The Chrischurch Star PUBLISHED BY New Zealand Newspapers Ltd. THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 1931. A DEARTH OF TALENT.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 191, 13 August 1931, Page 8

The Chrischurch Star PUBLISHED BY New Zealand Newspapers Ltd. THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 1931. A DEARTH OF TALENT.

'T'HE DECENTRALISATION of broadcasting ought to be one of the main objects of any scheme for the reorganisation of the service in New Zealand, because local programmes are found to give the greatest satisfaction and the clearest reception. This has been very strikingly demonstrated in Germany, where simple sets are the rule and not the exception, and listeners are content with local programmes, in the preparation of which directors have displayed a healthy spirit of competition. It is true that the smaller New Zealand centres cannot hope to maintain very interesting programmes with the local talent available, but that is painfully true of the larger centres as well, and it is almost certain that all stations will have recourse, in an increasing degree, to “ recorded ” or gramophone music, which has already made some of the B stations so popular. It is not necessary, therefore, to increase the power of the four main stations, whose programmes could be sent out on special occasions from the smaller stations. The important tiling is to bring in as wide a circle of local listeners as possible so that license fees may be reduced to a minimum. SMAt.MSP. PARLIAMENTS. TT IS PERHAPS not strange that the agitation for smaller Parliaments and long-term Parliaments should always come from the conservatives in politics, whose position would be strengthened if the electorates could be doubled in size. Eighty members arc not too many for a sparsely settled country like New Zealand, and it should not be forgotten that four of these members arc Maori representatives. A member of the Sheepowners’ Union has pointed out that England, with the same ratio of representation as New Zealand, should have 2300 members, but comparisons of this nature are valueless because population is not the only factor. If we took area, for instance, as compared with England, New Zealand would have not eighty members but 615. wool, FOR MATTRESSES. VERY INDUSTRY that can be linked up with the primary products of the Dominion ought to be exploited, and there is a good deal in the suggestion of an Auckland member of Parliament that the wool of the Dominion should be scoured before it is sent Home. I3ut much better than exporting wool, scoured or greasy, is to use it in the Dominion, and in that connection it may be mentioned that the scouring and dressing of wool to take the place of kapoc appears to offer an opportunity for exploitation. In 1930, kapoc valued at nearly £70,000 was imported into the country, and if, as is claimed, specially prepared wool can take the place of kapoc, approaching in some degree the softness of eiderdown, and eliminating the dust nuisance in mattresses and pillows, a very profitable industry might be developed. PARTIES IN GERMANY. "TVISTURBANCES in Germany “ may be regarded as one internal result of the strengthening of the Communist Party and the National Socialist Party at the last general elections, for although between these two powerful parties, representing the extreme Left and the extreme Right, there are groups of middle parties, this moderate element has been reduced from twenty-one groups in the last German Reichstag to fifteen in the present. The centre party, which is the Government of Dr Bruning, gives representation in the Cabinet to members of the moderate right and middle parties, and receives the support of the Social Democrats, and it is because a certain degree of unanimity can be achieved between all these smaller groups that the Government, in spite of very apparent difficulties, has been able to ensure a large measure of continuity in its policy both at home and abroad.