The Christchurch Star. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1929. NEW ZEALANDERS ARE TOO LEISURELY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18887, 11 October 1929, Page 8

The Christchurch Star. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1929. NEW ZEALANDERS ARE TOO LEISURELY.

THE DELAYS tlia,t are associated with landing formalities at New Zealand ports are the subject of timely comment by Mr Charles Qgilvie, who has just returned from a trip abroad. He finds that leisureliness is a striking feature of the landing of passengers, and that it compares very unfavourably with the practice in Canada and the United States. Mr Ogilvie has done a good service in calling attention to the matter. New Zealanders are living too much in the past. Not only are officials slow and fussy, but the people themselves almost seem to resent speed where transport is concerned. It is only a year or two ago that two bells were rung for every train leaving Christchurch for Lyttelton—six miles distant. One was rung five minutes Before the train started and another a minute beforehand. To-day, for a ferry steamer leaving at about 8.30 p.m., Christchurch passengers have to catch a train leaving at 6.50 p.m. for a journey that should occupy ten or twelve minutes at the outside. In every direction this easy-going spirit is manifest. Tram passengers in Christchurch will w r ait until the tram stops before they rise from their seats, and the tramway authorities seem to encourage this general spirit of leisureliness by permitting little chats and roadside greetings between the staffs of passing cars. In every direction, indeed,

one finds that things are done slowly in New Zealand. The other morning a steamer with Australian and English mails arrived off the Lyttelton Heads at daylight, but the mail was not sorted in Christchurch until 4 o’clock in the afternoon. As Mr Ogilvie says, these may appear to be little things, but they need attention. “ A TIME TO KEEP.” IT WOULD BE A MISTAKE to sell “Awarua House,” the old Ministerial residence in Tinakori Road, Wellington. Apart from its historical interest, which is not after all a very great consideration in matters of this kind, there is every reason why New Zealand should have a full realisation of its Dominion status, and of the very high respect with which it is regarded in Empire councils, and should see to it that its Prime Minister has a residence in keeping with the importance of his office. It is true enough that the building costs a comparatively large sum for its maintenance, but this is a charge that New Zealand ought to bear gladly, because, as Mr David Jones says—and it is quite a pleasure to agree w'ith him for once—it would be a retrograde step to group Ministers in flats, and it would create a very unfavourable impression among the Dominion’s distinguished visitors. AN IMPORTANT FACTOR. WHEN THE MAYOR says that the question of a site for the art gallery is closed, he is overlooking the important fact that there is no statutory authority in existence by which the Rolleston Avenue frontage of the domain gardens can be alienated. The fact that the Domains Board has approved of the transfer of this site may give ground for supposing that Parliament will fall in with its wishes, but we are inclined to think that the transfer will be very strenuously opposed in Parliament, as it ought to be, not only by Canterbury members but by any outside members who are opposed to the principle of alienating public reserves. It is regrettable that so generous a gift to the city as £25,000 should have given rise to so much argument and uncertainty over the selection of a site, and we would not refer to the matter again but for the profound conviction that if the art gallery is erected on the Rolleston Avenue frontage, the people of Christchurch will regard it for all time as a most unfortunate decision from every point of view. AN OUTBREAK OF TYPHOID. BY THE IRONY OF FATE, Health Week in Christchurch has been marked by an outbreak of typhoid, or enteric, fever. We suggest that the Department of Health in the circumstances should depart from its traditional policy of hushing the matter up, and should assist in educating the public in every way possible to the risks of this endemic disease, and the methods by which it may be escaped. It is unlikely that the outbreak is at all serious, but six cases, and two of them fatal, are sufficiently alarming to justify the department in taking the public into its confidence. Above all, a statement should be prepared regarding the probable cause of the present outbreak, and the degree of danger of its spreading. The most susceptible age in connection with the disease is adolescence and early adult life, and the greatest incidence is between the ages of fifteen and thirtyfive. Predisposing causes are believed to be the lowering of the vitality, although it is probable that where contaminated food or water is taken, even a normally healthy person will contract the disease. There, are so many directions in which infection may be spread that the public -would welcome an ea'/ly statement on the subject from the Health Department.