NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20323, 2 August 1929, Page 12

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

THE LEAGUE'S FUTURE. "Will there be an extension of tho activities of tho League in the immediate future? That is a question which only that future can answer," writes Sir Eric Drummond, Secretary-General of the League of Nations, in the Observer. "The League is a living and growing society of nations, and, measured by the span of life, state or foderal or imperial constitutions, has hardly begun. It is reasonably to bo expected that tho League will one day include all the nations of tho world. The States members of tho League have again and again expressed their desire to see tho League fulfil tho hopes of its founders by becoming universal. Tho tendency has been for increasing co-operation on matters of common concern between the League and States non-members. The terms of this co-opera-tion, and whether or not it eventually involves 7 " or implies a formal entry into or association with the League on tho part of the Stales not members, are a matter for the Governments concerned to decide if and when they feel tho need for anv such decision."

THE ABUSE OF HOARDINGS. Commenting on the prosecution of several persons under by-laws of tho Merioneth County Council dealing with hoardings which disfigure or obscure tho view of rural scenery from the highway, the Birmingham Post says that some of tho defendants were owners of cafes; others were farmers who allowed hoardings on their land. Some defendants wore fined a shilling, others dismissed with a caution. "The penalties are of no account," it remarks; "the point is that a conviction entails tho removal of tho offending hoarding. Tho principle is thus established that it is an offence to erect a sign or hoarding which either disfigures a beautiful view or cuts it off from the ryes of the passer-by. Tho practice of erecting hoardings oil agricultural land beside roads leading to towns has gone too far. It is a moot point, perhaps, whether it pays the advertiser to run the risk of antagonising sensitive people by proclaiming the merits of his wares in a blatant manner. He may think there are not enough sensitivo people to matter. Seme farmers are doubtless ready enough to add to their incomes by permitting hoardings to bo erected on their land; they have no wish to regard their fields and the surrounding country from tho high road. But the growth of these eyesores is of practical concern to any district which relies on its natural beauties to attract, visitors. Not only from the aesthetic but from the commercial point of view it is a mistake to allow such disfiguremont to spread unchecked."