OUR SYDNEY LETTER.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 2577, 17 January 1889, Page 3

OUR SYDNEY LETTER.

11,' HO.M OUK OWN COKUKSrOXOKNT. 1 Sypsky, January 9. I,AND NATIONALISATION V. I'HOTKUTION. Thi: schoolmen were wont to dispute as to how many angels cnld dance on the point of a needle, together with other points of equal ditticulty and complexity, but about as little practical reference to the actual needs of the race. The tendency remains, thougu the form in which it mamlests it-e.t lias been altered. The latest complication is to be found in the debate recently held heie as to whether Land JS'ationalisaUon 0 r Protection is the panacea for the ills from which the community suffers. .Not that both subjects are not pie-emiuently wirthy of candid consideration. The fallacy lies in opposing the one to the other. It is as though a company of tailors and a, company of haberdashers were to debate whether men ought to wear trousers only or shirts only, the one side man saying that a man would bo a traitor to his best interests it* ho protccted his buck and breast and the other condemning with equal seventy any attempt to clothe the legs. The only possible result would bo that the disputants would make themselves ridiculous, and furnish powerful weapons fur the use of those who oppose them. . On their own showing the advocates ot Land Nationalisation aim at the destruction of unjust monopolies of natural advantages. The advocates of Protection aim at the encouragement of native industnes so as to enable them to maintain an existence in the teeth of the underpaid labour of less-favoured countries. iSeitherot these objects would secure the other, of what use would Land Nationalisation tie to the coloniiil workmen, it he were called upon to compete with Chinamen, or with tiie victims of the London sweaters '.' Iso meagurn of Land Nationalisation in Australia would raise the standard of living in other countries, or render them less formidable as competitors. Conversely the most thorough-going protection will be of little permanent advantage to workmen, if the lion's share of the produce of their labour is monopolised by non-workers in the form of rent. At present about one-tenth of the community claim to "own" the land upon which tne remainder live, and there is hardly any industry which is not taxed to the utmost ex tant it will bear in order to support some drone, who is in many cases not meiely a passive burden on the community, but an active and greedy blackmailer. .Protection is designed to secure our infant industries against depredations from without. Land Nationalisation against blood-suckers within. The idea of pitting the two against one another is a device of the enemy, and it is to be regretted that representative men of both sides should have suffered themseUes to be so easily entrapped. Against this it will be urged that rlenry George, the greatapostle ot Land sation advocates a "single tax,'_ which would of course exclude all protective imposis, To this I reply that in all cases it is necessary to discnininate between the unmistakeable soli-evident truths contained in any political doctrine and the fanaticism of its leaders. Ko cause can prosper without zealous champions, but their very zeal betrays them into errors, they allow their own cherished project to exclude all other interests, whatever theii importance. It) recur to my former illustration, they are no longer content to advocate that men should wear shirts only, and that trousers and all other articles of attire should be discarded. It must be evident to all that in a now couutry where all reforms must necessarily be tentative and gradual, to advocate the "f-.ingle tax " as a sine qua non is an attempt to drive the big end of the wedge first.

THK BOTANY POISONING CASE. Lwuisa Collins, the Bouny murderess, who was oxecuted yesterday, forms the te\ t of a very voluminous, but not a very creditable newspaper controversy. Men who are quite unmoved by the oppression, the cruelty, and the misery which exists around theui, nay men who actively assist by the tone and spirit of their writings on other subjects in increasing that cruelty and misery found themselves rivalling ona another in their championship of one of the most heartless _ murderesses who has ever been brought to justice, lhe feelings of her retinue evoked no indignation from their cheap and easy philanthropist*, the encouragement given to those who might be meditating similar crimes evoked no compunction. It does not necessarily follow that these persons really are what they appeared to —insidious abettors of murder —rather, I think, must their conduct bo set down to a sort of moral indolence, which would not make a single step to view the matter from any other standpoint than that of their own Rpurious and superficial sympathy. The case of the woman Collins was under their nose. It disquieted them, and like the Sybaiite at his crumpled roseleaf, they complained accordingly. To have viewed the crime in its real piteousness would have involved some little trouble, some slight mental and moral effort. This, true to the Sybarite nature, again they did not take. The natural feeling, however, is one of relief, that the law, however tardily, has been vindicated at last. In America, had there been any well-grounded fear that such a criminal would escape the just penalty of her acts, the world might be expected to roll up and take the law into their own hands. This, however deplorable, would be a heathier sign than that spurious sentimentality which has no sympathy to bestow except upon those who deserve it. POLITICS. Parliament re-assembled yesterday, but being a private members' night, the time passed away without the resuscitation of any burning questions which arc prevailing. Respecting the llornsby roads sensation, Mr Burns, the Colonial Treasurer, and a large shareholder in the lands which were improved at the public expense, has obtained leave to bo heard before the House in his own defence. The duration of the Hession, now it lias stretched into the new year, is uncertain. The Government will naturally try to terminate it as soon as possible. The Opposition, on tile other hand, may bo expected to resist the granting of supply until the mean, suspicious circumstances which are now the subject of inquiry are cleared up. To these will shortly in added an alleged scandal, in the Milling Department, in which the officials are charged with showing undue favour to a relative of the Minister, whereby, owing to some[technical default of the holders of a certain claim, known as the Mountain Maid, it is asserted that he and his partners were enabled to jump it. That such things should be possible is a real scandal on our mining administration. I should not, of course, be warranted in saying that, in this particular instance, it has been done but I am quite safe in saying that as long ,n« it is possible, it may be expected to be done. ASSAULTS ON CHILDREN. S»me horribly brutal assaults on children have come under public notice within the last few days. In one case a great hvlking ruffian, six feet high, dragged an eight yearold boy into a taproom, and endeavoured to force him to drink some spirits. The child resented his treatment, whereupon his cowardly mentor kicked him. smashed his face, and split his lip. The unfortunate boy was the son of a woman, with whom it is said the man was living, so when he comes out of gaol, a renewal of cruelty and violence may be expected. Another case is even more revolting, on account, of the religious element involved. AMrsMcXee, a member uf the Salvation Army, has a little stepson, six years old, she suspected of having stolen some money, s ;t apart troin the ordinary earnings of the family for the use of the "Army." With her husband she seems to have spt up an inquisition torture chamiier on her own account. The child was beaten black and blue, and was further burnt with a fork, which had been heated in the tire in order, as one account explains, "to get at his conscience." Comment is needless.