WHAT OTHER WRITERS ARE SAYING.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17183, 29 October 1923, Page 6

WHAT OTHER WRITERS ARE SAYING.

Hard on the heels of the earthquake another upheaval seems destined to arrive in Japan. It is not likely to cause much of a stir immediately, but all the same its effects will go deeper than the great disaster which took such a. heavy toll on the population. This new change is involved in the Manhood Suffrage recommendation which lire Ministers, headed by Viscount Shimpei Goto, aie to' present to the Government. The recommendation adopted by the quintette of Ministers makes age the only qualification, and it also reduces the age limit for member* of the House of Representatives from thirty to twenty-five years. The liberalising movement in Japan is an important factor making for peace in Europe.— 4 Southland News.” The housing difficulty will not be overcome by mere substitution of ownership for tenancy, though this may mitigate some individual hardships arising from the shortage. Parliament understood this perfectly, and it. wa* certainly the intention of the legislators that the 95 per cent, advances should operate as an encouragement of house-building, not an incentive only to house-buying. Possibly the legislation has not been in operation long enough to enable its effect to be determined : but some indication of its trend should shortly be available. The Acting-Minister of Finance will. w© hope, obtain and publish an early report upon this question, so that if the new’ measure is not achieving its purpose an endeavour may he made to discover the cause of failure.—Wellington “ Post.” On more than one occasion we havo urged greater consideration of the advantages to be gained by the expansion of woollen manufactures in this country. . . . Our own notion is not -so much to embark further private capital held in the "Dominion, but to enlist the interest of British scourers, combers, spinners, and manufacturers in the idea of instituting bore what they might almost consider branch establishments. Even were these confined to the processes preliminary to actual manufacture big savings could be effected and much advantage gained by the country. . . . The world, it is said, is being threatened with a big shortage in its wool supplies. The best way to avert this is to provide stable markets for those who have been accustomed and are still willing to produce it- on the basis of a moderate profit for themselves. —Hawkes Bay “Tribune ”

That the railways exist for the countrv is not only true, but the statement is the expressed objective of the railwav svstem. Therefore are justified ah the deputations from the farming interest which wait, without cessation, on the railway authorities with demands for concessions. Not long ago the railways, for obvious reasons, could not make both ends mete, and in that period the farmers who. thanks to what was known as “the commandeer.” were doing well, refrained some what from troubling the railway authorities. But when the slump came upon them they renewed their demands for concessions, and some of them, not the most reasonable, filled the air with denunciations of the railway management. When the slump passed, the railway financial balance restored itself. and the investment of forty millions resumed payment of some portion of the capital charges.—New Zealand Times.” The power which was given to the Arbitration Court for the adjustment of rates at half-yearly intervals was a direct result of abnormal conditions, and all signs will lie welcomed that these are now reaching an end. It vras an essential power, probably in the. circumstances in which it wacreated, but it was no more than a makeshift at the best. No cost oi living figures can be more than roughi v indicative of the needs of the worker, because they cannot show the extent to which one article ot consumption is replaced by another as it< cost increases, and dependents arc r.ot t»k<yi into consideration. High feel ings have been engendered by the Court's efforts to discharge a most difficult function, and it is much tc its credit that, it has been able tc discharge it with as much satisfaction as it has done. That the func-tior t will be unnecessary for the future musi | be a still stronger reason for grata-

| ficat-ion. —Dunedin “ Star.” *** ! In recent times the opinion has been j expressed that the revival ot tariff le- * form would split the "Unionist _ Party ! even more disastrouslv than it. I split when the same issue was raise ‘ in the opening years of the present I century. Such opinions are based upon j an observation and estimation ot poutical factors which cannot readily be i measured at a distance. The suggestion that the Unionist Party must b» content to shelve the fiscal issue, not j merely for the life of the present Bn- ! Parliament, but indefinitely, apj pears, however, to be hardly distinI guisltable from a counsel of despair. What is now being considered is not a i revival of the tariff reform issue in its : old form, but the adoption of a trade poliev designed to meet the now con iI tions ip. which she is placed meantime av i> n almost hopeless disadvantage. It l is an excellent feature of the proposed policy that it would stimulate produci tion and trade within the Empire, and I this without any taxation of British imports of foodstuffs and raw matciials. Looking at the matter solely j from the standpoint of its ow n interests. however, the United Kingdom evident! v has weighty reason for adopting this policy.—Wellington " Do- ! Registranon (of miners* unions) was undoubtedly effected in order to prevent the disintegration of the unions through the withdrawal of th*» miners system, and who in such circumstances ; would have been placed in a position j to form unions of their own and to work under awards of the court. As j matters stand, the miners who arc favourable to the arbitration system I are in a somewhat unfortunate situa- ! tion. They do not occupr a dominant position among their fellow-workers. Among the miners, more than in the 1 case of any other industrial section of ! the community, extremists seem to insinuate themselves into responsible 1 positions. The majority of the miners I who are out of work must by this j time be thoroughly tired of ilie idleness which the policy of their leaders | has brought upon them, and would be ! glad to go hack to work upon the con- | dition, suggested bv the mine-owner*, j that 3- new award should be applied i for. But they have not had the 1 chance of expressing tbeir views freely ’on that point. As a consequence, the j suspension, of coal-mining operations i must continue till some acceptable wav I to a settlement he proposed.—“ Otago rn.il V Timas.’*.