TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24, 30 January 1911, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

» It is clear that though some of the New Zealand Labour FedGretting Ready eration's planks da for the Fray. not fit the New Zealand Labour Party's platform, an effort is being made to uso the saw and plane of compromise to effect a fit. The Labour Party yearns for the name of Federation of Labour, but the ultra -Socialist leaders of the Winers' Federation slipped in first, and copyrighted the title. No doubt there are men on both sides eager to settle the quarrel by a fusion of the forces. The dream is of a miHtant Labour Party, combining th©- troops of the primary and secondary industries. Preparations are being mad© to contest seats at the muni- 1 cipal elections of next April, and tho general elections at the end of the year. It is time for the "moderates" to be concerned about the political outlook. Ffidotid told Stdto Labour leaders lrom Australia have said thafc the LibergMitu -

bour Government of Now Zealand has done more for labour than any Liberal or Labour Government in the Commonwealth has been ablo to do. Yet, | sections of the Labour Party here are not satisfied. The employers bitterly com- | plain that the industrial legislation has touched a point beyond which it cannot go for the present without severely damaging industries, and thus hurting labour as well as capital. The propagandists, of the Labour Party call for a march to that point beyond. New Zealand surely needs some breathing space. Nelson, some time ago, was acquitted on o , , the old charge of sleepiScholarship ness. The hustle of the and Swat." fruitgrowers and the improvement of the port to take the great ocean steamers have brought Nelson into the fighting line of trade and commerce, and Nelson claims that the schoolchildren are beating their contemporaries of other districts for Junior National Scholarships. But Nelson has been challenged by Blenheim. It is a mistaken notion to suppose that Blenheim's population chiefly consists of old people and babies. Cynics have said that the young men and women "move on." Some do, but many remain. Blenheim admits that Nelson is great in the department of scholarship, but contends that Blenheim is greater. This rivalry may be exhilarating, up to a certain point; that point is the child's limit of endurance. We do not wish to see the Education Boards sparring for glory, with innocent boys and giris as mere pawns or counters in the game. Sometimes this craze for "passes" and "credits" sets one school against another, and inevitably a severe strain is put on both teachers and pupils. When a whole district is out against another, the parents may well be alarmed. * It is to be fondly hoped that Nelson and' Marlborough j remembering the great men from -whom they derive their names, will nob be flying at each other's throats, and that the children's peace and mental health will not be sacrificed to the vanity of the rival boards. Child labour is to a contain extent an inevitable condition in the Child development of a - new Slavery. country. Nobody can reasonably object to a child doing lignt work about a farm, and, least of all, does the child object. Biit, pushed beyond a certain degree, child labour becomes child slavery. It is then the. duty of the State to intervene, as being in the ultimate the ward of all its future citizens. It is the duty of the State to see that no child should be deprived of a fair chance of attaining it« true destiny, physical and mental, in the scheme of democracy. If, therefore, children are so overworked by parents on farms that they come to school physically and mentally incapacitated by fatigue from benefiting by the free education provided by the State, it is high time the State should investigate and act. This the Hon. J. A. JClkr, as Minister for Labour, promised the House of. Representatives to do some time ago. No report has, however, been laid before the representatives of the people. It has been alleged that there is no such thing as child slavery in the country. Ask anyone who has taught in a country school. Take the facts brought out by the Country Teachers' Association at Auckland last week in replies to circular letters sent out to different schools : "It was shown by the j replies that a groat number of children had to work very hard before and after J school. One return showed that a child : had to milk thirteen cor.vs night and morning, whilst quite a number of the returns showed that children were each milking seven cows. Naturally, the youngsters are tired on arriving at Bohool, and totally unfitted to begin study." The state of things revealed by this semi-private investigation could be paralleled in any new or backward B&ttlejnent in the Dominion. Not many years ago the head-teacher at a country school m the heart of the milking district of Taranaki was asked to resign on account of the poorness of his examination results. He called for an enquiry, and, after showing how his work was_ handicapped by the effects of excessive child labour among his pupils, was exonerated and reinstated by the board. A trip through the back-blocks of Taranaki and the Main Trunk country will_ disclose a similar condition of affairs. £t certainly behoves under these circumstances the Minister for Labour to publish the report he has had prepared on the subject. To-day a cable message from Sydney refers briefly to the Life-Saving, heroism of Harold Baker, who, though fully dressed, rescued several people from a perilous swirl by Coogee Beach yesterday. It is plain from the narrative that Baker was not only a strong swimmer, but was skilled in 'the art of life saving. Without this art his courage might have added his own name to the sad list of the drowned. Many a gallant sv/immer, ignorant of life-saving methods, lias gone down ta death in an effort at xescue. This Coogee fatality gives point to the plea put in The Post on Saturday on be-half of the Wellington Branch of the Royal Life-Saving Society. This organisation has done splendid work throughout the Empire, and wishes to do much more. It makes no great noise ; it seldom appeals to the public for help, but it is always working for the public. .The officers draw no salaries. They give their time, their energy, and money, too, to maintain life-saving classes and competitions designed to increase the ranks of com- j petenfc life-savers. The society desires J a. larger membership, and as the scale of fees runs down as low as 2s 6d a year (for "individual members") the request should meet with a liberal response. For ten guineas a citizen can become a life governor, for five guineas a life member, ior a guinea, a year an annual governor, and for half a guinea a year an honorary member. The society wishes to work unceasingly for the public good, and merely asks for reasonable aid in this noble life-saving work.