WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 1930. A VOTE OF NO-CONFIDENCE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19035, 2 April 1930, Page 8

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 1930. A VOTE OF NO-CONFIDENCE.

'T'HE RETURN of Mr C. E. Jones ir * the city by-election against the strongest candidate that the Labour Part}' could produce, must be regarded as a vote of no-con-fidence in the policy of the Labour majority on the Council, just as the return of Mr Armstrong would have been hailed as an endorsement of that policy. The party issue was the broad ground upon which the election was fought, although there were side issues. For instance, Mr Jones’s return by so substantial a majority was a tribute to his personal popularity and good citizenship, while it might be argued on the other hand that the multiplicity of public positions held by Mr Armstrong was something of an embarrassment in a community in which the “ one-man-one-job ” idea is gaining ground. Furthermore, apart from the policy of the Labour Party in the Council, its tactics have been ungenerous, for there has been too great a tendency to make every post a winning post, and to consider every problem with an eye to party advantage. We feel sure that Mr Jones will not fall into this particular error, greatly as some of his colleagues of the Citizens’ Association might like it. He is a level-headed citizen, and, as Mr A. S. Taylor says, his return will tend to soften the lines of party division in the community. ARE MUSEUMS USEFUL? PROFESSOR SPEIGHT’S decision to retain the curatorship of the Canterbury Museum directs attention to that somewhat musty institution. There was a time when it could boast of being the finest museum in the Southern Hemisphere, but an expert recently gave us a shock by announcing that it was now second-rate even for New Zealand. It is a pity that the educational possibilities of such an institution could not be exploited, for we have in Christchurch men of great scientific attainments who are well qualified to give addresses regarding some of the most interesting exhibits, and it ought to be possible to arouse a much greater degree of interest in the museum than exists to-day. The Board of Governors of Canterbury College, which has charge of the museum, is reputedly short of funds, especially for the necessary building extension that is desirable if the present exhibits are to be shown to the greatest advantage, but a forward move in the popularising of the institution might lead to the tapping of sources of revenue hitherto unsuspected. KEEPING IRELAND QUIET. An interesting sidelight on the value of P.R. comes from Ireland, where it is stated that the Labour Party is prejudicing Mr De Valera’s chances of election to the Presidency by putting forward its own nominee. This development is interesting, for without P.R. Labour representation in the Dail would have been nonexistent. Nobody can prophesy what would have happened if the single-member system had been in force, but at the time of the election Mr Kevin O’Higgins was strongly of the opinion that those who voted for intermediate groups under P.R. would have voted for the Government under the old system, while the leader of the Labour Party was just as emphatic that if Labour had not been able to return its own members it would have voted for De Valera. But everybody was agreed that P.R. had prevented a violent swing of the pendulum either way, and in doing so had given the opportunity for an ordered expression of the national mind. And in the case of the Presidency, apparently, it may save Ireland from the embarrassment of a De Valera regime. THE SOBER TRUTH. WHEN MR A. S. TAYLOR said last night that Christchurch had been the laughing-stock of the Dominion for a very long time he was interrupted by a barrage of dissent which was based, evidently, on the belief that he was referring to the selection of the city’s public men and in particular to the Labour Mayor. But in its context Mr Taylor’s statement was no more than the sober truth. The city is chronically unable to make up its mind on any important public question, because as soon as somebody proposes one thing his opponents find fault with it, and offer alternatives that result in a stalemate. That has been the history of the province since the days when the Conservative forces in politics tried to defeat the Lyttelton tunnel project, and it is seen to-day in the inability of the warring elements to arrive at an agreement about anything. We are still undecided about an art gallery site, and nothing is being done to improve Cathedral Square. It took weeks and weeks to decide upon the removal of trees in Springfield Road, and this vacillation was merely symptomatic of the ueneral comnlaint.