The Christchurch Star PUBLISHED BY New Zealand Newspapers Ltd. TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 1931. HAVING AND HOLDING.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19270, 6 January 1931, Page 6

The Christchurch Star PUBLISHED BY New Zealand Newspapers Ltd.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 1931. HAVING AND HOLDING.

Gloucester Street and Cathedral Square CHRISTCHURCH NEW ZEALAND. London Representatives 3 R. B. BRETT & SON NEW BRIDGE HOUSE, 30/34 NEW BRIDGE STREET LONDON. E.C.4.

npHE MEDICAL MAN who ad- ■*- vised people to go into training for a holiday, and not to depend on a holiday merely to undo the damage of a run-down condition beforehand, was giving very good advice, from which one may go a step further. Those who have had their holidays, and who have benefited by fine weather, sea bathing and fresh air, should resolve to maintain their tone by taking advantage as fully as possible of the remaining months of the summer to keep themselves fit through the short hibernating winter. The world would be a dull place to live in if the close of the Christmas and New Year holidays merely meant a return to the grindstone, for though work makes life sweet recreation is a priceless gift, which comes with added value to people who can live in the open air and sunshine as we do in New Zealand. Life cannot be one long holiday, but what we have we can hold, and this applies particularly to the good health that comes with summeYsunshine. ALL TO THE GOOD. T>Y OVERREACHING themselves in the taxation of racing and betting, the New Zealand Government and the Lang Government in Sydney are likely to confer a very great benefit on the public. They have made this “ mug’s game ” so palpably a luxury that in New Zealand we have a shrinkage in the totalisator turnover during the recent holidays of £306,000, and we hear of Australian country clubs closing up for lack of patrons. It would be the best thing in the world if half of our racing in New Zealand could be taxed out of existence, for three hundred days of racing in a small community is a desperate economic waste, which is not redeemed by its contribution to the coffers of the State. MORE ENTERPRISE. TT IS RATHER CYNICAL to suggest that the improvement in Canterbury cricket, which w r e have seen reflected in two splendid performances against Wellington and Auckland, is to be put down to the coming English tour, for such an incentive would operate just as actively in the case of any province. The improvement is more likely to have its roots in a new spirit that has been noted in club cricket lately. Club captains have shown a good deal more enterprise in playing for extra points, and this stimulus has had its effect on the minds of the younger players particularly, as we have seen in some notable performances in the last season or two. The prospect that Canterbury will again hold the Plunket Shield should have a healthy influence on cricket in the province, and the heartiest congratulations are due to the Canterbury captain and his team on their meritorious performances this season. ARMAMENTS. 'IT'ROM the purely business point of view there is cause for satisfaction in the fact that the British aircraft industry, in the face of foreign competition, has obtained a large order from the Belgian Government for the supply of fighter aeroplanes. But the order is also a reminder that the race for air supremacy is becoming more intense. Moreover, Britain does not merely supply aeroplanes to foreigners—she trains their pilots. This phase of the activities of the Royal Air Force led recently to the question being seriously asked at Home whether it was wise for Britain to train pilots who might one day man enemy squadrons, and to place in the hands of potential enemies all the secrets of British Air Force methods that such a training necessarily would confer. The training of naval units from foreign nations, t was pointed out, was not quite analogous, but the supply of fighting squadrons of aeroplanes to European nations, and the training of their pilots, might provide a weapon that would one day be turned against Britain. The subject is one that many thoughtful men are pondering seriously at the present time.