PUBLIC OPINION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17575, 27 June 1925, Page 8

PUBLIC OPINION.

WHAT OTHER WRITERS ARE I SAYING. THE NAVY'S NEW CAPITAL. Ur Vaughan Cornish's description of Singapore as “the Bn ish - « - new eastern capital” Js a P I illuminating- He thus puts m o nutshell a wide range of strategy facts of which he is particularly m *■ qualified to speak. tor the thirty Tears lie has been engaged travel and geographical research. * ° well approved uas his ability in t.ne~e directions that during the period t iie war and the ari.Tistice he was ei> gaged by the British Government for a continuous series of lectures on strategic geography to naval and military officers at home stations, in tlv~ Grand Fleet, in France and m tho Rhine front. In this recognition °r the necessity for wide geographical knowledge the Government emphasised tho simple fact that all natters oi broad strategy are at bottom concerned with geography : and the one nation that can least afford to neglect map* is our own. Imperial thinking, however, has to be dons in terms of oceans rather than of continents, and Dr Cornish’s description of Singapore lays stress upon the point to which the : shifting focus of British naval interest has recently moved.—“ Herald,” Auckland. WOOL AT THE CROSS ROADS. It is apparent from* the cablegrams from Alel bourne that Australian woo I - growers favour continuance cf control of the sale of the staple. When it was proposed to Extend the BritishAustralian Wool Realisation Association. or Bawra, tfci&re were many oi>ponents among the growers of the Commonwealth. The whole of them and those of this Dominion wer e unsettled by the extraordinarily, and still unexplained, rise in prices current last November and December. ThosO prices were boom prices—whatever caused them—and not since January have they been maintained; on the contrary, in Australia. New Zealand, and London the trend of prices lias been downwards. There is no more justification now for holding that they nil! return to the November level than there was for the values current the* and which came as a thunderclap ttf those most intimately connected with* the business. The position of tho wool trade, whatever growers may* think of it, is really critical. They ' rre no better able than ne to say whether buyers can or eventually will : meet their ideas of value.—“Post,’ Wellington. - SUNDAY'S SENSATIONS. : Not content with the Yellow Peril, which has long be£n the subject of gloomy forebodings to the small white populations which are spread over huge and almost defenceless areas m ; those southern sea». the “ Sunday P; - [ torial ” tells us that there are tv,» Yellow Perils ahead of white civilisa- , tion. There is an industrial peril ajnl there is a- military peril, and both will make themselves felt far beyond tho hounds of the Pacific when China, coached by -Japan and “possessed of great fleets and millions of armed troops,” sets out to show the whole world what she can do. “ Although [ Chinese hordes may not march upon Europe, an aerial invasion is possible.” In support of its prophecy the “Sunday Pictorial J ' refers to the terribi® | Joss that the prestige ct the Western ? nations lias suffered by reason of their fratricidal strife during the Great War. But what is left of the nerves of Europe is to some extent steeled against panic by the knowledge that, though China was not devastated by the Great M ar. she has not been immune from fratricidal strife, and that 1 the weakness and the anarchy arising from her protracted civil war hare l hitherto been a far graver peril to the y M estern world than the mob violence, f condoned and encouraged by official t insolence, of the last few weeks.— “ Post,” Wellington. i ) I A MATTER of costs. J In a batch of by-law cases Mr F. 1 K - Hunt, .M.. took a strong and, wo think, a sound line about costs. Tho ' custom has been to allow a solicitor 5 a guinea in respect to every case, or • every charge, though defendants mar 5 plead guilty and the whole business trav bo done in the Court, in a few minutes In Crown cases the solicitor lor the Crown may be allowed three guineas for every case or charge, which > means that an offender against whom there are several charges arising one of the same offence may be mulcted in heavy costs. This piling up «.? costs has, we understand, been the subject of a good deal of comment even among those who benefit by it. This morning Mr Hunt broke a,w»y from tho custom by allowing a solicitor who appeared for a local body in terra cr.ses tli7*ee guneas instead of sever.. AI! the defendants pleaded guilty, and we do not suppose that the solicitor that he is being ‘‘sweated.” Nor do we think there will be any every iu Die profession against the Magistrate’s stand. Costs cars be t<-<-* heavy, not only for the offender, but for the conscience of tho lawyer.— ' ’ Star, " Auckland. PARTIES AND WORK The session of Parliament promise* to derive much of it■ interest from tho outcome of the fusion negotiations, and The influent© thereby exercised on tho altitude of members of the tw;, moderate parties. In the event of an actively hostile attitude beig adopted by the Opposition, it is obvious that with the narrow majority possessed by the Government, little progress could bo made. An early appeal t-, tho country might become in these circumstances the only course open to practical consideration. Manifestly. however, anv party which forced the hand of t-lio Government in this way would • incur a very serious responsibility, and would invite drastic punishment when - il came to face the electors. Unless party feeling is allowed to get out of ; hand and become dominant, there is nothing in the existing situation that need prevent a considerable amount of • ■ useful work being put through befor > Parliament completes its term. Tha programme for the session includes questions of the reduction of taxation t End other important aspects of national i finance which certainly should be given i careful consideration. An opportunity appears also, in dealing with details , . land and other legislation, of doing; 1 a good deal to assist the progressive ■ 1 development of tho Dominion, and enf { hance its prosperity.—* e Dominion/* Wellington.