NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 226, 20 June 1931, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY

A strong case, and one that seems unanswerable, has been made out by the Wellington Free Ambulance in support of its claim for financial assistance from the City Council. It is not easy to see how the Council can justify the maintenance of some of the services it is continuing and yet deny any liability to the Free Ambulance. That is so self-evident on the argument put forward on Thursday by Mr, G. Mitchell that it hardly admits of discussion. There is also the consideration that the premier local body of the district is setting an example that others may not be slow to follow. The City Council should not allow such a position to arise because the end might be its own ratepayers would have to find more for a service that is essential under modern traffic conditions. ~'* * * ’ * Bad weather and hard times are severe handicaps for such an institution as a winter show, and it says much for the management of the Manawatu and West Coast A. and P, Association that it was able, to overcome these obstacles by making a success: of its annual fixture. It is proof, if proof were needed, that the. show is.no fair weather institution, but that it serves some definite purpose, and is. an essential part of the country’s economy. How generally that is recognised canbe judged from the fact that in face of adverse conditions the entries created a new record and were drawn from an area so wide as to, justify ; the show’s claim to be a national arbiter in . matters agricultural and ~ pastoral,. These considerations should be an. encouragement to the ? association to go forward confidently. For it in this? difficult year, when we are in the trough of the wave, real success can’be won, there need be no hesitation about the future when, w.c are rising to or once again on the crest. ** ■ * Unemployed in Australia now number 360,000, according to the /■ Commonwealth Prime : Minister. If the incidence were as heavy in New Zealand our present total would, be about 90,000, instead of ;■ 40,000. Those who have hea,rd the New-Zealand Labour Party’s: claim that it would end unemployment if returned to office should i ponder these figures. Australian Labour politicians also claimed.. tpj possess the remedy for unemployment, and'although they are in power.' in the Commonwealth and the most populous States, the Australianroll of unemployed is proportionately more than double that of New Zealand. In Great Britain,-a Labour Government which definitelypromised to cure unemployment, has now had two years in which to’ redeem its pledges. When it succeeded the Conservatives in office, ih June,. 1929, there were .1,100,000 unemployed; to-day the number is. 2,600,000, an increase of 1.500,000, or 136 per cent. These depressing - facts from Australia and Britain should; convince peoplebonce and for all that, far from the Labour Party possessing any cure-all for unemployment, its administration tends to aggravate? rather thanalleviate the problem. ■ ’■ ’ ■ ■ - * * * v ■’ ■ To use a hackneyed phrase, but giving the words their full value, the Bank of New Zealand is “a great national institution.” It is reassuring, therefore, to have from its chairman, Mr. Watson, so favourable, an account of its position as was delivered at the annual', meeting of proprietors yesterday. The Bank is truly one of the bulwarks of the State, and its special position in New Zealand requires pf it a sense of responsibility not only to its clients and .shareholder’s,. but to the nation at large. In his review of prevailing economic conditions, Mr. Watson has certainly taken wide ground, and it may be presumed that a similarly wide outlook governs the general policy of ■ the Bank. It may be noted, however, that banking policy in Great Britain has in the last year or two been under critical examination by various influential people, who consider that present conditions call for a more positive and less conservative policy by financial institutions’. When its report appears next week, the Macmillan Committee on ' Finance and Commerce should add some weighty opinion to the controversy, and its conclusions will no doubt be carefully studied by bankers the world oyes.