ECHOES OF THE WEEK

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 166, 10 April 1926, Page 15

ECHOES OF THE WEEK

PRESS OPINIONS ON :: NEW ZEALAND TOPICS

It would bee interesting to know whether the alternative, of beginning the teachers’ probationary course with two years in the college, and finishing it with two vears of practical experience, one of them under a headmaster and the other in a sole teacher school under the eyes of the inspectorate only, has been considered. That would make for better teaching from the outset of practical work, to the advantage of both pupils and teachers, and allow of more continuity in the probationary period It would give some reliable test of aptitude, quite as good, although in a different wav. as the trying of the ’prentice hand at once upon the task without any preliminary training at all. In any event, the method row to obtain is an experiment, and should be watched closely as such.— <UNew Zealand Herald.”

The Y.M.C.A. and the Y.W.C.A. are institutions of recognised status in the community. Their aim is broadly humanitarian and philanthropic, and, while the value of what they achieve cannot be estimated in exact terms, there is no doubt whatever that it is very considerable. The fact that they supply a community need constitutes the great claim of the associations on the community. The scope of their respective activities is varied, interesting, and, above all things, practical. To those whom it reaches the influence which they exercise is beneficial, mentally, morally and physically. In the case of young people of either sex who are separated by distance from their homes and parents these associations play a particularly useful role.—“Otago Daily Times.”

Farmers doubtless have compensations wfiich are difficult to assess in actual cash values. They have the freedom which comes from being their own masters, and they have the security of tenure which comes from not being liable to dismissal at the will of another. They have milk, butter, eggs, and other produce provided, for which city people have to pay heavily. But, in spite, of his fancied freedom, the farmer is frequently tied to his labour because he is fettered by mortgages, which eat up all surplus profit. In many cases these mortgages have been assessed on values higher than would have been the case had proper balancesheets been made out showing the true value of the land as a business proposition. Farming as a business must be run on business lines; but like many other of the difficulties of life, while we know such difficulties exist, it is not easy to always apply the remedy which in theorv appears to be the right one. —"Poverty Bay Herald.”

Because of the mode of the occurrence of gold, river flats are the common scene of mining operations. Cases could be multiplied where these have been rendered useless for agricultural purposes—very often with negligible gold returns—yet they formed the only piece of a holding which could be cultivated. This means that, for lack of winter feed, the carrying capacity of adjacent high country 'is nothing like what it would otherwise have been. \Ve have no desire whatever to set the mining industry unfairly hampered, but it appears to us that at present 'it en joys privileges which are really obsolete in view of the lines along which the development of our interior is now taking place. Even to-day, should a miner and an irrigationist be contestants in an application for water rights, the law says that the miner has the prior right.—“ Dunedin Star.”

The Railway Department must be more accommodating It points to what it is doing to make crossings safer. Unfortunately the public, remembering that the Department has never hastened to give it safetv, is not impressed. The public suspects that but for outside agitation even less would have been done, and it feels certain that it the railways were privately owned there would be much less danger at crossings The Department's own figures are against it. The railways improvement programme of 192-1 allocated £200,000 for “elimination of level crossings/’ but that money was to spread over eight years, and in the first five years only £40,000 was to be spent. Is this remarkable energy? Fortunately for the public, another party lias come on the scene. The Main Highways Board is collecting data about crossings, and means to suggest a joint programme for itself, the Department, and local bodies. Since the Highways Board represents users of roads, it is the proper partv to stir the Railways Department into greater activity. It should be the "big brother” of the motorist, to whom he can turn when the Department will not give him satisfaction. — Auckland “Star.”

The remarks of one of the Dunedin newspapers upon the Government’s policy regarding wheat and flour make if/ clear that there is still a litter of confused ideas to be cleared awav. That wheat-growing is necessary in jSarts of Canterbury to sound, husbandry; that the industry calls into useful and genuinely economic activity a large quantity of labour engaged in auxiliary industries, from oat-growing to the production, of agricultural implements ; that the disappearance of the reaper and the flour-mill would place the consumer at the mercy of the foreign producer and would make very dear bread a permanent thing—these are considerations which no rational jierron would overlook It will evidently take time completely to convert Auckland and Dunedin, but we have no doubt that converted in time they will be.—Christchurch “Press.”

Labour leaders are in the habit ot speaking of capitalism as the enemy of labour, and are profuse in phrases which describe the worker as a slave, and under the whip of the capitalist To say, as is sometimes said, that under capitalism, the rich are richer, but the poor are poorer, is a strange perversion of the facts. We do not, of course, suggest that the worker should be satisfied with what he has gained. He is entitled to do the best he can for himself. But it is well to recognise what he has gained, and that he could not have gained it but for the fact that capitalism brought about a really marvellous advance in the world’s wealth, and that the capitalist has not kept, or attempted to keep, the whole of this increase of wealth and prosperity for himself.—“Hawke’s Bay Herald.”

So far as the export of eggs and poultry from the Dominion is concerned, it may take some time to place that industry on a scale that will be.appreciable, but there is no doubt as to the opportunities being enormous. Apart from that aspect of the matter, there is the general principle of the success whiih invariably attends the placing on the overseas markets articles that ensure recognition as being of superior value by reason of their high standard of quality. The trend of foreign competition is in the direction of a higher standard, and the Dominions cannot afford to ignore the probable effect of that policy. They, too, must join in the forward march to capture markets on the merits of their produce.—"Taranaki Daily News.”

The move by the Highways Board to have some definite policy laid down in regard to methods of meeting the level-crossing difficulty, and the proposal for joint consideration by road and rail authorities is, to say the least of it, not at all premature, and should have the support of the country as a whole. It will cost something to make all crossings safe, but, at the rate of accidents in the past fortnight, scores of lives would be saved every year if only they were made safe. It is probably too much to hope for the total abolition of level crossings on main roads, at least for several years, but it would help matters to have the installation of warning signal systems pushed on simultaneously with the work of bridging the more deadly of these roadway mantraps.—Hawera “Star.”.

We believe that there is plenty of gold still to be mined, for taking, the West Coast alone, it seems inconceivable that a country which has produced over six million ounces of gold by surface searching has not still greater treasures hidden somewhere. The points to be discovered are first where it is hidden and whether it can be recovered at a remunerative rate. The Minister is, we think, going the right way to work to find the gold, and it is to be hoped that he will not give up the task because of first failure to achieve his end. —Oamaru “Mail.”

The man who goes on the land now wants to be in a position to finance himself as early as possible. It seems to us, therefore, that if the remainder of our Crown lands are to be settled as they should be, the Government should undertake the task of breaking them in for settlement, subdividing and fencing them in suitable areas, and providing the necessary accommodation in housing and outbuildings, etc., and then disposing of them by means of the table mortgages with a minimum of.expense, and enable the mortgagor to acquire the freehold within, say,' 30 or 40 years of his acquiring the land.—“ Manawatu Evening Standard.”

In spite of high protection it is difficult to compete with goods produced in a country of lower costs, while the unfortunate farmer, who produces goods to sell overseas, is handicapped in every way.' His payments are artificially inflated, while his income is earned in a country where prices are lower It is certain that this will create, trouble; it does so now, but the trouble will increase. The demands for protection and increased protection grow in volume as men feel the pinch. Our only course is to retrace our steps; return to the gold standard and reduce our customs duties. The Government had an excellent opportunity of making a beginning in this direction by abolishing the duty on wheat and flour. They have missed the chance, but assuredly if we persist in our present course we shall have reason to regret it.—Waikato “Times.”

The practice of releasing films for exhibition to people over a certain age has been shown to be a failure, because this verv restriction has been used in the past bv unscrupulous pic-ture-theatre managers as a means of attracting larger audiences, and it looks as if some means more general in" its application must be devised One proposal made has been that the picture theatres should be classified, those showing pictures unsuitable for young children to admit no one under u specified age to their entertainments, and those having no restriction on the age of their aud'ences to have to submit to a standard of censorship graded accordingly. This, of course, would mean that in most cases children would be debarred from entering the unrestricted houses during evening entertainments, and would be specially catered for at matinees.—Southland "Times.”

From the head of the Government, as well as from the heads of leading financial concerns in the Dominion comes advice to exercise every economy. Recent financial conditions should guarantee an attentive hearing, tiqne calculated to secure more economical management should be considered, while at the same time the utmost of efficiency should be striven foj - .. Regarding exports, those concern the primary and secondary producer; his course is the maximum of production; regarding imports, merchants and others will need to see that the people’s spending is wiselv directed. With the end of the financial year looming uj> at the close of the present month, this seems an opportune moment to hand on to our readers the Prime Minister’s timely appeal.—"Hawke’s Bay Tribune.”

The Dairy Produce Board is being accused at the present time of withholding shipments of goods that had accumulated on its bands during the period of the shipping strike It is. in fact, regulating the disposed of its produce so as to prevent n glutting of the market, which would have a disastrous effect on prices The policy is one that mav be approved or condemned, according to the point of view from which it is regarded, but there can be no question that it is in the immediate economic interests of the conn, trv The trade in dairy produce has become that which ! s of the creates' value to the Dominion, and it won'-’ he exceedingly unfortunate to the community as a whole if the products of the dairying industry were sacrificed on a market that was thrown into collapse through s. glut.—Pahiatna “Herald.**