NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 63, 8 December 1920, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY

IVere her tariff restrictions removed France should provide a profitable opening for frozen meat. Food prices in Paris, as quotod by the correspondent of "Tho Times" on October. 18. arc soaring to a fabulous height. Beef sold wholesale ranges from Is. Cd. to 2s. 7Jd. a French pi-und (about 18 ouncrs), according to the part of the '.Vast, and mutton from Is. Bd. to 2s. lOd. To got tlio actual retail prices it is necessary, to add 25 per cent, to these figures. It is stated that the only relatively ch*ap things am chickens and rabbits, the chickens now fetching Gs. (Id. and the rabbits 4s. 4d. each. Even the coirimon fish sell at 2s. 3d. a pound in tho shops. Mnet of these prices have climbfd rapidly up within the past few months but how long they will- remain at their present level it is difficult to say. When the mail left there wer.;. predictions in Paris that a .slump would come within threo months. Clothes were expected to drop a fifth in price, consequent on the decline in cotton and wool, and this it was anticipated would be the herald of a general decline, If ever the parties to an indnstrial dispute had a duty to the community to get together and reach a settlement it is in the case of the present dispute in the freezing industry. The differences between the parties have already delayed the opening of the slaughtering senson, and a continued stoppage must bring serious loss through stock now ready for the butcher going off in condition. In view of tho general financial situation of tho country it is imperative that our exports should be, maintained at the highest lovel. The year is showing a heavy trade balance on tho wrong side, with imports far in excess of exports, and [ unl«ss this stats of things is rapidly

corrected financial problems are bound to ariso tho effects of which may he farreaching. A hold-up in au industry like meat feezing cannot therefore bo regarded as a matter of concern only to the parties immediately affected, aud mrr which they may lie left to wrangle at their leisure. If workers and empioyere in most industries had a livelier sense of thoir responsibility as units in tho industrial organism Ihey would find ways of striking satisfactory bargains without withholding their services except as a last resource. We all of us fall short of our duty as citizens as we fail to «nliso that in addition to making the best bargain we can for ourselves, wo have a social function to render in carrying on our work without interruption. Besides ploying for themselves, tho community looks to worktirs and employers alike to play for the side aUo.

For ono man to have changed the domestic architecture of an entire nation is an undertaking probably without precedent. The late Mr. Roosevelt once declared that this feat had been accomplished, and in a few years, by Mr. Edward Bok, editor of the "Ladies Home Journal." Mr. Bok has carried through innumerable reforms, as his autobiography just published reveals. Onco his efforts temporarily miscarried as a result of miscalculating feminine instincts. Ho opened a campaign in his paper to stop women wearing the so-called "ospreys" or aigrettes in their hats or their, hair. He learned and exposed the horrible cruelty of the trade and published heart-rending photographs showing the killing of the mother-birds and the leaving of their young wholesale to starvation. This appeal was intended to harrow the tender feelings of his. women readers. The campaign was carried on for _four months, and at the end of it the demand for plumage had quadrupled. Women who had never previously heard of aigrettes, had learned from his articles that they were hallmarks of wealth and fashion, and immediately became possessed of a desire to own one of the precious feathers. Eventually Mr. Bok turned his appeal to the men and the importation of aigrettes was prohibited by the Legislatures.

What instructions are to be given to tho American Peace Commission which Mr. Harding proposes to send to Europe after his inauguration as President have not been stated, but his campaign utterances justify an assumption that the Commission will endeavour to arrive at an understanding which will enable tho United States to enter tho League of Nations. In a speech delivered shortly before the election he said:— I am for co-operation among nations. . . . America must take her part in tho world's affairs. . . . But wo hold that there is no jieed of an American surrender of sovereignty to play a righteous nation's part. The last contention i 6 one which America, and other advocates of the League have from the outset emphasised, and if tho prospective commission is empowered to interpret it in a reasonable spirit obstacles to American co-operation in international affairs ought to be removed. At best, however, the process of American entry into the League is bound to bo somewhat complicated aud subject still to considerable delay.