PUBLIC OPINION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17218, 8 December 1923, Page 8

PUBLIC OPINION.

WHAT OTHER WRITERS ARE SAYING. DRIFT TO THE SOCTH.. The Statistician’s explanation of the southward drift is that the depression of 1921 and 1922 was less felt, in the South than in the North. This may, indeed, be accepted as an important contribution to the reaction, though it wjll surprise many to learn that in addition to other injury from the slump, the North Island has lost population to the South. —Auckland “Herald.” LABOUR AND PROTECTION. Why, jin the course of time, did Labour forsake Liberalism. It is a question which must one day be searchingly put, and convincingly answered in the light of day. For the present, the strange outburst of' the Labour Parliamentary leaders in picturesque support of free trade and all its doctrines so objectionable to oversea Labour, and, in their opinion, so disastrous, supplies an answer. The leaders of the Labour Party, which gave splendid support to the Liberals on the protection issue, have gone bodily over to free tradeand chained their Labour Party down to the free trade which it has rejected from the day of its first inception. What does New Zealand Labour say to this most outrageous departure from its cherished principle ?—Wellington “ Times.” SOMETHING WORTH WHILE. Should the Spahlingor serum prove to be all that is claimed for it-, the benefits it will ednfer upon humanity are too obvious to need emphasising, and wo fully agree with the opinion of Dr Blackmore, of Christchurch, that, even though New Zealanders may obtain a proprietary interest in it, they should he prepared to share those benefits with the rest of the world. . . If, on the other hand, the Spahlinger serum prove to be no good after all, we can at least look on the money as a gift to science, and one. moreover, which New Zealanders will have no reason to be ashamed r>. Indeed, it will, in that event, be all to our credit that we were ready to settle, once and for all, a very vital question which other countries were apparently afraid to tackle. —Wanganui “ Herald.” PREFERENCE AND PARTY BLINKERS. From its contemptuous reference to “ the old ships of tariff reform ” it might be supposed that the New Zealand Labour Party stands opposed to the policy of fiscal protection. In this country, however, it presumably supports the tariff protection of local industries. The New Zealand Labour Party apparently is protectionist at home, but as a ring-sjde spectator of the British general election believes in free trade. AVhile its attitude is in this respect confused, the party, or its officials, have in plain terms condemned the policy of Imperial preference. This uncompromising declaration will be of interest to the people of the Dominion, and not least to its farmers, who have been assured over and o\'er again that the extreme Labour Party is anxious to safeguard their rights and promote their interests. Even if these professions were not sufficiently discredited in various other ways, their true value would appear in the executive’s .outspoken, denunciation. o*F Imperial preference.—Wellington “ Dominion.” BANKRUPTCY. With some knowledge of the adminis- . tration of the bankruptcy laws in Wellington, we can say that most of the blame for the inadequacy of the law rests on the shoulders of the creditors, who never seem to back up the Official Assignee in dealing with the worst cases that come up. Mr Tansley, who occupies that position, is a careful, painstaking, efficient official, and he makes no bones about calling a spade a spade when suspicious cases come before him. But. the creditors listen attentively, deplore the dishonesty of the bankrupt, shrug their shoulders at the possibility of a prosecution, and show plainly that they consider the first loss the best one. ft may be that some of them are afraid that they might be in the same boat themselves some day, and so the offender against commercial morality gets off scot free. It is ridiculous to talk about altering a law with the idea of making it more strict, when the men most concerned honour it more in the breach than the observance. Feilding “ Star.” RESTRICTED IMMIGRATION. Tt is shown that, in spite of an increase over the pre-war volume of Stateaided immigration, tbo increase of population ip 1922 was subnormal, and for the three post-war years, the expansion was at a lower rate than before the ' war. Both factors in the groivth of population have fallen, but. the- heaviest loss has been in migration, and the increase by migration was less in 1922 than it was in 1921, and less again this year. As a consequence of the j war wastage and other adverse circum- : stances, the population to-day is not j less than 96.000 lower than it would have been had the rate of increase from ! 1901 to 1911 continued without intor- ; ruption. In the face of that deficiency and of the imperative need for a greater population to expand the national wealth and to relieve the burden of its war debt, the Government cannot defend its reliance upon a system that was never more than a partial solution of the problem, ami whose contribution has dwindled from year to year. —Auckland “ .Herald.” KEEP TO THE LEFT. On Saturday week, December 15, “ Keep to the Left ” will become the rule of the footpath in 'Wellington. It ! has long been the. rule of the road for | vehicular traffic in New Zealand, and | it is now being applied to pedestrian ! traffic, so that people who will step i off the footpath carelessly may at least i do so with their faces towards the oni coming vehicles. It. is a rule for the i greater safety of pedestrians, and it |is their duty to observe it. Jf, however. the council is content to leave j the observance to the citizen sense of | duty there may be a period of confusion, and this just at the time when the streets are crowded with holidaymakers and Christmas choppers. Other towns which have made the change recently have found that a. little attention given to coaching pedestrians in the new rule is repaid by the avoidance of confusion. Wellington should profit by this experience. Policemen on beat- duty in the principal streets will be able to do much in marshalling the lines of walkers, and the display of notices at many points will also help. We hope that the Corporation officers will have these .signs ready for display on December 15. If the Corporation .j iorgots the day on which the new bylaw becomes it cannot expect citizens to remember it. Wellington ] •• Post.”