NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 74, 20 December 1933, Page 10

NOTES OF THE DAY

According to the Irish Independent there is nothing in the objective of the United Ireland Party that is illegal. In the light of events, and of the speeches made by General O’Duffy and his lieutenants, that seems to be a fair judgment. What appears to have annoyed Mr de Valera is that the O’Duffy and his party have taken to wearing blue shirts. The Fianna Fail leader will surely concede the point that a man must have a shirt to his back, and that he should have a right to choose the colour of it. Unfortunately for General O Duffy, who is now under arrest for the wearing, not of the national green, bur of a shirt of a different dye, that particular item of underwear is popularly regarded as an emblem of dictatorship. Therein it seems to have usurped the symbol of dictatorship which in Scotland was defined in the domestic phrase, “the wearin’ o’ the breeks.” At all events Mr. de Valera apparently dislikes 'the idea of shirt-wear as a svnonym of political partisanship, and has made good his objection ■by putting the O’Duffy in durance vile. But he has forgotten the fact that he himself owes his present political elevation largely to the circumstance that he was once a political martyr. Out of General O’Duffy’s martyrdom may arise a similar parallel. '* * *

As the result of an annual philanthropic effort by the Wellington Commercial Travellers’ Club various charitable institutions and hospitals will benefit this Christmas to the amount of £527. Other benevolent organisations such as the “Smith Family” are also doing good work in providing Christmas cheer for deserving cases. It is consoling to think that in spite of the growth of State-organised and State-supervised charity which, from its official character, is a soulless kind of benevolence, there is still room and inspiration for such voluntary efforts as the Commercial Travellers’ Club and those of otliei well-doing bodies. It would be a sad day for humanity if the wellsprings of voluntary benevolence were dried up by the diversion of supplies through official channels. Voluntary benevolence is something that cannot be assessed in terms of taxation. It springs from a different fountain, the well-spring of Christian humanitarianism. *♦. * *

Most people will endorse the opinion expressed by the Mayor of Lower Hutt that the first charge upon increased incomes from better times should rather be the restoring of positions, to employees dismissed for reasons of economy, than the restoration of wages cuts for those still in employment. This agitation for the restoration oi wages cuts seems to be spreading from one local body, to another. Labour interests possibly are at the back of it. If that is the case, Labour should endeavour to keep before it the fact that benefits to employees already in positions must come out of the pockets of the taxpayers, and that a large proportion of these taxpayers are themselves on relief work. Public opinion would certainly prefer tnat relief should come first and foremost to unemployed individuals anxious, if qualified, to return to their normal vocations. Thaljihoilla be a cardinal principle of unemployment policy.