NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 16, Issue 157, 21 March 1923, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY

Some interesting but rather vague suggestions have been made in the cablegrams of the last day or two that. Germany may offer a definite settlement of her reparation obligations. According to the London Daily Express Germany’s best offer remains at £2.500,000,000, secured by a mortgage on German industry. As a matter of fact there is every likelihood that if such an offer were actually made by Germany it would be accepted, subject to agreement regarding detail conditions. The alleged amount of . the G Cl ™ a n offer coincides approximately with the sum proposed in the British reparations plan submitted to the abortive Paris Conference at the end of last year. France on that occasion refused to abate the amount agreed upon by the Reparations Commission in May, 1921 (£6,600,000,000). She proposed, however, that German reparation bonds in excess of 50 milliards of K ol^ 11 . m , ar^ s ./ app J oxlI ” at ® I y £2 500,000,000) should be set against inter-Alhed debts and mutually cancelled by the Allied Powers. Probably it would bo rather optimistic to assume that Germany has volunteered to rate her capital liability for reparations as high as £2,500,000,000, or is on the point of doing so. Such a proposal on her part, supported by adequate guarantees, offers, however, the readiest apparent means of bringing about a settlement of European affairs. /

Figures of civic enrolment in the metropolitan area indicate that some thousands of qualified electors have as yet neglected to see that their names are entered on the roll. To-morrow week is the last day for the receipt of enrolment forms. People who are entitled to enrol but have not yet ascertained whether their names appear will be most unwise if they fail to attend to the matter during this brief remaining period. The Labour Party, as usua ,is actively organising and enrolling its supporters, and probably a gieat majority of those who have as yet failed to enrol are people who would not like to see local governing bodies dominated by a minority political party. These citizens should give heed to the fact that it thev forfeit the right to vote they will play directly into the hands of the Labour extremists who admittedly are intent on capturing control of the local bodies. No qualified elector should be content to take it for granted that his or her name is on the roll. Ihe only safe policy is to clear up all doubt by a personal inspection of the roll, which may be seen at post offices! and other places throughout the metropolitan area.

Travellers have been telling us for a long time past that the nearer 'one comes to Wellington the worse thb roads get. There can be no doubt that in the southern portion of the North Island the interest in the making of good Oads that is so noticeable in laranaki is lacking. Local motorists are loud in their complaints, but in the past it cannot be said that they have shown any keenness in supporting the efforts of their organisation to impress local bodies with the need for good roads. From our news columns this morning it appears that the Wellington Automobile Club is now embarked on an active campaign for members in conjunction with a programme for widely extending its activities. The scheme taken in hand is an ambitious one, but if carried out—and with adequate support there is no reason why it should not be carried ouT—will make the Automobile Club indispensable to motorists, and much of its work also extremely useful to all road users.

President Cosgrave’s confident prediction of better days for Ireland by next St, Patrick’s Day may appear to be strangely out of keeping with the recent course of events in the Free State. The note of optimism he struck is echoed to some extent, however, by independent and apparently dispassionate observers. Some weeks ago at a time when rebel outrages were, as they are now, of frequent occurrence, the Dublin correspondent of the Economist wrote that the general situation was somewhat improved. The principal danger, he added, was that the country was so anxious for peace that the chances of a real and really durable peace might be jeopardised by precipitancy. Some selfish and short-sighted people, he said, refused to recognise that if order were temporarily restored by a quasi surrender on the part of the Free State Government, the whole contest would have to be fought out all over again later on. The Free State Government, however, has supplied fairly convincing indications that it is as little inclined to be diverted from its course by advocates of peace at any price as by rebels pursuing a course of outrage and terrorism.