ECHOES of the WEEK

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 52, 24 November 1928, Page 17

ECHOES of the WEEK

PRESS OPINIONS ON :: NEW ZEALAND TOPICS

The next step in New Zealand’s political history is a subject in which the whole country at present is taking a very keen interest. That is a healthy sign, one of the best results the election has brought so far. The perfunctory attention most people gave to public affairs from the day after one election to the definite opening of a campaign for the next has been stimulated into something much more lifelike. The longer the new condition of mind lasts the better.—“ New Zealand Herald.”

At least a generation will have to pass before an unprejudiced observer will be able to pronounce with any degree of authority. on. the success or otherwise of the social experiment. Embodied as it is in the Constitution, only the very direst failure will end prohibition in the States. Over the border in Canada, after a period of prohibition that was nation-wide, the States with two minor exceptions have returned to varying forms of Government control, and in the main the people profess themselves as well satisfied with existing conditions. We have no occasion to go outside our own country for a precedent. In the main the population of New Zealand is sober, and that it is steadily growing out of the improper use of alcohol is proved. Temperance, and possibly the disuse of alcoholic beverages, may be inculcated. Progress in this direction has been made, and properly stimulated by education is certain to continue. —Auckland “Star.”

Neither of the other parties enjoys the confidence of the country to an extent equal to that with which the Reform Party has been honoured. In circumstances such as these, there can be no immediate necessity for the resignation of the Government. Situated as it is, the Government can only, as we have previously pointed out, perform routine acts of administration, but, while its functions must be rigidly circumscribed, there is no constitutional warrant for, nor is there justice in, the claim that it should forthwith make way for any Government that does not possess, as much as it does, the confidence of the people. It must remain for Parliament to decide how the delicate situation which the result of the election has produced shall be settled, and Parliament should meet for this purpose as early as is conveniently possible.—“Otago Daily Times.”

The prohibitionists have complained in the past that their cause has suffered an injustice in that the votes cast for State purchase and control were counted as votes in favour of continuance. They have claimed that a proportion of these votes were votes in favour of prohibition. The hollowness of this argument has been frequently pointed out. Now, however, the prohibitionists have not even the satisfaction, such as ,it may have been to them, of being able to fall back, as they did three years ago, upon the contention that but for the combination of the votes on the two other issues against them there would have been a majority in favour of the abolition of the liquor traffic. Considered in this light, it has been a striking reverse that the movement to introduce prohibition has suffered. An examination in detail of the voting in some of the licensing districts instructively shows that the decline in the prohibition vote has been general from one end of the Dominion to the other. In district after district there is much the same tale to record —that of a shrinkage in the support accorded to the proposal for prohibition.—“Otago Daily Times.”

It is clear that the antl-Prohibition majority has already almost quadrupled. Nor is this steady increase to be explained away as the result merely of an increase in population. The population has increased steadily during the last nine years; but if the majorities we have given—and they are from the Official Year Book—are calculated as percentages on the total number of valid votes given it will be found that the 1922 majority was six times as great as that for 1919, and the 1925 majority twice as great as that for 1922. It is quite certain also that this year’s majority, on the same basis of percentages, will be three_ or four times as great as that of 1925.— Christchurch “Press.”

Our climatic conditions are such that we should be able to reach a general standard of production not exceeded by any country in the world, and as the movement spreads, the returns will be sufficient encouragement. The outlook is bright, for the London market is better than it was at this time last year. Early in November, 1927, choicest New Zealand butter was quoted at from 168 s. to 170 s. per cwt., and cheese at from 100 s. to 102 s. per cwt. Reports from London last Friday gave the price of our butter as from 1745. to 180 s., and of cheese from 105 s. to 108 s. per cwt. A stable market with prices on a satisfactory level, coupled with increased production, would play no unimportant part in ensuring a favourable trade balance, and encourage the closer settlement of land capable of being used for dairying purposes.— Lyttelton Times.”

It has taken the untimely death of Harold Williams, foreign editor of “The Times,” to bring his talents and brilliant accomplishments prominently under the notice of bis fellow-countrymen. Much praise has been given to men far less distinguished. Dr. Williams never descended to the cheap and comparatively blatant methods of publicity by which men of relatively minor attainments attracted the limelight. As a result, though holding one of the highest posts in journalism, he was comparatively unknown in the land of his birth.—Auckland “Sun.”

The "Government Publicity films ought to be aimed first and foremost at the public of oversea Dominions, of Great Britain, and of the United States; but one wonders whether it is not a fact that the New Zealander would not only stand but enjoy more frequent exhibitions of films of his own country, as varied in subject and treatment as possible, and treating with the brevity of art its natural beauty, the natural'foundations of its life, and its industrial use of them. There are still many New Zealanders who know little enough about their own country and, for instance, let each year repeat an old holiday because they are not sure what some new piece of holiday travel would be like.— Christchurch “Suu.”

That the country’s verdict has gone against the Government is beyond question. But it is no more a verdict for Sir Joseph Ward than a verdict for Mr .H. E. Holland. This has not been grasped by the United Party, which through various media is expressing its naive ideas of the position. Mr. Atmore, for example, who got into Parliament solely through his vehement preaching of the necessity for getting rid of what he called “Wardism,” has expressed “the utmost confidence in Sir Joseph Ward’s ability to secure the requisite majority.” For, he explains, it is “inconceivable that Mr. Coates would ally himself with Mr. Holland.” His own leader, of course, is free, able, and willing to enter into this alliance, and therefore all will be well! The Reformers, this versatile but not untypical Liberalist argues, must join the United Party in order to form a stable anti-Socialist Government. Nobody has yet explained why the United Party members should not join the Reform Party for the same purpose. And this is a more sensible proposal than the other, since the electors who supported Mr. Coates outnumber those who supported the United Party.—Christchurch “Press.”

Any reference to the employment of hours of leisure, the time when relieved from the routine duties of everyday life, provokes in some quarters the retort that increased energy during working hours is of much greater importance. That there is some justification for such a view cannot be denied, but there is, at the same time, a danger that, as a ‘generalisation, it is arrived at from too narrow a field, thus excluding some factors essential for a complete study of the question. In fact, it goes very near confusing cause and effect, for it is not sufficiently realised how much the thoughts and desires indulged in. or cultivated, during the time free from daily toil react upon a man’s whole outlook on his life and his work, whatever that work may be.—“Lyttelton Times.”

There has been at least an unparalleled sacking of old Parliamentary hands in favour of new stuff, out of which statesmanship may be made, though it is very probable that some of the fresh material will prove in time to be shoddy or, at its best, artificial silk. Still, those who have been left to fight again and those who have gained a great opportunity of becoming, like Alan Breck, “bonnie fighters,” had better take heed of the lesson that has been given _ them with some violence and even vicious proof of intense dislike. The new Parliament has yet to deal with many old problems, which may not be solved by flamboyant talk about extraordinary abundance of cheap loan money and ten thousand new farms with a railway station at the gate of every tenth farm.—Auckland “Sun.”

Mr Coates is in the best position of the three leaders. The other two parties demanded the defeat of the ' Government as New Zealand's first need. Let the Government accept defeat and leave all responsibility where it must rest. Having done so, it can await whatever follows with complete consistency. It is not bound to help its opponents out of the position they are in now. So long as it insists that there shall be a Government, it need not concern itself with the composition of any formed. Finally, before attention is entirely concentrated on the chances of a Reform-United fusion, let' it be noted that in public comment neither Mr. Holland nor the Rev. J. K.. Archer, chairman of the New Zealand Labour Party, has banged the door on the possibility of Labour making a working arrangement with Sir Joseph Ward. That little straw, indicating a breeze, proves how hasty is the talk of another kind of fusion.—“ New Zealand Herald.”

The human race is armed by radio against the unknown, by sending few adventurers, even the boldest, beyond call and the stretch of help. And knowledge, though it be knowledge of the worst, is more merciful than uncertainty, changing by painful degrees into its cruel opposite. ,As great aeroplanes drone through the day and the night, the story of hard-worn battles is told mile by mile. When Commander Richard Byrd tramps or flies the polar ice he will be in speaking contact with civilisation; and whatever betides the expedition it will be known to the people of all the world. Terra incognita—if the phrase has still any meaning—is no longer ' silent; it no longer swallows its explorers as a grave from which they must return if they are to speak.—Christchurch "Sun.”

There is no necessity whatever for summoning the new Parliament in a panic to an emergency session. It would be folly to do so on the eve of national holidays. Enough just now and for the short remainder of the year to effect the early resignation of the Government and give Sir Joseph Ward the deserved opportunity and reasonable time to form a Ministry. Following on that proper and commonsense procedure Parliament should be summoned to an extraordinary session early in the New Year. Then would be the right time for the crucial partytest.—Auckland “Sun.”