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Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9059, 7 April 1908, Page 4

At a late hour last night a cable message was received from London announcing the resignation of the Prime Minister, the Right Hon. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. This news w?s not unexpected, owing to the serious illness from which Sir Henry has.been suffering for the past four months, and the fact that he had announced his determination to relinquish office by Easter if he found himself unable to attend to his official duties. The resignation and the <iauce of it will both form subjects for sincere regret, which will be felt not only throughout the British Empire, but in the various European States. H"w the announcement will alTect the Liberal Party at Home remains to be seen. The .Right Hon. H. 11. Asquith, who has been acting as Leader of the Government during Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's illness, has been summoned by King Edward, and will, doubtless, accept the position of Prime Minister. This will necessitate a re-arrangement of portfolios to some extent, and 1 ' it is possible that the Liberal programme will be subject to some modifications. Mr Asquith is fifty-live years of age. He entered Parliament in 1886, and was appointed Home Secretary in 1892. On that occasion the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone predicted that he was "destined for a position of the first rank in the early future. " The prediction has been fulfilled. Mr Asquith has been Chancellor of the Exchequer since the Liberals have been in power.

The motor-car is responsible for one more death in Wellington. Two men were cycling from Petone to Wellington on Sunday, and one of them was run down by a motor-car and killed. It is possible that neither motnrrnan nor cyclist was to blame for the mishap, but the melancholy fact remains that the motorcar in narrow or crowded thoroughfares, such as the Hutt Road, or the congested streets of the city, is a source of great ppril to those who adopt any other form of locomotion, and it is about time that something was Hone to limit the danger. The running of a railway locomotive up a city street would not be productive of more danger to life and limb than motors are under present conditions. The law requires that the latter shall not be driven at a speed which en-

dangers life, but such a law is valueless as a measure cf protection to the public. There are other considerations besides that of speed, but these do. not worn to count. The driver must bo licenaad, and he must not run at a dangerous rate; and if he complies with these requirements it is a rather di/lieult matter to prove responsibility on his part if his machine kills someone. Some better system of the vagaries of motor-cars avid ehaffeurs will probably be adopted when a Mayor is smashed up a Cabinet Minister maimed.