ROUND ABOUT

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 219, 30 September 1940, Page 5

ROUND ABOUT

for the Auckland Town Hall that evening. "Yes," he said, Tm going to lis-ten-in and see how I would have got on." The fight, according to reports, was one of the shortest on record, the Alabama Kid "Call me 'AP") knocking-out the Australian lightheavyweight, Les Brander, in two and a half minutes. j The official, I understand, is in strict training.

(By Aitchel) With summertime here and winter far behind, sports will come into their own. Not that sports fall away or lose their appeal in winter. But the short dark days are much of a handicap- -Fireside games in the long evenings, of course., lessen the inconvenience to a certain extent but then one becomes rather tired of playing skittles, answering riddles, Postman's Knock, Puss-in-the Corner, . and taking a venture-* some hand in an occasional game of poker. Summer, on the other hand, gives wider scope and when one has finished a game ol tennis one can al-« ways—just for variety's sake—hop in and mow the court, or roll it. or something. Then we have cricket, swimming, croquet, bowls, rowing, gardening, slug-catching, snail-hunt ing, hedge-cutting and the like. Another difference between the seasons is that housework is made easier. Fewer clothes to wash, er people in the house. Which brings us to the kernel oi the tiling. It appears that the only thing which summer and winter have in common is ilish-wasliirig. m m mm There are thrifty people and there ai-e people who are thrifty. The chap who used a fourteen year old tramways ticket in New Plymouth was thrifty. The age made no difference to the ticket and it Avas accepted by the conductor. • * « • The inventor of- a new type of hand grenade says: You'merely press a small projection on the casing, a detonator explodes the charge, and there you are. Or arent't, as the case may be. ■ • • ■ » * The system of Trades Unions is r in theory, 'ideal "for the major consideration that employees are pro-» tected from exploitation by the employers. But nature is strong. Put it another way; human failings are many. Trade Unions, once they become powerful enough, are not satisfied with protecting their employee members. They go further,, branch-, ing out into a semi-political tree. All Trades Unions, somewhat naturally, Avere behind the Labour Party when" that body came into power in 1935 and *avi th one or two slight exceptions opinions voiced by" responsible Union executives have (been in accord with the Government's general policy. But a new note is sounding.

I have before me a circular from the president and secretary of a cer tain Union which calls for a special meeting (in Auckland)' on Wednes-* day, September 25. I have no idea what happened at the meeting, but the 'Business/ as explained. in the circular, interests me. Business: To consider the following resolution:— "That this branch of the — anc ] _ — _ Union of Workers makes an emphatic and vigorous' protest against the non-amplifica-tion of the Labour Party's policy as outlined at the last two general elections, and thus convey to the Prime Minister and the members of the Parliamentary Labour Party the general! feeling of dissatisfaction that exists in the ranks of the workers, particularly in respect to the cost of living, And further that this and similar resolutions adopted by the Trade Unions throughout the Dominion, are not, as alleged by., the i'rime Minister, the outbursts of Communists or small sections of disgruntled irresiponsibles within the Trade Unioi; movement." Space is not sufficient to analyse that resolution and in any case a thorough analysis would raise issues better "left till times of peace. For the moment it will suffice to observe that a time! may come when the Trades Unions will realise that discretion is the better part of valour, and their moves in 1935 and 1938 may not have been ta their ultimate advantage. But—who is governing this country? m You will remember the story of the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union official who threw out the challenge to the Alabama Kid while the Bay, team was on the visit tor, Auckland. Last Monday afternoon I came across the official and said how interested I -was to note, that the Alabama Kid, after three months in New Zealand, had at last had a fight arranged for him and I understood that the bout was scheduled