THE Wairarapa Age TUESDAY, JULY 7, 1936. A TIMELY DECLARATION.

Wairarapa Age, 7 July 1936, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age TUESDAY, JULY 7, 1936. A TIMELY DECLARATION.

People of all parties will unite in applauding the downright terms in which the Minister of Public Works (Mr. Semple) has denounced men who abuse the sustenance system by leaving jobs in order to claim relief. Besides being plainly worded, the Minister’s dictum on this subject is eminently just. If (he said) a man was offered a job that offered him decent conditions and he would not take it, he would get nothing from the Government. Such a man was an impostor who deserved no sympathy. Mr. Semple was equally refreshing in what he had to say about the limita-

tions to be placed on stopwork meetings. There are problems enough of genuine distress and hardship to be dealt with in New Zealand. It is a familiar fact, however, that many of those whose lot is least enviable make little fuss about it, while on the other hand there are individuals who seize eagerly upon any opportunity of stirring up trouble for its own sake. Throughout the period of the slump, some j-eople have made the most, from a standpoint entirely their own, of conditions of unsettlement and distress. At Motueka, Mr. Semple met and routed on their own ground troublemakers of this type and even those with whom he dealt in a fashion as exemplary as it was unconventional will hardly venture to describe him as an agent of capitalistic oppression. It needs to be recognised that men who attempt to trade upon the relief system and to stir up trouble over industrial conditions which give no just ground for complaint are enemies, not so much of “capitalists,” as of the whole population of New Zealand. Most of all they are enemies of those sections of our population which are unemployed and least fortunately placed. The airing and flaunting of imaginary grievances greatly complicates the problem of relieving the real hardships under which too many people are still suffering. It is the duty of every honest New Zealander to assist, if he can, in cutting down unemployment as rapidly as possible, and certainly to refrain from impeding this progress by clamouring and agitating about conditions of work which many men would be very glad indeed to accept. It is not necessary to approve in all their details the policy and methods of the Labour Government to perceive that the Minister of Public Works has rendered a timely national service in declaring war in straightforward and uncompromising terms on those who seek to trade unjustly on the resources of their fellow-citizens and to stir up trouble without having any good reason or excuse for doing so. It may be hoped that in demanding from men in the employ of the State a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay, and an abstention from time-wasting tactics of agitation over nothing in particular, Mr. Semple is laying down standards which will command on . their plain merits wide adoption and application in this country.

SPORT AND FATALITIES. An element of risk no doubt must always enter into sports which entail the braving of wind and weather on land and water. At the same time such tragedies as have lately occurred in the Lower Valley give full cause for considering, as the Minister of Internal Affairs (Mr. Parry) has suggested, whether “something could not be done that would be a help in preventing these now all too common tragedies among game and fishing parties.” The matter appears to be one for practical suggestion and the voluntary popularisation of approved standards rather than for mandatory regulation. A more or less makeshift punt, for example, may serve well enough for the navigation of quiet backwaters and lagoons, though in other places only seaworthy boats should be used. The whole question of safety standards in the nature and use of various kinds of sporting

equipment is extremely complex and | can only be dealt with in some detail. There is practical sense in Mr. Parry’s suggestion that this work should be taken up methodically by societies and clubs of all kinds interested in land and water sports. Amongst other things, it has been demonstrated that there is still room for an extension of work already being done in inducing as many people as possible to learn, to swim. In view of the conditions that often obtain in Onoke Lake, and particularly in the channel to the outlet, the establishment of a rescue station, and the provision of a suitable boat which would be available at all times, may well deserve consideration. The difficulty no doubt would be to ensure that a rescue crew would be on the scene at any time when it was wanted. Methodical action on the lines suggested by the Minister of Internal Affairs certainly is desirable, however, and might well be the means of saving valuable lives as time goes on.

SERVICE THAT EXTENDS. As may be seen from its annual report, which appears in another column to-day, the Mastofton Rotary Club looks back on a ' year of busy and activity. At the most immediate view, the club, like other units in the international organisation with which it is linked, is serving a useful purpose in building up fellowship and understanding between different sections of the community. To this must be added commendable social activi ties, of which the most notable in the case of the Masterton club during the past year was the establishment of the Crippled Children’s Society in this district, and a worthy part in activities directed to the promotion of friendship between nations. In this last particular, Rotary clubs are working effectively in what may fairly be called the cause of all humanity. Itjs being emphasised more sharply every day that the development of a very much better understanding than now exists between nations is the only hopeful alternative to chaotic disaster. Collectively and on a broadly representative scale, as well as individually, Rotary clubs are doing a great deal to establish a better and happier relationship between nations and to demonstrate that the right spirit of humanity is capable of bringing men of many races within a common bond of friendship. Clubs devoted to such aims are playing a worthy part of leadership and it must be hoped that their activities and influence for good in and beyond the communities in which they exist will extend apace.