NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2398, 2 March 1915, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY

. The short cut to the millennium is generally understood' to lie in the adoption of tho platform of the Social Democratic Party, and the installation in office /of Messrs. Semple, Webbj and Hickey. These gentlemen we have been' led to believe are all ready to strike off the shackles of tyranny and* lead us on towards tho higher life. One of the planks in the plan of regeneration was, if our recollection serves us aright, the endowment of woman with entire economic freedom. Apparently a considerable proportion of the Social Democratic Party's womankind in Dunedin in December last took advantage of their freedom to some purpose, as witness the following, which is taken from a circular issued/by tho Dunedin branch of the party a few days ago.:—

The most disappointing thing in this election, has been the number of youug women who have voted and sirpported Reform—girls, whose every meal has been provided by men in mills, factories and foundries, quarries and mines, have made it more difficult still for father, brother, lover to get that food. They have even been seen hysterically cheering for the representative, of ! eoullcss monopolies in clothes' bought for them by the labour-of men Who are being crushed deeper . day .by , day into Wage Slavery. These, young 1 women "climbers" should be inside to understand that they shall not be permitted to nullify their breadwinner's vote,. at least while they remain under his roof-tree.

As a foretaste of the place of woman in S.D.P, millennium we commend this to the attention of the women of New Zealand: The liberty of the weaker sex when that day dawns will be the liberty to 1 do as they are ordered regardless of their own views and convictions.

That the Government has a watchful eye on the reaggregation of land was evidenced by the prosecution on Friday last of a Bulls farmer. who had acquired settlement land in excess of the area, allowed by law. The farmer. in question required a section in the Ohakea settlement, not knowing apparently that he was disqualified from doing so by virtue of the fact that he >yas the holder of certain other settlement land. 'As he had since transferred his Ohakea section to a person legally entitled to hold it, the Department agreed to withdraw the action after announcing- that it was determined to enforce the provisions of the law. It is as well that the Government should emphasise the fact that it is prepared to make "the fullest use, whenever necessary, of the very extensive power it possesses under the Land Acts of 1912 and 1913 to prevent the reaggregation of land, and that thoss persons who have flattered themselves that its' policy in this respect is one of much cry and little wool have grievously mistaken the determination of tho Ministry to prevent the growth of land monopoly./, It is entirely to the Massey Government that the country owes thb' existence of any effective powerß to restrict the accumulation of great private estates, and we haye no doubt that the sceptical will find that the Government is ready at any time to use those powers with promptness and vigour, '

Ways and means ,of circulating tho fabrications of the German Lie Bureau at Berlin in. New Zealand have, not apparently been exhausted. A Nelson business man has forwarded to us a letter lecently received by him fiom Boston, America, and containing Nos. 3, 4, and .5 of "Informative News about Germany and the War. Widest circulation desirable," issued from Berlin in September and October last._ In order not to arouse the suspicion of the postal authorities tho missives were enclosed in a plain envelope and the flap gummed down with a fancy stamp on which was a head of Father Christmas with a red cross on either side, and the legend "American Red Cross, 1914, Merry Christmas, Happy New _ Year/' These precious documents, in which the Germans are painted as saints and the Allies credited with perfidy and atrocity, have thus reached their destination by a characteristic German ruse—the abuse of the Red Cross. The cost of living is a topic very much in the air to-day, with' the rise in prices consequent on the war; Not the least interesting suggestion on the subject was that made by an Australian visitor to Christchurch tho other day. This gentleman, Me. Chaiu.es H. Macfaiu,ane, holds the view that if'the cost of living is to be reduced highly protected exotic industries must be replaced by thoso natural to country. In Australia, for instance, the cigars made in the Commonwealth arc roughly one-half of those consumed. I-lad these been imported the extra revenue, over and above the duty on leaf and excise on cigars, would have been £157,332. Thus, if 'each of the 700 persons employed in Australia in the manufacture of cigars had been paid £3 a week and "let go to play tops," the revenue would have been still ."£60,000 to the good. Australia exports about £30,000,000 of raw wool, the value of which, if senl out in a manufactured state, would be trebled, and the point Mit. 'Macfarlane raises is:

If we can afford to close down these exotic industries and pay the workers thpir wntrGs unci' snli show & crcdit Ixunucc, how much better it would be to switch those workers into the wool trade -even if it took three years to instruct them in It. , , These remarks do not apply with quite the same force to New Zealand as to Australia, but Mr. Machaiu.anb's example of- the folly of Protectionism run mad is so striking aa to deserve record, The Commonwealth has now a yaxlod assort-

ment of these artificial spoon-fed industries, and judging by the rate of wages that has prevailed in numbers of them in Victoria in the past we should say the allowance of £3 a week for the cigar workers' wages is a dccidedly generous one.

The advertisement in an English motoring journal of a brand-new monoplane for £100—about the price of a motor-cycle and side-car—is an indication that the days of popular flight may not be so far away. The pre sent position of commeicial aviation is apparently characterised by the,same delightful uncertainty that marked the early days of motoring, and we note that the firm a_dvertising the aeroplane in question felt it necessary to state that it was "guaranteed to fly" ! _ The present European war must give , a great stimulus to the aeroplane, industry and it'is fairly, safe to predict that when the world returns to normal after the war we' shall be on _ the verge of a great aviation boom similar to the motoring boom of the past ten or twelve years. It does not seem so many .years ago since Mr. W. M'Lean's jnoncer motor in Wellington made its appearance, and in the City to-day we are adding to our motor vehicles at the rate of five hundred a year. It. is the American figures that bring home to one the enormous expansion of the motor-car industry, _ foi whereas there were in the United States fifteen years ago some 600 automobiles there are to-day over 1,800,000. The Americans in 1915 possess a hundred or two aeroplanes, but he is a bold man who would prophesy the number they will own in 1930. With .the limited space for the necessary leading place and hangar in the average ■ Wellington backyard the aeroplane to become popular locally will, we fear, have to .undergo a radical transformation from its present design. But with cheap motorcars and cheap aeroplanes the problem may be rolved by the dawning of a day when escape _ from the cramped quarters and high rents of present-day city life is.possible for all of us.

The decision of the Government to contribute £15,000 to the relief of the Belgians, with further sums to follow monthly, will meet with almost unanimous approval throughout the Dominion. lt_ is -just a week ago this morning since we published the appeal of the Belgian Commission for a monthly contribution of £75,000 from Australia and New Zealand. In the meantime came the statement by Sir Edward Grey which led to a general misgiving that efforts to relieve the suffering, in Belgium rnignt miscarry and end only .in benefiting the enemy. Although he was unable to obtain definite advice on this point, Mr. Massey decided yesterday not to defer action further, and Cabinet approved the granion condition that an assuranco is given that the money, or the food purchased with it, can be used for the purpose for which it is intended. Since this decision was arrived at advice has happily come to hand, as set out in our cable columns, that _ there is no doubt about our aid reaching the Belgians and, not the Germans. On a population basis the amount allotted by the Government is. substantially more than our, share of the £75,000 requested by_ the Commission. As our population is just over the million and Australia s is slightly under five millions it would follow that our portion of the total on a .per capita basis would be something over £12,000. As we pointed out Recently' New Zealand js an exceedingly prosperous community, and its efforts in the war should be more than in proportion to its population. We' have no doubt in the present case- that the country will show its spirit and its keen appreciation of the part the heroic Belgians have played, by generously supplementing the substantial grant which the Government is making.