The Star. SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 1926. HELPING ITALY TO HER FEET.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17758, 30 January 1926, Page 8

The Star. SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 1926. HELPING ITALY TO HER FEET.

The atmosphere of cordiality which is said to have marked the conclusion of the Italian debt negotiations might have been taken for granted, since the Italian delegates seem to have struck a very good bargain, and it is likely enough that Mr Churchill was glad to have the bird in the hand on this occasion. The pity is that Britain s magnanimity towards a valued ally should be the subject of a chorus of protest that descends to the point of charging Italy with concocting a “ sob story ” for the purpose of “ fleecing the British taxpayer.” The probability as that while Britain has erred on the side of generosity, she -stands not only to retain Italy’s friendship, but to gain in trade what would otherwise be diverted into rather grudging and maybe interrupted debt repayments. The position is complicated by Britain’s desire to take no more from the debtor nations than she is paying to America, and until an international balance-sheet is prepared, taking into account the reparation repayments, it is risky to attempt a piecemeal examination of the position. Italy, perhaps, gives point to the proverb that God helps those that help themselves. Her attempts to achieve economic and financial stability in recent years, have aroused world-wide admiration. She was one of the first Continental countries to effect a substantial control of the currency circulation, and although she has not yet returned to the gold standard, her financial progress in the last three years has been strongly reassuring, and her debt settlement with Britain should clear the -way for complete financial stability. Meanwhile, her cordial acceptance of Mussolini’s doctrine of work promises to give her increasing industrial and agricultural prosperity, and Britain’s substantial assistance during a period when she is struggling to her feet again must further, to a marked degree, the cause of international goodwill.

Humanitarian progress in dealing with the criminal classes places the members of the Supreme Court Bench in a particularly difficult position in holding the scales evenly between wrongdoers and the public upon whom they prey. Mr Justice Adams commented yesterday on the increase in the number of crimes of burglary, and suggested that the Court would have to take special means of dealing with offenders. Yet ,he was faced immediately with the duty of sentencing two men whose cases, while containing very little in the way of extenuating circumstances, seemed to suggest that sympathetic treatment would perhaps afford the best results. They wene not, as his Honor remarked, criminals in the usual sense, and to some extent they bore out the contention recently pflt forward by an experienced London Magistrate that every class shows itself liable to commit criminal acts which are Just below the level of public opinion if the chances of discovery are small or a lie is likely to be believed to account for them. It is, however, a nice question whether these cases should not be dealt with even more firmly than those of men who belong to the criminal class, for an increase in serious crime suggests the need of deterrent sentences tluil will make a deep impression on those who are near the border line. Only last month Mr Justice Avory commented on ihe recrudescence of crime in England, and recent happenings in New Zealand suggest a similar outbreak in this part of the world. Indeed, the law in New Zealand is such that .if a man enters a house in daylight, even with the most obyvious criminal indention, he cannot be charged with any offence, and the householder is actually obliged to request him Twice to leave before taking steps to have him removed. Therefore, it is) evident not only that sentences for burglary should be increased in severity, but that the law should be tightened up in regard to these offences.