NEWS OF THE DAY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20507, 18 March 1941, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

Salaries of Nurses. Notice of motion has been given by Mr. D. W. Coleman, M.P., that at next week’s meeting of the Cook Hospital Board be will move that all members of the nursing staff be granted 5 per cent increase in their wages or salary, as a cost of living bonus, similar to that made by the Arbitration Court to all workers employed under awards.

Married —and Still Lecturing! A visitor to the Gisborne Rotary Club’s luncheon yesterday, Mr. R, M. Algie, gave the customary details of his association with Rotary in another centre, and mentioned that his classification was “lecturing.” At a later stage of the meeting, when he was addressing the club on democracy’s perils, Mr. Algie remarked that his classification might have aroused some curiosity. It had been selected for him by his own club after he had given up that of law teaching, he said. “It is something to say that one is married—and stilUecturing,” he added with a smile. Difficult Leadership A topical note with which Mr. R. M. Algie increased the interest of his address at the Gisborne Rotary Club luncheon gathering yesterday had reference to the difficulties facing a leader of a democratic nation. He held that a dictatorship was easy by comparison, for the dictator accepted responsibility for decisions, and had the force wherewith to back them up. A leader in a democracy, such as President Roosevelt, accepted the responsibility of leadership, but must await the command of his electorate before taking action. His position was made the more difficult if the public refused to think out its problems, and delayed its commands through its own indecision. Jack’s Not as Good “We have a habit of saying here that Jack is as good as his master. We know that that is false, and that all men are not of equal value. Who would claim equality, for instance, with Shakespeare, with Scott, with Shackleton? Who would want to claim it with Charles 11, with Major Quisling, or the coster with his barrow?” said Mr. R. M. Algie, in his address to the Gisborne Rotary Club yesterday. “Can we not look at these matters from the spiritual angle. Wo know that there is a higher power. We give tardy recognition to that fact, but we come up against it now and again. They felt it at Dunkirk. They felt it at Mons, and when Shackleton was fighting his way across South Georgia, in the Antarctic knowing that the fate of 30 or 40 people depended on his getting through, he felt it too. If we lived in compliance with that power as it is manifested to us, two-thirds of this mealy-mouthed political trash would be unnesessary.”

St. John Mounted Auxiliary Members of the St. John Ambulance Mounted Auxiliary yesterday commenced a further period of intensive training in first aid and camping at the Gisborne showgrounds. 'Die course will continue until Friday, March 28, and lectures, demonstrations and general instruction will fill the period.

llangaroa and Gisborne Rainfall Rain has been falling at Hangaroa for the past three days and yesterday was particularly heavy. For the 24 hours ended at 9 a.m. to-day the fall was 3.17 in. This, together with that recorded on the two previous days, brings the total for the three days to 4.54 in. In the same period 1.55 in. has been recorded at the meteorological station at Darton Field, Gisborne. Yesterday’s fall was 1.03 in. at the aerodrome and 1.38 in. at the signal station.

Wairoa River Mouth Nearly Closed

Owing to the state of the mouth of the Wairoa River, which is nearly closed, the Mayor, Mr. If. L. Harker, and the Deputy-Mayor, Mr. M. J. Gemmell, communicated yesterday morning with Mr. A. Dinnie, district engineer, Public Works Department, Napier, who arrived at Wairoa later in the day by railcar. Mr. Dinnie inspected the mouth of the river, with the intention of taking immediate action if possible.—Special.

The Many and the Few Mr. Winston Churchill’s inspired tribute to the men of the air force, “Never have so many owed so much to so few,” has suggested <o an Eng lish writer three variations of the theme, which he attaches appropnately to other leaders. For Hitler the word is, “Never have so few taken so much from so many,’ for the later General Metaxas, of Greece, “Never have so few pursued so many so far,” and for Mussolini, “Never have so many run so fast from so few.” Roads in Good Order Yesterday’s rain was not sufficient to interfere with traffic m 1 lie main highways leading from Gisborne, and the Automobile Association’s ;esident patrol, Mr. G. V. Merton, stated today that no trouble was experienced. Some of the streams rose i little ; t the northern end of the Coast, but there was no dislocation of traffic. Late yesterday afternoon a car was reported to have made the trip along the Opotiki-Hicks Bay section of the road. Paspalum in Hamilton Reporting to the Hamilton Borough Council, the engineer, Mr. R. Worley, said that great difficulty was being experienced by the council in suppressing the abnormal growth of pas■palum in Hamilton streets. Mr. Worley added that the paspalum emitted a substance which was injurious to clothing. He asked the council for suggestions as to how the weed could be controlled, stating that it grew very quickly after it had been cut. The matter was referred to a committee for consideration. Late Plum Crop Although plums in most orchards in the Gisborne district are now finished, there is an extraordinarily late crop that will not be ready until the end of the month. This is the George Wilson plum, which is practically immune from brown rot, grows well on the heavier Gisborne soils, and is a prolific cropper. The flesh, a deep red, very much like that of the Satsuma, has excellent eating and preserving qualities, and the fruit will keep some weeks after picking without any tendency to shrivel. A specimen a reporter tasted to-day had been off the tree for more than 10 days. These plums are such good croppers that the limbs at present are propped up to prevent the branches from breaking under the weight. If reasonably thinned, the fruit grows to the size of a small egg. Service With Territorials New regulations issued by the National Service Department affect the obligations of balloted men who have appeared before medical hoards and who have been graded IA and 11. Under the new regulations, these men may be called upon to serve with the Territorial forces, and proceed to camp for intensive training, if the medical boards, upon reexamination, are satisfied that the training will not be beyond their physical capacity. A substantial proportion of the men who have been boarded in Gisborne may be affected by this arrangement, which apparently is prompted by the expectation that the present strength of Territorial units will be affected by the demands of overseas service on men of the military age groups.

“What Is In It For Me?” A striking feature of the public attitude towards the principles of government was the tendency to avoid the question of whether an enactment was right or wrong, and to concentrate on the question: “What is there in it for me?” stated Mr. R. M. Algie, speaking yesterday to Gisborne Rotarians. He mentioned that recently he had discussed State expenditure with a businessman who had agreed that at the present rate the country would encounter catastrophe; but who also said that he was not worrying. His attitude was that what was left of prosperity in the country would “see him out.” Mr. Algie asked his audience to consider what would be the position to-day if America had taken the same attitude as to the international position. What if the United States had refused help, on the grounds that it could get along even if the sister democracies were defeated in the war with the totalitarians?

Hopeful Neutrals “During the past few months we have seen several European countries over-run by Germany. Each of these countries had believed that it could remain neutral, and appeared to think that it would be the last to be devoured as long as it could still throw something to the alligator,” said Mr. R M. Algie, addressing the Gisborne Rotary Club yesterday. "If they had said: ‘Touch one and you touch all!’, then Hitler would have proved the physical coward I believe him to be.” What was true of international politics, he continued, was true also of national politics. There was in the community a tendency to adopt a neutral attitude in politics, each one hoping that he would be the last to be devoured. “We have been watching one profession in this country put upon the rack of a political philosophy, and we are not doing anything to help It is a fundamental principle of democracy that a minority may not be enslaved for the benefit of a majority,” he added.