The Christchurch Star PUBLISHED BY New Zealand Newspapers Ltd. TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 1935. STARTING AGE FOR BOYS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20649, 25 June 1935, Page 8

The Christchurch Star PUBLISHED BY New Zealand Newspapers Ltd.

TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 1935. STARTING AGE FOR BOYS.

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

XT ALL DEPENDS what a boy is to do whether he should have post-primary day schooling or not. In the old days employers in industry wanted boys young, and placed little value even on technical education, which in some cases was acquired on plant that was not found in the shops of struggling industry. This question is being debated too loosely, however, for there is a difference between the requirements of a commercial man and an industrial employer. If a boy is to learn the clothing trade he might as well start early, for he does not need the background of knowledge that is necessary, say, in journalism, or the poise and adaptability that is desirable in a salesman. There will be such a constant pressure of demand and supply for boys at fourteen that in many fields of employment the boy continuing much past that age in daytime schooling will be at a great disadvantage. Therefore, vocational advisers become increasingly important to parents. After that, of course, any boy starting work at the earlier age should , have postprimary education available to him cheaply outside his working hours. THE TATTOOED ARM CASE. A CONSERVATIVE VIEW of a coroner’s right to hold an inquest on a portion of a human body errs on the safe side. It is disturbing, however, to find a court going back 700 years for a ruling, arid the decision given in the tattooed arm case is not satisfying because there is medical evidence that the arm must have come from a dead man, and there is other evidence of identification. It is irrele%ant to say, as the judge does, that the arm cannot be regarded as a body without making an inquest possible on every portion of a dismembered body, including the head. In such a case there would be some means of deciding whether the dismembered parts ca.ne from the same body, and if they did not, then separate inquests would be desirable. The ruling is inconsistent, too, with more enlightened precedents under which a charge of murder may be supported by the production of any portion of a human body. In the Mouat case in Christchurch the head of the body was never found, and what bones w r ere presented were merely those of a small person, probably a .woman. Yet they led to a verdict of manslaughter. This is as it should be, for if the present ruling regarding a coroner’s limitations held, it would only be necessary for a murderer to do as Bayly did to escape the consequence of his crime. UNEDIFYING SPORT. TXRUTAL WRESTLING is more degrading than cock-fighting, and the police are to be commended for refusing a permit to wrestle to an American exhibitionist who has been guilty of rough tactics. The worship of brute strength is a sign of national degeneracy, and a premium should not be placed upon it in sport. Rough Rugby should be stamped out, for the rules of the game make it possible to disable every member of a team by tactics not strictly illegal, and leniency is an encouragement to the rough element. Happily, skill in sport is being demanded more and more as roughness grows. The Indian hockey players tell us that New Zealanders use their feet and their weight too much. Austin and Borotra both favour three-set matches in tennis, thus putting a premium on skill and making the game less of a test of mere endurance. It is a healths' tendency, for in the things that count brawn can never beat brains.