The Watchtower

Northern Advocate, 4 December 1941, Page 8

The Watchtower

(By the “Sentinel”) The campaign in the Bay of Plenty by- ■ election is going to be short and sharp, as it has only been launched within the past day or two, and polling day is on ! December 13. Although it will not in the i least affect their preponderance of strength in the House, members of the Government must be awaiting the outcome with more than the usual interest. Retention of this rural electorate, in which all classes of farming are represented, would be a very satisfying victory for i the Government, but a reverse would in- : dicate that the trend away from the Government in country districts has not | yet been arrested. ■ In 1938, when the late Lieutenant Hultquist retained the seat for Labour by 169 votes, the issue was decided by absentee l 'votes, of which there were an extraordinary number—about 700, which is unusually high for a country electorate. Many of l these absentee votes were apparently | Public Works employees who "had resided 1 in the electorate up to two or three v/eeks before the poll. This time there are far fewer Public Works employees in the electorate. The vote —which ever way it goes—will represent the viewpoint of the Bay of Plenty population alone. Both candidates, it is interesting to note, have been successful in their private affairs. Mr. Sullivan, the National candidate, is a prosperous builder, and Mr. Mills, the Labour candidate, owns a chain of bakers’ shops in Gisborne. » $ * <: Curtin and Controversy Mr. J. Curtin Australian Prime Minister, has asked the Australian people not to raise such a controversial issue as conscription, on the grounds that this will cause disunity and “would not add a single man to the fighting forces.” It is curious, but rather characteristic of a certain type of politician, that lsr. Curtin should now be greatly concerned about the unity of the Australian people. Only a few weeks - ago, when trying to seize 1 the reins of government from Mr. Fadden, he was exploiting every controversial subject in sight. As to the other aspects of the question, it is difficult to see how anyone, except a politician concerned for his personal popularity and political security, could fail to recognise the manifest weaknesses of voluntary enlistment in a struggle of such magnitude as the present one. * :S Si! ?■ Breach of Discipline It is t 9 be noted that 3600 men and women employees of a famous North of England irojj, and steel works have unanimously decided to give up the whole four days of their Christmas holiday in order to maintain production at its present level. If this had occurred in New Zealand, their union would certainly have stepped in. A busy secretary or organiser would certainly have arrived on the scene in short order to ascertain whv this “victimisation” was taking place. Employer and employees would both have received a lecture on the imperative necessity of obsei’ving the terms of the award. In short, they would not have been able to do it. si: sis * sis Our Curious Climate The well-known peculiarities of our New Zealand climate seerq_to have been much in evidence during the past winter and spring. Nearly all the evidence tendered at the vegetable enquiry in Wellington bore witness to the ill effects of prolonged adverse weather on the activities of market gardeners. Yet away up on the East Coast, north of Gisborne, there was not one full day’s rain right through the winter, and already many of the creek-beds are dry. Last week, while Greymouth was having a flood, and Wellington was having a persistent drizzle, the Bay of Plenty was bathed in sunshine. On Friday, when floods caused a wash-out on the railway near Shannon, Rotorua was having a minor heatwave. It is a curious commentary on the requirements of modern life that today thousands of our people are herded in Wellington, where the climate is atrocious and real estate is • a fabulous price, while at Whakatane magnificent sunny sections, overlooking the Bay of Plenty coast, where fruit, flowers and vegetables grow in profusion, can be bought for £IOO. The Maoris were wise in their day and generation. They settled in the best parts of New Zealand, where life was easy and pleasant. The pakeha, who plants his home on inhospitable hillsides far from the regions of warm and sun, is a very stupid fellow. sis s|: * a; Onward and Upward Ruatoria, where the Attorney-General (Hon. H. G. R. Mason)- opened a new courthouse the other day, is New Zealand’s picturesque “cowboy town.” A sidelight orr* modern developments is that £3OOO cash in Social Security “benefits” is distributed there every month. Years ago the fertile flats were cultivated by the Maoris to grow maize and potatoes. Today the paternal Government provides. They buy their maize and potatoes at the store. There is good fishing in tne sea at Tuparo, five miles away. But Ruatoria gets its fish, like its maize and its potatoes, from Gisborne, 82 miles away. Naturally, these would not be the aspeats of local life which the Attorney-General would touch on in his speech.

Pawn in the Game Ruatoria’s population includes a Japanese baker, H. Kunioka, who is a naturalised British subject, having dwelt in New Zealand since 1907. For _22 years Mr. Kunioka enjoyed popularity in his adopted country. For the last two years, however, he has found things different. Japan is now a potenial enemy, and there is a tendency ampng many of Kis fellow citizens to vent their displeasure at this fact on the hapless Mr. Kunioka. This is one' more illustration of how wars and international differences make innocent people suffer. Mr. Kunioka can no more influence Japanese foreign policy than he can influence the man in the moon. Indeed, technically he is no longer a Japanese. But he suffers just the same.