NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 18, 16 October 1930, Page 10

NOTES OF THE DAY

While the House is manifesting intense interest in the subject of placing new settlers on new lands, members should not forger that it is jtfst as important to retain on their holdings those already there. Mention of. an important class—soldier settlers—was made by Mr. Coates in Tuesday’s debate but Mr. Speaker’s ruling prevented his pursuing the subject. Before it is prorogued, the House should take another occasion to satisfy itself that the Administration is not asking. too. much of the soldier settlers. Two questions are at issue—the matter of liability (now standing for seven years or morel for rent in arrears and the rate of interest charged by the department on current accounts. , * * * ♦ '

New Zealand producers have long since discovered the value of grading in making a success of marketing overseas. The surprising thing is that they have not thought it worth while to apply the same principles in the local market and, also, that Parliament has shown, so little concern for the local consumer. An impulse in the right direction will be given by the recommendations of the Industries and,Commerce Committee although its Report is confined to fruit and vegetables. Standardisation will reduce the complexity of the marketing process and, by lessening the functions and risks of those engaged in distribution, should at the same time reduce the gap in prices between producer and consumer.

Experience of the working of the Motor Regulations has prompted the drafting of a further series designed to strengthen the safety provisions and - prevent abuse. It has been circulated among various representative bodies for comment, but there does not appear to be any reason for serious criticism. For example, ability to drive must now be supplemented by an essential qualification of physical fitness. There is precedent for this in the British regulations. Thenecessity for the adoption of a similar provision in this country has been repeatedly stressed. Another provision is aimed at the individual who, when refused a license by the local authority of his own district, succeeds in obtaining one from another authority. The ge,neral effect of the new regulations is a tightening-up of control, which is desirable in the public interest.

• * ■ ♦ • Public wrestling bouts have lately become very popular spectacles in Wellington. To the uninitiated, perusing the reports ofkhese in their newspapers, they suggest somewhat rough-and-tumble affairs. Modern wrestling has developed from the more or less straightforward catch-as-catch-can sport of Hackenschmidt’s day to a bewildering complexity of “holds” and “strangles” embodying certain features of jiu-jitsu and other schools. Descriptions of these contests suggest sometimes that the participants, instead of engaging in a scientific struggle for supremacy, have been doing their best to reduce each other to shapeless pulp. Even the most indulgent critic must have balked at the brutality reported yesterday of Tuesday evening’s encounter at the Town Hall. Public opinion will not tolerate such exhibitions., It is satisfactory to note that both the Mayor and the controlling association have taken prompt measures to prevent a recurrence.

During the second reading debate on the Agricultural College Bill, the Leader of the Opposition elicited the fact that if the measure was passed the country would have two full-sized teaching institutions specialising in agriculture. Would there, he asked, be any dupli- - cation of functions and instructional work? The question was timely Unnecessary expenditure on duplicated services should be avoided in these difficult times. The Minister of Agriculture assured the House that there would be no overlapping, as Lincoln College specialised in arable farming, while Massey College concentrated upon pastoral work. It is difficult, however, to see how duplication in some departments of teaching is to be avoided. What is clear is tha’ more'money is to be spent on Lincoln. The Government should be more closely interrogated on the point. In this connection it mat be pertinent to ask what the Government proposes to do with respect to the amalgamation of tlie two forestry schools?