NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2436, 15 April 1915, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY

It is time that citizens bestirred themselves if they desire to secure satisfactory representation on the local bodies to be elected a fortnight hcnce. The nominations close on Monday next, but so far interest in the contests is at zero. The Labour Party, as usual, has its candidates and programme definitely arranged, and already has taken to the platform. As a rule it is only the Labour candidates who go to the trouble of addressing the public prior to the"election, hut the candidates on the Municipal Association's ticket might well take a leaf from the same book and .put tho citizens in possession of their views on tho various problems of local government confronting us here. The task the electors will be called upon to. grapple with on-Wednesday week is more than usually bewildering. ' At the local elections two years ago a selection had to bo made from 74 candidates for the filling of 3-1 positions. This time, in addition, a decision will have to bo registered on the half-holiday question. It is obvious that enlightenment will be needed if anything approaching an intelligent choice is to be made.

Freak legislation still makes a spasmodic appearance in tho United States. In Kansas a Bill was brought in the other day to prohibit women under forty-five from using face powder, rouge, perfume, false hair, or hair dyes for the purpose of deceiving or creating a false impression. An unsympathetic legislature killed the Bill, and the subceptible Kansas bachelor still goes unprotected. It is the Western States which have produced most of these original ideas in law-making, but New York, not _to Be behindhand, has some idealists who would prohibit pie-eating contests. A Colorado politician acquired distinction by fathering a Bill to compel chickens to retire between six and seven o'clock in the evening, California has debated a measure to limit the size of bird-cages, while Indiana has sought to rid herself of a troublesome deoimal by decreeing that in all places under her jurisdiction the circumference of a circle shall be 3 l-7th times the diameter. It was an Indiana legislator also who fought a protracted campaign for nine-foot sheets on bods _in hotels, and another ■ whose ambition was to fix the size of fishhooks by statute. Wisconsin had .last month before it a Bill'to, prevent tipping by making the receiving of a tip a misdemeanour and the giVing of it a felony. This brief survey discloses by comparison a noticeable lack 6f original thought among New Zealand legislators.

Inflated land values are an unnecessary handicap to any country, and if the report of the Valuation Commission leads to the setting of a more reasonable standard in the Dominion it will have done a valuable work. The Commission has made a large number of recommendations, but the outstanding - fact confronting it has been that the unimproved value of land is generally assessed at too high a figure. The complaint of the'witnesses has been not so much that the valuation of their holdings ,is excessive, but that the allowance* made for improvements is inequitable. The grievance is admitted to be real, and the remedy proposed is a reconstitution of the Assessment Court. The Courts at present consist.of the local Magistrate of the district and two assessors, one appointed by the Government and the other by the local body. It is contended that both these assessors have an interest in seeing taxable values increased, and to. remove this objection the Commission _ recommends that the ratepayers in each district be given the right to elect one of the assessors, the other being: appointed by tho Government. In theory the principle is excellent; but assuming the recommendation of the Commission is adopted it will remain to be seen whetner popular election will be an entirely satisfactory, method of securing the services of a man to conduct expert work such as the assessment of land valuation. The recommendation that district valuers should meet periodically' for the purpose of arriving at standard values in given districts is one that might be put into effect without delay.

A "Shopping Week" is an untried novelty in Wellington, but a popular and well-established annual event in many cities elsewhere. The proposal of the Wellington Central Chamber of Commerce to make an experiment locally is to be commended. _ With an energetic committee behind tho movement, it should not be difficult to secure tho co-operation of business people throughout the City and give a valuable stimulus to trade in what would ordinarily be a quiet time of the year. The idea, we gather, is to make special window displays of goods, with contests between the shopkeepers, and generally to provide attractions to draw trade. The success of such a venture depends upon the enthusiasm of its promoters and their capacity for organisation. A well-planned midwinter carnival should be a popular event, and a decided attraction to country residents.

It is suggested by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that- the publication of the White Paper describing tho brutal treatment of British prisoners in Germany was designed to intensify in the ranks of the British fighting line the desire to strike hard at Germany. "No man," ho says, "fights worse for having his soul aflame with righteous anger," The spur to smite has been the motive force of all great battles, and there is no essential difference between the Israelitish shout, "The Sword of,the Lord and of Gideon!" in the battlefields of Canaan and the yells of tho British gunners in the North Sen fight: "That for the Baby-killers!" or .the American slogan in the war with Spain, "Rnmember the Maine!"

We have now had a few years of Labour n<lmiiiis( ration, and our experience is that, instead of being mode] employers, vith a regard for the welfare of ilieir employees, tiiey have been «•» hard to deal with as any capitalist employers. In these ungrateful words the official organ of the New South Wales Railway Workers' and General Labourers' Association damns the FiSHEn Government. The Labour politician who carries the millennium around in a carpet bag ready to be produced at the appropriate moment has apparently still to be born. When Field-Marshal von- _ der Goltx returned to Constantinople after his trip to Berlin, he brought with him an Iron Gross, for the SrtTAK. This somehow reminds nr. nl liw juiudbid mufc&t jjm'cekia.

dairymaids, and similar mantelpiece ornaments, labelled "A Present from Germany," which we used to admire in the shop-windows when we were little, and which were occasionally bestowed upon lis when we were very good. It will take something more than an Iron Cross to soothe the feelings of the Sultan when he finds out how he has been tricked into the war. The resolution of the Rangitikci County Council in favour of making the war tax a tax on farmers was even more remarkable than appeared at first sight. The Martou Advocate points out that if their idea is adopted, the proposer and seconder of the resolution will be among the heaviest contributors to the proceeds. The splendid result of the Railwaymen's effort on behalf of the Belgian Fund means something more than good. organisation, hard work, and careful preparation. It indicates the existence of th<ifc fine espril-de-corps which pervades the personnel of' a great business when tho machinc is running smoothly and efficiently.