Greymouth Evening Star. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1942. THE NEW ACTS.

Greymouth Evening Star, 22 October 1942, Page 4

Greymouth Evening Star. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1942. THE NEW ACTS.

•THE present gathering' of Parliament practically concludes to-day, when a secret session is to be held, mainly to discuss manpower. This is a topic arousing considerable interest owing to the drain on industries by the needs of the Forces. The shortage of labour is having dire effects, and in this fact is the only extenuation for Iho 'lenient attitude concerning appeals being shown by some Armed Forces Appeal Hoards. Major-Gen-eral Puttick. who, incidentally, is to be thanked for his instructive review on the Army, slated that over ten thousand men have been withdrawn from the Army, many not having completed their military training. Somebody has blundered in not having framed earlier a clear policy regarding calls-up and exemptions. Nothing drastic is wist* until after the Solomons issue has been decided, but once the safety margin is greater, the whole Question should be early re-examined, with the aim of minimising waste in effort and expend'd lire.

Following the somewhat hoatecl exchanges on the Opposition no-confidence motion, the House settled down to business in more friendly mood. Two bills were passed without serious opposition, and the people will endorse their representatives’ attitude. The right of women to sit on juries, if they so desire, cannot be gainsaid. Men have not been so perfect in their decisions, as to warrant the estimate that the jury system will deteriorate because of the inclusion of women. The other bill unanimously approved in the House was that dealing with the control of advertising of patent medicines. That some of this publicity handles the truth carelessly cannot be denied, and the ailing need protection against those taking advantage of their relative desperation. In theory, the new Act should prove beneficial to all but the unscrupulous, but in practice the result may not be so happw

Il is astonishing that there is so much ill-health in the Dominion, seeing the number of remedies on sale for every disease, and it is even more astounding to the initiated that people can be found to acclaim the merits of some of the alleged cure-alls. If a patent medicine does not relieve, all the advertising in the world will not maintain sales, and, therefore, the advertisers would soon have to cease operations. The patent medicine industry has urown to mammoth proportions. Ji or example, one of the best-known pills in the world, was first sold in the Wigan streets one hundred years ago. To-day, the business shows annual trading profits exceeding one million pounds, after paying taxation of even a greater sum. Of course, many other commodities are now sold by the combine concerned, and the increasing sales pf these goods suggest the purchasers are satisfied. There is some touch of faith-cure in the taking of patent medicines, but. on the whole, remarkable progress has been made by research chemists and others, in placing at human disposal, facilities for relieving pain and discomfort. that former generations had to accept as inevitable.