ROUND ABOUT

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 231, 30 October 1940, Page 5

ROUND ABOUT

(By Aitchcl) * ' "After the war,." he said, "there will be a New Order.. It • has come.' 1 ' . •••:. . • « . . ■'Yes/' £ prompted, "and of what form will be this NtSv Order?" He searched for expression. '"Well, one of the main ..things-will be an adjustment of the wages system/* That sounded vague and did "not satisfy me. "What sort of adjustment?" "There should be a minimum ivage—of say, £250 a year, and, a .nax'imum of £1000." " ' "But there are those who by rea-t son of tlieir position, of. trust, responsibility, worth to the communty or to employers, should receive liore than that, Yotir scale is not flexible enough; it is too limited." "Well, we'll put the maximum at he amended generously, , I put the obvious argument. "How are you going to get over the jjosition which will very natUrilly arise. A man says, 'I am on the naximum" salary, £2000 per year. Why should-1 "do mom? There is rip ulvantage.' Ancl. of course, that ivoukl apply the maximum in the various grades." ' "That is: easy/' he said. '<Yqu :lrop him ! £ISOO/reduce him a grade, ivhatever the maximum,, until he pulls himself together, and gets going again. In that way everyone would be happy because there would not be the discrepancies existing tolay and everyone would: work just fis hard. But don't let the maximum part ,worry you; you'll never get it.'* *m• • ' "And," I asked, "is the present system of Government to survive?" '."Oh,- no. We will 7 have a smaller Parliament, for qne thing; perhapstwenty men. And they will be men of proved common senses Say two. bookmakers, tliree farmers and fifteen newspaper reporters. Who. said, this country could ■ not be. turfied into a paradise?" m « ai •* ■■■ "One of these men," it was said at a local body meeting in Whaltatane recently, "has had enough of lawyers. He. claims that the matter could be settled by the application . af a little common sense." 1

There is an amazing type of people, or a type x»f amazing people, eternally on the look-out for something for nothing. At the dance held a week ago for the benefit of the present t patriotie appeal two couples arrived and worked a cautious passage past the ticket tables. Their manner suggested: "Oh, we are just having a look, being interested in seeing others dance." Ten minutes later they Avere dancing. - . It is true that the time --was- 11 p.m. It is also true that the doorkeepers A\ r ere seeking refreshments. But in. view'of the object of\ the function their conduct Avas miserable, at least. In direct contrast it was pleasing to see a citizen' hanci over the admission price at- the same time, although lie did. not dance and left after the presentation to the local Fourth Reinforcement boys./ m . 9 "'m ■ » There Avas a Av r onderful response Jfo the appeal for youthful recruits to the Whakatane Citizens' Band. Twenty-two boys, betAvecn the ages of ten and sixteen, joined up. One of the results; is noAv heard. The tOAA r n is quartered by sound, moans, groans, squeals, despairing shrieks, staccatos, elated peals, and just noise, as the boys practise. But, ladf care not for the abuse. Continue AA'ith the good work. Whakatane must liaA'e a band.. mum m

Apropos my reference last week to the conscription of farm labour comes an illustration of just how sweeping the thing yill be. The district Man-Power Committees are not paying too much attention to appeals fr&m farmers, either on behalf of employees or themselves.. In conversation with Hamilton at the week-end I learned of one case in particular.. Three brothers were working a large farm when Avar brolte out. Two enlisted,, it being found . possible for the otlYer "to carry on with . some assistance. The assistance en- . listed.and the herd was reduced, the farmer milking. 80 cows by himself. He was included in the lirst ballot and in due course his appeal came up for hearing. He was told that > he would have to go into camp: his* appeal could not. be- sustained. He pointed out that he was milking 80 cows and this was met by an offer to supply a man to carry on while he was away. - Comment is unnecessary but it i» still my opinion that ten thousand farmers and farm-hands could do (Continued fdot of previous :