NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 232, 25 June 1921, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY

Quest ions of grea t importance to road users hare been raised in the long serins of proceedings following a collision between a motor-car and e, gig in October last. The. accident occurred after dark on the Hutt Road. It. was followed after nn interval of seven weeks by the death of one of the occupants of the gig, and it has resulted in the driver of the motor-car being called ■upon to take pari in a series of legal proceedings that has involved five separate hearings extending over a period of six months. It is a. striking example of how exceedingly serious and cosily such accidents can be to all concerned, and it emphasises the necessity for the proper lighting of all classes of vehicles. It Is not clear, however, that this tragic accident has resulted in any great improvement in the state of affairs on country roads after dork. The Lights on Vehicles Act does not make the roads safe under modern conditions, and even its insufficient provisions are as much honoured in the brooch as the observance. During the manslaughter prosecution incidental to the recent hearings Mt. Justice Hosking.held that it is the duty of a motorist to travel only at such a speed at night fhat he can stop within the radius of his lioad-lightf. If this view is upheld it means that a motorist who dims his lights doee so at his peril. Many local bodies have by-laws compelling such dimming of head-lights. It follows that the duties and liabilities of drivers of motor vehicles at night are left in a position that, badly needs clearing up. A new law dealing with the lighting of all vehicles should be enacted without delay when Parliament meets again.

With the Java sugar market in its present condition New Zealand consumers are justified in looking ior a marked fall in sugar prices. Yesterday Dunedin wae reported to be concerned at a rumour that the Government was about to make a fresh contract with the Colonial Sugar Company for supplies at £37 a ton. Tho present price is £47 per ton free on board at Auckland. A fall of £lO a ton is welcome, but it was contended that with Java sugar at £2O c.i.f. Sydney the drop ought to be still greater. The Java sugar, according to the message, could be landed in Dunedin at. about £3l, whereas the Colonial Sugar supplies at the rumoured new rate would coat £3B Ito. in the south. Tho collapse in Java prices, however, is still continuing. A Wellington firm yesterday receiver! a cabled quotation for white Java sugar, for JulyAugust shipment, at £22 10s. a ton c.i.f. st Wellington. This is far below the figure mentioned in Dunedin. It is stated that large supplies, are available in Jara. ■ The sugar production of that island i« considerable, and New Zealand’s consumption is equal to about a fortieth pari of it. It would be interesting to know whether there is any foundation for the Dunedin rumour that a new sugar contract is to be entered into at £37 a ton.

Reductions in fhe Union coastal and Pacific Islands services arc now to be followed by a curtailment of those between New Zealand and Australia. The post-war world mores in a different direction from that to which the present generation has been accustomed. It-is no longer a case of new and larger ships every year and faster passages, but of the replacement in some eases of newer vessels by older, and on almost every side of a reduction in the frequer.cy of services to a level considerably below that of 1914. After a. war which swallowed up ovier twelve per cent, of Britain’s total wealth—that is the figure reached by Mr. Edgar Crammond. the economist—presumably we must accept something of this sort with what complacency we may. Overseas communications are so vital to the development of commerce, however, that their i-estriction can only be viewed with misgiving. The public would like to feel that the question has been viewed from the broadest aspect. It knows that tho shipping companies are in such a position to-day that they can rearrange and reduce their services to any extent they please without being afraid of effective competition springing up. The country in these hard times must be prepared to accept curtailments that are dearly inevitable, but the prospect is not a pleasant one.

A recent oablegram from Ixxndon stated that experts detected the beginnings of an upward trend in wholesale prices. As a. matter of fact there were indications nearly two months ago of a check to the downward .movement of wholesale commodity prices in the United Kingdom —a movement which at that date had been in progress without interruption since May. 1920. The London "Times” index number of wholesale commodity prices showed a very slight increase (.1 par cent.) for April, as compared with the. preceding month. Another index number—that of the "Financial Times”— showed a deoline of 1.4 per cent. in April, but indications generally were that the downward movement bad for the time being reached or very closely approached its limit. The best reason for accepting this view of the matter is that the heavy slump in wholesale prices towards the end of last year has been tapering off since the beginning of the present year. That is to say, although the fall in these prices continued up to fhe end of March, tho rate of fall diminished month by month. The following table shows tho movement of wholeea.lo prices over the period indicated according to the London "Times" index number:—

The peak of wholesale prices >n the United Kingdom wee reached, in April,

1920. when on an average they were

229.2 per cent, above pre-war level. Well over a third of this increase has since been dropped, but it will be noticed that while foodstuffs are still 125 per cent, above pre-war level, wholesale prices of raw materials show’ an increase of only about 54 per rent, on those that obtained before the war.

It is curious that I he latest exfraordinarr mystery of the sea should hare as its scene the North Carolina coast. Two hundred years ago that stretch of coastline was a nest, of piracy. Edward Teach, tho notorious ’’Blackboard” of tho old shilling shockers, had hie headquarters there, and gentlemen .of property who joined in hunting him down afterwards took to piracy fhemselvea Even as rncently as 1815 there was nn outbreak of piracy in that part of the world. What is happening at present is a conundrum it. is difficult to answer. Twenty vessels of various kinds have, mysteriously disappeared in a space of six months, and an abandoned schooner has drifted ashore under circumstances pointing to foul play. Bolshevism, Sinn Fein, rumrunning. and piracy pure and simple have been pressed into service, to account for the mystery. It. only remains to suggest that the descendants of the oldtime Carolina, pirates, inspired by the "movies,” have suddenly realised the possibilities of piracy at the present day. It. is strange to recall that when tho City of Boston sailed from New York on February 11, 1870. never again to be. heard of. Irish 'Fenians were supposed to have wrought her destruction. She was the first ocean liner to disappear without a trace; Fenian outrages were of common occurrence at tho time, and a few weeks after her departure a New York pior was wrecked by the explosion of a van load of packing oases brought for shipment to Britain. The outstanding unsolved mystery of tho seas is the fate of the crew of the ship Marie Celeste. On December 4, 1875, she was sighted in mid-Atlantio, and reported all well. Two days later she was hailed, and no response was made. A boarding-party found everything aboard in perfect order, lunch ready prepared in the galley, all tho ship's boats stowed and secured, but not . a living soul anywhere. From that day to this not one. of tho persons known to have sailed in the Marie Celeste has ever reappeared. Endless theories and alleged solutions have been advanced to oxplain the mystery, but it remains inscrutable.

Food. Malsriala. Tl. Dee. 31, 1915 100 100 100 Dec. 31, 1918 .. .. 256.0 223.7 239.3 Dee. 3t. 1919 ?f*.1 307.8 296.9 April 30, 1920 318 5 339.9 329.2 Dec. 51. 1920 272.9 207.8 240.3 Jan. 31, 1921 246.7 182.6 214.7 Feb. 1921 227.5 161.2 194.4 Mar. 31. 19?1 227.7 160.9 189 .3 A pril 30. 192.1 225.2 163.7 189.4