The Matamata Record (Published Monday and Thursday) THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 1936. OTHER PAPERS OPINIONS WHAT TO DO WITH LEISURE

Matamata Record, Volume XIX, Issue 1742, 25 June 1936, Page 4

The Matamata Record (Published Monday and Thursday) THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 1936. OTHER PAPERS OPINIONS WHAT TO DO WITH LEISURE

With the proposed introduction of the shorter working week into industry people are asked to consider how they are going to spend their in-, creased leisure. The Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr. W. E. Parry, surveying what in its way is quite a problem, makes some interesting suggestions by way of guidance. After pointing out that the tendency of mechanised mass production is to make people “ mass-minded," he urges, as a corrective, forms of recreation which “ encourage the greatest measure of personal initiative and creative ability.” Thus, if during the working week, under modem conditions of accelerated tempo, man is apt to become the slave of the machine, he will, in his longer leisure, be able to regain his freedom as an individual, and industry, according to Mr. Parry, will benefit by the revival of spontaneity and craftsmanship. That of course depends on how the leisure is used. If the transition is from mechanised work to mechanised recreation it may well be, as Mr. Parry hints, “ at the expense of the physique and health of our people." The old saying “ It is the pace that kills ” is as true to-day as ever it was, and if there is to be no relaxation in the tempo of modem life in this new freedom then the gift of more leisure may turn out a delusion and the last state' be worse than the first. *x ,x Ppst.