NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 117, 19 May 1937, Page 10

NEWS OF THE DAY

Stud Inspection. - Next Saturday referees under the jurisdiction; of the Wellington Rugby Referees' Association will carry out their annual inspection of players' football boots, according to advice received by the Wellington Rugby Union last night. Players with boots illegally or dangerously studded will not be permitted to play. : . Bible Distribution Policy. \, "I am strongly opposed to the policy of sending the Bible indiscriminately round the world," said Bishop Cherrington at the Waikato diocesan conference of the Church of England Men's Society at Hamilton, when speaking on the subject of "the open Bible." The bishop said he thought the early New Zealand missionaries made a great mistake in presenting the Maoris with a complete translation of the Old and New Testaments, for the Bible, like any other book, required understanding, and understanding such as the early Maoris could not bring to the study. Auckland Government Buildings. The construction of the new block of Government buildings in Auckland on the site of the old Shortland Street Post Office is likely to commence within three or four months', according to a statem.nt' made at a business men's luncheon on Monday'by the Minister of Public Works, the Hon. R. Semple (states the "New Zealand Herald"). It will be a large, modern structure with frontages in Shortland Street, Fort Street, and Jean Batten Place, and will house many Government Departments which are.at present scattered in various parts of the city. The matter was raised by the Mayor (Sir Ernest Davis), who asked the Minister when the work would be commenced. After consulting with Mr. J, Wood, engineer-in-chief of the Public Works Department, Mr. Semple said the plans were completed, and it was expected to have the work in hand within three or four months. Transport Problem Solved. A radical method of solving the problem of co-ordination between road and rail traffic was suggested by Professor von.Zedlitz to a W.E.A. class last night. The solution was to make the railways free. It would be very hard to convince people of the advantage of that/ Every morning large numhers of motors were driven in from the Hutt to the' city, many of them having only one business man at the wheel. Perhaps only half of them had reason to travel by car. On the other hand, there; were two or three empty carriages ons every train. Free train travel would prevent ' this enormous waste, and we would incidentally be getting better use of the capital sunk in the railways. By giving substantial reductions in rail fares the Government had compromised between the present position and the suggested desideratum, v 'i ■ Communism in New Zealand. There was not the slightest danger of Communism in New Zealand—not that he meant Communism was dangerous at all—said Professor yon Zedlitz when speaking to a W.E.A. audience last night on "The Present Outlook in New Zealand." Communism originated in a child's revolt against the authority of the father, and when it grew up it revolted from the authority of the State. This was why in Russia, where family ties had been' so strong, and especially in Germany, where parental control had been remarkably severe, Communism had had such a vogue. After the war great numbers of Germans had become Communists. It had become practically impossible for Germans to agree with each other on politics. Hitler would give his head to have had such a loyal population as demonstrated here during the Coronation celebrations. Of course, people here talked of the indiscipline of other people's children, but the place of the parent in New Zealand was in many ways taken by the State, notably in providing free education. Naturally children would not revolt against that, and so New Zealanders grew up very obedient and amenable to authority.' They went to ,the Government ,for this, that, and the other. In his lecture he was trying to divine the future. He. could say, then, that unless there was a reaction the New Zesilanders would in time become like the Incas of Peru when they were first found by the Spaniards. A more minutely regulated and contented people than those Peruvians has never existed.