxious to placate than to coerce; more disposed to be reasonable and cautious than masterful and erratic. The Ministry will unquestionably place their Land Bills upon the Statute Book, and they will do so feeling confident that they are approved of by a great majority of the people. Of course, from the freeholder's point of view—we refer to the freeholder irrespective of the political party to which he belongs—there are provisions in the Land Bill with which he is not in sympathy, but at the same time among the Government's proposals there are a number of which the small freeholder does approve, and a few which the large landholder must endorse, while it is idle to deny that there is a large leasehold party in the colony, who will also find much in the Bills that will meet with their approbation. Apart from all other aspects of the complex land question, it must be admitted that, as politicians pure and simple,the Government are handling their responsibilites in a remarkably astute and clever manner, and it is not absurd to entertain the suspicion that the Opposition's policy has been once more hopelessly "outlined." The Opposition, nc doubt, rendered very valuable service to the country by their vigorous and capable criticism of the Land Bill in its original form, but we are far from believing that they assisted them-

selves as a party in the eyes of the country. Mr Massey's tactics have been, in our opinion, of a beneficial character to his political opponents. The Government unquestionably have made concessions which were never contemplated when Mr McNab introduced his famous Bill. The result will be that the three Land Bills will become law in very much their present form, and, to some ex-' ent, the Opposition will be in agreement with the Legislation. The average elector does not weigh political matters very closely. He will argue that there cannot be very much wrong with the Government, when the Opposition endorse their policy to some extent. It may be all wrong to take any such view, but that there is a likelihood of such a view being taken is an obvious fact. The moral to be drawn therefrom is that the Opposition's tactics will stand a considerable amount of improvement if the Opposition are ever to. become any more influential as a party than they have been for many years past.

NEW ZEALAND v. AUSTRALIA

The decisive victory gained by the representatives of New Zealand Rvgby football over the Australian exponents of the game, on Saturday last, willbe generally regarded with satisfaction. The high state of perfection which players of the game have attained in this colony ha* almost caused their success abroad to ba looked upon as a mattar appertaining to the colony's honour. Great, however, as the prowess of the "All Blacks" undoubtedly is, it is not to be expected that they will win every match in which they engage. Everyone knows that the best of teams will "go to pieces" on occasions, but it is satisfactory to realise that the "All Blacks" can lose like genuine sportsmen. They have so few opportunities of displaying this genuine sporting trait that a defeat every now and then is, perhaps, rather to be welcomed. When New South Wales recently beat the "All Blacks" the New Zealand captain declared that the better team had won. The result of Saturday's match scarcely bears out the correctness of the captain's opinion, but it shows that the New Zealanfers accepted their defeat in a splendid spirit, and were, consequently, doubly entitled to their victory on Saturday, because they knew how to lose as well as how to win.