The Tuapeka Times AND Goldfields Reporter & Advertiser "Measures, not Men." WEDNESDAY, 24th JULY, 1912 THE HIGH COMMISSIONERSHIP.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 5963, 24 July 1912, Page 2

The Tuapeka Times AND Goldfields Reporter & Advertiser "Measures, not Men." WEDNESDAY, 24th JULY, 1912 THE HIGH COMMISSIONERSHIP.

It seems the Hon. Thomas Mackenzie is the favourite in the running for this important public prize. We du not suppose anyone will question the Hon. gentleman's iitnese for the position. His knowledge of the resources and requirements of th* Dominion are surpassed by no one's, and his political career has proved that he has the talent for making friends, a most useful faculty in un aiwutussueW to the Motherland froai an outlying dependency. DouMleis, too, his removal fcoa th» political stage at the

prtwont juncture) would bo useful to Air Alassoy und his colleague*, a«fi, H perhups, not unnmbarrusaiiijr to his own late eoadjutors. WJu notice that the <jOvernweut jcuraals, siiwo his defeat, are treating tho Hon. T. Aluclicmdo witli particular respect and '; lws«volcwc. JJo they want to win 1 luju back to his oM love '/ W'ull, it « would b 0 iiardly doeeul, niter the lato (,' ; political iuncrul, ior tho principal per- '■ | tonne' in tho nerumoiiy U (jo o ver ; to th u aide of fclio chief oxecutisne*. Lint thun it would ibo highly couJ ; vonient io dlititin another ilovorunu'iit | suppoi la- by a l>y-olouli*n lor j-.g- ---, luout. Aad tho present member's re- | commendation might have weight i with the electors of that constitu- ,. ! eney in thu seleotuvn of a ropuisent- ' : ative. But if Air T. Mackenzie is \ | gi\on tho IJigh Comuviasionership, . ; will not vhu political facts and coiu- ' i cidcncvs with which he has been eon- : j iiocti>i lor the past few years look j lilvo evidences of a deep-laid plot to j briny the ltcform l'arty into .power '( ■ | Let us bnelb/ relate these facts and ! coincidences. 'Under the regime 0 f Mr ; Scddou Air 1. Alackuizio is a dolerI mined opponent of the Liberal I'u'i'ty, : Alii Suddon dius. Sir ■Useph Ward Ixjj cornea l'remier. Alter a decent inter- ' val Mr T. M ackcir/ie procluiiUß in .speeches very fully reported in Conservative journals his faith in th« policy and personalitv of Sir .Joseph Wurdj Why so much advertisement ot a dc.crlcr's urift to the e*'my ? After another decent interval Air T. Mackenzie is lukuu into tho Cabinet of Sir Joseph Ward. Was Sir .losoph a victim to the insidious wiles ol th» Opposition '! Ivoxt the Liberal I'arlv gets disorgunised. Then an election, and a partiul defeat. Then n resitrnotion of the Ward. Ministry, and tho selection of !A4i- T. Mackenzie as leador by a section of tho aforesaid disorganised parly. k Then throe months' rule by a Mr Mackenzie Ministry unauthorised by Parliament. Then defeat by tho desertion of a disaffected fragment of the disorganised party Finally, if it comr* off, the elevat/ion of the arch iujjrnitiiitor in the highest 'cilice in the e ift of the Reform Party. Now tho question is Was the Hon. T. Mackenzie dMflwrntely used, with hit own consent, n< a wedgo to spliti up tho Liberal J'arty. 0 DOLEFUL DIATItIBIS OF DENTISTS. The Bdueation Conuniijion will, »o

doubt have a verv bulky a nd expensive report to issue, tor it is gathering a large mass of evidenco j be..n;u <>„

thn instruction of the young. It is a matter for regret, howev'i". thai much <•! the evidence is ~«lit- ■ su|s.-r----fln.oui, kavrng been published far a" ! wide many times previously to the advent of the Commission. This is a result of the mistaken practice ~i the commission in sitting only in th. larger towns, where a wealthy and influential jpress is constantly at work seeking for items of information interesting to the public, and win-re all sorts of societies are io' tho presumed benetft of mankind and the enhancement of their own importance in the eyes of the community at large. II tke Education Commission had pursued a more sensible plan '.. eschewing the eitic-- a nd ronmi'ng itinvestigations to rural di-iiiets. it W'ould have obtain'-d a eollerkm of facts not generally well-known. > •■' which have an im.'Portant b '.ir .;;_• on

the efficiency and co-t oi o. . of education. I'art of 111 >uperiluous knowledge which the members oi the Education Commission are bein,; paid three guinea; n dav to collect is thaC'dealing with the decay of the teeth of children.- It did'not need an expensive commission to inform us of this lamentable fact. Most parents Know it to their cost. Rut tie dentists, like all enterprisine purveyors of goods, know the valun of a cheap ad vertisement, and induced the Commission to listen to a repetition of alarmist statements which, for years. past, have been quite a periodical feature of the newspaper columns. Teeth scares have been almost a s iiuuicroas as war-scares. But in iryiii.' to enhance the importance of jiis own profession it was not chivalrous in one of them to insult gratuitously the members of a»other. A 31 r Uishworth of Wellington, in giviini; ,-vldeuce, stated that the dental profess on did not get assistance fromteachers. If he meant that teachers do not injpress upon their pupils (lie need of taking etcps to preserve their teeth he was either displaying ignorance or wilfully suppressing facts. Lessons r.n health are provided for by the syllabus, and teachers in givin. them cannot avoid reference to teeth. Moreovar, the Educational Institute has, on several occasions, asked for the establishment of State .medical inspection of schools. It is .indeed in accordance with this request that four doctors have lately 'been appointed to this duty. The state of their pupils' teeth was one of the chtsf motives I which prompted teachers in making this request. Special resolutions have also been passed at teachers' meetings calling the attention of the authorities to the malign influence of bad teeth on the progress of school children in their studies. We also know of teachers who keep toothache remedies in th ir cupboards, and apply them gratuitously as oocasisn requires, besides recommending the sufferers to gp to the rieatist as soon, as possrolo. All these facts prove that the dentist we refer to'made «istekes in his evidence, ©ur imported Professor of Dentistry, Dr Pickerill, also made mistabes in his recommendations. Ahuonm other tilings he stated that he had not seen one child in this cguntrv wi»h a perfectly healthv mouth of ■teeth. We, believe that. Then he went on to say that this dreadful dental decay was entirely due to ignorance on the part of the children and their parwrts ia s t 0 the proper treatment of teeth. This dictum we take onlv with rcany grains 0 f ga i t . Can Dr Pickerill assure us that the) teeth of all dentists' children are perfectly sound ? Can be prove that the- children of parents who have sedulously ■watched and oared for the teeth of their progeny do not suffer from

toothache ? And tlu-ji hi- .-. m; :.\\ what is it 7 Only mi atUliliou to the alivady overloaded syllabus of the schools. Mere preaching of dentist ry to teachers and scholars. What ;nn I will that do : It is pr.ai.ticv. not preaching that is wanted. Ti'ai-hw-may impress on their pu])ils .-lay after day the need for cleaitiie; their teeth afier meals, but that will nut kelp unless ths parent sees that the "leaning is done, ind even then, let the average paterfamilias with ; .„ family of say. six determine to enforce a regulation in his family that every member of it shall thoroughly, after -very meal, cleanse the teeth with an approved dentrifiee. lie will soon eomc to th» con' lusion that either iiie is not worth having, or the teeth are not werth the trouble endured -by him-:elf and his harassed family. We In lievo the trouble with teeth is evolutionary,' and .thej greatest good that dentists can do humanitv is to make a- many and as serviceable artificial teeth as possible. Our progress in civilisation is gradually eliminating the natural teeth because the organism can subsist without thorn. It is no use trying to preserve doomed organs, whatever tiho tooth trade mav say in prosecution of its own interest*.