NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 32, 1 November 1933, Page 8

NOTES OF THE DAY

Probably the most important business before Parliament this session is the Reserve Bank Bill. It may be hoped, therefore, that members will be given a reasonable opportunity to discuss its provisions. The Prime Minister yesterday afternoon moved for urgency in its passage but he will be well advised if he revises this motion so that it becomes a gesture rather than a fact. To force the Bill through the committee stage at one sitting, thus legislating by exhaustion, is not a fit or proper method to apply when such important issues are at stake. It is true that Parliament has already spent a good deal of time in doing very little but that does not excuse the application of the spur just when the most judicious riding is called for. 1 * * * *

Admittedly the censoring of cinema films is a difficult question, as the Wellington Technical College Board discovered when it endeavoured to reach a conclusion on a circular from the heads of the Auckland Secondary Schools suggesting among other things the inclusion of an educationist on the Censorship Appeal Board. Whatever may be’the shortcomings of certain films shown in the cinema theatres. however t they may transgress in matters of taste or offend the susceptibilities of some, the fact remains that no rules or standards of censorship will satisfy everybody. In the final analysis the'public conscience should be the true arbiter, but it does not actively assert itself until provoked by persistent “over the limit” displays. If the public conscience is vigilant there should be little fear of the film censor and the Censorship Appeal Board courting challenge by relaxing their standards.

Brooklyn municipal electors have again declared themselves in favour of the ward system for the election of city councillors. They consider that under the present system the district is being neglected and that other suburbs are being favoured unduly. It might be hard to prove that such was the case but the real question is whether an improvement would be effected by reverting to the ward system. In a council of fifteen members, what representation could Brooklyn and its offshoots claim on the basis either of population alone or of population combined with rateable value? The district would probably have to pool its interests with other southern suburbs and in the end might find itself without direct representation. The position would then be that the council would consist of members pledged to serve district interests and, since every suburb could not be served, some would suffer. It is surely far better to have a council united to serve the general interest as it sees it and as it is represented to it.