The Otago Witness. WITH WHICH 13 INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MEROURY. (TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 1929.) THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3912, 5 March 1929, Page 47

The Otago Witness. WITH WHICH 13 INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MEROURY. (TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 1929.) THE WEEK.

“Nunquatn allud natura, allud sapientia dixit.” —Juvenal. "Good nature and good sense must ever join.”— Pope.

Uncompleted Railways.

Sir Joseph Ward is a bold man, and he

has set himself to deal with the problem of the uncompleted railways of the Dominion in a

characteristic way. During his visit to Gisborne to unveil the memorial to Sir James Carroll, the Prime Minister took the opportunity to deliver his soul on the subject of uncompleted railways, using the Gisborne-Wairoa line as an object lesson. Sir Joseph recalled the fact that he had turned the first sod of that railway 20 years ago, and owing to the snail’s pace at which the work of construction had progressed the line had not been of the slightest good to any one during that period, and had not earned a single penny in interest. Thanks to a system of construction by sections, he had, while on his way to Gisborne, witnessed small disjointed pieces of railway every here and there, preparations for viaducts and no viaducts proceeded with. “ The proper plan,” the Prime Minister declared, “ was to call tenders for the construction of viaducts, and then when the rest of the line was ready they would

have the whole complete.” Having directed attention in this pointed fashion to what he conceived as a mistaken and dilatory policy, the Prime Minister did not hesitate to propound a remedy. He emphasised his conviction that New Zealand had no use for uncompleted railways. According to his belief there was only one way to make a railway—fix a time limit for its completion and see that it was adhered to. So soon as a railway was finished it began to return some interest on the money invested in its construction. Railways and closer settlement went hand in hand. “ New Zealand,” said Sir Joseph Ward, “ needed more settlers, and we must spend more money on the railways.” The Prime Minister has evidently no qualms concerning motor traffic competition, nor does he exhibit apprehension of the fact that many of the lines now open for traffic are unable to pay their way. His policy is bold in the extreme. All the uncompleted lines are to be finished, though it will cost £10,000,000 during the next three or four years, and Sir Joseph clinched his argument by saying: “If it was worth while starting any railway, th ep surely it was worth while finishing it.”

Administration in Western Samoa.

In the course of a graceful tribute paid

to the memory of Sir James Carrol], Sir Joseph Ward alluded to

the fact that the deceased statesman had 'done his duty equally to the Maori race and to the white people of New Zealand. Sir James Carroll was eulogised as one who had done much to promote a better understanding between Maori and pakeha. The Prime Minister emphasised the fact that when first enunciated by Sir James Carroll, the Native policy had been severely criticised in some quarters; it had in the long run proved to be in the best interests of the race. The impasse reached in the administration under mandate of Western Samoa would appear to call for a policy akin to that propounded by Sir James Carroll in respect of tho Maori race. In essence the problems are very similar, and doubtless a similar remedy would prove equally efficacious. The report recently made as the result of an independent investigation into the administration of Samoa brings to light much that is lax and in need of reform, which it is proposed to remedy by a radical change in the personnel of the Samoan civil service. There can be little doubt that the tenor of this report will be taken by the disaffected Samoans as affording jusification for the policy of passive resistance in which they have successfully persisted for some long time past-- The administrative reforms now proceeding should be made the occasion of a well-directed effort to regain the confidence of the Samoans, thus putting an end to an intolerable situation which if further prolonged can have nothing but disastrous consequences.

The Week-end Habit.

It is a habit with church conferences to

sandwich in with purely ecclesiastical matters resolutions calling upon the Government to take

action on some matter of social reform For the most part these pious resolutions do little more than evoke a polite reply from the Minister to whom they are addressed or referred, but the members of the conference are satisfied that they have done their duty. The Methodist Conference in session last week were not at all well advised when calling upon the Government to abolish week-end excursions on the ground that the excursions interfered with tne habit of Sabbath observance. As a matter of fact the railway authorities have , provided these excursions in order to comply with a general demand on the part of the public. Moreover, if the habit of week-ending is growing in proportion as the habit of church going is declining the Church must equally shoulder the blame—if blame there be. The remedy surely lies in rendering the church services more attractive and in making the sermons more helpful and serviceable to the needs of everyday life. Moreover, in singling out railway excursions for denunciation, the Methodist Conference overlooked the great extent to which week-ending is practised by the owners of motor cars. The conference resolution would seem to absolve the owners of motor cars from the general condemnation. Nor can the inconsistency be altogether overlooked of the members of a church conference condemning Sunday trains while at the same time using Sunday trams to convey them to and fro from church.

The Bocth Family Feud.

To Booth or not to Booth, that is the

question in the Salvation Army at the present time, and there can be

little doubt that the family feud, unless speedily settled, will interfere with that most important part of a Salvation Army service—the cbllection. The High Council has compulsorily retired Bramwell Booth from the generalship,'- and has appointed Commissioner Higgins as leader, but it does not appear that the deposed Bramwell will acquiesce in the decision, and there is the likelihood of expensive litigation. Nor is this the only -ift in the lute. Mrs and the Misses Bramwell are up in arms against Eva Booth for-taking part with the reformers, and for the part she has played in breaking the Booth dynasty. The family feud has been carried to the point of denying Eva from

Bramwell’s .sick chamber, an unedifying spectacle coming from a family of such high religious pretensions. William Booth in his lifetime had strange ideas concerning those members of his family who left the ranks of the Army, and he refused to recognise them as his sons and daughter unless they returned and repented. And in this latest regrettable family feud may be traced a heritage of the attitude of the old general.

Tho Gospel of Individualism.

As a slogan for the Conservative Party

at the forthcoming British elections Air Baldwin, speaking at

Manchester, has sounded forth the gospel of individualism. According to the tenets of that faith it is not enough to take up a negative attitude of mere anti-Socialism; it is essential to go forward to the platform of pronounced individualism. Mr Baldwin denounced nationalisation and Socialism as the very negation of the spirit of individual enterprise, and he drew a lively picture of a people reduced to the level of marionettes dancing a dance of death at the dictation of a self-elected bureaucracy. Evidently Mr Baldwin had in mind the Communistic Conference at Moscow, which at the dictation of M. Stalin declared for an unconditional and intensified war against Capitalism. The British elector is being wooed also by Mr Lloyd George with a declaration that the Liberals were the only free party and alone capable of dealing with the situation. The Labour Party, according to Mr Lloyd George, is pledged to overthrow the country’s industrial and commercial system. Between Manchester and Moscow a plain line of demarcation may be drawn, but the Liberal halfway house which Mr Lloyd George advises the British voter to support may reasonably be viewed with the suspicion which greets every compromise.