NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 293, 6 September 1932, Page 8

NOTES OF THE DAY

More than once recently Ministers have made reference to the recommendations of the National Expenditure Commission. In Auckland the Minister of Education has gone so far as t° defend the extension for three years of the school text-book contract by referring to the Commission’s report. Mr. Masters must have overlooked the • fact that the Government is still withholding that report. It is hat dly fair to the Auckland school committees to quote in reply a witness whose evidence they cannot examine for themselves. It would have been much more satisfying to-have had a detailed statement of the Commission’s views in this connection and the full measure of its recommendations. Without these it is difficult to judge the merits ■either of the new arrangement or of the protests of the committees. As it is there appears to be a fairly general impression that less has been conceded than might have been. This may or may not be justified, but Mr. Masters’s bald reference to the Commission’s recommendations adds nothing to the public’s enlightenment on the subject.

4: ♦ * * In a recent cable message it was announced that the -New South Wales Government had decided that the State Coal Mine at Lithgow was to be reorganised on business lines similar to those under which private mines were operated. From details to hand by yesterday’s mail, it appears that this mine is to be separated from the control of the Railways Department, and conducted as a State enterprise by the Mines Department. There are certain conditions attached, however, which might well be brought to the notice of our own Government. The mine will be required to pay the same rates and taxes—municipal, Federal, and State—-as all private mines, and the employees will be placed under the same conditions as the workers in private concerns. Past experience of State trading enterprises goes to show that even when relieved of such obligations and conditions, they rarely pay their way. When they have done so their achievement has been discounted by the fact that they enjoyed unfair advantages over their competitors. The New South Wales Government is now about to test the question whether State trading, standing on its own feet on equal terms with its rivals, is a sound proposition. It will be an experiment worth watching.

Recent events in Germany invest with more than ordinary significance the military demonstration which marked the conclusion of the “Steel Helmets” Convention in Berlin. Similar parades have been held previously, but on this occasion members of both the Reich and the Prussian Governments identified themselves with the Convention, while the Chancellor, Dr. von Papen, was present with -the ex-Crown Prince at the saluting point. Also, it should be noted, the party’s leader declared at the Convention that “the rule of inferior spirits bad been broken, and the time of the soldier had come.” By these and other indications-it is evident that the old military spirit, instead of being weakened by republicanism and democratic government, and the restrictions imposed by the Versailles Treaty, is warming up. It remains to be seen whether the revival will spread to South Germany, where democratic ideals and republicanism have as strong a hold as the spirit of Potsdam and militarism have in Prussia. This latest demonstration may merely emphasise the cleavage between the two and darken the prospect of internal peace in Germany, for it is a distinct challenge to the Weimar Constitution.

Brighter and more reassuring conditions in Australia are regarded by the financial editor of The Spectator, London, as being favourable to the approaching conversion of the New South Wales per cent, overseas loans. The Australian States generally, and New South Wales in particular, have very hea-fy commitments maturing in the near future. In the interval between 1932-33 and 1935-36, loans aggregating over £56 millions will fall due, and the conversion of these on terms favourable to the borrowers will largely depend upon whether the present progress toward recovery is maintained. By comparison New Zealand loans falling due in London in the next few years are for small amounts. There is only £2OO due in London this year, and nothing in 1933. The only substantial obligation impending is the five-million loan raised in London in 1931, and due in 1934. Beyond that there are but small amounts until 1938. To revert to Australia, it was the heavy sums falling due overseas which 18 months ago forced the Commonwealth to turn her attention seriously to mending her financial ways. Her reforms, sacrifices and economies have not gone unnoted in London, recent financial comment having all been favourable. Apparently Australia is again “credit-worthy” and may have her-reward by being able to convert at lower interest rates than those attaching to the maturing loans.