WHAT THE PAPERS SAY.
INDUSTRY AND DEPRESSION. In the face of a real financial collapse in London trades unionism in New Zealand would be no more able to hold its position than it could annex Siberia. This is not an argument against trades unionism, but one to show the necessity of wages resting in critical times on a firmer basis thai) public subscriptions and the good-will of the Government of the day. it docs this it will have to be " more .reasonable," and that in the end would be'of no value to the collective interest. Freedom to withhold labor except on certain terms can only be maintained by freedom to produce the means of living; and so long as the great bulk of wage-earners remain divorced from the soil, industry hero, as in Great Britain, -will be a mere weltering chaos—of hostility where there should be co-opera-tion, of recrimination where there should be agreement.—Wellington 'Times.' CIVIC RIGHTS • The depute between the Wellington City Council and the Wellington Gas Company is of more than mare local importance. Cleariy the duty of the Government is to look after the interests of the citizens rather than the interests of a private company, and we shall be sadly disappointed if Air Carroll persists in his determination to ignore the representations of the local authority. With such a precedent to encourage them, we might see half the gas companies in the country preparing to break up the public thoroughfares and to shift drains and water-pipes for their own profit, without taking any account of the convenience and comfort of the great mass of the people.—' LytteJton Times.' '- » UNEMPLOYMENT. The Government and public bodies should scrupulously avoid anything approaching to sweating their regular employees; nor does anyone propose that they should ta&e advantage of the present necessity to get work done at a starvation wage. Lui to stand out for the standard wage iix<\j during a time of prosperity is unjustifiable; and the very wild Socialistic talk of the leaders at the Dunedin meeting and elsewhere will do a good deal to alienate sympathy. , Already it is reported that clises have been known of men giving up permanent employment to take Government relief work; and in many country districts labor is still very scarce. To 'encourage men to expect, to have work provided for them in the towns at the highest rates of pay must aggravate industrial Jiliicnltics. and lessen the prosperity of the country.— 'Clutha Leader.' » THE LAND AGAIN. New Zealand stands to-day a sorry spectacle. J.ho men whom the people have chc-en to serve them have deserted them. The country in The tightest pinch it has had for nineteen years is blocked both from relieving iU immediate wants and from gt-ttmg to the root of this unemployed bu:-intos. So long as we have idle lands and idle workers we don't need moie than a little- application and common sense to right matters. Open up the empty land on a sound basic, and there will soon be work and pay for the men kicking their heels at the street corners.—The ' Citizen.' THE JAWBONE OF AN ASS. Wc may not want back the legislators of the oiden days, but, by comparison with the present Houses, they were giants in the political arena. Ii is not a question of whether a man is a Radical or a Liberal, but is he a wise and careful man. There has been neither wisdom nor carefulness in the administration of the affairs of the colony. Tha late Government and friends of the Government have stuffed the State service with unnecessary men, whose services they are now compelled to dispense with, making still worse conditions that are bad enough. If there is a Mr Wilson about he could appropriately " table" the jawbone of an ass in the Legislative Assembly of New Zealand, if noi as an evidence of our faculty for making a mess of things, at least a's a sort of heraldic design for the Dominion's next armorial bearings.—' North Otago Times.' THE BANK RETURNS. One of the most useful indications of the country's financial position is afforded by our periodical bank returns, and the figures for last quarter, which havo just been published, are on the whole distinctly encouraging. Generally speaking, wo may say that these statistics show conclusively that the recent financial crisis of which we hare heard so much has been handled capably and boldly by the bank:-.. The directors of our financial institutions recognised in time that they had advanced money so liberally tha> a sudden fall in prices and land valucj would be a very serious matter for them. They therefore determined to limit their advances and to call in all "short" money before the pinch came. Though the banks'.' customers have, no doubt, been inconvenienced by this change of policy, events have proved that the precautions taken were wise and timely, and the result in J checking reckless speculation and steady - I ing investment has certainly been beneilI cial to the whole countrv.—Auckland ' Star.' , » PHYSICAL CULTURE. The present system of physical drill in our schools has been asserted to be " comparatively worthies."." The description was. wo think, undeserved. The system might possibly be improved, but the cadets arc certainly a credit to it. and it is difficult to thuik that they are not all the better for it. What is wanted is some system by which chi'dren suffering from physical weaknesses or defects should havo such training as they need, that bv some arrangement their parents should be notified of the defects, and that as the boys jirow older they should conic under a system oi compulsory military training which would continue the benefits accruing from the t;ammg they received in their school days. New Zealanders should be the best representatives of the British race in the world They have everything in their favor in the way of climate, siirrorndings, and standard of living.—Christchurch 'Press.' BIBLE IN SCHOOLS The fact is that the tendency of the clergy to enter the political lists has weakened their authority in a sphere in which in former years they held undisputed sway. in some respects the influence they have exerted in theTftonomic and political arenas has been for the public benefit, but the tactics of the generals of the church militant have not always recommended themselves to the good sense of an educated democracy. The element of controversial bitterness has created inevitable resentment. It is this factor which has been largely instrumental in preventing a modus vivendi in regard to the Bible-in-schocls question. This issue may for tho present be regarded as quite outside the range of practicability. Wellington ' Times.'
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Evening Star, Issue 14118, 22 July 1909, Page 1
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1,112WHAT THE PAPERS SAY. Evening Star, Issue 14118, 22 July 1909, Page 1
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