LOCAL GOSSIP

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21792, 5 May 1934, Page 1 (Supplement)

LOCAL GOSSIP

11V MKRC'UTIO

They evidently believe thoroughly, up north, in the good old saying that there's no harm in asking. At least the Minister oP Public Works told one deputation that he had never had so many requests all at once as they had gently put to him. Since ho had previously admitted' that ho had never been in the north before, there may be some connection between the two sets of circumstances. He also suggested that if fewer requests had been made there might have been some chance .of all being granted. The Minister ' forgets that that is against all accepted experience. The usual procedure is to ask for .a good deal more than you expect to get, 011 the chance that you may eventually get more than you had hoped for in the first instance. ]n other words a margin for reduction is regarded as a sound precaution. This is tho usual principle in bargaining, and it is not unknown in dealing with members of Cabinet. In the end the Minister was guilty of unconscious cruelty when he suggested that the items presented should be tendered again in their order of urgency. Fancy asking any member of a deputation to put any request at the bottom of the list. In case of misconception it should bo made clear that a recent headline, "Diploma for Floating," had nothing to do with the forthcoming commission oi' inquiry into company law. It referred to a proposed test for swimmers. The Postmaster-General, after a lot of intricate calculation, has suggested that the new method of charging for telegrams will -not produce any extra revenue, or so little that it is scarcely worth counting. Therefore he settles, back on the contention that its purpose is to make the charges more equitable, and. kind of invites all-comers to do their worst to him. Very,well; the public can beware of that more equitable charge theory. A few years ago a Minister of Finance whose name it would be unkind to mention—it can ba made clear that it was not the present Minister —announced a readjustment of the iucome tax schedule. To make it more equitable, he said. As a consequence a large number of people with moderate incomes are still conscious of paying more in income tax than they would have done if there had been no alteration. They are still looking for a definition of equity. The captain of the Australian golf team which recently lost the KirkWindeyer Cup in New Zealand, writing to acknowledge the hospitality 110 and his merry men experienced here, emphasises the friendly spirit in which the matches were played. This is quite right. That is to say, if competitors began taking their niblicks to one another the position would be almost impossible. If an infuriated teamsman pushed an opponent into a bunker and then trod'oll his face, the spirit of the contests -would be severely damaged; so might the face of the victim be, but for the moment that is a minor consideration.,* Golf is a game in which friendly relations'shoidd be, and must be, preserved. The player has quite enough to worn* about anyway, without the enmity of his opponent or opposite number/added to it. Actually, from all available information the last KirkWindeyer Cup tourney was a, fine, friendly, cheery, sporting event, and it is a thousand pities that the outlook for future, fixtures of the same kind is not nearly so clear as it might be. Great things were hoped when the contest was established, and it is very unfortunate that adverse fate has worked against their full realisation. While daylight saving rules nobody thinks very much about it. It is just accepted with the infinite adaptability of the human kind, and life jogs on in the same old way. People indulge in that unfamiliar exercise—thinking—only on the two occasions in the year when the clock has to be altered. The crop, of stories about those who forget, and arrive at church, or to keep other engagement too early or too late, shows that the exercise is not taken always. But there is at least one man who has thought a little round the subject, and evolved a philosophy for himself. He does not put back the clock at 2 a.m. At that hour he is otherwise occupied. Neither does he make the adjustment at bedtime. He leaves it for the morning. Then, awakening at, say, eight o'clock—not an unreasonable hour for a Sunday morning—he looks at his watch, or bedroom clock, or whatnot, smiles triumphantly, puts it back and settles down with a sigh of satisfaction for another half-hour of dozing, or daydreaming, or whatever he does in that period of delightful respite when one realises it is not necessary to get up yet awhile. The scheme is a sound one. Ihe only danger of disaster lies in tho possibility of failing to realise, at the moment of waking, that half-an-hour to play with still remains. It would hot be much use remembering after the shower was turned on, or at any moment like that. The only way to be sure would bo to leave oneself a note beside the clock. Kvcn to be a philosopher demands a little organisation. _ The. Numismatic Society, while* criticising tho designs on the New Zealand coins, did it very gently and found quite a lot to say in their praise. This must be very gratifying to those who can -say they were responsible. Praise 's such a scarce commodity these days, especially for anything in which the Government is concerned. It needs 110 quota. Hut with all that, even some of the criticism can bo questioned mildly. I I or example, it has been suggested that the .Maori on the shilling is rather too warlike. Maybe: but then the Maori of the period that seems, by the cost fane, to have been chosen for reproduction was quite a warlike chap, and there is no use trying to gloss over the fact. As for the threepenny pieces, 't has been remarked that the two patus crossed, which appear 011 the reverse, look like ginger-beer bottles. Jhis is a harsh note, and one member of the society made a protest against it. As a matter of fact, an esteemed correspondent, even before this discussion appeared, suggested another comparison to Mercutio —that the threepenny piece was truly New Zealand in character because of the crossed legs of mutton on the back. To accept that view is also to make this country a hungry land, for look at the huge bite that has been taken out of each leg! If the coins were meant to circulate abroad, this might cause all kinds of misunderstanding. But as they are meant only for domestic use, it doesn't matter so much. As for the designs as a whole, when they begin to wear down bit it will be all to the good, since it will mean the coins are doina their job by circnlatinc merrilv