CASUAL NOTES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 25, 30 December 1936, Page 6

CASUAL NOTES

(By “The Watcher.”)

EXIT 1936; ENTER 1937

We are about to pass from Anno Domini 1936 to 1937, and the occasion opens the way lor a brief review of tiie year just closing and some anticipations of what the New Year is likely to bring to us. ' As citizens of the • greatest Empire the world has ever seen, our first interest is the dramatic abdication of the British Throne by Edward VIII and the succession of his brother, the Duke of York, as George VI. Happily, owing to the solidity and commonsense of British people throughout the world the change was' made without any evil consequences. There will be no civil war between contending parties; no civil war such as the long-sustained conflict between the Houses of York and Lancaster. The Empire has settled down to the change. Everything is going on as usual. The fixed date for the Coronation remains static. And the primal fact remains that we shall have a ICing and Queen of whom we can all be proud, and who will carry on as joint mouarchs the best traditions of King George V and his beloved Queen Mary. l ( or all of which we may be profoundly thankful. The splenet.ic telegram sent by Mr Lloyd George to the late King may be passed over in silence as the effusion of a man who dearly loves the limelight, but it will have no lasting effect. Another thing for which we may be. most thankful is that peace has been preserved during the year, except in the case of the Italo-Abyssinian affair. That has practically settled down already. Whether Signor Mussolini will find as the years go on that his victory in endeavouring to create ail Italian colonial empire in Abyssinia has been worth tbe cost entailed in blood and money remains to be seen. So far, at any rate, none of the other Great Powers have been involved in a bilateral dispute which under some circumstances might have involved a general European war. Tbe general policy of the British Government has been to avoid war, and in this line they have the united support of all. the Dominions, which are now treated as constituent members of the United Empire Government. This is a tremendous advance. It means that the Empire now speaks with one voice, and whilst this involves certain financial and other responsibilities, these are part of the price we have to pay for the union of forces we secure as members of the Commonwealth of British Nations.

A third point to which reference may be made is that the long and severe depression upon which tli£ world entered at the close of 1929 has endedat any rate so far as Great Britain and her satellite States are concerned. The Mother Country has in a wonderful manner restored herself, both financially, commercially and industrially. We "have turned the corner and have quitted the Slough of Depression for the firm streets of Confidence and Hope. At Home unemployment lias been greatly reduced, work in all departments is widespread; and this means to us surer markets at good prices for the produce we send, and which is the lifeblood of New Zealand s existence as a civilised country. This is already reflected in our trade returns, both of imports and exports, and will become increasingly manifestin the years to come. NEW ZEALAND’S 1936.

Coming to our own country, Hie year has been full of interest to all classes of the community. First, we have had the change of Government. The first Labour Ministry was installed, and it has accomplished a great deal during the twelve months. It set itself out to be as different as possible from any Government that had preceded it, especially during the thirty years or so since the death of Richard John Seddon. Its policy may be summarised in one word, Socialism, but there are many brands of that ilk, and it would perhaps be better to say the Savage policy is Socialism mixed with as much commonsense a? possible. The Reserve Bank has been made a State Bank, and is now being heavily drawn upon to finance various Government undertakings. Its note issue is now over £13.000,000 and it is providing all the money required for the 20,000 men now employed on railways and in other ways al high wages All cuts in wages and salaries have been abolished and they are back to full, as they were before the depression. All pensions have been increased, and the Department of Education is again in full blast in all directions. Altogether the policy may bo summed up in one word—Spend! This of course sets vast sum« of money moving, in addition to which other planks of the policy bring money into circulation. The dairy farmer gets his guaranteed price, and not only that but he. gets if directly his butter or cheese is shipped, instead of waiting until it is sold in London, or in the alternative borrowing “in advance,” and having to pay interest on the debt. In one respect the Minister of Transport, Mr Semple, lias earned general praise--we mean for bis “safety” efforts in the matter of motor car accidents. The pressure he is exerting in this will be bound to tell in time, and we may hope to see our loads safer in tlie near future.

Of course a great deal will depend on how things turn out. At present all State revenues arc rising, but it is doubtful if they are sufficiently higher to pay the increased expenditure. That is a point that only time will show—perhaps two or three years. Meantime, the immediate prospect is good, for our butter is selling in London at nearly the guaranteed price, cheese is better still, wool has nearly become a record this year, and lamb and mutton are selling at very profitable prices. Internally, a great housing scheme is being launched which will provide full employment for vears to craftsmen in the building trade and the industries behind them, and it is an axiom of business that when the building trade is busy everyone is doing well. I am therefore able to predict and hope for a Happy New Year for New Zealand. TENNYSON’S “WILD BELLS.”

Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate of his day, wrote his “Ring Out, Wild Bells,” under British conditions of snow, and hail, and frost. Boimr at the Antipodes our Christmas and New Year conditions are the opposite. This year the weather furies have been let loose upon us, and w'e have had a mixture of summer and winter. But I cannot close without reprinting Alfred Tennyson’s great poem, not for the weather references, but' for its intrinsic worth—its high moral tone, its vast human sweep, and its noble sonority of language and sentiment. RING OUT, WILD BELLS.

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, The flying cloud, the frosty light': The year is dying in the night; Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. Ring out ths old, ring in the new. Ring, happy bells, across the snon : : The year is going, lot him go; Ring out the false, ring in the truo.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind, For those that here we see no more ; Ring out the feud of rich and poor, Ring in redress to all mankind. Ring out a slowly dying cause, And ancient fonns ot party strife; Ring in the nobler modes of life, With sweeter manners, purer laws. Ring out the want, the care, the sill, The faithless coldness of the times, Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes, But ring the fuller minstrel in. Ring out false pride in place and blood, The civic slander and the spite; Ring in the love of truth and right, Ring in the common love of goodRing but old shapes of foul disease, Ring out the narrowing lust of gold, Ring out the thousand wars of old. Ring in the thousand years of peace. Ring in the valiant man and free, The larger heart, the kindlier hand ; Ring out the darkness of the land, Ring in the Christ that is to be-