PUBLIC OPINION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17181, 26 October 1923, Page 6

PUBLIC OPINION.

WHAT OTHER WRITERS ARE SAYING. There is a general agreement now, even in Australia, where a brave attempt was mad© to maintain a fleet, that th© only naval fore© to be depended upon tor the'- defence of the oversea, dominions is th© British Fleet. And th© consequence of tha-t general agreement is that tho oversea dominions must pay as much they can of their share of the upkeep of this fleet. That is now, and has always been, an axiom of New Zealand policy. —Wellington “Times." W hile. however, the cost of building remains near its present level tho average rent must go on increasing, for th© proportion of old houses, on which th© rent is comparatively low, will decrease. The house that used to cost, say nothing of the increase in the price of land. Rent, therefore, promises to grow in importance, and the need for devising measures to keep it •within bqunds becomes more urgent.— Auckland “ Star.’’ Lack of schooling is one ot the greatest handicaps of rural life. Yet,'parodoxically, the need of schooling in the hack country is more urgent- than in the towns, because town life is itself educational. The farming people are admittedly the community which gives the State the best service, and they are thus entitled to the best service which the State can tender in returnThis is difficult because the number of children within reach of a country school is very limited, and while it is admitted that small classes turn out the best scholars, teachers are not verv eager to go into the country to teacli them.—Ashburton “ Guardian.” If Ministers toured this country with an open mind, and did not wrap themselves in the luxurv of the Ministerial carriage to the exclusion of all else, they would be convinced that there is no justification for tho suggestion that settlement is impeded by the lack of suitable land. Even along the railway routes of Otago, Southland and Canterbury, where subdivision has proceeded more rapidly than aqywhere else in the Dominion, there are green fields earning nothing for their owners or the country, while on all hands large areas of good arable and pasture land are growing little but gorse, broom. Canadian thistle and yarr.— “ Southland News.” There is an objection in Greymouth to the Exhibition—a feeling that Hokitika is attempting too much. But- our friends do not- realise the dimensions of the Exhibition, nor appreciate its purpose. It is to be the greatest event in the history of th© Coast, and it is for the whole Coast, not for Hokitika alone. Greymouth will derive great benefits from the function over the weeks it will run, and if the scope and purpose were more freely understood, Greymouth would wake up from its depressing nightmare, and co-oper-ate with Hokitika in that friendly, neighbourly way which would help to make the assurance of success, already patent, doubly sure.—Hokitika “ Guardian.” Southland, more than any province in New Zealand, stands in urgent- need of publicity in foreign fields, because it has more to offer the incomer, whether he be tourist, settler or .trader; and it is important to notice that in this mission to America and Britain this part- of the Dominion plays the most prominent part. For a, long time there have been bitter complaints about the weakness of the Government’s efforts in advertising, and it has been ■left to private enterprise to take up what should bare been the State’s work. It is a matter for congratulation that private enterprise has stepped in. because this will mean greater efficiency, less expense, end more energy. — et Southland Times.” New Zealand seems to be in a fair way towards establishing a new and profitable industry in the export of eggs to the London market. Hitherto this business has not been a profitable one to the grower owing xo the glut in the local market in the laying season and lie has been lucky if he could net f)d to TOd per dozen- . As a stimulus to th© industry it is suggested that the Government should permit the import of Australian fowl wheat, which would place poultry farmers in o stronger position to meet competition in London. The result of the shipments now on the water will bo awaited w ith widespread interest, and should anticipations be realised there will undoubtedly be a substantial expansion of the industry Southland News.” I Many of the messages that are sent through the rabies from overseas never would be missed if unpublished. That verdict pertains to much of the miscalled news cabled since Saturday. There was the usual quantity of stuff and nonsense cabled regarding Germany and what. Fritz thinks about things, of which New Zealanders must b 6 heartily sick and tired. All we ; need repeat to-day is that internal ructions continue to develop in the Fatherland, not only because AT. Poincare refuses to listen any longer to the deceptive voice of the charmer in Berlin, and has abruptly broken off further conversations, but because the Rhine republican movement is developing materially.— Feilding “Star.” As regards Germany as a whole there seems, on the score of really adequate the ’view-That France is desirou? of her general disintegration. Tt that were so. and the process were already beginning. the stamp of insincerity would surely attach to the French Government’s many declarations on the reparations question. For France has ostensibly been putting pressure on Germanv with the sole object of creating in her the will t-o pay. France and Belgium may not be perturbed over the Separatist activities in GermatiT, but, amid the confusion oi the situation. if one thing appears more certain than another, it is that such activities have beep stimulated by the conditions created by the French occupation of German territory, and that they are detrimental to the prospects for a satisfactory settlement of the reparations question.— ‘‘ Otago Daily Times.” Labour Day has become a day for Labour picnics, nothing'more serious than that, and a day for making holiday by the rest of the community m tho belief that any pretext which provides for a holiday at a season when those, are few is a pretext worth continuing. An eight-hour day is no longer counted by Labour men as one or their blessings. It marks an objective so modest from the modern viewpoint that it is doubtful if even a six-hour day would give long content to the enthusiasts of their movement. A proportion of them w'ould he glad to change the date of Labour’s class observance to May Day. which in Europe, if not in- Australia and New Zealand, has far more exciting memories connected with it. Meanwhile the class significance is hardly more than nominal. Children run races and their elders display their terpsichorean skill at a labour Day picnic without being I reminded by anyone that they are still (wage slaves, or of how one link of their chains was snapped for them.— 1 Dunedin “ Star.’*