CASUAL NOTES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 303, 20 November 1936, Page 2

CASUAL NOTES

GOVERNMENT HOUSE BUILDING. (By “The Watcher.”) This is one of the great Socialist undertakings of the Government, and it is gradually getting under way. A huge sum of money is involved, and a big staff of experts (architects, etc.) are already employed. Some hundreds of designs of houses are already prepared, but beyond starting the erection of two huge joinery factories at Wellington and Auckland, nothing outstanding has been done. It is presumed that the selection and purchase of blocks of land suitable is under way, so that in the early future things may take on a workmanlike shape. The Wellington Builders’ Association ha.ve passed a series of critical resolutions, in which they bring practical knowledge and experience to bear on the subject. Why the Government should confine their own efforts to joinery is a surprise to all who have any knowledge of building houses. The' windows and doors are only a small part' of the whole. Another feature that is objected to is that the Government intend to invite tenders for building multiples of twenty houses. One or two of the big firms may secure. orders for up . to a hundred houses, and with all the capital for mass production on a large scale would be able to outbid smaller men who could do blocks of five. or ten houses. Surely the policy should be to spread the work over as. many firms, large and small, as is possible. The crux of tho matter will be the collection of the rents. The tenants will have no interest in the property, and therefore no inducement, such as an owner has, in keening the place in good condition. What about that phase? When a man gets behind a month or two in his rent, he may (judging from past experience) leave the place and the State landlord lamenting. Assuming the cost of the house and land at, say, £OOO, the interest as rent would be at 4 per cent., £24 per year, but there is tile sinking fund and depreciation on. the property, say, another £l2 per year; total £36, approximately 14s per week. A cheap 4 or 5-roomed house, no doubt, but there are tenants and tenants, and surely it would be better to enlarge and expand the workers’ duelling method, and endeavour to deal with the houses as properties to be sold by the State to the occupiers. Over 22,060 advances to workers have been made at a cost of nearly £14,000,000, and though the arrears of both interest and capital are large the system was a.nd is a good one. Above all it makes a man independent. He lives in his own home, that is a British principle that should be encouraged. Meantime, what about the hundreds of worthy colonists who have built homes to let? And what about hundreds of others who would be prepared to build for letting but will now hold their hand for fear of coming into conflict with a Government Department? ANOTHER FLIGHT. Following on Miss Jean Batten’s great adventure, another solo flight Jtroin England to New Zealand has been made, this time by a young Canterbury sheepfarmer, Mr L. E. Clark, of Waikari, North Canterbury. He is very offhand and matter-of-ract; says lie came out “to look after his shearing,” and so on. He left England on Monday, October 26, and, following Miss Batten’s course, reached Australia on November 5 (9J days), and Sydney oil November 8. lor an amateur this is quite good going. Resting fed' a week in Sydney, and watching the weather signals, lie- began the Hop over the Tasman on Sunday morning in pitch dark. This was the worst part of the journey, as he had not done much blind flying. However, the sun rose as usual, but instead of having a failwind, as expected, he had head and side winds all the way and altered his altitude from 6000 ft to 200 ft above the water looking for easy currents of air. Though not a trained navigator like Miss Batten, he has an uncanny gift for direction. She steered for Mount Egmont. but could not see it for cloud, and found herself over New Tiymouth. He steered for the northernmost point of the South Island and found himself over Cape Farewell. Thence on to Blenheim, and a cup of tea, after which off to Christchurch, which was reached about 8.30 (in the dark), and he was welcomed by an enthusiastic crowd of twenty or thirty thousand people at Wigram aerodrome. Amongst the speakers was Lady Wigram, whose deceased husband did so much for aviation in the Dominion and especially at Christchurch. Mr Clark is a son of Mr Leonard Clark and a grandson of Mr Charles Clark, one' of the pioneers of Canterbury. He thus comes of good stock, and we may express the hope that his * sheep will shear well, and the wool bring tophole prices. . Now to the mam point. These two solo flights—one by a girl, the other by a young man 29 years of age with but little experience—have shown that there is a good deal of “bogey” about the Tasman. No doubt it can howl and blow there, as it can anywhere on land or sea, but it is erpssable and navigable and there is ho reason why Imperial Airways should not give us at any rate a mail service practically at once with the Mother Country and the world in general. Australia has that already, and ordinarily it means a day s extension. We look to Messrs Nash and Jordan to point out these facts to the London authorities. < JEW AND ARAB.

In, a recent issue I drew attention to the supreme danger of the clash between Arabs and Jews in Palestine developing into a feud between England and the Mahometan races. The more the struggle going on is looked into the greater does this danger appear. It is certain that the fact that Palestine was already and had been for hundreds of years in possession of Arabs, who had actually been our allies in the Great War. has been forgotten. Still the fact remains that Lord Balfour declared it was to be the home of the Jews, and, as Zangwill said, “If that does not mean a Jewish State, what does it mean?” The Arabs are still 70 per cent, of the original population, and they fear that before long the immigration of Jews will turn a land which is their home into a Jewish State. They have sold large areas of their country to Jewish .organisations which have closely populated them, and now. do not. know-where to turn for land to occupy as a pastorab people moving their flocks and herds as the Patriarchs did from place to place. On April 19 .the Arabs went on strike and things have gone from bad to worse; so? mqch so that the British Government have, been forced to send troops to-maintain law and order, and a Royal Commission is about to make inquiry, I>ut refuses "to start until the Arabs 'call off the strike. The fact is that though the original idea was to make Palestine the home of the Jews, the idea .lias not caught on as perhaps first hoped it would. In