TOPICS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 138, 8 December 1926, Page 8

TOPICS OF THE DAY

For ten months of this year 45 bankruptcies were recorded in Dunedin, 98 in Christchurch, 198 in Wellington, and 249 in Auckland, Without working out the exact percentages', it is plain that these records do not represent an even ratio of the populations in the various centres. The rate, a« well as tho number, is much higher in the North than in the South. In a general way this may be explained by stating that Dunedin is Scotch and cautious; but the difference" is sufficiently marked to call for something more than a general explanation. What precaution does the Scotch care Of Dunedin dictate 'which may reasonably be copied in Wellington and Auckland? Is there closer investigation of stability before allowing extensive credit? There have been complaints .lately that the credit system is being abused. Anxiety to,, obtain business,, it .is, said,^ has: led some traders toVbe careless of the value of that business.; . ( We would suggest;thatj this is a subject which might well\be investigat-, ed by the Chambers of Commerce and the Society, of Accountants in Wellington and Auckland. Bankruptcies are expensive to-any business community, and to the people at large. Solvent traders and customers must make good the loss entailed by the operations of the insolvent. The State machinery for dealing with bankruptcy begins to move only when the damage is done. It is for the business people themselves to take such precautions as will prevent damage.

In commenting upon prison control issues which have been much discussed recently, the "Public Service Journal" makes a point which it is desirable should be borne in mind. Tho appointment of the Controller-General of Prisons, it is shown, was made by the Public Service Commissioner in exercise of the duties v laid npon his shoulders by the statute. Whether the appointment was right or wrong, it was not within the province of the Government to veto it. There ig a right of appeal open to any officer of the Public Service who considers himself aggrieved by the Commissioner's decision, but that appeal is not to the Minister. There is a properly-constituted Public Seryice Appeal Board, established for the express purpose of dealing with such matters. If that method of appeal is to be ignored, and a demand made upon ■ the political head of the Department to deal with the -question, the basic principle of non-politicai control of the Public Service is transgressed. A Minister who' attempted to intervene, far. from fulfilling a public duty, would bo acting in contravention of his rights.. If departmental chiefs are to be selected by the Minister, then it is but a short step to the complete reinstatement of political control.

While the United States Congress was sitting, it was pointed out in those columns that the more responsible American political economists were clearly nonplussed by a aituation in which tho farmers were clamouring for more and more credit, under conditions that threatened to entanglo tho State .in. some form of price-control. There wore a number of Bills before Congross, representing varying degrees of "advanced ideas" in the matter of farm finance and tho State's relation thorpto. Bankers pointed■ out that a too liberal credit, or tho setting up of artificial aids to prices, would merely tend to protract the inflation that was orio of the chief-causes of the farmers' distress, and might postpone but could not prevent the reckoning. It was recognised, however, that the general lowering of price-levels had overtaken farm produce more quickly than other commodities, and there was a disposition to do something in the way of toinporing the wind to the shorn lamb, consistent with avoidance of the inflationerj; trouble jnst mentioned. The

political "pull" of the farmer is very strong *iii the United States, and that fact no doubt operated in tho direction of some compromise as between Spartan economies and the farmers' plea. However, the extremo Bills did not pass.

Since then, . Congressional elections have been held, and though tho Eepublican Party, according to tho cablegrams, has not lost its hold on either House, it has nevertheless lost strength, and tho balance of power in tho new Congress will probably be fine enough to make the farm vote very important. The test of the voting power of tho rural bloc is still to come, but it is significant that President Coolidgo in his annual message to Congress adopts a tone of appeal, and hopes that "the Legislature will not grant any form of farm relief that would put the Govern,ment into, tho business of production, marketing, or price-fixing of farm products." The business knowledge of the President warns him that peaks of prosperity are sometimes followed by troughs of depression; and that a time of overflowing State coffers—illustrated by his big refund of taxation revenue this year—is not a time to enter into expensive Governmental commitments in support gf one section of tho community, when the futuro of tho whole is uncertain. Though American prosperity —apart from tho farms—has maintained itself so far in a remarkable manner, the economist in tho President commands' caution, whatever the politician in him may have to say later on.

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Mr. J. H. Salmon, S.M., in a judgment delivered yesterday, held that the bylaw imposing a speed limit of eight miles an hour at street junctions was unreasonable.1 Most motorists will agree with this decision as applied to a long, straight road with numerous intersecting streets. But they will also ittgree that some control of traffic at junctions and intersections js highly necessary. The southern part of Adelaide road, leading to Island Bay parade, is now being paved. When tho work is finished there will be a great temptation for drivers to ma*ke the run a speedway, with grave danger to traffic from the numerous cross-streets. Twenty miles an hour is the general spe.ed limit in the city, but it is often exceeded, and the average motorist has long, ago forgotton tho eight-mile intersection bylaw. ' What is now needed is a reasonable and safe speed limit, and a determination to enforce it. It is little use stating eight miles an hour in the bylaw book, and allowing anything between thirty and forty until something more than the bylaw is broken,- On the Hutt road, reasonable speed limits and the watchfulness of one traffic constable have brought the traffic into reasonable order. The Magisterial decision makes it necessary for the Council to revise its bylaw. When the revision has been made a tMffic inspector on a motor-cycle should be set at large in the suburban areas to see that reasonable attention is paid to a reasonable regulation. ■