TOPICS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 22, 26 January 1929, Page 8

TOPICS OF THE DAY

In giving his verdict on the Elsie Walker'inquest the Coroner commented adversely upon police conduct of the case in its early stages. The remarks, coming from a Magistrate of wide experience, must receive attention, an,d wo do not wish- to anticipate tho departmental inquiry which is sure to follow. There is, however, a general aspect of tho issue to- be considered apart from the,particular aspect of the Walker ease. More and more civilduties are being placed upon the police. Like the Post Office,'the Police Department .undertakes many and various tasks. The district,constable, especially,, has usually much more to do with such civil or ,semi-civil.inquiries and reports than with straight-out crime. Naturally this is so in a, country which is notably law-abiding. One consequence is that there is not a great scope,for training in criminal investigation. These conditions, however, aro not new. Now Zealand has never offered a wide field for such study and experience. Yet when crimes have occurred the cases have been capably, promptly, and successfully handled. This should not be forgotten; nor should one or two unfortunate failures call, forth a sweeping condemnation. It may, however, be necessary to make some alterations to meet altered circumstances, and to plaeo criminal eases more promptly in tlio hands of the officers specially trained and experienced in this .work. The principle of such a system is now accepted, and it will probably be found on inquiry that occasional failure in its operation is duo to causes which cannot always be v foreseen. Criminal investigation is only a part of the work of the Police Department, and it would bo foolish to select and train the whole Force with a view merely to' the efficient performance of that-single duty. All that is necessary is to see that sufficient members of tho Force are trained and. efficient in that duty, and that their services are available and promptly . accoptcd in cases calling for-their attention. '

•Protection for primary industrios is now well established in two soparate fields. It begins in tho form of a. Customs; duty imposed on imported produce, for the purposo of giving protection to tho native article in its'homo market. Production, fed, upon protection, flourishes until a point is reached at which the output is more than tho homo market can absorb —or, to put the position moro correctly and significantly, more than tho homo market can absorb at prices deemed to bo fair by the growers of the produce. Then follows a demand for organised export, in order that homo prices may bo maintained; and if the demand stops at export organisation—tho stage now being grappled with by egg, producers—thore is not much to bo said. But in Australia they havo established various forms of export bonus, somo of them paid directly by tho Cfovernment, and somo of them raised by the action of tlio interested industry (dairying is a caso in point) through control of homo and export; supplies. In either caso the homo taxpayer or tho home consumer pays. These methods of subsidising export have resulted, especially in the Australian dried fruits trade,, in aston-

ishing gaps between the prices paid for tho produco by the oversea consumer and. by the homo consumer, tho latter of whom has to open his pocket in order to,allow tho producer to sell oversea at what is (on present producing costs) ,a ( - losing prico.

Into this second field of protection— which may bo called tho subsidising 'of exports, to distinguish it from the older practice of penalising imports through tho Customs tariff—more and moro of the products of tho primary producer tend to enter. Somo timo ago tho position of thu ' Australian dried and canned fruit trades was roviewed in tho "Evening Post," which at tho samo time quoted Professor Giblin as contending that artificiallyoncouraged exportable surpluses tend to grow until the burden of subsidising them may become too heavy for the homo population. "Even with wheat, where exports are three or four times tho homo consumption, wo may quite well (wrote Professor Giblin) have to face a proposal to put 2s per bushel on tho Australian prico in order to add 5d or Gd to the avorage return received by the wheat-grower." At *tho timo, it might have seemed-extravagant to suggest, that'such a staple as" wheat should become aligned with dried fruits in the new artificiality created by the subsidising of exports. But that more than a fear.persists is clearly indicated by a remark of the commercial writer of tho "Argus" (Bth January) that "there would bo great causo for regret if wheat growers wero to -experience; similar conditions to thoso which have had to bo faced 'by, producers of dried fruits and sugar, where uneconomic methods were adopted to help tlio industries out of their troubles."-It seems likely that there is firo behind this smoke. Statistical evidence- is adduced to suggest that tho world's wheat at present exceeds requirements.

To what degree will the loss of three Tests in succession open 'tho Australian Eleven to the claims of youth? Conservatism can hardly be said to* have made any concession when it admits Bradman, because .Bradman was and • is inevitable; and though Jackson also is allowed now to knock at tho door, his admittaneo is-still uncertain. With the loss' of the rubber, much of the excuse for sticking to the old brigade has disappeared, but there are, still people who are desperately anxious to prevent England from repeating Armstrong's feat of whining five Tests in a season, and who would sooner resurrect Macartney in a desperate.defensive action today than- dig up new men for a forward movement in the 'thirties. Meanwhile, Bradman remains a magnificent advertisement for tho moral -.and material advantages attending a consistent cultivation of the young idea. 1 To steal ft theological figure of spech previously appropriated •to cricket by "Plum" Warner, Bradman goes on from strength to strength, and his 340 not out almost out-Ponsfords Ponsford. This extraordinary, young man is charged with/— and admits —having no nerves, and good judges want him not only to bo in the Tost Eleven but to bo opening batsmen-with Woodfull. As he developed uncoached, batting and fielding must havo ' been born in him. '' Tho greatest Australian cricket find for years." is the general dictum. Even greater is the need of a fast bowler, and this is an article certainly to be looked for -in the youthful ranks. But scrapping needs courage, and it is not certain that Australian cricket even now possesses an Admiral Fisher.