TOPICS OF THE TIMES

Southland Times, Issue 19518, 18 May 1922, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE TIMES

Having seen the conditions at the Grove Bush settlement the Southland County Council has not wasted any time in coming to a decision which confirms the justice of the original complaint of the soldier settlers in reference to the handicaps under which they laboured in regard to outlets. When we drew the County Council’s attention to this matter many months ago the position was not so serious as it is now, because at that stage there was more time available to the. County Council for the completion of the remedial work. The County Council now has the funds available and it has acted with commendable promptness in regard to the initial stages. It only remains for the authorities to display similar dispatch in the completion of the work, so that the soldier settlers may not be still suffering from inadequate communications when the next dairying season comes round.

A court case which promises developments of an unusual character is being started in the United States. It is a claim by two hundred and fifty descendants of John Budd that they own Absecon Island, on which the great seaside resort, Atlantic City, stands, and a portion of the adjacent mainland. The Budd family insists that the land, 1500 acres in all, was received by John Budd in 1695 by means of a Royal grant by Queen Anne. Subsequent purchasers, the claimants assert, failed to comply with some of the conditions laid down in the grant, and that the property, therefore, must revert to the original holders. The claim is being taken up seriously and it should provide the American lawyers with a lot of interesting material for some time to come.

In connection with the Christchurch Presbytery’s resolution condemning modem dancing, it is interesting to notice that the New York State Legislature has before it a Dance Censorship Bill, some of the clauses of which are quaint. The Bill aims at the appointment' of a commission to see that its provisions are enforced at a cost of £5,000 a year, inspectors of dancing, approved by religious bodies being used to catch offenders. Jazz, hugging, cheek-to-cheek, neck-hold, and all classes of suggestive dances are sought to be banned by the Bill. Dancing under soft, dim lights is specifically forbidden by the Bill, which describes the proper method in this fashion: “The man places his arm lightly about his partner’s waist, his hand resting gently on her back just above the waist line. The man’s partner should rest her left hand lightly on the man’s right shoulder and her right hand should rest lightly in his left hand.” At no time, the Bill says, should the dancers fail to keep their bodies or faces apart. Sunday dancing is sought to be prohibited and no unmarried person under seventeen years of age would be permitted to attend a public dance unless accompanied by one parent. The measure also set up the time measure for certain dances as follows: Waltz, 48; twoetep, 54; one-step, 66; foxtrot, 43.