NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 79, 27 December 1929, Page 10

NOTES OF THE DAY

One of the problems of holiday-making is 'the care of the family’s domestic animals during its absence. In this connection the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has issued an appeal on behalf of neglected cats. The dumb dependants of the household are unable to fend for themselves. Not infrequently the improvised arrangements for their care during the holiday Season break down. Cats which are taken, by their owners to the seaside or the country holiday, home often fail to appear when the return journey is begun, and perforce have to be left behind. All that the Society pleads for is the exercise of a little thought and consideration to ensure that helpless animals are not left destitute. * * * *

Encouraging impressions of the increased efficacy of publicity in promoting the sale of our dairy produce overseas appear in the official report of the Director of the Dairy Division on his recent visit to the United Kingdom. While a quality product must be the Dominion’s first aim, the handmaiden of quality is salesmanship, a term which connotes, more' than mere selling. It means the organisation of shipments, their effective distribution at the points of demand, the. advertising of the product, and its attractive presentation to the public.' Much has been accomplished in that direction, and there are indications that the better presentation of the product is opening up new avenues of sale. There is still much to be learned in this problem of marketing, not only with regard to dairyproduce, but with meat and wool. Nevertheless a good beginning has been made with the principles and we are commencing to apply them.

India’s political destinies are once again before the public. The Indian Central Committee has completed its report; and it remains for that document and the report of the Simon Commission to be considered by a Joint Committee of both Houses of the British Parliament. The Indian Central Committee demands an explicit declaration that full Dominion status is the goal, and that meanwhile a liberal instalment be granted. The British Government has already given an explicit assurance that Dominion status will be granted by suitable instalments when native India is ready to be entrusted with new responsibility. This question it was the business of the Simon Commission to investigate, and of the British Government, following the report of the Joint Committee, to determine. Some time will elapse before that point is reached. In the meantime it is evident that attempts are being made by mischief-makers to influence the course of events by acts of terrorism. The attempt to assassinate the Viceroy is a case in point. Such measures can only discredit the efforts of the more moderate leaders of native opinion to find a settlement of the constitutional problems. Even Mahatma Ghandi has been forced to admit that his country is not yet ready for an important measure of self-government