ECHOES OF THE WEEK

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 155, 27 March 1926, Page 15

ECHOES OF THE WEEK

PRESS OPINIONS ON :: NEW ZEALAND TOPICS

Problems of traffic congestion, of redevelopment of the central regions of many modern towns, and of housing, including the abolition of slums, all call for treatment on town-planning lines. Merely piecemeal solutions will be unsatisfactory and probably more costly in the end than a thorough review of all the problems, even if the practical application of a comprehen sive solution may best be made by. attacking the problem afterwards in detail.—“ New Zealand Herald.”

Although some of the" departmental officials fhink that Lyttelton is so “unattractive” that electric trains will carry no greater number of passengers than the existing soot-and-brimstone service, it is as nearly certain as anything can be that a fast, clean railway service will in time make Lyttelton and the cou.ntr; about it a well-populated residential district. The electrification of the tunnel will not overcome the disadvantage of our having no good road to Lyttelton for motor-lorry traffic, but, at any rate it will not be regarded by Canterbury as an obstacle to the provision of such a road in the future.—Christchurch “Press.”

The principle of the censorship of books is bad, and the effects of it are such that it defeats the very purpose for which it is maintained, since it does not prohibit and actually gives to prohibited works an interest which often they otherwise would not possess. . Booksellers may welcome this authority if it protects them from prosecutions, but actually it does not because in certain circumstances the Crimes Act is effective as a basis for proceedings in spite of the Censor’s presumed approval through his failure to prohibit, and opposed to. this dubious advantage is . the precedent which would entitle a Socialist Government to ban all books favourable to doctrines other than Socialist as works calculated to encourage disorder. —“Southland Times.”

There. are instances, no doubt, -in which the kerbside pump . has been erected in places where, in the interests of traffic, it would be, better if it were removed. But if every application is dealt with carefully on its merits there should be little danger of the creation of any cause for complaint. The idea of a general ban on the kerbside pump, merely with a view to the adoption by the local authority of a universal rule, is suggestive of a heroic procedure. That which is good in its right place may appropriately be kept to its right place. —“Otago Daily Times.”

Some people look upon a hospital rate as a sort of sickness insurance premium, but if that were so it would be very inequitable, for the mean man avails himself of the benefits and the independent man goes elsewhere. The Victorian system aims at efficiency in hospitals, catering for all classes in the community—not only the poor and the mean—while it encourages sturdy inde- •’«’ pendence in those who can afford to pay their rvay and are not a burden on the rates. Above all, it will tend to establish hospitals staffed, with keen > practitioners employing their skill in the cause of all classes not, as in’New Zealand, holding aloof from institutions which have, in many casqs, become things apart from the general body of the medical profession.—Southland "Daily News."

The conferences and competitions which have brought so many visitors to Dunedin- from bevond Otago must be almost exhausted by thisitime, but the merits of the great show provided have caused it to become, by now, its own best advertiser. No one has seen it who lias not been a missioner for it. Many from a distance who have seen it, during short visits, have declared their intention of coming back again. Easter can hardly fail to be a boom period, and the slack time for many farmers, when they can best make visits to Dunedin, is only now approaching. The last week should show some of the largest attendances for the whole period. And what thousands of Dunedin citizens will do, when silence descends on the great hive of activity, when the lights are darkness, and the band plays no longer between the lagoons, is a subject too sad to bear thinking upon at this juncture.—Dunedin “Star.”

Signalling devices cannot be installed at all crossings, and it has been pertinently pointed out that there is a drawback connected with the installation of a warning bell, in that the motorist may be tempted to place such implicit reliance upon it that there is grave risk of accident should the bell lor any reason fail to operate.. A constructive suggestion is one which urges a concentration of effort on securing the removal, where possible, of all obstructions such as mounds, trees, hedges, fences, and even buildings which prevent a clear view of the railway line near a crossing.—"Otago Daily Times.”

The Government and Parliament should endeavour to simplify election procedure, and thus reduce the possible causes of an appeal to the expensive Electoral Court. A perfect system of election is impossible,, but many imperfections can be eliminated without a great deal of trouble or expense lo begin with, whv not introduce a uniform system of voting in local and. general elections? There is so little illiteracy in New Zealand that the use Oi Bil Stumps’s “X” is scarcely necessary.— Christchurch “S'in,”

In every land where level crossings exist and motor traffic is on the increase, there accidents are .becoming more numerous, and the public through the daily Press are increasingly clamant for comnlete removal of the deathtrap. • ■ The safety not only of roadrisers. drivers and others, but of the publ'c travelling in the trains, the Department’s officers and rolling stock justify some really trenchant regulation. V-fhat is needed’ is an immediate decision of the Department to put already » existing legislation into force. The public will then recover its sens* of security, and motorists who through carelessness or recklessness endanger others besides themselves will understand that they race over railways with the prospect of severest penalties. Cancellation of a driver’s license for rash crossing# seems a thoroughly rational punishment—"Hawke's J3ay Tribune/ 1

While we do not doubt that the New Zealand Board of Censors acts “fairly and discreetly,” it is necessary to say quite plainly that booksellers and librarians have no more authority to decide what should or should not be read than have grocers or bootmakers or farmers. We have an active police force and incorruptible Courts, and if books are sold which offend public standards of decency it is open to anyone to lay an information. From those books also which disturb law and order it is safer, and sufficient, to protect the public as they are protected from robbers and thieves. For a censorship does not protect them. It irritates them, and in many cases arouses a morbid or perverse curiosity which is the next thing to sympathy with the sin.—Christchurch “Press.”

The proposal made at the annual meeting of the Auckland Choral Society recently that free concerts be given to school ” children, at which the programmes shall be educational . and classical, is very welcome, and it is to be hoped that the details can be successfully worked out. Masterpieces of music come as a revelation amid a waste of trash, and taste is inevitably * very seriously vitiated by an incessant diet of the trivial. Realising this, the Choral Society desires to supplement the efforts already made at tlie children’s organ recitals, to show the vast gap which exists between the work of the “song-smith” and of the musician, and thus to elevate the whole cultural outlook of the rising generation.—Auckland “Star.” <

As the future of the nation is with the babies, the importance of the Plunket Society’s work will thus be admitted, and on national, as well as humane, grounds, it behoves all to endeavour to assist the society to extend its' practical and educational work..- It is hoped, therefore, that Hamiltonians will honour the society's appeal, and that the required :|um will be raised to carry out the building scheme. There is an impression abroad that the Government subsidises the funds of the society to the extent of £ for £. This is not correct. The Government assists in the payment of the nurses to the extent of £1 each per week; all other expenses in connection with the society’s operations have to be met by the branches. — “Waikato Times?’

For large centres, where there are large numbers of people of different classes, the comumnity hospital system is ideal, always provided there is available an administrative head after the model of Dr. MacEachern to ensure the smooth and efficient working of a somewhat complex system, i and, at the same time,’ steering the hospital voluntary medical staff outside the Scylla of petty jealousies, and away from the Charybdis of medical etiquette, thus avoiding friction among themselves or giving umbrage to the public.—“Taranaki Daily News.”

‘ Occasionally the law is responsible for same strange things, and a certain qmoiint of injustice. There would certainly appear to be something wrong with the electoral law which makes a candidate liable for costs of an action which results in his being unseated, after be has been declared duly elected as a member of- Parliament, when he himself is not at fault in the matter, •and in any amendment -of the law that may he made, .that injustice should be lemedied. No man should be made to pay for the mistakes of a Government servant. —“Manawatu Evening Standard." I X

It has become the fashion for the Prime Minister and others in the Ministry to refer optimistically to the position ill New Zealand, but we think it far more correct to take the view expressed bv the Hon. A D. McLeod in . the North a few weeks ano. that the position called for care and economy, because of the diminishing margin in the country’s favour of exports over imports. Mr. Bruce’s' appeal in Australia should be a reminder to New Zealanders that the gconon’in position here calls for serious consideration and active steps to prevent drifting into a state which no one would welcome. —Wanganui “Herald.”

In the past twenty or thirty years the Dominion has produced some notable short distance runners and hurdlers, and through the generosity of the public they have been given opportunities to trv their paces at English championships’ and in other contests abroad. Rose is at least as worthy of his opportunity as any of them were, and in his case’ the time is particularly appropriate for a tour abroad. Paavo Nurmi and Willie Ritola are champions whom Rose has earned the right, to meet. It is to be hoped that the authorities who govern amateur athletics will find means of sending the New Zealand athlete on tour, for his recent performances certainly indicate that he .would win honours for his country. —Wanganui “Chronicle.’’

The. announcement that the Railway Department intends to run motor-bus services by road at Christchurch, Oamaru and Dunedin, arouses a good deal of curiosity regarding the nature of the experiment, and the particular direction in which this new railway rival is to be used. . . . The endeavour in* New Zealand, possibly, will be to establish the railways as a transport business that will be able to book a passenger to any place in New Zealand, either by road or rail, and such a policy would doubtless help to preserve a certain amount of rail traffic that would otherwise be lost. In any case, the bid of the Railway Department for road transport business is a welcome sign of the times, especially as the element of competition will safeguard the public from the objectionable features and inefficiency that have grown up around the now disappearing railway monopoly.—Christchurch "Star.”

If the railways are made to depend on the coal taken from New Zealand mines, the coal industry must be able to meet the demand and to maintain regular supply. The fact that these are Government railways does not protect them from the evils of industrial unrest, and it must follow that the management, not sure that even the undertakings of the companies can be relied on in view of the quick results following a strike, where it has any misgivings must consider the question of importations. It looks as if there is no insurmountable obstacle in the way of using New Zealand coal generally oct the railways.—" Southland Times,”