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Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17125, 21 April 1921, Page 6

The growth of the Progress Leaguo and its present effectiveness are due mainly to the success with which it has avoided entanglement in r ,art y politics. That this is not so generally realised as it ought to be seems to be made clear by the persistence with which the local Opposition newspaper seeks to turn to party uses the differences between .the League and the Minister of Public Works respecting the Harper- river diversion. After remarking on the Minister's Teluctance to =pc-nd £IO,OOO forthwith on the permanent diversion, our contemporary says that "had the same position arisen eight degrees <■? latitude further north we have a shrewd suspicion that ten times the expenditure would not have been refused, but Canterbury is not Auckland." This is a plain suggestion that the Minister's attitude is prompted by a pro-Auckland bias, and that it is because it is a Canterbury work that the permanent diversion is not put in hand at once. Our>, contemporary adds that Canterbury must insist upon its rights, "firmly and unitedly—parthularly unitedly." \v it'll this sentiment we agree; but is anything more certain to make united action impossible than the zeal of a section to make Canterbury's rights serve party needs?

Commentdng in a friendly spirit upon the statement of the Hon. J. ii. Coates upon the necessity for conserving the public works fund, the Auckland "Herald" says the Minister's statement would have been more admiiable 'had he set out a test for public expenditure. The essential works, it says, "should bo placed precisely in the order which a business man or a board of directors would place them, without regard to local prejudices or party clamour." This is a principle for which "The Press" has been contending for many years, and which is now supported by everybody. It has taken us a time to convert the hostile and the indifferent, but we hope we may moni quickly lead the converts to realise t'hat the principle agreed upon cannot be satisfactorily applied so long as its

application is liable to criticism by: political partisans. iLr Coates may draw up an order of precedence wl-.i-h h perfectly right and wise, and it will bis attacked on political grounds. Public : works expenditure will continue to be . a battle-ground for political partisans | until it is taken right out of politics. We shall not have the development policy the country requires until that-, reform comes. The principle is agreed 1 upon; the necessary coroilary is its application by a non-political authority. I

Mr H. F. Wigram sends as a brief note this morning to correct \he> idea that he does not expect from the essays on aircraft that hj? is inviting mneh more than a diffusion of interest in this important subject. This is part of his expectation, he but he hopes that the essays may contain sugce.stions which will be of value to the Defence Department. We hope so, too, and although it would be rash to expect very much, :t is certainly quite likely that fresh minds may provide hints well worth following up."

Messages in Australian papers containing fuller details of the Labour crisis at Home than were cabled to New Zealand indicate very clearly the strength of the opposition to a sympathetic strike that was shown by large bodies of railwaymen. What was known as the Alfreton resolution, carried by the local railwaymen's organisations in that district against striking until a ballot had been taken, found widespread support throughout the country. "The men,' - it is reported, "argue that they have nothing to thank the miners for, and should not be stampeded into a stoppage." In the great centres in Scotland the railwaymen's resentment against the miners' action was so strong that it was believed their leaders would have difficulty in persuading them to cease work. In London and the southwest of England the railwaymen opposed the strike and expressed regret that their executive had power to order one without a ballot, and even the South Wales railwaymen were not unanimously in favour of stopping work, while the North-Eastern Firemen's Association decided to defy the order i'nd continue at work. It is easy to understand, in view of the situation thus disclosed, why the leaders of the railwaymen met with so Jittle opposition in calling off the strike. They had not the support of the rank and file in a sufficient degree to make a railway strike effective.

A considerable part of the kindly advice tendered to the New Zealand Cricket Council by the captain of the Australian team which recently toured New Zealand was anticipated by the counsel given in our columns during the past cricket season. Mr Ransford notes a great improvement in the game in the Dominion since his last visit here, some years ago, but he urges that a much greater advance would take plrvce if the public took more interest in the game and accorded it better financial support. This would enable the cricket authorities to supply better grounds and enable them to employ the coaches which our late visitor regards as so essential to the development of sound cricket. He stresses, as he did in an interview in Auckland, the importance of encouraging schoolboys to play cricket, under proper guidance and instruction, and he insists on the absolute necessity for regular practice by all players. The interest in cricket would grow if, as he suggests, important matches were played at frequent intervals, and with that interest would come a willingness and a desire to help the game in the directions he indicated. The provision of those matches rests with the council, which will not, we trust, regard its duty as having been fulfilled by the sending on of Mr Ransford's letter to the various associations and schools.