ECHOES of the WEEK

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 140, 9 March 1929, Page 17

ECHOES of the WEEK

PRESS OPINIONS ON :: NEW ZEALAND TOPICS

The English public school boys now in this country are young men * who have left school and are on the threshhold of their careers in life. Some of them have yet to proceed to university courses with a view of qualifying for the particular callings that are already mapped out for them, but it ■would seem that the majority of them will enter businesses, under favourable auspices, in Great Britain. There has been no tour of New Zealand in the past that is comparable with that which this party is making. It is an educational tour in the best sense of that expression. The members of the party are likely to occupy positions of responsibility at Home. They have, before actually stepping into the world of business, seized the opportunity to learn, by travel and by the establishment of personal contacts, something about different parts of the Empire and about their conditions of life and their problems. Visitors who come to New Zealand with a ser' -: pu-pose like this merit the welcome that will assuredly be extended to them. — “Otago Daily Times.”

The extent of the country’s recovery has been demonstrated many times, but the facts cannot be too often repeated. In 1927-28, its exports were over £9,000,000 greater'than in either of the two preceding seasons, the increase being no less than 20 per cent. Not only has that advance been maintained, but there has also been substantial progress, with both seasonal and marketing circumstances definitely more favourable. The overseas trade returns are not a complete picture of economic conditions, but they have long been proved a thoroughly reliable index. Their present meaning is, beyond all question, that the' volume of production and the prices prevailing for the chief commodities form the basis for a fuller and more general enjoyment of prosperity than has ever previously been experienced.—“ New Zealand Herald.

Conclusive proof has at last been afforded that a thorough sweeping-out of ineptitude at Samoa is necessary as an urgent reform. New Zealand has paid dearly for preliminary crudity of service. If the natives are to be brought out of their mood of sulking and their practice of passive resistance, and taught to pay their way through taxation, they are entitled to receive adequate service for loyalty and for their money. The Government should not hesitate to weed out the enervated incompetents. Meanwhile, the latest commission has scrubbed off some of the previous whitewash on the glowing picture of Samoan administration. — “The Suh,” Auckland.

The Samoan report recommends various reforms, which, if carried out, would give Samoa an ordinarily good administrative machine. Mr. Verschaffelt and his colleagues are very capable public servants, and they were evidently deeply shocked by what they found, and have made the suggestions which might be expected of them as experts. Yet the report will renew in many minds the doubt whether we can with profit to Samoa, and without undue expense and. trouble to the Dominion, continue the administration of the Territory. It is the merest accident that the Mandate came to New Zealand, whose pride and interest are not really engaged at all. The transference of the Mandate to Great Britain is not, as has been suggested more than once, an impossibility; it is a matter, for negotiation. And since Great Britain has a corps of civil servants specially trained and very competent to manage backward races, it would be of advantage to Samoa and to New Zealand if the Mandate could be transferred. —“The Press,” Christchurch.

As. Dr. Elliott says doctors are necessarily in a sense materialists, but the physician can “peer into the cloudy places of the soul and see a spiritual fourth dimension.” Dr. Elliott appeals to the profession to strike a true balance between the freedom of the will and the determinism of the human body. The temptation to be materialistic in the world sense of the term is often strong, and a doctor who makes money his god is almost as repulsive an object as a mercenary priest. Indeed, we must look to doctors for important help in saving the world from materialism. Dr. Elliott’s faith in science is eloquently expressed. “The Golden Age is not behind, but before us.” He realises, however, the danger that lies in a pursuit of science that is not informed with spiritual ideals. Science, it must be borne in mind, is destructive as well as constructive, and there is being forced on the attention of the world the question whether man will be able to control the many weapons that the conquest of Nature has given him. It is conceivable that science may master man and turn the world into a madhouse or a shambles. It will matter a great deal which side the doctors take. —Auckland “Star.”

Everybody’ is willing to give the Government an opportunity to show its quality, and many people are becoming impatient at the delay of the Government in getting beyond the utterance of platitudes. Its position is very difficult. It knows that in spite of the defection of thousands of discontented Reformers, the Coates Government polled scores of* thousands of votes more than the United Party did; it knows also that it holds office as a minority’ Government, dependent upon the Reds for continued existence; and it has given no sign that it has a policy or knows where to begin with the making one. In fact, it is a minority Party finding itself in office accidentally and without authority, and it does not know where it is, what to do, or what will happen to it. — Christchurch “Press.”

The new Government is really making a great mistake in allowing it to be

supposed that unemployment will persist unless it finds work for all in need of it. When all is said and done, what is most required to banish unemployment is the stimulation of private enterprise, which is bound soon to come about, now that the trade balance is well on the right side and the monetary J", nation is improving so rapidly.—“Gisborne Times.’/

The whole question of school books is a plaguing one, and many parents, with certain justification, feel that the . time has come when these should be furnished fre of cost. It would certainly involve considerable expenditure on the part of the Education Department, but there is much to be said in favour of such a system. Books could be produced at the Government ,

Printing Works at a minimum cost, and there is no doubt that parents would be relieved of a troublesome burden. Failing that, there is a partial remedy—one which would have the effect of reducing the present high price of books. The Government could still produce the books and distribute them to the children at cost 'rice. No reasonable objection could be made, to such a system and it would diminish the opportunities, now too liberally, given, for making profit out of the education of the young. There is no reason at all why there should be profit made on school books. —“The Sun,”Auckland.

Compared with those of his predecessors Sir Charles Skerrett’s period of office was remarkably short, for in eighty-seven years New Zealand has had only five Chief Justices. Sir W. Martin, appointed in 1842, resigned his office fifteen years and six months later. Sir G. A. Arney completed seventeen years, Sir James Prendergast twenty-four years, and Sir Robert Stout, who, happily, is still active in our public life, established the wonderful record of more than twenty-seven years as Chief Justice. Moreover, all four of these distinguished predecessors of Sir Charles Skerrett resigned their office, so that he was the first Chief Justice to die in harness. The loss to the Supreme Court is a severe one. Very many citizens also will feel Sir Charles Skerrett’s death as a personal loss. The Prime Minister has concluded a very worthy tribute to the late Chief Justice with the words, “He had no enemy.” This is a fine epitaph for a charming personality.—“Lyttelton Times.”

As a business man Sir Joseph Ward perhaps knows that the complaints of the 1928 Committee against bureaucratic ideas in government, are well founded. As a politician he does not know much, we are-afraid, concerning the wider principles involved. For there are wider principles involved than the mere doing of justice to private business. Not merely private enterprise, but private liberty, has been hurt by the encroachments of the State Departments and the local authorities aided by the sympathetic officials in Wellington, and it is far more important to save the liberty of the subject than the liberty of private enterprise. For if you can save the first you save the second. The responsibility for the present situation does not rest upon the late Government or. upon any individual, but we must leave that question for another time. —Christchurch “Press.”

Electrically driven trains are capable of carrying heavier loads at a greater speed over steeper grades than coal-fired locomotives, and if the capital cost of harnessing the water-power is not excessive it is economical as well as efficient. If in Virginia, U.S.A., it is found economical to use electric trains to carry coal from the mines, how much more economical will it not probably be where, as here, the coal for locomotives is brought from the South Island and from Australia. The trouble is to meet the first cost, which is very heavy, but it can be done. gradually The Lyttelton tunnel is the second installation, and its success will encourage further extensions. _ When the big North Island generating stations are linked up there will be power to spare and electrification of railways can be proceeded with as fast as capitai can be spared to convert them. Ultimately, and probably before very many years have elapsed, the whole of the railway system will be electrified. —Taranaki “Herald.”

The sliding scale of duties on imported wheat and flour assures a supply at an unvarying price of the loaf, and that is a consideration that must weigh with all reflecting minds. It has evidently weighed with the Government and helped it to come to the conclusion that there is in existence the most desirable means of giving encouragement to the wheat-growing industry. and the only method by which a stabilising of prices can be attained. We are pleased to find Sir J° s ®Pb Ward repelling the suggestion that the production of wheat should be encouraged bv means of a bonus, for, as we pointed out recently, such a system is in conflict with sound principles, inequitable in its incidence, and only possible of adoption by the imposition of additional taxation.—“Oamaru Mail.

Unfortunately there is ground for the belief that lack of land is affecting the marrage rate, which has been considerably lower during the past six or seven years than it was in pre-war times, ana still shows a downward tendency.. Or late years there has been little, in the way of State-assisted settlement, and the young men who have been anxious to go on the land have had no encouragement to marry." The last Minister of Lands admitted some three years ago that thousands of would-be settlers were refidy to occupy laud if it could be made available for them, but so ilittle has been done that the number must be even greater now. The present Minister has stated that he is finding a keen demand for land wherever he goes, and he has, of course, taken his first steps towards meeting it. It is a good thing for the Dominion that. he thoroughly understands what the existing land, hunger is and that he is eager to satisfy it without delay.—“Lyttelton Times.”