NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 254, 21 July 1920, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY

Ten years ago a proposal to increaso t.lic salaries of the Public Service l>y ail ilSditional ,£2,000,000 per annum would have dumbfounded the country. To-day it is accepted as so much in the ordinary course that the average newspaper reader will probably noto it with less interest than ho gives to the latest details of the America Cup race. Tho addition -will. send the Government expenditnro soaring still further above tho 26 million mark at which it stands. An expenditure of 26 millions a year in New Zealand is equal approximately to ten shillings a week per bead of the population, man. woman, and child. If the average family is taken as comprising five individuals, it'means that each family has to find, directly and indirectly, the sum of 5:1 10s. a week for the Stato before it begins to get anything for itBelf. The pereons comprising somo households, of course, pay much more: others much less. Ten years ago tho Government expenditure worked out on this basis per household at 15s. a week. Even to-day have wo reached the limit of what wo shall have to carry and whnt we can bear without distress? The current expenditure of the United Kingdom is at just about tho same rate per Jjead as our own, but the burden there is relatively a good deal heavier, as the wealth per head is less. This is cold comfort, but it indicates that wo aro still far from tho end of cur tether financially.

A bone of contention in Australian industrial circles is the reduction in working hours from 48 to 44 per week. Yesterday it was reported that the gra ziers at a conferenco in Sydney had refused to grant this to the shearers. The president of the Now South Wales' Employers' Federation has worked out what this demand would cost the Commonwealth if acceded to in industry generally. Taking tho present standard wage of artisans at .fa a week, a reduction of onc-twolftli in working hours would equal tin advance in wages of Ss. (kl. per week. A shilling rise in wages means 2J millions rise throughout the Commonwealth, and this reduction in hours would therefore bo equivalent to 20 million pounds on the wago sheets. In tho manufacturing industries of New South Wales alone it would require an extra 50,000 persons to maintain the present output, and they would require additional plant to tho value of 20 million pounds. As neither the extra peoplo nor the extra plant are available, overtime at time-and-a-half would have to be paid, and this would east tho community an additional ,£30,000,000 in wages in tljese industries. Taken all round, it is worked out that the reduction in hours by one-twelfth would entail an automatic increase in the cost of living of from 10 to 12J per cent. After all, it is a few thousand years ago since it was first regarded o.s n tolerably well-established fact 'hat he who sows little is likely to reap little.

Arrangements for the embarkation, of passengers on the weekly Australian steamers leave someESlng to be desired. A business man who frequently has occasion to travel between Wellington end Sydney states that the examination of passports and access of passengers to the ship's gangway in Sydney is not attended by anything like the same inconvenient® and scramble that too often accompany it in Wellington. It should not. be necessary for passengers with their luggage to hare to fight their way through a crowd to the foot of the ijnngway, and there amid the scramble produce their passports and tickets for scrutiny. This 6ort of thing is not much hardship for able-bodied men, but it is decidedly 'so for women, particularly those travelling with children, and it is stated that one lady fainted in the process last Saturday. It . should not be a matter of difficulty to rope off a space on either side of the gangway und give the passengers access to .it through the wharf ehed. It is noticeable that the ships' stewards rarely descend from the deck to receive luggage. Tho company as a matter of courtesy to passengers should at. least arrange that women are not to be left to struggle unaided up steep gangways with their belongings, and insist on alertness in this respect.

A small consignment of. gift aeroplanes from the Imperial Government has arrived in New Zealand. More are to follow. The Dominion' 6 air policy is at latest accounts still in a nebulous state. These gift machines are not likely to improve in condition if left standing indefinitely pending the formulation of a general air policy, and it would be reassuring to have some indication of the 11803 to which this material is to be put.

I As was generally oxpected the challengers for tho Davis Cup this-year -will be America. The British Isles team put up a very good fight for tho right to contest the challengo round with the Australasian holders of the trophy, but the Americans were too brilliant, and won in three straight matches. Now that the result is definitely known thereshould be no delay in finally settling where the challengo round is to be played. Under the agreement with Australia it is New Zealand's turn, to have the privilege of naming tho playing ground, and Auckland has been namod. Unfortunately an element in Australian tennis circles has been working in the direction of depriving tho Dominion of its right in tho matter. Various pretexts have been advanced for rotting aside New Zealand's claim and playing tho mntch in Australia, but it is not likely that the tennis authorities in the Commonwealth will be so unsporting ns to lend nny support to these. The fact that it ig New Zealand's turn to nominate tho iield of contest is not disputed, and New Zealand having fixed on Auckland, there should bo nothing more to bo said oil tho subject, save in tho way of advice and guidance in making the necessary preparations for wlml promises to be a most memorable struggle.