The Christchurch Star PUBLISHED By New Zealand Newspapers Ltd. FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 1932. THEIR WAR-TIME HERO.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 470, 3 June 1932, Page 6

The Christchurch Star PUBLISHED By New Zealand Newspapers Ltd. FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 1932. THEIR WAR-TIME HERO.

IN VIEW of the hysterical state of the German people at the present time a dictatorship by President von Hindenburg is certainly preferable to a dictatorship by "Herr Hitler, an alternative dangerously possible even now. For undoubtedly Hitler lias a wide appeal, and the misery of the massed of the people provides fruitful soil for his doctrines. He has the popularity of the politician in opposition. Von Hindenburg, nevertheless, has a very real hold upon the affections of.the people. He was their war hero. He stood by Germany when the Kaiser ran away, and Germany has never forgotten. It is certain that the moderate section of the German people will welcome even a military dictatorship under his aegis in the face of the danger of Hitlerism, which lies not so much in the possibility of the party’s intoxication with the power of office as in the fact that it has no men of sufficient administrative ability to guide Germany through her difficulties. RUGBY RESOURCES. ' | 'O-DAY and to-morrow Rugby will occupy the centre of the sporting stage in Christchurch, and to-morrow’s North v. South Island match will be the prelude, we hope, to a succession of Rugby fixtures this season at Lancaster Park of Dominion-wide interest. The interisland match comes unusually early in the season, and the objection has been raised that men have been selected on promise rather than performance, at least as far as the North Island is concerned. However, Rugby is essentially a young man’s game, or at all events the veterans say that in their youth they were prepared to take chances, offensively and defensively, that in their more seasoned years they were not prepared to venture upon, and when an international team is to be selected it is a good fault to exploit the promising young material. Tomorrow’s match will have a special interest in its bearing oh the new scrum formation, which it is to be hoped New Zealand will be able to exploit in unexpected directions. BIRTHDAY HONOURS. nPHE TARDY recognition of Sir Kingsford Smith’s great services to the Empire and to world aviation is the outstanding feature of the Birthday Honours, even from an Imperial point of view, but it gives special satisfaction in the lands of the Southern Cross, which have a sense of possession in regard to this famous Australian. Kingsford Smith’s ambition in the field of aviation has carried him into desperate and splendid adventures, but he would have been the last to seek titled recognition of his services, and that fact enhances his reputation. The brevity of the New Zealand list of Honours gives added weight to the compliment bestowed on those singled out for recognition. From Dr Hight, Rector of Canterbury College, onwards, the list is a welcome indication of the determination of his Majesty’s present advisers in New Zealand to limit such distinctions to men like Sir Alfred Day, Sir William Hunt, Mr A. D. Park and Mr George M’Namara who have given useful and continuous service to the community. MORE REVELATIONS. T> EMULATIONS OF GRAFT in Sydney will strengthen the constitutional case for Sir Philip Game’s action in relieving Mr Lang of office. A Sydney journal has recalled the fact that Mr Lang dismissed the chief accountant to the Lands Department because he ordered his subordinates to pay money due under the Commonwealth law into the Commonwealth Bank, and when Sir Philip Game wrote 'to Mr Lang that “ it is impossible for me to put the Crown in the position of being a party to an illegal action,” he may have had the case of this officer in mind. If so, it is a notable instance of the extent to which the action of an honest and resolute man may have influenced the course of public affairs.