NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 135, 4 March 1929, Page 10

NOTES OF THE DAY

It should be a matter for great;satisfaction in British industrial circles that the. General Council of the Trades Union Congress has accepted the invitation of the organisations to meet them to discuss the Melchett-Turner Conference Report. It riiay be recalled that while the Trades Union. Congress accepted the Report; the employers’, organisations, more from the constitutional difficulties of their two respective organisations, than, from actual, disinclination, •rejected it, but invited the Trades Union Congress to meet them; At the Melchett-Turner Conference the employers were represented by an unofficial group, which was unable to commit the two constitutional bodies, the Confederation of British Employers’ Associations and the Federation of British Industries.'' The result of that Conference, however, now has been to bring the officially-accredited groups into direct contact, a very valuable result indeed, and one containing great , possibilities for the future of industrial peace. It is to .be hoped that the Government in this country will not fail to take note or this latest development in industrial relationships at Home, and will consider again the important matter of - calling a second National Industrial Conference here.

Amongst' the latest witnesses to the cramping results ofE the University examination system in this country is Dr. Condlirre, formerly of Canterbury College, and now head of the Research Department of the Institute of Pacific Relations at Honolulu. Dr Condliffe, as reported on Saturday,-complains that the Universityprofessors in this country are unable to do for him what professors in other countries are-able to do, namely, to make arrangements for the research men in the University to. co-operate and further the investigation of social and economic problems in the Pacific. . The reason appears to be that they are so tied down to the examination syllabus that they are virtually prisoners within the system. They have no freedom to teach, for the reason that it takes them all their time to cram their students with the information required from them by external examiners, and therefore no opportunity to specialise in particular subjects. The revolt against this relic of the past has already begun in this country with a resolution passed by the University Council at its last meeting providing in certain cases for the accrediting of. Matriculation students. Considerable opposition, it is understood, is being offered to this reform by the diehards of the old regime. The public should understand, however, that until this reform has been given effect to, their children in the secondary schools will continue to be the victims of the< old system of cram and grind. —

The recent oil agreement between Russia and the AngloAmerican Combine follows on a father interesting state, of affairs in Britain as far as petrol is concerned. Subsequent to the war a few well-known and powerful oil companies had things very much their own way, for there was practically no competition. Even the gas companies who were producing and selling benzol at a lower price than petrol were bought out as far as their product was concerned. Latterly the price of petrol became profitable enough for small companies to . import petrol< from, outside sources and sell it at considerably lower prices than that charged by the larger concerns. Much of this petrol came from Russia, and in spite of an outcry to boycotting Bolshevik products continued to find a ready market at particularly attractive prices to the public. In some districts round London it was possible to obtain petrol at prices round about one shilling a gallon. As a matter of fact the price varied considerably all over the country. From the motorists’ point of view this cutthroat competition was a distinct advantage. It could not last, however, and the agreement now reached. appears to have resulted in a return to normal conditions. An ‘unsatisfactory feature is the report that British capital invested in Russian oil development, which was confiscated by the Soviet Government, is not mentioned in the settlement that has been adopted. An old cause of grievance with the Russian Government, therefore, remains unsettled.