LOCAL GOSSIP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20626, 26 July 1930, Page 1 (Supplement)

LOCAL GOSSIP.

B1 UERCTJTIO

ft'l been « hard week for people of 1, pleasures. The tariff amendment tat hw appeared means more taxation nJ nu •« expense for the man whose hobby # his motor car, his pi,-a, or his pot of That's the way the cost of living b*« r ' 1 . nn At least, it there is anv doubt poet up the extra halfpenny, plus onelijteeuth of a penny m certain cases can j, a p as3 eil on to the consumer of beer, there i s n0 H Uf;i!lu " ai,ol!t tho niotorists giving the full benefit of the threepence and a bit more that goes on petrol, n-he difference is, perhaps, founded on the •--sumption that it is easier to give up the motor-car habit than the beer habit. Probablv it is. The one is comparatively recent in origin, the other goes back into ,j,a o >i s ts of tirni. It is diflicult to imagine or discover a time w hen tlie British people vere'witiiout beer. ?v">o would think it (iL'Surd to try. Midway between the two (lands tobacco, the one thing that really -."stified Columbus in discovering America. Jr" also has nut been neglected. It would pot be. But if these three things, as the subjects of more taxation, represent the most obvious to which Governments in giarcb of more revenue naturally turn, jj,ey also stand as bright symbols of legis lative courage. None could have been (elected that were more likely to annoy more people.

Th» brightest opinion passed on thf» tariff changes was that of the member who the Government was asking the country to " open its mouth and shut its eysf, and see what the Government would give it." Perhaps; at least, if what the schedules contain are his idea of a gift Jlost other folks would consider that the country was being asked to shut its eyes—(hut its mouth, too—and then see what the Government had taken from it.

The casual referenco made in this column list week to Dr. Adams and his remarks about the football match at Timaru has stirred a correspondent to try if he co-nnot better it. Writing of what Mercutio had to wv about Dr. Adams, Mr. Prentice and t h« teeth-marks —all inferred, if not actually mentioned —the correspondent proceeds: —" You do not point out that Mr. Prentice had nothing really to complain of. Surely all 'prentices are indentured."

There nmrl be something provocative in whitebait. They have provoked the Government, or the Fisheries Department, or somebody, into making a set of regulations to govern the taking of the creatures. They, the regulations, that ij, have been sent out in tentative form for perusal, and have provoked a certain amount of unfavourable comment. Here is a bit of it:—" The Government should be thorough in its whitebait regulations, and with a view to further restrictions enact that they should only be caught with rod and line, in manner approved by the department. But why stop at whitebait? The succulent garfish or piper is taken on Saturday afternoons in large Quantities by small boys, who complain that tho fish" are not as numerous as they were." Now, there is an idea, a distinct iJea, for a department that seems to find time hanging heavy on its hands. Go to it!

Tie whimsical plaint, appearing on this page last Saturday, that there was no poet of football lias drawn two replies hut neither oi them really convinces. "Forty Years On" certainly contains a reference to the game, but it is scarcely a football lyric, all the same. As for the other specimen offered, the verse by Sir Owen Seaman, it is devoted more to the spectator than the game. Anyway Rugby football was last Saturday's topic. If Sir Owen Seaman had really meant the Rugby game, he must have been thinking of a match in which the rcfereo bad been unusually busv, for he speaks of 2~ plavers. Besides, Rugby is nnt < played by "hirelings." No, somebody will have to do better than this before "Rugby has its laureate.

Tho opinion that all municipal bodies should have a rest from industrial activities was expressed by a member of the Mount Eden Borough Council the other evening. There is much to be said .or it vet if these bodies are really tired and must have a rest the most popular they could take would be from the fatigue of f.'riking rates. Their exertions in this direction have increased notably In recent years. They really must need a spell.

The reduction of New Zealand's military establishment inspires thoughts of many kinds, far too many to be expressed here. J r Owe'ver, there is one feature that seems 1.1 havo been missed by everyone else. I nkind references have been made to a Portuguese army, nil generals and colonels Mid so on, with no " other ranks. Ibis ii not the true analogy. The force has been Americanised. It has deserted the 1 iiion Jack. For, with none but officers •':nd non-commissioned officers left, it has become a Stars and Stripes organisation obviously. How far this accords with public sentiment will be discovered the next time the public has an opportunity "! expressing an opinion in a practical way. There will be a number of interesting revelations when that day dawns.

The facade of the new Auckland railway f'ation, it appears, is riot perfectly symmetrical. The two sides do not balancp perfectly, hut the difference has been • arnouflaged so skilfully that it is not hkely to be noticed by anybody except the most acute observers. Now, this is v try interesting. A perfect balance of both sides is very desirable if the facade is to make a respectable appearance to untutored public, which, it may be fispected, won id l.r as unappreoiativ© of originality in/architecture as the British ]"iblic, judging from its reception of the j'-pstein efforts, has been of nnorthodoxy hi Sculpture A perfect balance of both f'des would also five great public satisfaction, if it could l.p Hi'hieved in some'inng else off* red far inspect inn by the Jlailway Department—its annual accounts, ■'here is a s'orv, perhaps a legend, about t king of Flighted who. examining a ha I face sheet, e\p:es-.ed mii prised admiration ** the way Ih.jli ,: nle:, added up t<> exactly 'i>e same an.■ cut No doubt the next railway stiorie-nt will do that, Imt no camouflage ".'i! be adroit enough to con CP 'tl the essential link of symmetry that will be there I' r< >! >;: i>l v no serious a! will i,, made to do it. The i'rmie -Minister has aii.'adv let the eat mil of tie b;ig, . r /a.jii.-d the heal!-, assuming ' sere were any beans left uti'inlled Ihe laoade of t!.< e..-,v station, therefore, is I'lilv Eymboii.al to ;i very slight extent Akarana Maori Association has raised its voice against the abolition of compulsory militiirv trami'ig It is living "P f o the traditions of its name, except tlait, if universal were the term instead ' ' _ cornji?ll.ia y, it would be more appro J'riate. ! !n- Maori, as be lived before "'0 pakch.i arrived, certainly believed in universal militaiv training. It was hardly compulsory in the present sense of the y>ord, because it did not need to be I lie 'uea of a.oiding it simply did not occui to atiyliflily. The only way it was coin pulsoiy v, ;is : hat the rliap ill 'he tribe ever the w,.y made it so. Thi.s, puhaps. Was the original form of competition in •'l'liiainen!s, but nobody stopped to work '' out, that way, or see whether something could he done about it. In other words, the Maori was bred in a fighting /tradition and the association to-day is kviiifl up to it in jta own way.