DOMINION TOPICS

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 121, 15 February 1941, Page 15

DOMINION TOPICS

Going Bogging,

llTi.i Imve the North Island Maoris, or rather the Ngati-l’oneke. drawn back from the pnrelm.-o of the Maori lioiisc that adorned the (.'onleiinitil l..xhibitii,n. and why has rhe price to ’lie Chrisii'hiirch t'it.v Council been reduced fr,,m £50111) to zero: The Government stated last .Inly that the iniri'liaso had been arranged, and Hit- tiiiiioiiniement was received with special inler<si in Christchurch, where Ihe local bodies had declined Io buy the house from the (oivoriiiuent at ils then "bargain price" of £souo. for weighty reasons. The I’iiy Connell objected Hint l lie taking down and re-ereciion of lhe house would cost a further £5OOO, and upon ihe whole sum the ralepayers would have to pay £i'Ns a year for 10 .tears and half of that amount from then onwards. Then again, it was objected that in the quiet English beauty of Dagley I‘ark the house would bo peculiarly bizarre and far removed from contact with the Maori race as nn object, of cultural study. Christchurch, it was pointed out. had only 126 Marois all told and Canrerbtuy only 1-10? out of a Dominion total of SO.OOO. Obviously the purchase of the bouse by rhe North Island Maoris seemed to be a happy solution io the diflicutly. and complimentary to the Maori sense of fitness. Why that purchasii has not boon concluded should be the object of an immediate statement by the Government, if only to clear up a possible reflection on the indifference of the Maori Race.— "Ch ri si church Star-Sun." Petrol Supplies.

Every section of lhe community must take note of the Ministerial warning Hint new dilllciiltles in the supply of will probably compel further heli-tightening in the near future. Those directly concerned are the motorists, the distributing trades, launch owners, and passenger transport companies, but directly or indirectly the effect of a shortening of supplies will be felt by everyone. Considerations of Government policy, elimination of transport rivalry or the conservation of dollar funds are no longer the determining factors; today the question is whether or not petrol can be transported safely by sea in the quantities necessary to maintain the present restricted consumption. New Zealand is more remote than any other part of the Empire from the sources of supply, which intensifies the shipping d,iftienlties, while its scattered population and extensive road system makes its average needs fairly high. These are the factors which must be in some way reconciled to the inescapable exigencies of war. —A u ckl an d “Star."

Bench and Delinquent. Magistrates and judges, who from lime to time issue warnings against anti-social tendencies, as they see them, very seldom address themselves io lhe question of their own responsibility. The 19."f> figures show, for example, that of 2505 distinct prisoners received in the jails no fewer than 1600, or 64 per cent., were under sentence for terms of less than three months. Of these prisoners. !H1 were under 21 years of age. The figures also show that, of the 2505 received, JS.ll had been previously convicted: and that by far the heaviest proportion of these. 680. had previously been sentenced io simple imprisonment or hard labour and were now returned to work out further sentences of the same kind. It may or may not be a fair comparison to set out directly the number who. having previously served sentences of reformative detention, reentered prison upon fresh convictions; but it was 17. The doubt raised by such statistics, which recur year by year, is whether the Courts use with perfect discretion their wide power to correct anti-social developments.— "The Press,” Christchurch. Costs and Prices.

It. is obvious that for the Arbitration Court and Transport Licensing Authorities, etc., to be allowed to carry on and increase costs at their Will means that the work of the Price Tribunal must be largely ineffective. The real way to regulate prices is to regulate costs, and any other course neglects rhe fundamentals of the position. The Price Tribunal should be represented on the Arbitration Court and on all other bodies which have the power to incrase costs. If this Is not done then the Price Tribunal should have a representative present nt all meetings of the bodies concerned, and that representative should N? charged with the duty of pointing out public!' just what will be the effect on prices of The proposed Increases in wages, charges, or other costs. If this were done it would prove to be. to some extent. <r deterrent, to the continued increase in costs which have been New Zealand's experience up till the present, time." —"Point Blank.” official organ of the Now Zealand Farmers' Inion.

A Singular Derision. The decision of llu* Government with rel'crence to the imptiry into the eircninslauces surrounding the recent stranding of lhe steamer Rangaiira <m the coast near Lyttelton Heads is only less remarkable than the reasons that tire given for if. The Government, it appears, "considers that the exigencies of the war render it neiiher desirable nor in I lie public interest'' that an inquire of the usual eimrio'ler should bo held' before a nmgislrarc and marine assessors. <>f course, if it was not in the public interest that such an inquiry should lie hold, then it. was not desirable that it should be held. It would be interesting, however, to know something of Iho process of reasoning that led the Government to the conclusion that it was not in the public interest that, a public inquiry should be held concerning the stranding of a popular steamer which was, at the time of the accident, crowded with passmigers,-— "Otago Daily 'rimes."

New Zealand at Washington.

It 1- very iiiiporlani. that no mistake should be made by the Government in its selection of tile first representarive of the Dominion in Washington. The inlliienee of tin- which he may i-ve.Tl-' may bo far-reaehing. The precise otlieial status of Mr. Casey, the Aiisiralian repn'seiitative. may be a lillle uncertain. While he is described as Australian Minister at Washington, his name does not appear in the list of Federal Ministers, and it nuiy lie. therefore, that I lie olliee which lie tills would in* more accurately described as that of High <'oinniissioner titan, of .Minister. IVhatever the otlieial designal ion may 1"‘. it is »>°st desirable llial Ihe appoint ineiii which the Government 'is alioitl to make should be conferred upon a citizen of New Zealand who has tlie porsouaiity that would claim resitect and esieem for him in the circles in which lie must move in Washington.—"•Magr- Daily Times."

Accredit tug v. Examitiittg. The difficulty of finding a substitute fot test by examination received fresh unphasis this week. Some school authorities would replace the University entrance examination by a system of accrediting by all secondary schools. Fniversitv authorities do not favour this plan in its entirety, but were prepared to accept accrediting by a certain number of approved secondary schools. While lite matter is one for experts to handle, tlie .secondary schools' proposal would seem to make even heavier demands upon a student titan does the present exaniintnimi system without removing tlie weaknesses of an accrediting 'system. It is not surprising that the hybrid scheme of exaniimition plus accrediting failed to arouse any enthusiasm when it. was placed before the University Senate, if the University plan of partial accrediting by approved schools is not acceptable even as an experiment it. would seem wiser to retain the present University entrance examination. The examination system may prove unreliable in certain individual eases, but on rhe whole it has worked with a reasonable amount of success. The system has in its favour the fact that impartiality is assured. —"Taranaki Daily Nows."

Fann Production. When announcing in Deceml**r the cutting down to food imports to save shipping space the British Minister of Food. Lord Woolton, said he had been invited to ration cheese. He declined to do so and pointed out that, to the South Wales miner, for instance, cheese was highly important. Instead of rationing he arranged that supplies should go to those parts of the country that need it most. Already a remarkably fine response has been made by ’Taranaki farmers and dairy companies to increase the cheese output, and the changeover has meant expense. Their effort has been properly acknowledged by the Minister. They have been doubly affected by the call on manpower for the services. The spirit is willing enough to make a still greater drive in the certain knowledge that what they produce is gladly needed and used ; but their work would be tlie more productive if farm labour was easier to get. It is not a wise policy, as England lias found out in this war. to place an extra strain on a section of rite community without providing for proper rest and additional help. This applies to the farmers of New Zealand. “Taranaki Herald.”

Government and the Courts. Enactments of recent years have tended to increase the ascendancy the Executive in judicial matters. The transport legislation under which Mr. Semple has acted as the sole appeal authority, was one Instance of the assumption of judicial powers by the Ministry. Another was provided by the Small Farms Amendment Act, passed at the end of last year, which transferred the decision of appeals against the taking of land, formerly resting with rhe 'Courts, t.o the Minister of Lands, or a person appointed by him. and which allowed compensation to be tixe'd br a magistrate appointed by the Minister. Each of these provisions represents a major infringement of the fundamental democratic right of access to the Courts. It is to be hoped that the restoration of judicial authority which Mr. Semple contemplates .s not merely designed to get the Minister out of a temporary difficulty. but that it is the result of a realization on the part, of the Government that the present trend is anti-democratic. —“Southland Times."

Road And IRiil. No onus whatever is put upon the Railways Department to prove that this or that line and its services remain economic and arc justified by the public interest. If co-ordination means what it should mean, the uneconomic or wasteful competition of the rail with Hie road should be as ruthlessly eUniin,uled as the superlluou.s road service. Having given the New Zealand Road Transport Alliance, at the end of 1939. a large assurance that the Government had no desire to dictate to transport owners, or to interfere with their rights as owners, and that their business was "as safe as it. ever was in the past." Mr. Semple wont straight on to say that this applied, of course, to services "nor operating in direct opposition with the railways" and to explain that the Government had ‘‘diverted as mueli business as possible to (lie railways because they were a public institution." The railways first, because they are a public institution; not maximum efficiency and economy in transport first, because that, is a national need. This is why co-ordina-tion lias become a senseless word, whenever the Government u>es it, or a word to which the Government lias given the new meaning of soeinlizalion.' "Tlie Dross.” Christchurch." On the Home Front. With womanpower Hie necessity for a much greater degree of personal service than has so far been offered is apparent. That New Zealand is comparatively untouched by the most terrible war of all time is a matter for immeasurable ihankfuliiess, but it has had the demerit of failing to impress lhe people with Hie seriousness of what lies nt stake and the urgency of a higher degree of personal sacrifice. It is not a mailer of eongratiliation. for iiist.'im-e. Hint in spile of constant appeals for nursing aides Hie number of women who have otfered their services is still far below the requirements. In the multitude of women's organizations engaged in war work of some kind or another there is ample opportunity for everyone to do work of value to the nation in its time of need. The men and women who have joined the armed forces for overseas service have offered all that it is in the power of mankind to sacrifice for the sake of their follow beings. If only as a modest step behind limit' magnificent example. the slogan of everyone today should be: "It is my duly mid my privilege to join the Home Guard, the • iiiergency preen ill ions nrgmilzm lon or ,n<- of liic various noils of lhe women's auxiliary corps ns my e.mtribuHon to the nation in its Imur of peril.” —-"Taranaki Daily News."