NEWS OF THE DAY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 266, 9 November 1944, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

Orders-in-Council

The ,view that Orders-in-Coun-ci} should be used only to pass machinery regulations and not, as they had been for years, to introduce new and substantive laws, was expressed 'by Mr. P. W. Schramm, Speaker of the House of Representatives, when replying to a question following an address given to the Junior Chamber of Commerce yesterday. Mr. Schramm believed that Parliament as a whole should frame the legislation of the country. He also expressed the ■ opinion that the time had arrived when certain wartime restrictions should be lifted. Restrictions were necessary in wartime, but where' there was democratic freedom there was liberty. Church's Pressing Need The need of a centre in the Auckland Diocese where retreats, training camps, refresher courses and gatherings of such a nature could be held is stressed by the Rt. Rev. W. J. Simkin, Bishop of Auckland, in the Church Gazette. The bishop says: "The various schools are generally available during holidays, but the times when holidays take place are not the most suitable for such gatherings. The need for retreats for the clergy is very pressing, especially when the stress of the past five ygars is remembered and realised. Retreats for laymen, young people, Sunday school teachers, lay readers and others are necessary for the deepening of the spiritual life of those upon whom much of our work depends." The bishop adds that the centre should be away from the city, yet within easy reach. Girls Poor Spellers "Girls fresh from school are all right so long as they are not required to spell." This comment was made by one of" two prominent professional men who, when they met in the city yesterday, * discussed staff problems. One man had no troubles; his secretary was thoroughly efficient. The other was not so fortunate—he had experienced a deal of trouble. . . Girls coming straight from school could not spell. . . It was the phonetic system that was at fault. . . The girls could not even find a name in a telephone book because they did not know the spelling of it. . . The girl who went into office work straight from the sixth standard could not spell as well as the girl in the first standard a decade ago, he said. Both agreed that there was a great deal in the complaint that the standard of school work in general was below what it was in the past.

Where Fish Swim Lazily Behind Parliament House, Wellington where few other than the feet of public servants tread, is a high corrugated iron" fence, surmounted with barbed wire strands. It'hides a hole —a large, expansive, satisfying sort of hole. Here, once upon a time when there was peace in the world, it was planned to erect a large building—radio headquarters and arts conservatorium. The war nipped the plan in the foundation stages and left a hole bisected with concrete. Water filled the hole and mosquitoes and other insects rejoiced and thrived. So the authorities put fish into it— goldfish and other 'little 'uns. Small boys came with lines and hooks. So they built a fence. The boys climbed the fence. So they put up the wire. Now the fish are big, comfortable, well fed. They swim lazily, whera one day music and other noises will compete with Parliament. Happy, contented fish.

Armistice Day The 26th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice ending the last war falls On Saturday, and will be observed throughout the Dominion at'll a.m. by the traditional two minutes' silence. It is expected that the firing of a gun from Albert Park will mark the .beginning and end of the silence in Auckland. Although there will be no service at the Cenotaph in the Domain this year, a tribute of rosemary will be laid at the foot of the monument by the president of the Victoria League, Mrs. J. 8.. Macfarlane. War Not Won Yet A proposal made by Wellington's Mayor, Mr. Appleton, to the City Council that a grant of £10 should be made to the combined musical societies towards the cost of preparing for a festival to mark the armistice was approved, but not until some councillors had said bluntly enough that the war was not yet won. Mr. M. S. Galloway said he thought that festival plans at this stage were premature; talk of armistice tended to make people sit back and think that the war was over, but he ventured to say that that would be some time yet. Mr. R. A. Wright said he believed that there was real danger in talk of armistice. The United Nations were fighting international gangsters who would hang on to the last, and the end of the war, as he saw it, was not in sight. The Mayor replied that preparation could do no harm. The preliminary work would take some months. Dishonest Manufacturers "The New Zealand Manufacturers' Federation holds no brief for any manufacturer who is not making every endeavour to produce the best poseible article from wartime materials with a wartime staff," said Mr. I. Matheson, the federation president, at the annual meeting in Dunedin yesterday. Mr. Matheson said he would go so far as to say that his federation anticipated with satisfaction the business demise of the few "skimping, scamping manufacturers" whose poor efforts were bringing large sections of the industry, or New Zealand manufacturing industry generally, into disrepute. These men, few though they were, constituted "fifth columnists" in manufacturing, and while their policy was most short-sighted towards themselves, and would result in their passing with the war, it also carried the danger of sowing seeds of reputation loss which all New Zealand manufacturers would, unfortunately reap in the post-war years.

"Leaves Him Cold" "The general attitude of the New Zealand public—some sections of the community in particular—towards the war effort leaves me cold," said a New Zealand officer who recently returned from Italy suffering from severe wounds. "A drop of red blood spilt in this country would do a power of good," he added. "I would dearly love to have a 'crack' at some of the so-called key men in industry and those- fellows who have been taking more than a fair rake-off as the result of the war." A farmer himself, the officer, who has served in the Territorial Force for about 18 years continuously, volunteered for overseas service early in the war but was held back by the Army authorities for duty in the Dominion. So that he could take his place in the forces he leased his farm and, dropping his senior rank, went overseas as a junior officer last year. His long experience and background were immediately noted on his arrival in the Middle East, and within a very short time the officer was in the front line, promoted and in command of an infantry company.