VOICE OF THE PRESS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19523, 24 June 1933, Page 9

VOICE OF THE PRESS

NEW ZEALAND OPINIONS. New Zealand Farming and British Though agriculture in Britain has been neglected, both in actual development and in propaganda, it is still a huge industry. Two years ago the annual output of food products was estimated to be worth £200,000,000. New Zealanders are astonished to learn that there are nearly as many sheep in Britain as in their own country. The quality of British breeding stock is world-famous. It is the principal source of fresh blood for our herds, and it is noteworthy that in his address at the Waikato Winter Show Lord Bledisloe, an eminent authority on the subject, referred to the need for such replenishment, and expressed the opinion, as one with exceptional experience in the administration of anti-disease measures, that the embargo on British stock, imposed owing to fear of foot-and-mouth disease, should be removed.—Auckland “Star.”

The zeal that is shown by many in devoting the chief part of their spare time to Territorial work is not fed by material rewards, the most that the men get out of it in what might conceivably be a bargaining sense being a week’s camp once a year for which they are paid. The zeal might make its own cause for concern if a militaristic or a jingoistic spirit were associated with it, but that is not involved. That a defence force will never be required for its prime object of defending New Zealand must be the hope of all, but till a peaceful World can be ensured, and while the best support is given to all efforts for ensuring it, the existence of such a force makes a precaution with which it would be folly to dispense. It is satisfactory that, on its new voluntary basis, the Territorial system is able to work with a freedom from local friction and opposition that was unknown before.— Dunedin “Star.”

Arapuni’s Last Problem The vibration in No. 1 generator at Arapuni has been proved to have been set us by a mechanical cause—the inaccurate weighting of the runner to counterbalance an accidental increase in weight on the other side. Thus, the defect had its origin in the engineering works overseas, and now perhaps New Zealand will no longer be afflicted by theorists, many of them purely laymen, who have asserted with the confidence of their kind that the trouble lay in the foundations of the power-house. The vibration problem, which could not be investigated as promptly as needs demanded through the stoppage of the plant because of headrace leakage, was seized upon by the critics of the whole scheme as further proof of their pessimistic contentions which started when the contractors, during the excavation of the powerhouse foundations, relinquished the contract. The country may now expect the critics to hold their peace. They have been proved to be false prophets.—" New Zealand Herald.”

More Work for the J.P. The Minister of Justice will have little anticipated the lack of warmth with which his idea, somewhat incautiously expressed last week, of making greater use of the services of the justices of the peace has been received. Appointments that are made to the Commission of the Peace are not based on the proved judicial qualities of those upon whom the appointment is conferred. In large measure they are political appointments pure and simple. Justices of the peace perform a useful function in the respect that declarations and other documents may be sworn before them but the administration of the law is much more satisfactorily performed when it is entrusted to those who have been trained in the practice of the law and are aware of the principles to be applied in the interpretation of the law than it would be if it were handed over, even in part, to honorary magistrates.—“Ot*^,; Daily Times.” The Public and the Birds. New Zealanders are beginning to appreciate the aesthetic, scientific, and economic value of their bird life. There is a very wide field for such study, for New Zealand territory stretches from the Ross Sea almost to the Equator. We can contribute substantially to the longest journeys of bird masses in the world. It is significant that only now is the migration of the shining cuckoo being studied in the right way. It had even been doubted whether the bird left New Zealand at all, but this was settled the other day by observations of scientists in Pacific Lslands. There must still be a great deal of work to be done on the migration of the myriads of birds that divide their year between New Zealand and Siberia and Alaska.—" Auckland Star"