NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2172, 10 June 1914, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY.

O.ne of the chief preoccupations of the Dominion's Labour leaders is to ■fliid reasons why immigrants should not be encouraged to eumo to New Zealand. T'llM suicidal policy of' blocking the development of the country has -been abandoned .b;? the Labour Governments of 'Australia, apd the chief difficulty there is not how to keep immigrants cut, but how to maintain tho supply.' The vast draining of population from Britain to America, ana the overseas Empire has left more roo® for those who remained »a 4 there is a gone.: ral disinclination among British riuva-:! workers to seek the-ii* fortunes in distant lanrls. The European wua-fcrifls, sueh;as Gemirany, Sweden, Italy, and Holland, are- using every means fce retain their_ people -it home, and the Australian immigration agent is hard put to find new fields to exploit. The New Sontli Wates Government is understood ; to ''ave decided to follow Victoria's footsteps in concentrating its •energies in encouraging boy immigration from Great Britain as the. main fr-n.tnre of its policy. The boys -east ?jo ireadily absorbed i.fi the, growing rural industries, and the scheme ■ meets _the wishes of ti-e. authorities in Britain, Th« attitude of Labour in New Zealand towards the last party of boy immigrants was u striking examnlc of the backwardness of ■ its outlook as compared with that- of Australian Labour.,

The flattering rsception aec-oreled Saw Walter Bcchanax by his constituents at Carterton on Jlonday evening will surprise no owe. During his long years of service to the Waii'arapa, in and out of Parliament', Sir Walter lias enjoyed a popularity which has lircti based oil something mora solid than that on which so Biatiy political rcpnt,v tinns depend. As a, talker he cannot compote* frith of glib and oily-tongued gentlemen who win passing favour with the careless and unthinking, As a worker and wan ttf deeds he can point lp a rceord unexcelled by any member of fhe present Hons? at" Scpreseatativos. ft is doubtful if at .any siage of his public career the number .for Wairarapa has enjoyed a greater popularity thnn that which is his <tfc the present time. This in a measure must be. attributed "not mcrt-H- to his services to his own particular ' dis-trict,-bat to the widespread recognition of the very great service'he ren-. dered the whole country by the active part lie played during the critical stages of the late strw Realising what it meant to the fanning community to have tho ports of the Dominion blocked; against ' them and their produce lying idle, awaiting shipment _to the markets of the world; realising also the effect the crippling of trade and industry must, have in imposing hardship and loss on all ser.titas of flic community, Sir Wawer Bitca-anas spared no effort first to bring about a settlement, and, failing that, to open the ports and .set the wheels of trade and industry or.ee more in motion. The people, ol ihe Wflirarapa know well enough the energy and enthusiasm with which their member throws himself into any task ho undertakes and they, better than anyone tlsc, perhaps, realise Mid Appreciate his work during that oritieril time, Now that the Reform Government is in office, and the Wiuvn-rnpa is likely to receive that measure ef fair play in the matter of railway development which has been denied it for so long, it is not at all surprising that the efforts of Sin Wawer Bitha.vax and those as* seriated with him in advancing the claims of tlic. _ district should' win the full recognition, they deserve.

A matter of much more than local importance was fourhed un by Jin. ]*~ H. WiU.iAJis in.his presidential addi:s&s to the Hastings Chamber of Coftmeree on Monday evening, In

'reviewing 11k progress made in connection with the,hast Coast, railway during (lie. year.' Mit. Wn.u.uis referred to the frequent representations made to the Government as to the desirability of securing land for settlement in advance of the line. The Pbimb_ MiststEft has promised (hat this will be done, but the matter is owt which cannot he,kept too Steadily in view. A great deal of the land through whieli the railway will pass could he resumed at a moderate figure now, and it is highly desirable tliat the State should secure for itself as much as possible of the ineroiiK'tit in land values that will' follow on the prosecution of this national undertaking. Much land now held in large areas will became suitable for closersettlement as the line provides access, and the State should not be obliged to await the pleasure of private laud-owners belore subdivision tajkes place arid remunerative traffic is developed.

The level-crossing danger is by no means solved by the new regulations of the Railway Department and the erection of warning notices as is now (sroposcd. The boards are .a step in the right direction, but -the wisdom of some of (ho regulations is open to question., is it in the interests of safety that motorists should bo compelled to stop before dossing a railway line I in many cases nothing is gained by a : i&tipoMi'y. halt,;as it is impassible to sec along the line until one is actually on it,, and when the motor-Car is started again it is much less readily controllable than when running at a reasonable speed. It will apparently be a considerable. time before it -is possible to provide automatic alarms at all .railway crossings throughout. the Dominion, but. there are, two simple and comparatively inexpensive steps that might be tasen without delay. The. first is to give a clear view up and down the 1 ino at all crossings where practicable by the removal of obstructions and by slight- alterations in the level of the road approaches. Secondly, where this cannot be done, except at prohibitive, cost, the engine-drivers might, be jn r strueted to give- prolonged blasts on the whistle. ' The Department- is morally responsible for the safety of the crossings, and it is. no solution of its obligations for it in effect to warn the public that they cross the lines at their peril.

, THE- Hindu invasion with whir!) Canada is at/ i'»iYse.r.t fa end has revived tho Asiatic immigration problem in an acute form. Sonic action lias become imperative, nv.d Canada's method of dealing with the difficult situation which has arisen will bs watched with very keen interest ■by tta other self-governing Dominions. A Bill has iksvp' been introduced in the Canad'an House of Commons by Mr, Stevens, a private member, with the object of ctieckijig the influx. Mr. SxsvemS made it clear that, the object of the Bill was not offensive, but defensive. He did not desire to offend any other nation or race, hut h® merely desired to protect Canada from a flood of elements that conid not', be assimilated. . British self-governing communities must insist upon having ■the power to restrict fcfec i-fl-finx *>1, races v.'huSe colour, customs, ant! stan.da-rds..f)x life set up a. permanent barrier hetv.yn then> and the rest' of the population. We know the difficulty which the colour problem has caused in the United States, and we do not waiit to have faj .fact?, .similar troubles. No one- desires to hurt the national pride of His Majesty's Indian' subjects. They h-ave many' very fine qualities, Iwr they cannot be- assimilated _by all British com- : inanities. It is yefy desirable that some. understanding should be ar>; rived at between the Imperial authorities and the Oversea Dominions winch would lay down certain broad lines of policy thru would meet the wishes of the Dominions in this matter without giving offer.eo to the Hindus _or increasing the difficulties of British, rule in India. .

A notable event in the history of Tivrnnoki was the berthing on Monday of the first ocean-going steamer to visit the port ci Jfew Plymouth. The vessel was the Walkure, a steamship df 40.00 tons burden, bringing a general cargo of 5000 tons' direct from Hull to New Plymouth, Sir.! was brought in, turned head to s?<i within the area ol sheltered wafer, and berthed without difficulty, Ah though the dredging of the fairway is tefe yet complete the. Walkure, an it draught ol" 22 feet, had nowhere less, than nine or ten feet of : water under her keel. New Plymouth harbour dates back to February 7,1551, on which day the foundation stone of the original works was laid, and three years later sufficient progress had been made to accommodate nil the. coastal shipping. Five years ago file board., despite the forecasts of many pessimists that a deep-sea port ; was out of the question, began an ex tension of the worjks. and it is now claimed that by the spring ihe largest- vessels trading to New Z-ja.'uuid will be able to berth nt Now Plymonth. The people <si Taranalci seem at la st t-o be open to congratulation on'-their plucky perseverance in a ■difficult and expensive- undertaking.

It is not generally realised that thci'O a.vo Marly 300,000 acres of shifting ■ sand dimes in the North. Island. In their present .state- (s&se areas are- not only a desert, but am ft menafifi to the neighbouring land. 4 great holt of shifting sand extends along the co&st line 170 miles from Paekakariki to Ratal, occupying in ■all about 02,00!) acres.. In Europe, under elimstio conditions much less favourable than ours, similar belts of moving sand have boon turned into sources of national profit instead pi loss. The sand dur.es of Gascony, for instance, have been planted with maritime pines, and now yield largo quantities, of turpentine. It is pleasing to seo that tlic Palin.ersfcon Chamber ®f Com.me.vce is taking the Blatter up, and is requesting tha Government to plant a portion if the Waste lands lyiiift between the. Jlanawatu and RangUikcl l?iveri Five .years ago D&. oottuni& b all i-otct-istiiig report, directed attention to the need for dealing with the dune 'areas, but go far little, appears to have bcofl attempted.