TOPICAL ITEMS.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume LV, Issue 5688, 3 June 1932, Page 3

TOPICAL ITEMS.

| No Money.— Any aitJtempit to obtain .money from any individual! even for J t'he very best investments, is countered by the parrot cry cf "No money" I't is not. the lac.k 'o'f funds but t'he lack of courage and confidence that ' i"s driving money to shelter in fixed J deposits. That there is money aibout, ' and that people are aible to save in these (parti'cu'larly hard tiiimes is shown by the trustees of the Dunedin Saving's Bank. The report on the past year's operations shows that the deposit® at it,he end) of the year amount- , j ed- tio £2,057,407, as compared with | ' £1,966,386 for the previous year, and i the number of depositors is now j '29,594 against 27,024. These are j solid'if acts and disprove the plaintive , jblteat Oif many men, "No i money!" Small Farm Scheme—<A farmer remarked the other day that there would not be muich opportunity to put the Government Small Farm Scheme into operation on, Banks Peninsula. Perhaps the farmer in question had not given the subject a great deal of thought. The Small Farm Scheme has' i'n view smalill holdings from, which the owner can make a partial living (and a> step tcKwardls , closer -settlement, smaller hwildings | and more intensive farmling, as in the old world. Fruiit growling, tobacco growing, pig raising, flower and vegetable growing and wine making are some o,f the enterprises sm'affl farmers could indulge in. And- where in the Souith, ils'liandl couM a more temporate climate ibe found or mare prolific production, from t'he soil than on •Banks Peninsula? The Feninsuil'a off- . ers a grea't opportunity for intensive farming and l i!ts possibilities should , be investigated.

Tax Paying Week.—'Never before in the history olf New Zealand.', have there been so, many taxpayers and during this week, or until Tuesd'ay last, the Positia'l officials at Akaroa have had a, ibusy tilme collleic'tiing the Unemployment Relli'ef taxes. Wage earners and saillaried men have been paying their tax weekly or mcmt'hly and' those in receipt, of incomes, other than wages or had to make their declarations of income before 31st. May. This neiw tax embraces those who last year paid 1 3d.ini £ and who are n'o,w cailekl l upon ito. pay 1/in £. The new Act also includes women, w'hoi have 1 , however, an exemptt'oni of £20. I't ils estimated that thiis new bax'ati'on will yield a. large sum and 1 the experience in this distrifct is that 'the amount, of tax from this source will, be something Hike five times the; amount paM; last year. A great many of these taxpayers, who have possibly never paid 1 direct taxes before 1 , appear fro have been, prompted to assist, the country imi'ts present needi by making frank statements of their positfon and pay what was due iby them. The Postal offiiie- j ials have .been most helpful in assisting them in arriving at the amount of taxes due andl the assistance given in a most, commend'aMe spirit. Many taxpayers in New Zealand this week wM hope th'at the neces's/ity for taxation will p'ass aiway before next year and the thousands af unemployed will Ibe absorbed into industry wit'h the coming of more prosperous times. "THE BEST OUT OF LIFE."— The subject. "Who gets the best out off life, m'ani or woman?" was discussed after dinner at the Arts Theatre Club, London,. IM'rs Elinor G'liyn said th'at men ha,di much the greater chances in Me; not' altogether on their merits bu,t because of their unique opportunity in hatvftng (been lords of creation from the time one of thern gave up one of Ms riibs. M:r Gilbert Frankau said men had l no chance in life at all. Mian was* lord of creation till Eve c'ame on the scene. It was the men' who .tolled! and moiled, who were thrown o,ut of bed at 8 a.m. Why did they work? Was there any man who would l work for himself? Who, had' the be(st chances in llitfe? Men? RMlculKous.! Mr Justice Meoard(ie, summing up, said he observed t'hat the speakers' had giiven no definition, of what they meant, by "the ;best out olf life. 3 ' "I am only summing up," ; he sadldi, "(but I confess that the whole secret of lilfe is t'o be found in about three things l —il l , happiness, which you and I have 'all. been waiting through the years- for, and: ar« waiting for now; 2, the sens© of achievement; and 3, the sense of fu'llfilment. If you dtan'.t gelt one of these three things I don't itlhinik any one of us will get "t'he best out. of life." Could such, ,a debate asi this have been possible in the year 18312? Let them mark the transcendent change: 1832 —when the woman had no, right to vote, the mere creature of the male; 1932—the man; the mere creature of the ;woman. The change was transcendent, and when one debated this question one might rememiber the time and tihe place. When one looked at t'he ■world, let them tlhinik of the astonishment, the thrill, and the wonder, that this defeat© would be listened to by t'he woman of the Purdah in India, the woman of tlhe harem in the Basit, or the woman of the hu'te of Central Africa.