RANDOM NOTES

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 43, 14 November 1932, Page 8

RANDOM NOTES

Sidelights on Current Events LOCAL AND GENERAL

(By

Kickshaws.)

Dainty ermine trimmed lingerie is reported to be the coming fashion. It is expected these furbelows will soon be all the rage. • ♦ • An educational expert suggests that colleges might well interest themselves in finding out what their graduates do after graduating. No doubt their employers would be even more interested. » « • It is rumoured that a former Austrian archduke is about to assert his right to the throne. It is believed that he is a prominent member of the Royal House of Perhapsburg. Apropos of dog mascots and hospital, writes “N.Z.R.N.,” Wellington, Spot, at present on the staff of Wellington Hospital, adopted the Nurses’ Home as his domicile some three years ago. Despite many entreaties from his rightful owner, he has remained a permanent guest Incidentally, the nurses have placed pennies in a box for his annual registration fee. He walks miles daily accompanying members of the staff to their various posts of duty, and on one occasion went as far as Plcton on an excursion. • * • Usually the neatest way of shelving a pressing political matter is to refer it to a commission, especially a Royal Commission. Recent events in this Dominion indicate that in some cases, however, commissions refuse to be shelved. Excellent as is the idea of Royal Commissions, it is a debatable point whether a country would not benefit if they were abolished. Admittedly our own Parliament models itself on that of England. But we out here have never made so fine an art of Royal Commissions. From the time that a Royal Commission is set up to investigate any matter all discussion must cease on the subject in Parliament The idea is excellent. If only the sittings of a commission can be dragged on indefinitely members are gagged. Indeed, in England a Royal Commission that was instituted in the year ISSI is still merrily sitting.

When Prime Ministers of England first discovered the virtues of a Royal Commission for stopping unwarranted discussion' on the subject placed before the commission there was a long succession of commissions on every conceiveable subject from the Breeding of Racehorses to the Disposal of Sewage. One commission that has been going for nearly thirty years and is still on the job has so far issued thirteen bulky reports, and, it is said, has 30 more on the way. AU these, complete with maps, indexes, charts and the rest, are pigeon-holed as they appear and forgotten, like the subject itself. The cost of printing alone in this particular case has exceeded £20,000. Some idea of what these commissions cost may be obtained from the fact that from 1904 to 1911 commissions in England cost the country £500,000.

The surprising fact about all the talk that is going on'3t present concerning the so-called reform of the House of Lords is that at one time the House of Commons did not form any part at all in the councils of the nation. In the very early days the Peers of England exclusively were summoned by the King to help him run the country. Parliament as we know it to-day did not come into being until after the Conquest. Even then the House of Lords or its equivalent was paramount When one reads today about the necessity of reforming the House of Lords one is apt to forget that for something like ten centuries the House of Commons has been busy reforming that House. Our history books are full of the subject To-day the House of Lords is so reformed that it is more or less powerless. All it can do is to delay Bills. * * • Obviously the power that has been taken by the Government to prevent the re-entry into New Zealand for three years of any person who visits a country directly or indirectly under a Communistic form of Government has reference to Russia. All the same it is a sign that not only the general public but even Governments selves use this word “Communistic” in a very loose manner. When analysed Communism means no more than the common management of industry and the sharing of its fruits. Although Russia is popularly accepted as the only Communistic country, the cap, according to this definition, fits many other countries. Nearly every uncivilised tribe practises Communism. Certainly the Maoris did, if, indeed, they do not to this day. • • • Now that practically every important air route has been pioneered there seems very little justification for further such flights on the .'art of private individuals such, for instance, as the projected record-breaking flight on the part of Mrs. Mollison. At no time in the history of the world has it been possible to soar into fame and riches in so short a period as aviation has ' made possible. When Columbus discovered America the job took him the best part of a year. The total cost, some £l5OO, seems niggardly compared with the thousands that aviators obtain for doing deeds of far less significance. The discovery of America gave Columbus enduring fame in the history books, but nobody offered him £lO,OOO if he would land in Europe after the job smoking a cigarette made by the “Sizzle Corp inc.” In fact, when Columbus arrived back in Europe he created very little stir. If Columbus had not arrived back at all nobody would have spent a penny looking for him. In the matter of aviation one wonders if we have not lost a sense of proportion. • » • News that excavators in Hertfordshire, England, are digging up o'd Roman bathrooms makes one wonder why we to-day do not take a leaf from these old Romans. Particularly in the matter of house warming and water heating Britain seemed tc relapse into archaic methods the moment the last Roman had boarded the last Channel boat to his home town. The little that we know of Roman buildings leaves us amazed with the thorough manner in which a house was warmed. Instead of central heating or an open fire the Romans defied the coldest weather by all-round heating. For the heat from the kitchen range circulated between double walls that surrounded the rooms to be heated. Instead of being warm In patches the Romans were warm all over, floors and ceilings included. Anybody who has spent a cold draughty winter in the average English country house will appreciate the merits of the scheme used by those shrewd old Romans.