WHAT THE PAPERS SAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 171, 22 July 1933, Page 8

WHAT THE PAPERS SAY.

POINTS FROM THE PRESS. FARMERS AND MONETARY POLICY. "Science ami history arc not suited for discussion except by experts," wrote a brilliant and austere Cambridge economist recently. "Others are simply in the position of requiring more information and till they have acquired all the available information cannot do anything but accept on authority the opinions of those better qualified." These are hard words; but the truth in them is exemplified by Die resolutions 011 monetary policy passed by the Dominion Conference of the Farmers' Union. Without any idea that it was being sublimely ridiculous, the conference affirmed unanimously and in successive resolutions that the Government's proposal to create a central bank ought to be resisted and that the time had come "to bring about a controlled internal monetary system." It did .not occur to the conference that the centralisation of banking is a necessary first step to the creation of a managed internal currency system. Yet the opinions of the conference about currency are not as depressing as its unwillingness to realise that it is not competent to have opinions on the subject. If one of its members owned a horse which had fallen sick, lie would call in a veterinary surgeon. If his wheat developed an unknown disease, lie would seek assistance from the experts of the Department of Agriculture. Why, then, docs lie put complete faith in his own remedies for the ills of the economic system, which is quite as complex as the inwards of a horse or the biology of wheat? It is true that lie may have common sense; but common sense without knowledge and training is as little use in economies, as in any other science.—Christchureh "Press." I

GAMES OF CHANCE. There is no game from "tiddly-winks" and "ludo" In auction bridge into -which the element of chance does not enter. In the reputedly harmless game of "snakes and ladders" skill does not enter into the calculation in remotest degree, for the throw of the dice may cither carry the competitor to the winning post or, by an evil chance, send him back to the starting post to ■begin all over again. If the Chinese played "snakes and ladders" the police would be properly scandalised, for they frown at the mere tossing of a coin lo see who shall begin in that highly intellectual game of "mail jong." .As Dr. Haslam has pointed out, even in lawn tennis the players toss for ends and service, and he might have instanced auction bridge, where the players cut for partners, cards, deal and seats. In fact bridge lias a far greater element of chance in the actual play than most people imagine. Ely Culbertson places the element of chance at SO per cent; that is to say, the luck of the deal is the dominant factor, although good players employ skill to avert losses and push advantages to the limit. These facts are at least worth noting in connection with the periodic prosecutions of Chinese for playing more or less harmless games in the privacy of their homes, or in such clubs as these alien colonists frequent. If these assemblies tended to impoverish individuals or create condition* discreditable to civic decency, there would lie some sense in suppressing them, but it seems as if the police havo been far too zealous in these matters, and the disinclination of highly reputable Chinese interpreters to act in prosecutions was perhaps the most rlicnilied protest that could Lave been igade. —"Christchurch Star." » « • • THE CHOICE.

The free system is not easy to maintain. Over and over again in history it has been overwhelmed through internal decadence or by external attack. It depends upon there being enough education, public spirit, independence, initiative and selfsacrifice in a sufficient number of persons to enable them individually to resist the demoralisation that freedom makes possible, to ensure that freedom is not contracted by reaction, but extended to meet the changing conditions of the modern world, and to maintain the reign of law and vigorous progressive government." There are admirers of Hitlerism (or Fascism) and also of Bolshevism even in New Zealand. Impatience with the slowness of parliamentary methods and a desire to make drastic reforms or change's quickly, with" tlio least brooking of opposition, which wo have heard expressed from some platforms, can b6 a dangerous inducement to the first. It is the full discussion of harsh measures that may be required for the public well-being, and tlio knowledge that all objections to them havo been canvassed and fairly judged that causes them to be aecepted without fxiction. Almost any New Zealander who reads Count Sforza's "Dictatorships in Europe" should find it easy to agree with his conclusion that, whatever their ideals may be, the methods on which they rest and can only rest, are retrogressive and bad. To quote from a German author: "Every constitution, however defective, which gives play to the self-determination of a majority of citizens inevitably surpasses tlio most brilliant of human absolutisms, for the former is capable of development, and therefore living;»the latter is what it is, and therefore dead."—Dunedin " Evening Star."