TOPICS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 7, 9 January 1930, Page 8

TOPICS OF THE DAY

From the time of his taking up the duties of Administrator up to the present Colonel Allen has been trying a policy of patience with the Mau. Supported by the Government of New Zealand, he has given every opportunity to the disaffected Samoans to make peace. In pursuance of this policy there has been a minimum enforcement of the law. Serious offenders against the criminal law have been dealt with, but there has been little or no attempt to compel qbedience to civil ordinances. The dash at Apia proved conclusively that this policy had not attained its objective. Men wanted on criminal charges had been given sanctuary by the Mau. This cannot longer be tolerated, and the firmer measures authorised by the Government are timely. A reconciliation cannot be forced, but the Samoans can be reminded that the Administration is firm as well! as patient. If the Mau leaders now come to their senses, there should be no further trouble in maintaining order, but if they continue obdurate and misguided, the authority of Government must be exercised. New Zealand people who have noted Colonel Allen's patience hitherto will be fully confident of his ability to carry out this duty with the least possible use of force. Nevertheless, the course of events will be watched with some anxiety, and it is for the Government here to recognise this by affording full information. A censorship may be desirable to check the dissemination of glaringly inaccurate propaganda, but it should not be used to delay the publication of facts.

Ajfter a short life in which risktaking was prominent, Captain Grosvenor died at the age of twenty-five in an as yet unexplained aeroplane crash into Port Phillip, near Point Cook,' the R.A.A.F.'s headquarters. He was an adventurous aristocrat born a,, few years too late for. the Great War, which (had he been aged seventeen instead of ten when • it started) would either have destroyed or made him. He is truly acclaimed as illustrating the post-war continuity of that virility of which both the British nobility and the British race may be proud. The man who finds a certain fascination in facing danger is an asset to any country and any race. He is not the whole team —and the whole team never will be such as he—but he is a useful leader, "a daring pilot in extremity." One sample of him is found in Africa killing big game with bow and arrow, and, incidentally, providing a new angle of vision upon those game-hunters who use motor-cars and machine-guns. The thirst for dangerous sport, so long as it is sport, is an ingredient in the making of a race,' and the high spirit behind it can always be turned to useful account in more serious business. And, after all, there is no more serious business than flight. In what adventure can life be spent better than in trying to show a non-flying country how to fly? The Grosvenor spirit is evidence that where one fails there are many to take his place. It was so when world-navigation began. Kipling has written that

If blood be tho price of Admiralty, Lord God, we have paid in full. The price of Admiralty of the air is being paid. A disciplined spirit of adventure is a factor that cannot be done without.

When the "Yorkshire Observer" published G. P. Townend's proposal to sell Australia it displayed lamentable lack of enterprise. It should not have considered America as the only buyer, but should have investigated what other offers might be forthcoming. Signor Mussolini might have been approached, but he would have had to be warned that in buying the Commonwealth he must lake also Mr. W. M. Hughes, who had his own ambitions to political dictatorship. Or the territory might have been offered to Russia, with a warning that it could not be taken back if its budding Communists became a nuisance to the Soviet. Henry Ford might have been induced to buy by the representation that this was a most promising field for industrial experiments. But in any transaction it would be necessary to include provision freeing Great Britain from responsibility for delivery. The buyer, would require to make his own arrangements for taking possession. This' is necessary, fpr many politicians tried to buy Australia and have discovered too late that they themselves have been sold. But it would certainly.add zest to the periodical political auction if outsiders were allowed to bid.

British Government participation in the Schneider Cup race haa been discontinued mainly on the score of expense. The cost of designing new

machines and preparing for the race is very heavy; but it is not useless expenditure. British , prestige has been maintained and Valuable experience has been gained in the design and use of service aircraft. A British Official Wireless message yesterday staled that the new service machines introduced into the Royal Air Force were the direct result of experience gained in the Schneider Trophy competitions. Of course, the machines and engines designed for the race are unsuitable for every-day use. The designer seeks speed, and other requirements are subordinated. For example, the life of the engines of speed craft is extremely short. When Squadron-Leader Orlebar made his second attempt on the speed record he had a new engine in his 'plane. The one which had been used in the competition was counted worn out for maximum speed. But in the perfection of details for competition craft, lessons are learned which can be applied in modified form to daily practice. The stream-lining which has been developed to a high pitch of perfection in the design of racing 'planes and cars can be embodied in modified form in service machines. The impetus given to invention and investigation by competition for a coveted title is not wasted. It is certainly less expensive than the impetus given by war necessity.