NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1539, 7 September 1912, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

Commenting the other day unon the report of the Cost of Living Commission, we approved the proposals for making economic studies a live part of our education system, and referred to the fact that even a large section of our legislators have for years held and cheerfully voiced rnnkly preposterous idea's upon social unci economic questions. Lnnn Wormy Ktrsprwrl vnry intinv.t.ingly, in a rocent speech at Bla-ck-

burn, the importance of sound ideas in a democracy. He is himself a democrat, but without illusions, and he quoted with approval a recent remark by the Archbishop of York: "Do remember that democracy has no divine- right." What the Archbishop meant was that democracy is not an inherited title, but must show by its working that it is a good and effective form of government. And a sound democracy depends, he said, "upon people taking the proper pains to form opinions rightly":

That sounds easy, but it is easier said than done to form your opinions rightly. It till depends upon candid and fail - discussion—excited discussion and, if you like, within reason and bounds, passionate discuKsioii.intrepid discussion. But it must Ire fair discussion. That comes of education. And Hie Archbishop of York on tho same occasion rhvo a definition of an «ducnt«d man. "An educated man is_ a man who knows tho difference between knowing and not knowing," and lie quoted another prelate who said—l submit this to your meditation—."An educated man is a man who has a clear view of some purpose running through human affairs with which lie identifies himself and tries to co-operate." Then I try my own hand, and I say that amone other qualifications distinguishing an educated man from an uneducated man is this, that nn educated man knows what is evidence and what is not and when an assertion is proved and when it is not proved. That, is my notion for practical purposes, politicnl and social—that an ardent care for the well-being of your own species, and your own countrymen to begin with, which 1 is the object of public life.

It is just demagogy,when the people in the mass do'not strive to inform themselves why> they think what they do think.

A point of considerable importi ance received attention in the House on Thursday when the State Fire Insurance Amendment Bill was being moved. Apparently it has been the practice of the Advances Office to require borrowers to insure with the State Fire Office. The debate did not help to make clear whether this is a rigidly enforced rule, but it did show that the Government is hot prepared to wipe out what is a really bad practice. t Having embarked in. the fire insurance business, it is manifestly the duty of the Government to use every legitimate •means of preventing the office from being run at a loss to the general taxpayer. We cannot admit that the State has any right to compel persons borrowing from it to insure in the State Fire Office-, and this for more than one reason. If a private lender requires the borrower to give business to any particular insurance company he is acting within his rights and he is not inflicting any injustice on anybody. But tho State is in a very different case. It should avoid even the appearance of constraining its customers. It should not seek to bolster up its fire office business by methods which, being on a wholesale scale, are trust methods. The State went into the fire insurance business on the plea that it was perfectly easy, by using fair means, to provide cheaper insurance than the private companies. If it cannot do this without, resorting to illegitimate compulsion it should go out of the business and confess that its original plea was unsound. Between compelling borrowers from it to patron-1 lso the State office and compelling everyone to do so there is no difference in principle. The only difference in fact is that the second policy would be honest and consistent and logical. It would' be a very bad policy for all that.

A new and striking feature of fchs Railways Statement presented to Parliament by Mr. Hbrries was, as our readers will remember, a comparison of the returns from the North Island and South Island railway systems. A belated attempt to turn the edge of the Minister's figures has been undertaken by the Otar/o Daily Times, which begins by saying that "the past year was a Particularly good one for the North sland Main Trunk line and its branches and not more than an average one for the corresponding \\na in the South Island." That is a perfectly true remark, but when illustrated by figures it takes on that complexion which we have for years been trying ta get Parliament to see. Let us consider the net returns on capital for the trunk lines for the past four years: —

. North main. South main line and line and branches. branches. Year. £ 9 . d. £ s. d. 1908-9 3 15 G 2 6 7 1909-10 4 4 2 3 4 8 1910-11 4 13 G 3 9 2 1911-12 ...„ il9 7 3 2 0 These figures show conclusively that, for some reason, the Southern system, unless some radical change is made, can never be, anything but a losing concern. Our Dunedin contemporary appears to complain that the good North Island returns are due to the fact that although the Northern system is the smaller the train-miles per annum in this island exceed the train-miles in the South. This only establishes our well-known contention that it is a national folly to plant fresh lines in the over-rail-ed South. As a matter of fact the increased loss in the South for 191112 was accompanied by an increase of over 30,000 ti;ain-miles. As has often seemed to be the case in the past, the more business that is done on the Southern lines the greater the actual deficit there. It is an unhealthy thing that our Southern friends, instead of frankly admitting plain facts, rebel against them. The sooner _Me, Herries gets to work with his promised investigation' of the strange situation of the South Island lines the better it will be for everybody.

In another column will be found a letter which bears the signatures of some fifty odd inmates of the institution at Kotoßoa Island who complain >of the treatment they suffer under. This institution, which comes under the Reformatory Institutions Act, 1909, is a certified inebriates' home, and for Sbme time past we have been in receipt of complaints from inmates on various grounds. It is extremely difficult to judge the merits of the alleged grievances, and we cannot pretend to offer any definite opinion concerning them. Ifc certainly seems desirable, however, in view of the manner in which those persons detained at the island persist with their complaints, that some inquiry 'by a tribunal which will command public confidence should be instituted.

The decision of the Canterbury Jockey Club in The Rover ense should have a wholesome effect in making owners and trainers of racehorses realise that their responsibilities arc not confined to paying entrance fees and then acting as they please in the matter of scratching their burses. The Hover, it will be recalled, was entered for tho Grand National Hurdle ltacc, became one of the'first favourites,'but at (lie Incl, momnnJ' vns Ki-rntcbnrl on the ground that tho terms of the louse

under which the horse was held for racing purposes, prevented it being raced over hurdles. Naturally tho question was asked: Why was the horse over entered for a race which the terms of the lease prevented it competing? Moreover, why was the horse kept in the race right up till almost the last minute before being scratched! The Canterbury Jockey Club was not satisfied with the explanation given on theee points, and the lessee of the horse was disqualified for two years. While this very proper action on the part of' the Jd.ckey Club could not recoup the losses of those of the public who had backed the horse on a cash basis and had paid over the money, it should cio good to the sport by making those engaged in it realise that anything of a doubtful nature will not be tolerated by those who govern horseracing. If the sport is to successfully withstand the attacks of its opponents it will have to be kept clean, and as far as possible free from suspicion of crooked dealing. This will never be accomplished by hushing up questionable actions. They should in every case be carefully investigated and wherever an offence is proved there should be no hesitation in meting out a penalty which will not only punish the offender, but act as a deterrent on others. Those backers of The Rover who were in doubt as to whether they were called on to pay their wagers, in view of the fact that thq horse under the lease was not qualified at any stage to start in the- race, can fairly claim that all bets are now off.