National Fitness

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXI, 18 November 1937, Page 6

National Fitness

raj Mr It. McKean (Government, WelH| lington South) suggested that there Hj should be an advisory council in each §B l island. He scouted the idea that there B was room for misgiving concerning the 8 purpose of the Bill because the GovernB inent was interesting itself in physical H fitness and because Germany and Italy f| had measures for the physical instruc--1 lion of the youth of those countries. I Anyone could see at a glance, he said, J what the real purpose of the Bill was. I Democratic Scandinavia and Czechoj Slovakia had had schemes for physical ; training for many years, and so had Vienna. There was one most important aspect of the Bill which would call for the whole-hearted co-operation of local ! bodies, Mr McKean continued. Up to the present the local bodies had provided most of the facilities for sport and recreation, but there was a limit to what they could do, and that limit was determined by the finances available. It appeared that in most centres restrictions on that kind of expenditure were increasing, and the local bodies were | looking to sports oaganisatfons to give greater voluntary assistance than previously, In earnest of their enthusiasm many of these organisations had put 8 in hundreds of pounds towards the con- | slruction of grounds, i! One respect in which the English I | Act differed from the Bill before the I ! House was that provision had been B | made for an appropriation of £2,400,000 | | to carry on the work to the end of 1940. i He did not know how much was to be j appropriated under the Bill, but the whole-hearted co-operation of local bodies would have to be obtained and ( financial assistance given them to enj able them to do their part, j! Mr McKean suggested that the Em- ( | ployment Fund should be utilised to I enable unemployed to be put to work by I local bodies on providing the additional I recreation grounds which would be e»- J. 8 sential for the purposes of the Bill. He | j was sure that if the local bodies werv j I given the proper encouragement they ; would accord the Government every j | support in making effective the ideas I behind the Bill. a j Mr S. G. Holland (National. Christj church North) supported the idea of a separate council for each island. He 1 said that he could sec no danger in the ' appointment of representatives of the military, naval and air forces to the national council, and thought that their experience would be turned to good account. Any scheme that had for its object the physical well-being of the people must receive the whole-hearted sup- " port of every right-thinking person. P ■ w FEAR OF GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE It Mr Holland said that while he sup- al *l. j ported the scheme to improve the phy- u sique of the nation it was well to keep w j a proper balance. They should not cl< I I place sport and recreation before prac- p< tical endeavour. 81 Referring to sport in general. Mr Hoi- " land said he considered New Zealand “ required more sports grounds, more 1 swimming baths and more gymnasiums. There was also a need for more good instructors. tc There was a fear in the minds of many people, Mr Holland said, that the Government would interfere in sport, and that was justified because the true Socialist always believed that the Gov- ft eminent could manage anything better e< than the individual. b; Mr J. A. Lee (Government. Grey tf Lynn): There are sports to-day where sf the Government interferes. Bullfighting th and bear baiting. re Mr Holland: Bullfighting is not phys- - st ical culture and this Bill deals with ll ' physical culture. Tl A member: There is plenty of cxer- as cise in bullfighting. Tl Mr Holland: You try it and you will bc not be the one to get the exercise. In conclusion Mr Holland suggested tic that the Minister should consider mak- VVI ing Mr Jack Lovelock Director of Phys- rf ical Culture. Jack Lovelock, he said, bc was an expert in physical culture and would be an excellent man for the po- f ' v sition. it of MINISTER THE DRIVING FORCE Tl ‘ pr Mr J. B. F. Cottcrill (Government. W Wanganui) said the Bill made provi- wi sion for education where physical wel- pci fare was concerned, and he hoped the po council would attend to the educational tri side. They should soc (hat the children ! Th were given proper physical develop- j wi merit, so that they would be fitted to j lh< fight (be battle of life and be an asset j the to the nation. The organisation of sports! lor bodies were agreed that the members of tin the Council should be directly ap- iI he pointed by tlie Government, and should i vie] cot represent existing spurts bodies !an His impression was that the sports 1 '1 bodies were not so much concerned the

DEBATE IN HOUSE PHYSICAL WELFARE AND RECREATION BILL SECOND READING CARRIED (From Our Own Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, This Day. After n featureless debate lasting for two and a half hours last evening the Physical Welfare and Reel cation Bill was read a second j time. Members were all favourably disposed towards the measure, j I)tit there was some comment on the possibility of Government control of sport and a certain amount of difference of opinion regarding the best method to adopt to improve the physical welfare of the nation.

el- with sectional sport as with the physi- ] me cal well-being of the young people. The j ich Minister was the driving force in this me campaign, and the council, with him as j :he chairman would function successfully, •n- One of the weaknesses of the education I cal system was that sport and recreation. lly were not regarded as sufficient impor- j ic- tance. The greatest work of the Coun- ; es. cil lay in the schools, and recreation J id, must be made attractive enough to! as. capture the young mind. The speaker ! io- emphasised the value of swimming as a j cal sport. There was a serious lack of i ad baths and of swimming instructors in > New Zealand. Last year only 4 per cct cent, of the children who left the prihe mary schools were proficient swim* :al mers. Ho paid a tribute to the life sav- 1 he ing clubs, which, he said, should be re- j ed moved from the position of having to j e- beg for existence. j iat i c _ EXPENDITURE MUST BE WATCHED j It I Mr R. A. Wright (Independent, Wel- j re lington Suburbs) paid a tribute to the J re organisations that had been inculating | the idea of physical fitness and to the Press for the active and valuable part it had played. On the question of the nj voluntary organisations referred to in the Bill he said he feared that a huge ! expenditure might result unless the i Minister was careful and told the or- j ' ganisations as plainly as possible that j they would be under the control of the j national council and should on no ac- I count involve the Government in any I ‘ j expenditure without authority. The I j foundation of a healthy people must be fl "j laid in childhood, and he hoped that 1 1 dthe national scheme would give every;! • t t fl consideration to the interests of chil- | l_ dren. jfi The provision enabling local bodies || ' to borrow money for the purposes of j I a the Bill without a poll of the ratepay- i ■ ers was criticised by Mr Wright, who I said that great pressure would be!® brought to bear on local bodies to bor-j 8 row for all sorts of purposes. In Wel-il ' lington about £1,000,000 was to be j 8 spent on a new hospital. It might be • 8 true that if the Bill had been in oper-; H ation thirty years ago that huge expen- B diture would not now be necessary, but | ( the fact remained that there werejfl heavy commitments for the ratepayers j H ’ to meet and extensive borrowing un-jB ' der th: Bill would only increase the 8 burden. ! 8 || THE UNDERLYING IDEA | Mr C. IT. Chapman (Government, j§B Wellington North) said that the pur- 8 poses of the Bill were clear and there; 8 was nothing to suggest that the Gov- ; If ernment intended to take direct con- 8 trol of sport. The underlying idea wasjß 1 hat of encouraging physical culture |H and sport. He thought it was time that j H the large number of men and women ; 8 who had taken on the responsibility of i developing the physique of the young M people throughout the Dominion were j 8 given some recognition. In his opinion 8 the boys and girls of New Zealand, par- | ticularly those in the secondary schools. | were among the finest in the world in 1 j development, due to a great extent toil the interest taken in them by their j j teachers and physical instructors. 11 || D COMPULSION I 1 In reply, the Minister of Internal Af- j | fairs (the Hon. W. E. Parry) describ-jB ed as unfortunate the suggestion made'B by members of the Opposition that Bj there was to bj some compulsion. He said now. and he had said before, that; the moment compulsion was introduced, recreation as such ceased. He denied the statement that the Minister had all the power and the council had none. The powers in this Bill were the same as those contained in the English Bill The Minister considered that the member for Christchurch North was out of touch with the sporting organisations. His reference that the local bodies would use their powers unfairly was a j. reflection on the integrity of local bodies. Mr Parry said that the question of two councils had been considered, but it was felt that in a country of the size of New Zealand two were unnecessary. The idea was to have one council, representative of the country as a whole. With two councils it was felt that there will bc unnecessary duplication and ex- j pense. The council had the power to ap- 1 point committees in the vane us districts to investigate anJ report to it. The concern of the council was more with the men and women than with Iho children, who w .".i!ci come undcj' the Education Dcpartnv tit. The Minis-j lor advocated the creel ion of hostels! throughout the country, and expressed | lire hope that facilities would bc pro-' vided to enable the people of New Zca- j land 1 1 see their own country. The Rill was read a second time, and | the House rose at 10 p.m. i