TOPICS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 64, 17 March 1927, Page 8

TOPICS OF THE DAY

A message from Dunedin states that many boys from the primary schools aro unable to obtain positions in trades, and that there is; an excessive supply of boys with secondary education. To some extent this may be a passing phase of the unemployment difficulty. Employers are probably hesitating to engage more labour, even of juniors, until they see their way clear ahead. Even so, it is sufficiently disquieting, j as there is nothing so demoralising for j youth, as idleness at the outset of the working career. But it is| probable that tins does not account for all the trouble. The undue bias given to proi is: ial preparatory education in the post-primary courses has for years past been preparing the way for trouble. Tc many youths have in this way .been encouraged to look foriward to careers as lawyers, doctors, r '.ountantsj and so on. Parents have b' n led to believe that they should endeavour to push-their children into these occupations, and that the boy who takes up a. manual occupation is inferior intellectually. It is little use arguing that a good plumber is worthy of more regard than a bad lawyer while our education system sots a different standard. We must begin with the educational foundation and correct, the errors of valuation. Tho present standards are not sot and immutable. In earlier ages good craftsmen wcro highly esteemed. If wo consider now the men who loft notable memorials of their work in noble buildings, in decoration, in furnituro, in printing, we can realise that skilled craftsmanship is ontitled to both reward and honour. In modorn times Elbert Hubbard showed that it was possible to revive such Standards even in a machinery age. We can do tho same noW if by a proper appraisement of the work of the technical schools wo encourage those who havo tho natural aptitude to engago in skilled manual occupations and to take a pride in their work. The report from Dunedin shows that there is urgent need for adjusting the educational balance to fit tho economic requirements of the time. Small shopkeepers are seeking exemp-tion-from the closing; hour restrictions, and it is stated that tho Minister of Labour is sympathetic, and will give them the opportunity of submitting evidence to a Parliamentary Committee. Provided that -: iy change is made only after thorough investigation, there can » no objection to it, but the investigation must be thorough. Tho position of the small sho;'.eeper naturally ai uses sympathy; but it would be a mistake to give expression to this sympathy in hasty action. Tho Shops and Offices Act is not a simple piece of legislation, and it is further complicated by the operation of Arbitration Court .awards. Hasty amendments may easily led to unforeseen difficulties, and the imposition of penalties upon the trader who by his enterprise and business aoumen has built up a business so that he can employ assistants. There is this difficulty also: that if the distinction as regards closing hours is the simple one of employment of labour there is room for evasion by means of /'partnerships." That difficulty is not unknown, especially with non-Brit-ish traders. The lone shopkeeper also, whom it is intended to help, may be placed at a disadvantage in compare son with the man who has a family of assistants. Whore there is possibly some scope for action is in distinguishing between shops in' a city area and those in tho remote suburbs, where the residents only reach their homes after the local shops are closed. But even such a distinction as this would havo t( be conddered most carefully. .•■■ • * * America, according to the president of tho Hairdressers' Association, spent 390 million dollars laßt year in the search for beauty. The search was not exactly upon the lines of that which

inspired the ancient Greeks. This huge amount was spent by women and children (we have no account of the outlay by men) in an endeavour to make themselves beautiful. With great tact the president spoke of it as an effort to increase beauty; so we may assume that the principal clients of the beauty, parlours are not those whose utter lack of all comeliness has driven them to desperate measures, but those who, hay-: ing a reasonable capital in a fair face, are anxious to improve their fortune. They hope that by taking thought in thirty thousand beanty parlours they may figuratively add a cubit to their stature, and shame those human lilies of the field who expect perfection without striving for it. An interesting question, however, arises. The artist who paints pictures or works in marble has the honour of praise for that which he has fashioned. Is it fair that similar honour should be denied to those who work so patiently upon, human and less tractable material, and that all the glory should go to the person who has merely furnished the rough material? .Should some suitable acknowledgment not be made: "Hair by Marcel, complexion by Pittsburg Patent Process?" At present there is a mere monetary, recognition which is not everything, even in America. The hairdressing president's statement of costs, however, furnishes a possible explanation of the popularity of beauty contests in the States. When it costs 390 million dollars to make the women beautiful the results, must not be hidden. But is it altogether wise to advertise the cost? It rather suggests that the work is difficult and even unpleasant, and must be well paid. • • • Worthy motives undoubtedly actuated Mr. Salek when he proposed that the appointment of Justices of the Peace should be undertaken by a board comprising a Magistrate, a police officer, and three Justices. In the past the credit of the Justices in the eyes of the public has certainly suffered because of a suspicion, however ill-found-ed, that appointment was sometimes a reward for political support. Mr. Salek wishes to remove even this suspicion by placing the responsibility for appointment upon a non-political body. One difficulty that arises is that the Government of the Day is responsible for the appointment of the Judiciary; and cannot delegate that responsibility. In America, where a ■ different system operates, 1 the results are admitted to be much less satisfactory; and it would certainly be • anomalous to take away from a Government which has the power to appoint' a Judge the right to' select Justices of the. Peace. Possibly, however, the end which Mr. Salek seeks might be attained in a simpler way.The Minister of Justice cannot know who is who in the suggested appoint-' ments from North Cape to the Bluff, so he obtains reports from the local Magistrates and police. If the local -Mayor were also consulted the Minister, would be further relieved of the onerous task of investigation.