NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2405, 10 March 1915, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY

A turn in the tide._ of trad© is shown in the British import figures for February. For the first time since the beginning of the war the imports are greater than for tho corresponding month of last year. The increase, it is true, is a matter of only a few hundred thousands on a total of sixty-seven millions, but it is not so long since that the decreases were over the ' tenrmillion mark. In the exports the figures for the month are some fifteen millions below those of February, 1913, but the improvement over the preceding months is marked. In contrasting the .export figures with those of last year it is necessary to bear in mind that supplies and equipment for. tlje Army and Navy are not included. Direct purchases by the Allied Governments from private firms are shown, but not purchases by s them from British Government stores and depots. If these figures wore included the exports would alioiv an increase instead of a decrease. The decreases and increase for the six months up to February, in millions of pounds sterling, are as follow:— ReImports. Exports, exports. Sept -16.3 -15.7 . -1.5 Oct ' -20.1 -18.0 -2.3 Nov -12.4. -20.1 -2.3 Dec.' ...... - 3.5 -17.0 -3.8 Jan - 0.6 -18.5 -2.7 Feb. +0.3 -15,0 -3.1 When it is remembered that ißritish imports run at about 60 millions a month and the exports at 50 millions these figures speak for themselves. They are doubly eloquent when ono bears in mind that 22 per cent, of the world's international trade has vanished, that 14 per cent, of the world's shipping has been swept from the seas, and that 25 per cent, of our own merchant ships have been withdrawn from ordinary trading purposes for. Admiralty use. Plainly "business as usual" has been something more than an empty phrase in Britain.

The Moderate League put a singularly unconvincing case before Mr. Allen yesterday in support of its request that a wet canteen should be opened at Trentham Camp. The men have ample opportunities when on leave to obtain what alcoholic refreshment they may desire, and the contention that the absence of a' wet-canteen is a hardship under presont conditions at Trentham will not, we think, 1 bear examination.Me. Allen made it plain that if liquor is to be provided at the camp the men will be debarred from entering the hotels when in town. The opening of a wet canteen will, in short, be undertaken only as an extreme step should there be indications at any time that any considerable proportion of the men are unable to bo trusted with their ordinary liberty as citizens. This announcement was eyidently_ unexpected by the deputation, which apparently desired for tho tnen freedom to visit both tho canteen in camp in the day time and .tho hotels when on leave in the evening- Even those who do not share the extreme view of the Prohibitionists may woll sen good reason for not introducing the sale of liquor into the camp at Trentham. Is it not, to use Mr. Mbnteath's own words, "coddling mannikins" to show too much solicitude for the ma.i who cannot keep off drink for twenty-four or forty r eight hours without indulging in excess at the end of that period ?

" As Mr. Allen pointed out to the League, drunkenness among tlia troouti's has bees due as mud) to

mistaken good nature on the part of people in' the city as to the men themselves.' Hiß request that the League would do what it could to discourage this indiscriminate "shouting" for men on leave was a very reasonable one. Attention has been directed to the matter on more than one occasion previously, but there are many men who have yet to learn that it is not, a heroic thing to stay at home and fuddle with drink the men who have enlisted in the service of their country.

Heavy deficits promise to be the rulo in the Australian States this year, and this despite the fact that the States are but lightly touched by the burden of the Australian war expenditure, which is a Commonwealth charge, and is being defrayed mainly from loan money. The States, therefore, feel the pinch through the shrinkage in their own revenues consequent on the dislocation of trade, the effects of the drought, and the falling off in the surplus of Customs revenue annually returned to thera by-_the Federal Treasurer. In Victoria a deficit of £1,000,000 was calmly faced in the Estimates, and no attempt will be made to right matters this year. Tho deficit will become a charge on the following four years, and it is hoped that with a return to normal conditions the State will be able to wipe it out' in_ that time. West Australia, with its small population, is in serious plight. Mk, Scaddan, the Labour Premier, has been plunging, and had at the end of last month an accumulated deficit of £1,118,000. His Napoloonio income tax, by which he hoped to make botn- ends again, has been thrown out by the Legislative Council, and the situation in Perth is becoming interesting. The deficit, it should be explained, is due to causes apart from the war. South Australia expects to have a balance on the wrong 6ide of from £300,000 to £500,000, which will be made good out of previous surpluses. The figures for New South Wales and Queensland are not yet available, but the pinch is beginning to be felt there also. Had not' the Commonwealth last year increased the Customs duties and so extracted practically the same revenue from a much smaller volume of trade the State Treasurers would have' been in' much deeper water.

An excessive devotion to party politics ' is leading to a strange spectacle in South. Australia. _ ,: Tho triennial election campaign is in progress, and in their bids for public support both the Premier and the Leader of the Opposition have entirely overlooked the fact that the revenue is shrinking, and that already a deficit is assured. The Premier has put forward a policy tO/Spend and prpmises new public works, privileges for _ Civil Servants, and social legislation of a wide and varied order. Above all, there is to be no new taxation. The inquirer who seeks to discover among the glowing periods of Me. Peakb how all these schemes are to be carried out will learn—that the expenditure will depend upon _ the state of the finances! The Premier's effort, however, pales beside that of tEe Leacler of the Opposition. Mr. Vaughan has large water conservation projects ana a_ great railway building policy that is to make Port Augusta' the Chicago, and Adelaide the New York of Australia. State trawlers are to be built, wharves reconstructed, a new harbour opened, and there is to be a new graving dock, State brickworks, new freezing works, Government steamers, babies' hospitals, schools for mothers, consumptive and venereal hospitals, a model dairy, afforestation, prison reform, workers' homes, and a fair rent court. Mjt. Vaughajj does not definitely pledge himself against now taxation. But he promises "to reduce the cost of government by abolishing the Legislative Council" !

It begin? to appear that recent efforts to raise the standard of different professions have been some-, what overdone. _ Me. E, W. Evans, in his presidential address to the Accountants' Association doubts whether it is wise tp require that a public accountant, in addition to undergoing -severe tests in accountancy, shall also be required to pass the matriculation examination. The standard has been set so high that prospective students have been discouraged. The position appears to be similar in dentistry. There again the course has lately been stiffened up, and what is the result? Eleven students at the Dental School and two graduates for the year—such are the figures oI the last annual report. Students who would have become dentists discover nowadays that it costs but little more effort to become doctors, and no doubt prospective accountants may be finding that one can qualify almost as easily for law as accountancy. Unless the prizes in all the professions are equal there is bound to be overcrowding in some and dearth in others if the standards of qualification are approximately the eamo.