NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1444, 20 May 1912, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

Hokitika lias been agitated for some time past over the affairs of the Westland Hospital and Charitable Aid Board and judging by recent disclosures, with some reason. The Board it would seem had very extravagant ideas concerning the question of travelling allowances and expenses and when its balance-sheet-was returned by the Audit Department it had attached to it certain "tags." One of these tags read as follows:—"Travelling expenses and allowances to the amount of £213 19s. Cel. have been drawn by the secretary [in addition to his salary of £200*]. The Audit Ofiice considers this amount excessivo . . .

in the opinion of tho Audit Office the charges and allowances for travelling both to members of the Board and to-tho secretary are on a scale far in excess of that contemplated by the statute with the additional objectionable features that in several cases details of such charges and payments arc not available ior audit." Later it would seem some details were supplied, but apparently these in certain cases were very incomplete as to the out-of-pocket expenses incurred. The Hokitika Borough Council, which is a substantial contributor to the funds of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, appointed a sub-committee to inquire into tho expenditure of the Board and that committee has now presented its report. It would seem from this that the Board haß a very curious idea of its privileges as well as of its responsibilities, and that generally speaking it carried on its business so far as special payments to the secretary and to its own members are concerned in a very loose fashion indeed. Some idea of the situation will be gathered from the report of the Borough Council's subcommittee published in this issue, and it will be seen from it that the matter is one which should bo thoroughly probed. It certainly cannot be pormitted to remain as it is.

The discussion at the City Council meeting last week did not greatly onligliten us as to the exact intentions of the Mayor and Councillor Atkinson and tho rest of the wellmeaning people who are advocating what thoy call "regulation" of moving picture shows. COUNCILLOR. kinson avoided tho word censorship, but admitted that he wanted somebody—presumably somo municipal officer or committee—to bo given power to say thfl-fc such-£tnd-3uch ii film shall not ba screened. lor this purpose it would clearly be necessary for the proposed _ authority to have a preliminary private view of all the pictures. Yet the Mayor, in one of his statements to the press, said that this would ba impracticable. Are we to infer that tho "regulating" authority would sit out one or other of tho picture shows every night, a.nd order objeetionable films to be withdrawn? As there are already about as many picturo theatres in Wellington as there are days in the week, and they all change their programmes twice a week, we do not see how the "regulator" could keep pace with his task. What Ms. M'Laren, or Mr. Atkinson, or anybody else, could do without any further legislative power is to drop in once in a way at any kinematograph exhibition, and if they saw an offensive picture, lay an information under j the Indecent Publications Act. If this were done by a- duly accredited municipal officer, it is hardly likely that the Attorney-General would refuse to consent to a prosecution. The proprietor of tho theatre would then appear before a magistrate—not before a jury, we regret to note—to answer to 'a charge of committing an offence against public decency. The fear of' prosecution would act so powerfully upon all picture show proprietors that very few, if any, questionable pictures would be snown. If there were any prosecutions, the proprietors and the public would have the satisfaction of knowing that the matter was in the hands of a legal tribunal, instead of an irresponsible official, judging in secret and confiscating _ property in accordance with the dictates of his private taste. We should think that even the little group of rather impatient reformers who have caught the ear of the City Council would be able to see which method is akin to British justice and which to obscurantist tyranny. But quito apart from this aspect of tho ease, and supposing even that the proprietors would welcome a censorship as a safeguard against prosecution, there _ remains the objection that censorships, whether ol the press or the theatre, can never tm relied upon to achieve their_ purpose. Tliey give their sanction to such' thines as they were expressly intended to prohibit, and they lay their clumsy ban, upon that are harmless and even beneficial. , The pernicious absurdities which have made the English censorship of the stage a vexation and a j laughing-stock spring not more from the unwisdom of the administration than from the badness of the principle. After all, the public is the only final authority.

Tun Mackenzie Government it senilis is going to appoint another Royal Commission; this time to investigate the cost of living. This is one of the legacies handed on by the Ward Government. The proposal is ono of those cheap tricks to doludo the o.ublle into the belief that apmev

thing is being done to better tlicii lot, and is really little likely to lead to any direct benefit to anyone but the gentlemen who will draw fees and travelling allowances, winch will run tho country into a very substantial sum indeed. A mass of material will no doubt be collected, and buried away afterwards and forgotten. The work of such a Commission if conducted by qualified men on proper lines, and with the thoroughness necessary to make it of any value at all, would be enormous, and even then it is problematical whether any good results would follow —at any rate in the_dircction of cheapening the cost of living. But what prospect is thero under existing conditions_ of any such Commission as is likely to be appointed doing anything Inore than leave 011 record a heavy lull of costs? It is quite absurd for the Government to pretend to ignore the fact that it has not a majority —that it only holds ofiice because it has never faced either the people or their representatives in Parliament. It is equally improper, with the meeting of Parliament so near at hand, tor such a Govornmcnt to pretend that it is justified in rushing in to set afoot 11 costly inquiry of this kind. Practically the whole country holds the opinion that the Government will bo out of office next month or early in July, and this being the -ease it is perfectly monstrous that it should commit the country to a course of action which it cannot liopo to bo able to carry through. There is not the slightest call for urgency in this matter, any more than in the caso of the other Commissions of Inquiry which tho Mackenzie Government has proposed to set up, and the least that Ministers could do before committing the country to such expense is to first meet Parliament and ascertain whether they possess the confidence of Parliament. If they think the setting up of these Commissions will help them at all to gain support they can still serve that end by entering into an undertaking to appoint tiiem immediately they nave tested the feeling of the House concerning their own positions.