ROUND ABOUT

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 180, 1 July 1940, Page 5

ROUND ABOUT

month. In acknowledging receipt Mr Fraser said the resolution Tiad been carefully considered and had been forwarded on to the Ministers concerned! We recall that tlTe resolution was the 'consideration* of those present at the meeting and that it was 'forwarded on to 'flh'e proper quarter!' It seems as though this 'careful consideration' and 'forwarding osn to the proper quarter' is some disease. Anyhow, according to th'e re-> solution, the Prime Minister himself was the proper quarter.' Tt would be interesting to know the ultimate destination 'of the resolution.

(By Aitcliel) The chap responsible for , the radio appeal brainwave—we. pre- ■ sume that it was a man—should be just about in the running for a knighthood or "something. It was wonderful to hear the broadcast ■ and the steadily mounting total'.; ■: Incidentally, though it has been ; described as such, it was hardly an i. appeal. The word 'ask' might have been mentioned in the initial stages : of the broadcast but after that it was not necessary, the boodle just flowed in. It. rather put the lie to ; _ jthat old adage that a rolling stone 4 gathers no moss. This particular stone gathered much on its sky-roc- • keting way. A nice touch was added when the - total reached the £30,000 mark. The , station then presented the opening , stanza of Norman Long's "Firty Fahsand Quid." I think the first line is "Quids, quids, fahsands of 'em." ... It would hardly need a second brainwave to think that one out, but they've got taste, these radio chappies, they've got taste. • • » ■ And talking of brainwaves. Last week I heard a problem which in the far-off days was used by th'e Maoris as their equivalent of the present Matriculation examination, ' Not very much in it, really, but E understand it caused quite a deal of ; head-scratching among the Maori youth of six or seven generations back. The problem was: He went into the bush and got: it; he sat dtfWn to look for it, couldn't find it, so went home with it. What was it? I believe that 'lie* was unfortunate enough to get a thorn in Ms foot. « * m m The Maize Committee was swiftly to work and had the results in almost before one could say "Income tax has gone up." It was interesting to see, " though, that those farmers who are answering the Government's appeal for more maize will require 800 sheets of iron, among other things unprocurable, to build the cribs necessary for the increased crop. The questions arising are: Where will the farmers get the iron? If they can get it from the Govern- " ment, from where will the Government draw its stocks? It looks as though the hardware firms will v be - 'falling over themselves to quote the Rangitaiki Plains Dairy Company for locks, bolts and. chains. Some amusement could be extracted froin the broadcast the. other day, which told of German * handbooks which have fallen into the hands of British military authorities. They contain maps of localities, etc.,; and above all, some English phrases, all apparently to be used in the planned invasion of England. The likelihood of not getting the truth appeals to the Teutonic mind, one phrase reading: "If you don't tell me the truth you wall be shot.'* It might have been much simpler if they had Worded it. "Are you ia politician?" Another phrase is: "Where is the cash?" If that applied to New Zealand' the answer -would be easy now that we know the details of the Budget"Ask Mr Nash," we could say. Other lines friend Hun can use as the occasion demands are: "Open all cupboards!" (No mention of the skeletons). "Give me pills" (Num-t ber not defined); "I have the stom.-t ache-ache"; and lastly he will be able to care for his cleanliness for he can read: "Wash me two shirts,, one pair pants, three pocket handkerchiefs." 1 No comment is needed on that last one. New Zealand's first war time! Budget has come and gone and in the passing it caused little stir. Ido not know what the majority of the people were expecting but I was surprised at two things. First, that the Buctget was presented at all because I had no idea it was coming off; second, the leniency of thef demands on the taxpayer. Compared with Britain wef are faring very well and if the Government desired an expression of public opinion, the taxpayers would probably answer 1 that double the taxes would be worth while when we know that we are getting value foif our money. «*® * . So a reply has been received by His Worship the Mayor about the resolution passed at that public meeting at the beginning of last (Continued foot of previous column^