NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1130, 18 May 1911, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

The evergreen question of corporal punishment for schoolboys has lately come under discussion in Great Britain as the result of the decision of the headmaster of Eton that in the upper school the cane is to bo substituted for the birch. In the Daily Telegraph a brisk controversy on the subject took place amongst old Etonians, but their conflicting views are no more helpful to the public than to the boys. A few years ago the High Master of the Manchester Grammar' School introduced the birch as being more humane than the cane, and richer in spiritually corrective value. That opens a region of discussion into which perhaps nobody but a headmaster or a small boy could enter without the risk of saying something foolish. One might suppose, however, that there could be no question as to the necessity for corporal punishment for erring boys. Hut there is a "humanitarian Hadical , ' conscience nowadays. The Daily News, in a leaderette upon the subject, concluded by wondering "how much longer the teaehe-rs of our youth will tolerate a system of education which can only be kept going with the aid of a penal system so abominable and degrading." The answer seems easy: jjust so long as boys continue to be bovi. We arc afraid, however, that the really shruwd answer ought to be: only until the Radicals really get going. Their sloppy sontiraentalism'is soaking into every corner of the social fabric. We may yet spe the House of Lords—reformed or unreformed—finally dying for the crime of rejecting a Radical Bill for the regeneration of naughty boys by moral suasion alone.

• The sub-committee of the Wellington Hospital Board that has had in hand the question of outdoor medical relief is to be complimented upon the care and attention it has "expended upon its report to the Board. Now that charity is practically nationalised in this country—mosi unfortunately, we should add—it is clearly inequitable that the medical profession should-have to bear a special burden, that falls upon no other class of the community, by -giving their services free to indigent persons. The sub-committee fully admitted the unfairness of the position, but has found many difficulties in the way of a scheme that will relieve the medical profession of its special burden and will at the same time prevent the cost of outdoor medical relief fromgoing beyond all bounds. Its suggestion is the payment of reduced fees to doctors attending necessitous persons and a, system of prompt investigation and control in each case. This seems to be a workable plan. The question, it is stated, is likely' to be considered at the coming conference of boards, and in the meantime it is recommended that data be collected. The only observation we are inclined to make I just now is that the Board will be wise to keep its own freedom in the matter, and especially to be on the watch against.any tendency to make outdoor medical relief an immediate function of the central authority.

Particulars, are to hand of the completion, last month, of the second longest tunnel in the world. This is the Lotschbcrg Tunnel, which pierces the Bernese Alps on the north side of the llhone Valley, and, with the Simplon Tunnel, makes a short and nearly straight cut through the Alps into Italy. The work was begun on October 15, 1906, and finished on April 1 last, within contract time. _ The time occupied in construction has thus been four and a half years, and the tunnel is just under ten miles in length. It is impossible cot to contrast this result with the results obtained by the State in New Zealand. Prudence obviously commands that when a largo public work is to bo constructed it should bo constructed in the quickest possible time. In this country, however, expedition does not suit the political book of the party in power. It wishes to have a large work on hand as.long as possible; partly because it will serve the purpose of "relief works," and partly because, so long'as it is uncompleted, its further construction can always bo used, when necessary, as the price of political support from the people and district interested. This policy has cost the country millions of pounds in the aggregate. In other words, the "Liberal" party has used millions of pounds of the general public's money for purely party purposes.

The Hon. E. M'Kenzie's extraordinary declaration at Opunake of the "spoils to the victors" policy is, we are not surprised to observe, attracting a great deal of hostile attention in other parts of the Dominion. It is worthy of remark that the Minister, despite the wide publicity given to his speech and tho sharpness of the comments upon it, has not seen fit to defend himself or unsay his words. The Ministerialist press maintains a firm silence. We must suppose, therefore, that the Minister wishes his words to stand, and that he sees nothing discreditable in these practices. In tho meantime, the Christchurch Evening News makes a point which deserves to be emphasised. The Ministerial bribe or threat, it points out, "contains the unworthy suggestion that if tho Government went out of office, the railway would not be made, whereas the truth is that if the country could get rid of men like Sir Joseph Ward, Mr. M'Kenzie, and their colleagues, it would have a good deal more money to spend on railways than it has now." Most people"who pay any attention to Uic matter at all know without being told that any change of Govcrnraoib would be a change for tho better; lor it is inconceivable that there could be any greater waste or extravagance than exist the present methods of administration. The proper reply to bribes and threats from Ministers should bo dismissal. The districts which have good claims to certain works should realise that these bribes and threats are insolent bluff, and that- as quick a way as any to get the work done, and done on'honourable terms, is to give the Government'its marching orders.