TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVII, Issue XLVII, 10 April 1912, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Hockey as a game for girls is becoming increasingly popular in Girls and New Zealand, although Hockey. this year the local >: 1 ut I)« are not so strong as usual, and sports mis tresses approve of it because they coneider that, properly played, it gives an excellent training i n x,im cultivation of self-restraint, ircod temper, and a sportsmanlike disregard of pain! Thiif may Well be true, but if it has counterbalancing disadvantages it is only right to regard them, too. A short article on the subject, contributed to the educational supplement of "The Times'* of February 9th, should give pause to enthusiasts. The writer claims, as a college and county plnyer and as a games mistress with several years experience, to speak with some authority. "Hockey," she says, "if it is played with energy and spirit, is an extremely ehxausting game. The ball travels fast and far, and for r,n hour and ten minutes the majority cf the players are running,, almost ineessantlv. at full speed. . . . A Dart, froifi the nossibilitv of injury, a, girl who cansafelv plav hockey should be able to endure, and to benefit by extreme fatigi^,, and should be hardy enough not to suffer from exposure. In other words, she must be the exertional rather than th" avenge g.'rl. . . I therefor? maintain that heckey should be given up in public secendnrv schools, so long as the girls are subi«=cted to severe over-nre°snre > in work, as thev are at present." The important, point annenrs to hf Hint the girls who nlar shouV b" phvsirn'l,. <u. and tMs is a matter tb«t parents pV~i»M ("■rtfiipl-'- make sure of for t"«m-Rv-v'-li'-. when vogplav medial jnevn~t.-> n of th» nnn : k of p^cond<"*v i\- in '-"-nf. «ueh r>->n + tor« ps- + h'<! „.:n r^~~n v 111----i O-in purview and control of tho medical -inspector?. President Taft and Mr Roosevelt are agreed on the need of a Labour in United States CommisAmerica, sion to inquire into in- ' dustrial conditions. The President has urged upon Congress the creation of a commission to look into those new and vital questions that concern the relations of employers and employees. He said it was idle merely to criticise the use of boycotts and black lists if we are indifferent to that state I of industrial war in which these are the only weapons left to the two combatants, and urged such a commission as will inquire into the general conditions of labour, the existing relations between employers and employees, the various methods which have been tried for securing satisfactory relations, and the scope and method of various instruments of the Government in State and Nation that might be used for meeting the responsibility of the community. Mr Roosevelt, in commenting on this, says:—"lt is 1 earnestly to be hoped that Republicans and Democrats, wise Progressives and wise Conservatives, will all alike back up the President's action. Such a commission could not but do good. If properly made up it would approach the matter of industrial relations without prejudice as between employers' associations and labour unions. If would look at the matter from the point of view of the public interest, with concern to work for the prevention of unnecessary labour disputes, and for settling those that do arise on a .just and permanent basis. Such a commission of wise, publicspirited, and well-informed citizens would look carefully and -without prejudice into the existing grievances of labour, and would examine the means which are available for fighting them, and the plans which are being tried in this country or abroad for preventing and settling disputes. It would examine into the function and efficiency of State and Federal labour bureaux, and would report as to existing labour laws, so that we might know whether they arc adequate and correspond to our present needs as a people. It would work along any line of profitable inquiry which Inight be suggested. Surely there is now a widespread and deep public interest in this vital subject, and an earnest desire to know whether our existing mechanism for preventing and settling labour disputes and for helping the cause of social justice as regards both employer and wage-worker cannot be improved.