THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 1934. FREEDOM IN RUSSIA

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22354, 30 August 1934, Page 8

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 1934. FREEDOM IN RUSSIA

Russia is the bright land of freedom. In that fortunate country every man or woman over eighteen years of age who does socially useful work is entitled to vote at elections and so every citizen contributes towards the greatness of his country by the unfettered exercise of the franchise. This boon is for women as well as for men. There is only one little flaw in the statue of the goddess of Liberty,—one little crack, —and that is so confined to the pedestal that it may be regarded as trivial. The flaw is this: No citizens are allowed to offer themselves as candidates for election on Soviet bodies unless they are either true-blue, holusbolus, red-blooded Communists or unless they are independent candidates pledged to the hilt to support the Soviet programme. It will thus be seen that the flaw in the statue of the goddess is a mere nothing. And so the worshippers of Soviet liberty cast their votes for Comrade This or Comrade That in the full exercise of freemen’s rights,'never of course doubting that the candidates offered for their suffrages are the best in the field, and are such as they themselves would have proposed to the enlightened electors. This is true liberty -—Soviet liberty,—not the vulgar bourgeois brand where the doWn-trodden electors will perish in nominating their own candidates without taking care to see that “they are all of a tale.” According to recent expositors of Soviet liberty in our midst, in aIT countries the ruling class makes all. the laws, controls the press, the pulpit, the radio, education,, and, in fact, all the ideas and culture that make up a nation’s tradition. Of course, the truth of this is so very apparent in New Zealand! Mr Forbes and his brother conspirators against the well-being of the workers deliberately prevent any candidates from offering themselves for, election except those pledged to support him. Of course, too, there is no Socialist group in the New Zealand Parliament, no Socialist publication, no word for true freedom allowed in pulpit, press, or school. If Mr Forbes arid that other arch-oppressor of the downtrodden, to wit, Mr Coates, are to be true to the picture offered of capitalistic States, they will very soon issue an approved list of candidates from whom alone our next representatives are to be chosen. Again it seems that in Russia freedom is so perfect that any autonomous group can retire from the Soviet Union at any time by the free vote of the people. Of course! The kulaks—the better class of farmers, —wished to retire from the Uuion, —with the result that they retired to Siberia’s happy mines or to the next world under stress of Stalin’s machine guns. Any surviving kulaks and minor peasants seem then to have discovered how beautiful a thing the Soviet constitution was, and to have decided not to retire from it. No doubt they were in thus deciding entirely uninfluenced by the said happy mines of Siberia or the equally happy, if somewhat nebulous, status of the dear departed, blown into ijothingness by freedom’s machine gunners. Then again all the relics of the old bourgeois society,—those who were wicked enough to employ labour or to have saved up a few thousand roubles and tried to live on the interest, or who were profligate enough to enter the Church,— all these bad men we are glad to learn have no political rights. But any man who saved nothing because he spent bis money or vodka, or “ filles de joio,” or gaming, any man who never had energy and ability enough to expand his shop or farm so far as to need to employ helpers,—any man, in short, who was incapable, a man who never saved bis money or gave employment must be called to power in the blessed revolution which is to end the class struggle and bring in the heaven on earth that Karl Marx saw beyond the haze of blood and violence that he lauded and found necessary to achieve his end. To stop banter, —for sheer unadulterated folly and brutality, the worst features of Sovietism may issue a challenge for the world’s premiership. There is good in Russia, and there is something good in certain aspects of Sovietism. But. to offer to free citizens like New Zealanders some of the halftruths now being retailed is merely to impeach their intelligence. “ A lie which is all a lie may be met with and fought outright, but a lie which is part of the truth, is a different matter quite,” says the poet. But in this case the half-truth will deceive few New Zealanders. The blank, dreary desolation of violence, suppression, and tyranny is clearly apparent beneath the Utopian surface.

THE BEER DUTY The reduction which is now proposed of threepence per gallon in the duty on beer was not recommended by the Tariff Commission, and was not included in the original Customs restrictions. It represents what must be supposed to be an afterthought on the part of the Government. The official suggestion that it is designed to stimulate the exportation of hops is far from impressive, and is indeed somewhat thin. It is notable, however, that it occurred to, the Minister of Customs that it was necessary to have recourse to some change in duty that might produce an increased revenue in order to afford compensation for the loss to be incurred through tbe amendments be had agreed to make in the Customs schedules. An exammatfcn of the yield from the beer duty over a series of years during which the duty' was progressively advanced from threepence to eightpence per gallon suggests that the law of diminishing returns has been in operation. The successive increases in duty have not been accompanied by corresponding increases in revenue. In fact, an increase of 50 per cent, in the rate of duty has produced an increase of only about 5 per cent, in the yield of taxation. No doubt other factors have to some extent affected, the return from the duty, but, broadly speaking, it may he said that the attempt to secure increased revenue by raising the duty has failed. It would be idle to assert that tbe object of increasing the duty at any time was to reduce the consumption of beer and thus to promote temperance. The tariff does not constitute the appropriate method of bringing about a reform in' the social habits of the people. For this reason a great deal of the indignation expressed in Parliament by Mrs M'Combs concerning the reduction in the beer duty was misdirected. Mrs M'Combs seems herself to have been confused in mind about the possible effect of the remission. In one breath she denounced the reduction in the duty as a gift to a trade which she described as the most selfish and lawless in the country, flourishing, in her words, on the vice and misery of the people. It is certainly difficult to see how a reduction of threepence per galloniu the tax will reach, the consumer of a glass of beer. But if the brewery companies are, as Mrs M'Combs believes, to retain the whole of the amount represented by the reduction, the fear which she entertains that the effect of the remission will be an increase in insanity and crime, and in misery and suffering, must be groundless. On one occasion when Sir Michael Hicks Beach was Chancellor of the Exchequer he expressed his satisfaction that the country had drunk itself out of a deficit. No section of the community, even though it may not, subscribe to such extreme views as are held by Mrs M'Combs, would desire to see the beer drinking habit grow to an extent that would have a marked influence on the public revenue. Fortunately there is no danger of a development of that kind. The people of New Zealand, taken as a whole, are a temperate people. If, however, as seems likely, times continue to improve, the Government may secure such a moderately augmented return from the beer duty as is apparently anticipated by it. : ' ' . Royal Australasian College of Surgeons The Royal Australian College of Surgeons, which was officially instituted at a meeting of the founders ,in Dunedin in 1927, holds a general meeting, of the whole body once a year in one of the large cities. This year the general,meeting took place at Adelaide;, next year'it will be held at Melbourne, and in 1936 at Auckland. In addition to those combinecl conferences, each State of Australia and the Dominion of New Zealand holds annually a local meeting of the -Fellows residing in its particular district, and the meeting of New Zealand Fellows is to take place at Dunedin on Thursday aud Friday, September 6 and 7. The programme will consist or surgical papers aud discussions, clinical work, aud demonstrations in anatomy, pathology, and cancer research. Other questions to be considered wifi deal with the admission of new candidates, the classification and grading of hospitals from the surgical standpoint, and the improvement of facilities for post-graduate surgical education.

City Police Court There was no business to come before the Police Court yesterday. • Overseas Mail

The Niagara, due at Auckland on Monday from Vancouver, has 130 bags of English and American mail for Dunedin. The mail should reach the • local office on Wednesday afternoon next. Chimney Fires

Last night the Cits' - Fire Brigade received two calls to chimney fires, one at 7.12 to. Richardson street, and the second at 8.39 to Hanover street. The No. 12 Scheme Since the No. 12 building .scheme was reinstated 7G applications for subsidy have been received in Dunedin. Of these 12 have been approved, the value of the buildings involved being £9508. The discrepancy between the . number of applications and the number approved is accounted for by the fact that many applications are still under consideration. Wills Proved

Jlis Honor Air Justice Kennedy has granted probate of the following estates: —John Edgar, retired farmer (Tapnnui);; Andrew Moody Love, accountant (Green Island); Jessie Conroy, married women (Dunedin): Mary Braid, widow (Dunedin) ; Gertrude Charlotte Grant, married woman (Wuikouaiti). Letters of administration were granted in the estate of Robert David Gilmour Smith, retired railway employee, Dunedin.

Spring Lambs A feature of : the Burnside stock sales yesterday was the first appearance of spring lambs for the season. These were offered on account of Mr T. Lowery, of Milton, and commanded considerable attention. The lambs were in good condition, and found ready buyers up to oOs per head. Possession of a Vicarage

Arising out of the recent civil action in connection with the Cambridge Parish Church dispute, and the decision of the Rev. G. G. Dell to withdraw bis appeal against the decision of the magistrate, Mr s! L. Paterson, that Mr Bell was no longer vicar of Cambridge, the church authorities claimed possession of the vicarage of St. Andrew’s. Mr Bell was to have vacated the vicarage last week,' but be asked for an extension of time on account of Mrs Bell’s health. Mr Bell lias now given an undertaking to leave the vicarage to-morrow. He intends to remain in Cambridge. Still differing from the decision of the court that be is no longer vicar of Cambridge, Mr Bell retains possession of the chattels and keys claimed in the civil action.

Burnside Stock Sale* There was a heavy entry in the beef section at the Burnside sales yesterday, 357 head being penned. The yarding included a good percentage of heavy bullocks, several consignments of medium quality, and the usual assortment of cows and heifers. The sale opened with values showing a drop of £1 per head on last week’s closing rates, but on account 5 of competition from country butchers the market had a finning tendency, and in the middle of the sale the opening drop in values was recovered, and a firm market at tbe higher rate continued until the' close. Extra prime heavy bullocks sold; to £l4 7s Gd, prime heavy £lO 10b to £l2 7e 6d, medium £S 7s Cd to £9 ,12s 6d,, light down to £6 15s; extra prime heifers sold to £lO 2s 6d aud extra prime cows to £8 17s 6d. In the fat sheep section 1400 were penned. Tne entry included only a small percentage of heavy wethers, and on account of the short supply values for this class appreciated Is per head. Prime heavy eyes realised late values, and medium quality ewes were a shade firmer. Extra prime heavy wethers sold to 325, prime heavy 27b to 29s 6d, medium 24s to ,26s 6d, light to £.l; extra prime heavy owes to 23s 9d, prime heavy 19s 6d to 225, medium 16s to ISs Cd, light down to 125.. The first spring lambs of the'season made their appearance and sold up to 30s per head. There was an entry of 83 head in the store cattle section, comprised principally of boner covvs and vealers. All classes sold firm at late rates. There was a large entry of 56 dairy cows, and good animals close to profit met with fair competition, selling up to £6. Aged and backward sorts were nob in demand. In the. fat pig section 132 were yarded. Bacon curere operated and a ‘ buoyant market resulted. Heavy baconers sold to £3 10s and best porkers to £2 9s. A small entry of 55 store pigs, was quitted at. satisfactory prices.' Wages Restored The Petone aud Lower Hutt Gas Lighting Board decided unanimously to restore 5 per cent, of the TO per cent.-cut imposed on the wages of the staff in June, 1931. The cut also applied to members of the board, who (says a Press Association telegram), will share in the restoration.

Roslyn Lawn Tennis Club The Koslyn Lawn Tennis Club, : which came into existence SO years ago, will hold its opening of the season function on Saturday afternoon,, when a large gathering is anticipated. A number of n6w members have joined up this year, and the indications point to a successful season. The president (Mr R- S. Black), •who will officially declare the courts open for the coming year, extends an invitation to be present to the presidents and players of other clubs in the city an( l officials l of the association.

Mosgiel Citizen#’ Association The' monthly meeting of the Mosgiel Citizens’ Association was presided over by Mr H. Miller. The principal ‘ business was the consideration of a report and estimate from Mr F. Smeaton on the costs of the erection of public baths on a site near Mosgiel Mills. It was deemed advisable to ask for an estimate for a modified scheme, taking up one section of land instead of two, and having the excavation done by a drag-line excavator instead of by labour. The committee that visited the borough pipe line and intake reported favourably on the work recently carried out. A reduction in railway fares and the need for an overbridge at Mosgiel Junction station were discussed, the hope being , expressed that the council would not rest until a reduction in fares had been obtained. Approval was expressed of the- -work carried out by the Borough Council on the re-cently-acquired section at the corner of Factory and Gordon roads.

Shortage of Doctors There is a great shortage of doctors in Australia, according to observations made by-Dr C. F-. Morkane, who has just returned to Christchurch from a visit to Australia, and he added that there was a marked scarcity of young doctors to fill positions as house surgeons in hospitals in both Melbourne and Sydney. He stated that the back-blocks and rural districts were suffering to an even greater extent through. the shortage of doctors than the cities, for after, several.years of arduous study? there were, few. young doctors willing to go out into the backblocks, where their earnings would ’be very small. Unlike New Zealand, where there was a plethora of medical students, there Were few students entering the medical schools in Australia, and the task of staffing the hospitals was no easy one.

Masked Youth’s Exploit Answering a knock on the door of his premises late on Friday night, Mr K. Goddin, a draper at New Plymouth, was confronted by a youth with his face masked by a scai'f and with a barrelshaped object in his hand. Mr Goddin, on being told to "stick them up,” closed with the intruder, who escaped, dropping the . weapon,' which proved: to be of bamboo. It is understood that a 17-year-old youth will appear in the court on Monday as the result of police investigations.

Acceptance of Cremation During the last few years (says the Evening Post) there has been a remarkable increase in the number of cremations at the Karori Cemetery. Whereas the proportion of cremations to burials for a good many years from 1910, when the crematorium was built, was about 2 per cent., rising gradually to 4 per cent, in 1924, last year the figure was 13.5 per cent., representing 149. cremations. The majority of those cremated are. professional men; who have expressed in writing their wish that their bodies should be cremated; in other cases their spoken wishes or the wishes of near relatives are conveyed to the city authorities; As the trend has been steadily towards an increasing number of cremations annually it can be taken that it will, continue, and the City Council is at present calling for tenders for the erection of a columbarium attached to the crematorium for the storage of urns to contain the ashes of the dead. Each urn will be placed iu a niche, below which may be placed a memorial tablet, in marble. The niches now provided iu the crematorium building are now practically all taken. In some cases relatives prefer to have the ashes buried in special plots, and in others, generally when the deceased has expressed the special wish, the ashes are scattered.

An Unemployment Paradox The unemployment problem directly affects at least one person in seven in New Plymouth’s population of 18,500. There are COO married unemployed registered, having at a conservative estimate 2000 dependents. Side by side with ibis state of affairs is the position of many Taranaki farmers unable to secure labour. Scores of farm positions are advertised weekly (says the Taranaki Daily News), and a good percentage are not filled. There was still a good demand for farm, labour, said Mr H. E. Blyde, president of the North Taranaki provincial executive of the Farmers’ Union, when interviewed. The Inglewood district was experiencing a particular shortage in this regard. He instanced the number of vacant positions advertised compared with those sought. Most farmers employing men would be doing so this month, Mr Blyde said,, and the position as far as shortage was concerned would not be more acute after the end of August. Farmers generally filled their requirements, if labour were available,by then. There would be no greater demand in October or early September than during the present month. It was pointed out elsewhere that a considerable proportion of the unemployed in the towns were riot ■’ fit for farm labour.

CWe Conundrum* The City. Council spent'a lot of. time last evening trying to decide two knotty conundrums. In the first place they asked each other ; “When is a concert not a concert? ” and they finally decided that the answer was “When its a recital.” Then came the poser of the evening. “When is a baud, not a band? the answer to which was “When it is not' subsidised.” So the. city should now have a very clear idea of what precisely comprises permissible entertainment for Sabbath evenings, but in case there is still any doubt about concerts and recitals and bands and such combinations as do not enjoy the privilege of a civic subsidy, Cr A. H. Allen is anxious that the council shall, decree that only concerts by subsidised bands and municipal organ recitals shall in future' disturo the calm of Sunday evening in Dunedin. He moved in this direction last night, but was ruled out of order and advised by the Mayor (the Rev. E. T. Gos) to make it the subject Of a notice of motion for the nest council meeting.

Those Cyclists Again There was a familiar note in, the complaint made by Cr A.- H. Allen, at the City Council meeting last evening about the menace of cyclists, generally juveniles, who persist in broadsiding round corners, scorching, and generally riding in a manner perilous to pedestrians. But “ the head- and front ” of their offending lay in the fact that one of their number almost rendered Cr-Allen incapable of taking hi s seat at the council table that night. The murmurs of sympathy which greeted this remark finally swelled into what was almost a chorus of corroborative evidence by other councillors whose persons had ■ been endangered. From scorching and kindred sine the discussion shifted easily and effortlessly to tail-lights, painted mudguards, and traffic signals, and the chairman of the General Committee (Cr J. L. M'lndoe) was bombarded with instructions, appeals, and demands concerning the abatement of the nuisance. What were the traffic inspectors doing? According to Cr MTndoe, they kept _ such a vigilantly merciless eye on motorists that they had no time to waste on,such small fry as cyclists.' Cr Allen ,had the Jast word, however, when, speaking -with obvious sincerity and feeling, he expressed the hope that “something will .come of all this discussion.” . .

A Stowaway’s Good Fortune Rather than see a stowaway who had secreted himself, on the Wanganelia before the vessel ••left Sydney be handed over to the officers of the-law on arrival at port the passengers took round the hat and collected enough for ,hia fare. As a result (says a Press .Association telegram) when - the Watiganella arrived at Wellington yesterday morning the stowaway, a New Zealander, was able 'to walk .off the gangway as free as any of the other passengers.

Kindergarten for Mosgiel - A public meeting, convened "'by x the Mosgiel Ministers’ Association, was held in the Baptist Church. Hall, ■Mosgiel, to consider the formation of a kindergarten in Mosgiel. The Rev. S. G. Francis' presided over a good attendance. After reasons had been set forth for the movement, Mies Dutton (principal of the Dunedin Kindergarten Association) gave an instructive and illuminating address on kindergarten work. Thereafter it was unanimously agreed that should sufficient support be forthcoming a kindergarten should be formed immediately, A /committee of six ladies and . three representatives was set up to. take the preliminary steps towards furthering the movement, and a suitable teacher is how being sought for the work. • White Island Casa ‘

The hearing of two' recent actions in the British Chancery Division attracted attention on account Of the'length of the proceedings. But 1 to people in New- Zealand the chief interest centres' in the fact that the defendant was the New Zealand. Sulphur Company, Ltd. -The .claim in each case was for rescission of a contract to take up shares in the company, made by two London business men, and involved a dispute relating' to White Island, in the . Bay of. Plenty, and the amount of sulphur which ft was held to coutain. 'When‘the latest exchanges left London the actions had lasted 31 days, and it was considered that a further seven days would be necessary to complete them. Although not a record for length, it was something 'of a record for a hearing in which only four'persons went into the witness box. The' documents on which both actions were being fought were voluminous, those, containing the correspondence alone running Into about 3500 pages. , .. ",

Progress at Wailaki In an interview with a' representative of the Christchurch Press on Tuesday evening the Minister of Public, Works (Mr J. Bitchener) expressed keen satisfaction with the progress Avhich is being made in the construction of the huge hydro-electric works on the Waitaki River above Kurow. Mr Bitchener visited the works, on Monday. He said that it appears that tile huge undertaking would be completed in the near future, according to schedule, and that all phases of the work were progressing satisfactorily. As the construction of the dam uGared completion the men who were no longer needed were being transferred to other work-, and this transfer was being carried out'smoothly. The Minister said that no definite arrangements had yet been made about an opening ceremony, but it was expected that the Governor-General; Lord Bledisloe, would be able to perform the task of declaring the hydro works officially opened. Letter* to Magistrates The serious wrong done by a person who writes to a magistrate about an accused man before the charge is brought in court was referred to by Mr E. D. Mosley;. S.M., in ->tbe .Magistrate's Court in-Christchurch on Tuesday morning. He said that he had received a letter earlier in the morning from the wife of a man charged with theft. He knew it-was probably through ignorance, but it was a; very wrong thing, and there was a penalty-attachable to it. It was attempting to interfere with the course of justice, certainly an unwise thing to do, The receipt of such a letter-tended to, make him inclined to be more severe than be would otherwise be.

Attention is drawn to an advertisement m this issue concerning the sale of four water colour paintings, by Mr C. E. Ferris, which are on view, in Messrs Andrew Lees’s window, George street.

The most costly ot all conmiodiliofi is human labour. Property owners can economise by employing tirsl-elaes men.— Donald Stuart, Ltd,, slate merchants and roofing contractors.*— Advt. A. E. J. Blakeley and W. E. I’agley, dentists, Bank of Australasia, corner of Bond and 'Rattray streets (nest Teie graph Office). Telephone 12-359. Advt.' Save your eyes. Be wise, and consult \V. V. Stunner, optician (2 Octagon), thus conserving good vision for old age.—Advt.