PUBLIC OPINION

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18063, 25 January 1927, Page 8

PUBLIC OPINION

WHAT OTHER WRITERS ARE SAYING. Salmon Fisheries. It is anticipated that the run of quinnat salmon in the southern rivers will this year prove a record. This anticipation may be expected to attract considerable numbers of anglers and net-fishermen to the rivers; and it would be as well for the Marine Department to announce its policy before the rush sets in. Two North American experts last year strongly advised that the fish should be left undisturbed for a further period so that they might multiply' and thus provide salmon fisheries upon a commercial scale. As fishing has been allowed to begin it is. perhaps, too much to expect that it should be stopped completely', but the Government should certainly consider the limitation of operations. Line fishermen may be allowed to have their sport with reasonable restrictions upon the catches; but the wisdom of permitting netting appears much open to argument. As yet there does not appear to. be scope for commercial fisheries. Certainly an industry of wide public benefit cannot be built up on the price basis of 2s or 2s 6d a pound. Would it not be better for the public and for the future of commercial salmon fisheries, therefore, that netting and marketing should be deferred till the runs arc such as to warrant the establishment of the enterprise on a bigger scale?—“Evening Post,” Wellington.

The General Strike. Many months after its dramatic opening and its futile close, the general strike which fell upon Great Britain last May is the subject of a report by' the General Council of the Trades Union Congress. Unless an injustice is done to the report by* its summarisation for cabling, it confines itself to generalities, and avoids discussing some of the most important questions raised by the general strike. For instance, “The council has no excuses to offer and no apologies to make for its conduct of the strike or its termination.” This sounds heroic and defiant; but does the report say anything about the calling of the strike, does it offer comfort to men whose livelihood and future are still threatened because they obeyed the call, can it make any adequate reply to those Labour leaders who. in the light of the experience they' gained in the brief days of the general strike, have uncompromisingly adopted the slogan, “Never again”? The report emphasises heavily the loyalty, enthusiasm and unselfish devotion of those who ceased work 1 at its bidding. It is late with this panegyric. Many observers not connected with the Labour movement noted the loyalty, almost pathetic in its intensity, to their union of men who reluctantly obeyed the order to strike. Sympathy for the miners brought the rank and file out on strike. Now they are told that the attitude of the Miners’ Federation would have made continuance of the strike futile. The General Council of the Congress admits all these things and offers to the men who are paying the price of discovering them nothing more than encomiums on their own loyalty. By the reception of the report it has issued can be judged whether it is to receive the condemnation it has earned for engineering that tragic blunder, the general strike of 1926.—“ New Zealand Herald,” Auckland.

Influenza Epidemic. It is difficult to form any reliable conclusion respecting the gravity of the epidemic of influenza which is affecting Europe at the present time. The Health Department has been advised that it is not nearly so serious as might be inferred from the cable messages. But the mortality rate is highly- impressive. It suggests the unwisdom of regarding the epidemic as other than distinctly grave. The form in which the influenza scourge manifested itself in 1918 was such that widespread recurrence of it would be a

source of dread to the world at large. But fortunately' the malady' varies greatly’ in type, and there is no actual need to conclude that, should the visitation that is now reported from the Old World extend itself to our own Dominion, it will present itself in circumstances at all resembling those of which the community had such an unforgettable experience nine years ago. Yet nice calculations respecting the danger that may exist of a serious form of the disease finding its way into New Zealand are of no service. The obvious policy in the first instance is to do everything possible to keep the invader out. It is satisfactory, therefore, to have the assurance of the Minister of Health that precautionary’ measures have been devised, and that a strict vigilance is to be exercised by’ health officials at the various ports, where provision is to be made for the opening of quarantine stations if necessary, at the shortest notice. If the infection should elude these barirers, and outbreaks of the disease in serious form should occur, much will depend on the manner in which they are handled. The Health Department is properly recognising the importance of effective local organisations against possible emergencies, and it may lie presumed that Mr Young has not lightly said that both the Health Department and the public are letter organised to-day than ever before to deal with an epidemic.—“Otago Dailv