NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1679, 20 February 1913, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

: The favourable reception given to Lord Newton's Betting Inducements Bill has begun to bear fruit. The Sportsman and Sporting Life, and a majority of other sporting journals, have, we are (told,' conditionally agreed_ to cqase publishing tipsters' advertisements, and propose a press control committee to regulate bookmakers' advertisements. There is in England complete agreement amongst intelligent people of all parties that the "Captain Coes" and "Old Joes," and other press tipsters, are public nuisances and worso; that they work no good, but work infinite harm by their encouragement of petty gambling by young men who cannot, cither financially or morally, afford to bet. The worst offenders—those who do most damage, that is to say—arc not/the regular sporting papers (whose public will bet anyway, tips or 110 tips), biit the halfpenny Radical newspapers which circulate so widely amongst the ignorant and uneducated. It is a shocking fact that for years past tho nawspapors whioh have earned tho greatest notoriety as "public

gaming tables" (in the phrase of fcho London Spectator), are papers owned by certain wealthy Radicals, who have in others of their papers, and in their own persons, constantly preached of the evils of gambling. The hypocrisy of these people has been repulsive, but the main fact is that they have dono a great injury to public morality. It will be interesting to sec whether the Government will let Loan. Newton's Bill through the House of Commons. To do so will be to kill dead more than one Radical paper, for. it has actually been admitted that only by publishing betting tips could the Star, by . keeping alive, continue to pour forth the pure milk of Radicalism.

A Berlin cable: message yesterday, supplementing a message from Christiania in the previpus_ day's paper, gives us some information of another tragedy of Polar exploration. Last winter (summer in the North), • a German expedition under Lieutenant Schboder-Stranz, left Tromso, on the Norwegian coast, to do some exploring work about Spitzbergen. Although well-equipped, the expedition appears to have been wanting in experienced voyagers, and to have had little knowledge of the country which was the objective. The commander of the expedition left with a party in August on a sledge journcy7 northwards, and on' September 9 the captain of the ship, with his crew, abandoned the vessel and retreated .south to .Advent Bay. It is said that the flight was due to tho failure of provisions, and the oncoming of scurvy, but this is difficult to 1 believe. The latest news is that a relief expedition-has failed, being driven back by'weather; and that a special relief expedition is being organised in Germany. We gave some account of this ill-fated expedition, and the thing, to be noted is that fclio disaster has been due to inexperienoc, The . distressing end .of Captain Scott's brilliant and successful adventure will give to the: people at this end of tho world an anxious interest in the fate of the German ex-' plorcrs. But for the.Antarctic tragedy'we should all be agreeing that the fate.that it is to be feared haa overtaken "Lieutenant . SohrodehStuanz and his comrades is, in tho Manchester Guardian's writer's words, "one of the worst tragedies lin the history of modern Polar exploration. f .

The'Houisb of Lords, it is reported to-day, has''made at least one material amendment—and \ one that ib' much needed—in the Trade Unions Bill. ,Und'3r. the as it left tho House of Commons a; trade union was empowered to. establish a newspaper and otherwise engage in commercial^undertakings., The Government's intention was that a trade, union. should be empowered to use j its funds for the furtherance of any political, movement , such as the sup- j port ,of the Labour-Socialist, party, ; | quite regardless of the factj that a section of its members might be deeply opposed to Socialistic,-'ideas.-:' ..To give a union power to establish a newspaper would, it was held, only have made more easy the: exorcise of this -unjust power. But while the, Bill waß bofore the- Houbo of ,Com-j mons, tho House of delivered judgment in what is known as the Vacher case; In' this judgment it waß'-catablished that "under; tne Trade Disputes' Act any trade union can commit any tortious act at any time, with impunity. A union, Under the new Bill as it left the House of Commons, could establish a newspaper and packet from top to.bottom with-as gross libels on persons and companies, as it chose to invent, and be quite immune from punishment. That this would bo a monstrous Sower to confer on any body will e, admitted, wo' thi.ik, by everybody who _ has. even a rudimentary sense of justice and order.', 1 The House of Lords has amended the Bill in the direction of averting this great evil; and plainly just as is its action, it iB-an unhappy fact that the Labour extremists will complain that an injustice has been inflicted on tho Workers. We aro not sure that tho special power of free slander proposed in the Bill is not quite a'B bad as would be the granting to trade unions of permission to sn.oot their opponents and blow up their homes with dynamite. . >

Whether telephones are diseaseproducers appears to.be lip again for discussion in England. Somo .months ago a statement made on high I medical authority was printed in the English papers, and was communicated to the local press by. our Post Office authorities.' The effect of this statement was that a, careful examination of several mouthpieces failed to discover any germs. The medical officer of health for Workington, however, has another opinion. In a report to the local corporation last month, he said: ;

I could astonish people if , I could let them Bee the number and variety of bacteria which are hurled • into the mouthpieces of different telephones, and discerned by. growing what are called cultures in different riiedia.' . I-notice that nine out of ten people,, while they are "drinking in" some message at the earpiece ■of the telephone, are hissing and snorting over the mouthpiece, inhaling a supply of imports and giving back a brand of, germ peculiar to themselves. His advice is to swab tho mouthpiece occasionally with, a sponge dipped in carbolic lotion. The newest telephones, with "their closed betal resonators, seem to imply somo official' doubt of the wholesomeness of tho old mouthpiece. The magni. ficent. uncertainty of tho facts about this bacteria-haunted world is reason enough to- excuse those who may think it as well to use tho carbolic lotion now and then.

Tiis facts stated in the annual report of the Wellington Leaseholders' Association, which we print this morning, call for the close attention of the municipal authorities. It would seem, judging from the disclosures made, that the lessees of tho municipal ' lands in the city find themselves under a very uncomfortbblo tenure. So unsatisfactory indeed are the terms of their leases in certain particulars, notably as to the basis of revaluation oacn four-tcen-yoar term, that they feel tho circumstances call for review and investigation. The points as set out in tne letter- from the association explain the position clcarly enough from the point of view of tho leaseholders. Thoy are threatened at each revaluation with an increase of their rents, which may make it unprofitable for them to continue their tenancy; and yet under tho terms of their leaso they apparently are not untitled to compensation for the expenditure they haye incurred in tho erection cf buildings. In view of the shortness of the period between each revaluation, 'the hardship of this condition is apparent. Naturally it will bo suggested that tho Jeasccs entered into tloaiv bargain

with tho - city authoritiea with their eyes open, and that it is their own fault if they have come out badly. That is true enough, but the question' involves wider issues than tho misfortunes of the existing lessees. If, as is suggested, the terms of the leases arc unreasonable, it is not in the long run ijoing to benefit tho city to persist in maintaining them, The city has to look to the future occupation df its leaseholds, and it is not likoly to secure, tenants under terms which have failed to stand the test of experience. 'However, the matter is one of great importance to the city,, and at the pre-sent-time all that is sought and all that is justified is that the questions raised should be carefully investigated. We shall deal with the subject more fully on a future occasion.