WHAT OTHER PAPERS SAY

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 11248, 11 April 1908, Page 4

WHAT OTHER PAPERS SAY

Credit 'is' very strained, though the rapid fall ' m the bunk rate might Strained lead the uninformed to deCredit, duct different', conclusions. Home banks are steadily declining to advance, and the discounting at .the present rate is only for tlie highest class oli bank paper. Mercantile '.mid nxiMufa/cturing! projrosi'tioihs , ape being sjiut down aY present. Hence tlie, fall m, price, of raw products, -'.and! '■ this is where 'the Dominion will feel the pinch. —New Zealan d•; Times. '.•'..,- The only entirely satisfactory remedy for the flagrant .evils of our Electoral electoral, system^ ■would be the Reform. . adoption of ' proportional re- .-■■■... presentxition, > wliiph wouid give every .section of the electors -proper influence upon the councils of the '■: nation; but the country is not yet far enough advanced' to accept this reform, and; while it is shaking off its parochial tendencies it could save itself fromj much heart-burning by tlie iibo of an. absphite majority system of vetiug.r— Ljttelton Times. . . ■ No one, we believe, . couddsinceiely declare t!iat he would Invercargill and like to see the! licensed No-License. systemi. restored in',lnvcrcargill, .for. even among those who opposed prolubiiacii the. old. system of license' was widely condemned. If the sale /of liquor is ever again, permitted, it will not:be .'under tho mischievous system that , ha« wrought sk> much irremetliable ; jiarm m every countiyiiil. which it has been,allowed to exist to the pei'il of the nation j but und*;r a municipal or- State system. We <i<x not knoyv on what grounds tlie open bar m private hands can. be defended.—Stititliland' Times. • The volunteer force is constantly be- . coming less' adequate for its National possible work, m spiie of Defence, the patience and •devotion of those whose belief m personal service is shown, by their voluntary actions. And unless the Doniinio|i is prepared to depend wholly upon "the first line of defence, ', and accept the worst. should that line Break,. the advisability of "compulsory Volunteering" will have to .be considered. We have no doubt that the. verdict of the ; country will be when the situation is brought home to it; but m the meanwhile valuable time \f) being wasted which, mijrht be saved if the Prime. Minister ha<3l the courage of his convictions upon this profoundly vital question. — Auckland Herald. ' There, was a very rough sea on Tuesday \ when * the boat was Napier timed to leave, the Breakwater, breakwater for the .' ( north. The boat lay at anchor m. the shelter of the breakwater. Passengers had to go to .Port Ahuriri to catch the launch. The trip over tlie bar arid to the boat was v consequently a very rough one. Couldi it have beeh avoided? It certainly could if the Harbor Board had dorm t,heir duty. 'I'he proof is that ;i gontleman who missed tho launch .it. Port Ahuriri drove ; back with : his luggage to the breakwater,' and was Put on, board m a boat from the wharf. 'We

assume that the reason the launch did not take passengers from the wharf, is, because there is no proper convenience for that vessel to lie alongside the wharf — on one sido or other as the range may indicate — and that for this reason tho inconvenience complained of was forced upon passengers. There was ho question of roughness of the sea m the breakwater harbor to prevent the outgoing boat being properly worked. She lay there at anchor snugly enough, with for most of the time the launch and two lighters lying just as snugly alongside her. If the passengers liad been put on board the launch frqon the Glasgow wharf they would have escaped all the discomforts they were compelled to submit to.— Napier Telegraph.

We object to the assumption on one side that every publican is a. , The Liquor heartless scoundrel,- and, Question, on the other, that every prohibitionist is a base hyprdcrite. There are publicans and publicans, just as there are prohibitionists and prohibitionists, and the mere personal element should! not enter into the discussion of the question at all. Unfortunately the opposition to the State Control from the extremists on both sides leaves us with little hope of getting rid of the proprietary interest during the next decade, and- it should riot be. counted as areproach to -a publican tliat" luo is ready- to defend! what he believes to be a legitimate trade..; In the same way the prohibitionist' should be left to the enjoyment of his particular views on the liquor question without being assailed with a string of disagreeable epithets. The licensing campaign this year is sure to be ah especially keen one, because the poll next December will determine which way the pendulum of public opinion is swinging, but we should liko to feel that it will be conducted without the personal, bitterness which has marked some, previous campaigns. In the past them- have been faults all round, but there is .rip reason why they should be repeated,- and:, we hope that at the conclusion of the strug. gle that is just beginning, there will le fewer of theni to rogrcti— Lyttelton

Times,