TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXII, Issue 46, 23 August 1911, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

The Government to the family doctor, «™ * v aTld tJws loc^ bodies 1110 Aches arethepatieitte, They irocai Codiee. medicine out of tha #ame bottle, There k diffeneatial treatme*H>~cold water for sortie mA wise fot ethos. Tbe r«»ott of the opening o f the New Zealand CfeontiGft Aseoemtim ymterday disclae. Ed Gome anomaließ in tire State ayKtefti of *n\*oAm to W bodies. It 'is alleged that the dittribntion k made Wcording to Jjetuliar ttde*, which do not Always allow the grants to be made on a fair basis. The contention iß^thati ß^that JJ«,,. °Sf «?»«*'» Policy makes for a multiplication of small bodies, with an incidental waste of money in administration, both on th© Government and the local side. Th«e, with one hand the Government helps to dot the landecApe with Mo local bodies, and witn the other it seeks toelrengthen, the "Governor' in Coundl," to keep them amenable to the Ministerial dictate. Thus decen-tealieation and centralisation are fostered riintdtenemusly, paradoxically, and It » small wonder, then, that bewildered people are curous about the long-pro-mifled Local Government Bill. It was to appear last session, a«id was fobbed off for circnlation in the reoe«s. The reeeefi failed to catch the'eltifeive Bill, which was next due to run into this session. It is ' a case now of next i-eeeee —ot, possibly, the end of the eeeaion— but Sir James Carroll seemed & little dubious yesterday about the whole a&tter. The policy of postponement has confused the public mind about the reJattona which should exist between the General Government, as representing the whole p«blic of New Zealand, and local bodies, as representing particnkr portions of that public. Cleady, a sound Local Government Bill ahoiMpVecede a. Town-planning Bill. There k a case here for statesmanship, . According to the law of survival of the fittest, a very wary nimble !« *y ra<!6 should eventually inTraps, habit the chores of Port Nicholson. ManY thince her* are as grindstones to sharpen the wite of the populace. One j* the motor car that dsrte from tbe rear of a tramway ea.r at an alighted paeaenger, ac a. big spider at a fly, The care &«mselvffl perfoMi no mean part in the SpafUn education, of the public. Tbe step of the terrible "palace" is a perpetual warning to citizens to attend closely to their physical training, and to beware t,f gmng aDf oad in garments too tightly buttoned. How many minot disasters, alas, can these "palaces" count for their pitiless hurdles? Not content with raking the city fore and aft with these war-chariots, the management has other devices to keep the public from getting sluggish. For example, when cars, travelling in opposite directions, stop at about the same time m Willis-street, at the Mercer-street junction, they halt in absolutely the most dattgierous manner fot the public. We, of course, do not suspect the authorities of any deliberate attempt to terrify and maim people, but the method of stop* ping could not be wore efficacious for that purpose if it had teen worked out iti cold blootl by impish minds. Under the present system an, J absent-minded, person* o* even an attive-minded one, if not familiar with the peril, may walk around the end of a car, and thett do the leap of his life to clear the front of a car on the adjoining fails. A, similar trap is set at Kelbitme-avenue. Why cannot the stepping be done sensibly? U the City Council waiting" for a coroner's recommendation, or Je it tempting the Hon. R. M'Kenzie to add a clause to hk proposed tramway regulatiohß, In older countries— Canada and the United States, for example~ care is taken to stop the cars in a manner that does not break the tules of common -sense. Yesterday afternoon, in fhe House of Representative, Doable Prfniing Mt, T. Pa-rata, for Maoris. ' was pager to a»k a question, but his interpreter happened to be absent. Mr. Parafea appears to have a sentimental objection to speaking English, in the House, hut the »eed pressed him yesterday to make ths best of the situation. Therefore, in English, as good as one commonly hears in the Toom, he enquired whether the Acting-Premier would agree 'to have the report of the Maori census printed in the Maori language aa well as In English. Sir James Carroll, in hie customary genial manner, promised to look into the matter, &nd it did not occur to any pakeha member to raise fttiy doubt about tho need for any extra expenditure. This was Mr. Par&ta'ft second request ihis session for Maori version* of departmental reports. We should, tfleTefore, like to have some member asking for an estimate .of the number of natives able to tead printed Maori, bnt unable to read printed English. We bclievs it is unusual for a Maori nowaday* to acquire the art of reading the anglicised version of his own language without simultaneously learning how to read pla&i English. We do not wish to have any additional unnecessary burdens upon the groaning presses of the Government Printing Office. Probably no other Government in the worid doea so much printing per head of population as the New Zealand Government, and yet Mr. Parata professes to be not satisfied,

A reeommendfttion 0! th& Public Health Committee of the Wellington Hospital Board yesterday, that the attention of the Mental Hospital Depart* ment b© drawn to the durability of having qualified nurses to attend patients at the Porirua Mental Hospital, raised a protest from Mr. It. C. Kirk, who thought it ill became the board to make, a recommendation to the Government as to how it should control its institntions. which wera in charge of efficient medical officers. He did not think th& board should interfere. The Llev, H. Van Staveren said that information had come into th© (possession of the committee which made it desirable that qualified nurses should be in attendance. There had been cases of death ot the asylum which could possibly have been avoided if these mirse& had been in charge. vThe power had been given the board to control these matters, and it should carry out the "work. Mr. G, T. London «aid it was not fair that young and inexperienced attendants should attend cases of infectious disease. The board's primary duty was to safeguard tho pubHe health in every pofe&ible. way, and the <committeft felt that in recommending this it was carrying out its duty. •Ttte .clause jm f assent ~ ~ .