NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 16, Issue 153, 16 March 1923, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY

Events may prove that after all the break-down of the Lausanne Conference was not altogether a bad thing. The Turks have not found it an easy matter to agree amongst themselves as to the terms ot peace, and in the meantime the desire for peace amongst the lurkish population and the troops is reported to have grown, lhe Allies possibly can better afford to play a waiting game than can the Angora Government. It was suggested in some of the British newspapers in January that Britain should make up her mind what wa» really worth fighting for in tho terms of settlement and to abandon all else This practically is what Earl Curzon appears to have done, and there arc signs that the Turks recognise that they have little more to hope for. Whatever their proposed peace terms may be it seems fairly clear now that a settlement satisfactory to Britain will bo reached without danger of the complications which threatened a few months back.

The recommendations of the Board of Health to remedy the housing shortage have been forestalled to some extent by recent announcements of Ministers. The board suggests increased advances by the Government to those desiring to build homes tor themselves and the encouragement of private enterprise by the removal of io restrictions. The Government has already announced its intention to increase the amount of advances and to generally libcialise its housing scheme. So far as private enterprise is concerned there is little incentive to build houses for other people to live in. Housebuilding is a costly business these days, and though there is a shortage at the present time the fact that the tendency is to extend tho facilities given by the State to citizens to build their own homes is in itself a deterrent to those who otherwise might build ioi lc tting purposes. The man who builds to let has to look ahead, and the investment does not take on a- particularly rosy hue in the light of an extended State house-building scheme under which every man may acquire his own home. Of course, it would take a good many years of house-building to overtake the existing shortage. In connection with the present-day cost of building, the question of the building regulations deserves more scrutiny than it appears to have yet received. From time to time tho suggestion has been made that the cost of building could be reduced without injury to the health of tho community if the building regulations were overhauled and modified in certain particulars. Whether or not this is the case we do not profess to know, but the matter may be worth looking into.

In bidding farewell yesterday to Mb. M. J- Reardon, the retiring representative of the employees on the Arbitration Court, a glimpse of the behind-scenes working of the Court was given in some of the speeches. Mb. Reardon, like many another man in the ranks of Labour and out of it, has done his duty faithfully and well during a difficult period, and has yet failed to win the approval of those he represented. That he has fought strongly for the workers was made clear enough by tho speakers associated with him on the Arbitration Court bench; but his fighting nccessanlv was in the main behind closed doors when the Court was thrashing out the merits of tho claims of disputants and fixing awards. So he has not received the credit from those he served for what he has done for them. But it is generally recognised that Mr. Reardon was not defeated in the recent election because of any failure on his part. Tho plain fact is that a powerful group in the Labour movement had made up its mind "to capture the office, and it skilfully fooled those who are. not in full sympathy with it by throwing on Mr. Reardon the blame for conditions over which neither he nor any other individual had control. If Mr. Hiram Hunter had been on the Court during the. time that Mr. Reardon was there he could not have altered the laws under which the Court sits nor the economic conditions which must guide its decisions. Mr. Reardon may bo justly proud of the recognition of his work macle yesterday by those best able to judge it Possibly he’ has done even more than he hoped for the cause of the workers in assisting to maintain the standards of fairness and equity without which the Court could not continue to exist.

The blue wren, or superb warbler (Malurus Cyanochlamys) is absolutely protected, under the Game Act, as from March 1.

Japanese wineberry has been declared a noxious weed.

A well-known settler in the Raetihi, district, Mr. Adam Wilkie, left home suddenly some days ago. and has not been heard of since. The want of knowledge of his Whereabouts is causing his family considerable concern. The Minister of Education (the Hon. C. J. Parr) will to-day receive a deputation of residents of Lower Hutt regarding high school matters.

The Department of Industries and Commerce advis|e> that in order to overcome the disability under which local authorities are placed in regard to their participation in the British Empire Exhibition, on account of their lack of authority to expend moneys on the preparation of exhibits, the Government proposes next session to introduce the necessary legislation with a view to validating such expedition. This authority will only apply to expenditure _ incidental to exhibits for inclusion in the official Now Zealand section of the British Empire Exhibition.