NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2410, 16 March 1915, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY

18 Id News comes from Auckland that 3® we arc at present passing through l '° a period of sunspot activity. On r Wednesday last Mr. J. L. Comrie, g" of Auckland University College, saw four comparatively large spots and is- five smaller ones. The sun exercises such a potent influence on every form of life on this planet of ours y that we are all interested in his welfare, and the mystery about these spots which periodically make their ), appearance has given rise to much controversy. As mystery generally begets suspicion it is not altogether ~ surprising that sunspots have been y accused of quite a variety of crimes. They have been held responsible for bad weather, bad crops, trade depression, and financial panics. Probably some people will charge them d. with having hado. share in produc;g ing tho existing international crisis', though in view of the fact that the' ~ present lot have just been sighted they may be able to prove an alibi. However that may be, there are _ good reasons for believing that sun- ~ spots have a disturbing influence' on the weather. which in turn affects the crops, while the state of th'e har.vest has a good deal to do with trade y and the money market. There is therefore some ground for the accusations which have been levelled 3 . against these ugly smudges on the , sun's shfning face. ItJs stated that when any unusual disturbance oc--18 curs upon the sun it is followed by 1- brilliant displays of aurora and se? p. 'vere magnetic storms on the earth, j. But what are sunspots? One auI thority tells us that although they . appear to lis as dark holes in the IC| sun's photosphere, they are in reality t® as bright as the light from a limea light lantern. The limolight, as it is issues from the lantern, is so bright s that we cannot look directly at it, .' nor oan we look directly at the sun j0 except through a dark glass. If the :e limelight were placed in front of the a sun, and both viewed through a r, dark glass, the linjelight would look s, like a dark spot. We are thus led :e to the paradoxical conclusion that it these dark spots are. really bright le spots. They are probably merely' i- rents in the sun's glowing atrnosa phere—at anyrato that is what d- scientists toll us, and we may ias well te accept this theory until the next le one coines along and upsets it. ia — io New Zealand is still far from it putting its full effort into the war.' ,y It may be that in proportion to > population we have sent more men ia to the front than any other Domin!e ion. But in point of financial cost n our share of the _ war burden ' has ie been exceedingly light. Mr. Massey m at Waiukii stated that the Goyerns- ment bill was £300,000 a month. This n sounds large, but it means only ie about six shillings'a head per month. :o In the Motherland the State war bill m is equal to twenty-four shillings a ie head per month, or four times what II we are paying. This difference would rs be considerable if tho wealth per ,n capita were equal in the two eases, a But it has to oe borne in mind that it the average wealth is far greater in st "New Zealand than in Great Bri[f tain. Our external trade, for inie stance, is about twice. as great per s- head as that of the United Kingdom, s- On that basis our war bill, to equal ie Britain's, would have to be £2,400,000 s- a month. No one would suggest that s. the Government should immediately re expend that sum. _ But it is as well ■e to realise that this ■ country has not ip 'yet reachcd the wji.cn it can n sit back and take-matters easy, ■ 's . f0 . It is not in itself a matter of s moment that the Harbour Board acy counts should reveal a deficit on the j. year's working. The year dealt with r e in the annual report was that ending 1 on September 30 last, and included it' the two months of the waterside :o workers' strike of 1913 and the first ■ s month of the war, when the port was full of transports on which no ;s dues were paid. The position at tho 1- end of the year was reached through el a decline of £10,549 in the revenue, • e and an increase of £6571 in the exif penditure. There may have been good reason for this heavier expen- - 3' aiture in the face of a shortage in !3 revenue, but the tendency of the \i Harbour Board to allow its expendi--3 turo to increase disproportionately to y its receipts is one that began a good j, time before the waterside strike or n the war was heard of. It is a cury ions thing too that the bigger the it trade-of the port grows the greater if becomes the cost per ton of handling 5 . it. In the ordinary run of business Sj exactly opposite usually occurs and j. an increased turnover means relast tively smaller working costs and j. greater profits. The inference is »t that.the, rules-governing ordinary i- business do not govern the Welling^ j, ton Harbour Board. Mr. Harknebs ie stated at yesterday's meeting that le the cost per ton of cargo handled £ . was 13.07c1. in 1911, 13.95 d, in 1912, n 14.88 d. in 1913, and 15.44 d. in 1915. n Last year was abnormal, hut the 3- figure was only what one. would haye [e expected in continuation of the.se■e quence. The electors will shortly 's have the' 1 opportunity of deciding fc. whether an infusion of new blood • e will not benefit the Harbour Board. " The affairs of the port do not appear to be conducted on the best possible basis. • For one professing so much conn' corn over trie Cost of Living, it is i- a singular thing that the upshot of. Mr. Fletcher's prolonged occupancy 18 of the chairmanship of tho Harbour Board should be an increase in the wharfage charges. , Already tho >n wharfage on 'general cargo is 33 1-3 per cent, more in Wellington than " in Auckland, and over 50 per cent, y more than in Lyttelton. Yesterday y Mr. Fletcher told tho Board that r. an increase in the port tariff was J. inevitable. The drift of the Board's ie finances during the last few years ; e pointed to this. But is there not a ie limit somewhere? Once Wellington ,e had virtually a monopoly of the over- > seas shipping in tho southern half it of the North Island, but now facil- > ities for loading are offered at three " other ports and are steadily being r-' increased. Every increase in Wel;0 lington's already high charges henceif forth will mean the forcing of trade n into new channels. No one oegrudges j the rise in importance of the proi- vincial centres, but there is no reai- son why the Port of Wellington, in j, pursuance of the ideas of Mr. b' Fletcher, should cut its own throat. c - Mil. Fletcher, as member of Parf. liament, objects to an increase in d Customs duties as pressing unduly i- on the working man, but as Chairif man of tho Harbour Board ,he .has. 3 . assisted to tax the workiugnian's im- ). pprts at one-third and half as much n again as in Auckland and Lyttelton, io and now contemplates with equanimh fty a still further increase in the is burden.—We beg his pardon. [. We notice on reading his clos- -- ing remarks to the Board that it h is the farmer whom ho ingeniously its u'rajjiwi! &W the till) fm' th« p.olicx- la wa cu'pum-

stances the rumours, that the 'Harbour Board chairmanship no longer presents the attractions it did to Mr. Fletcher and that he contemplates retiring are not surprising. Island Bay is to bo congratulated on the excellent and public-spirited work of its Municipal Electors' Association during the last three years. Some of the schemes for the improvement of tho district have had to be held over in consequence of the war, but enough has been done to demonstrate to residents in other portions' 6f the City what can be achieved by concerted effort. Gradually Wellingtonians are coining to realise that with judicious tree-planting and the proper oare of open spaces the whole appearance of the City can be transformed. The' bleakness and bareness which was for long a reproach against the capital city are slowly disappearing and there is hope that the work of improvement will gather momentum as it goes.. Past efforts in beautifying the City have too often miscarried for lack of practical knowledge and experience, and it is a healthy sign to find the Island Bay Association still flourishing and enthusiastic at the end of its third year and with a gratifying record of progress to its credit. It has aime'd at providing the residents, of the district not only with the beautiful, but with the utilitarian, and its vigilant eyeon the needs of Island Bay has undoubtedly stimulatr ed the Cjty Council to activity in matters, small in themselves, but in tho aggregate ammintng to a nofh able advancement in residential conveniences.