TOPICS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 126, 1 June 1927, Page 8

TOPICS OF THE DAY

"There i;i only one way to make money cheap and that is to save it," said the Minister of Agriculture in commending the issue of Rural Credit bonds to investors and farmers. Mr. Hawken anticipates that the issue of such bonds will be an incentive to saving, and no doubt he is right. The small investor looks for some security which will return a fair rate of interest with no risk. He does not desire stocks which are liable to fluctuations in value and therefore have to be watched. Usually, having put his money into an investment, he is content to leave it there, without bothering whether an extra half per cent; can be gained by a sale. Above all, the small man favours a simple form of investment without broking transactions for which he has to engage the services of a third party. The popularity of certain municipal and Government bond issues has been due in a measure to the simplicity of the transactions—easy •' sale-over-the-counter methods. If the Rural Credit bonds are placed on sale at convenient points, and an assurance given of the soundness of the security, there should be little difficulty in attracting investors. To some extent the money will be obtained at the expense of other forms of investment; but a proportion at least should be new money, from additional savings. Various authorities have estimated the amount of capital to be obtained in New Zealand if an additional incentive to .saving could be given. The issue of Eural Credit bonds may help to provide that incentive. * • • When the bitumen strip was first laid on the Huttr'oad it was thought that; the width provided would be amply sufficiont for all traffic demandß. The pro- i vision of good roads here, as elsewhere, however, has so popularised motoring for business and pleasure that the. 1 paved road must sh6rtly be widened if it is not to become dangerous. If all motor traffic kept a uniform sped the two-way track would be sufficient, but all drivers are not of the same mind. Some stick to the maximum, somo exceed it, and some drop five or ten miles an hour below the permitted speed. Thoso that exceed the rate can be dealt with; but there is no penalty for tho motorist who chooses to maintain a speed' of less than 30 miles an hour. In any circumstances some commercial vehicles must necessarily travel at a lower speed. It is necessary, therefore, to make provision for passing, and it is the passing which creates the danger with the existing roadwidth. There is, however, a difficulty. If the bitumen is greatly widened tho macadam width must bo reduced, with tho risk of forcing slow horse-drawn traffic on, to the permanent paving. Horse-drivers observe the bylaw which keeps them to the macadam, as the hard smooth bitumen even on the level is not suitable for horses; but if they have no space at the sides they may cross on to the motor-track. At all costs this must be avoided, for slow horse-traffic mixed with fast-moving motors would constitute a much greater danger than, exists under present conditions, i • • • . . ■ There are some points to which New Zealand may pay attention in a Wild Birds Protection Bill recently road a second time by the British House of Commons. Its main- purpose is to simplify the existing complicated legislation and to make wild bird protection workable. Recognising that the food of birds varies greatly at different times and places, the Bill provides that protection may be given in some districts and not in others. Advisory committees are to be set up to supply expert assistance in thus regulating protection and in -guarding equally against the protection of pests and against slaughter on an unwarranted plea of nuisance. Most interesting, however, of the provisions in the Bill are those dealing with collectors. The Bill strengthens the law.for the suppression of these people, whom "The Times" condemned as "the most inveterate because the most conscious and deliberate oppressors of our rarest species." The penalty for possessing skins or eggs of protected birds is increased, and taxidermists aro brought under closer control so as to aid in tracing offences. There are some people in New Zealand who belittle bird protection, and, in the name of "sport," sneer at it. They will be surprised to l&arn that this British Bill, on its second reading, was opposed by only two members, and the leader of the opposition -vas tho Socialist, Mr. Maxton, who condemned the measure on Marxian principles. Its protection of bird aristocrats and its neglect of the bird proletarian he considered to be the essence of class legislation. ' ' . • ■ • * It has been urged from time to time that unemployment difficulties should not be dealt with from a political party standpoint. This appeal is now strongly .emphasised by the Mayor of Christchurch, who speaks with authority from his experience in attempting to deal with the problem. It is not an issne

in which tho responsibility can be placed wholly upon one section of the community while the rest sit back and criticise. AH must work together to devise remedial measures and put them into operation. This means co-opera-tion, not antagonism, and co-operation is impossible if tho atmosphere is heated with arguments concerning who is at fault. The present need of the unemployed is work; and those in the greatest necessity are not helped by proofs of somebody's negligence or culpability. The greatest friends of the workless are those who find them work.