NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 106, 29 January 1919, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY

A whiter in the Pall Mall Gazette, who is either the possessor of a fine imagination or very gullible, has ■ caused a flutter some New Zealanders in London by publishing the following :— I understand that any man who, joining the N.Z. Army from a humble civilian position in life, has attained to the rank of major or higher ie to be offered either a responsible Government post or by official arrangement .a superior position with one of the most important private employers in the Dominion. I am told there are by no mean* a few of such men in the N.Z. Army. It does not sound very convincing, |)ut, according to a letter received by Mr. H. E. Holland, M.P., this paragraph is interpreted by certain "rankers," who are '■ said to .have held a "representative" meeting in Surrey, as indicating a proposal on the part of the Government to set up and perpetuate a military caste, and as such has won the "rankers'" whole-hearted condemnation. Mr. Holland, who iforwarded us a copy of the communication a day or two ago, commented that .in the Palraerston North campaign he warned the electors that a movement was afoot to set up a favoured.military caste in' this country, and he apparently finds 'in • the letter he has received confirmation of his fears. It will no doubt ease his mind to learn ithat the whole story is a fairy tale. The authorities here describe it as "absolute fiction." They intend, 'the Minister of Defence states, to 'do their best for every one of our returning soldiers of all ranks, and to endeavour to get them back into their old civilian jobs or into similar positions; but no arrangement of the kind suggested has ever even been spoken of. . Ministers arc kept fairly busy these days correcting misrepresentation and exposing the emptiness of mischievous rumours.

The Acting-Prime Minister has ■ defined the position taken up by Cabinet in regard to the. National Efficiency Board and its work. His explanation, however, is calculated to deepen the wonder occasioned by the Government's' rejection of the offer made ■by the members of the board to indefinitely continue their honorary and very useful activities. The Government, he says, is very anxious that the members of the board should finish their inquiry about education, but does not think it desirable "that they should have an extended order of reference in order that the board might be continued in existence to deal with post-war problems." This would be. understandable if it were accompanied by an intimation that it is proposed to remodel and broaden the constitution of the board or .to substitute for it some other, organisation devoted to the same general ends—the practical consideration 'from a non-political standpoint of the urgent national problems of the day. There is no hint, however, of any such intention in the ActingPrime Minister's statement. As things stand the Government leaves itself open to the charge of having failed to profit by one of the most elementary lessons of the war period.

The average man, after reading the very clear and concise statement by the Mayor of Onslow, Mk. Dale, ■' of the difficulties placed iir the way of residents of Kaiwarra and the eurrounding district securing communication with the oity by electric tramway, must have marvelled at the ways of our politicians. The difficulties in question were created as far back as 1005, and arose through the Government of that day being narrow and selfish enoughsto- insist on a monopoly of suburban traffic for the railways' xegardlcßs of the service required by the suburban residents affected'. That, however, belongs to the* past. The point is that to-day here and all the world over the trend of public policy is or should be to provide cheap, easy and rapid transport from tho congested cities to the outlying residential areas in their vicinity. Especially is this policy necessary in the case of a city like Wellington. When the time comes there should be a public opinion strong enough to cause whatever Government may be in office to take a broader view of its responsibilities than was taken by the Government of 1905. The railways can be made to py without crippling suburban development by blocking tramway extensions obviously in the public interest. The matter is not a local 'one, but is of national concern.

Facts and figures published today make it only too evident that the influenza epidemic has attained serious dimensions in Australia, particularly in. Melbourne. The hope has not disappeared, however, that the ravages of the scourge may be restricted within proportionately narrower limits than in New Zealand. The measures which arc heing energetically developed to that ,end differ markedly in some respects from those which were taken by our own Health authori uies. Great efforts are still being

made, for instance, to isolate the two infected States from tho rest of tho Commonwealth. ,lt is perhaps still more important that the Australian Health authorities arc rosorting freely to inoculation, which in New Zealand was only, attempted experimentally upon a very limited scale. The general use of protective masks is another particular in which Australian practice departs from that followed in this country. Masks of light material coated with an approved germicide were much employed in America- as a protection against infection. The various measures taken in Australia will no doubt be keculy followed by the New Zealand Health Department, the more so since there is_ no guarantee that this country will escape a second visitation of the epidemic. *_* » « Much bitterness and personal .feeling were introduced into the British general election campaign last month. Newspaper files to hand by the last mail convey the impression that few if any elections in recent times have produced such envenomed* criticism and so aggressive a spirit of hostility. The Mornimj Post, commenting on the struggle, said :— It is <lifficuU to observe.the ferment into which the country has , 'been thrown at this critical juncture without serious misgiving j and it is not a little revolting to those who had fondly hoped that Tve had muHe a break with the evil past, to see all the old petty party passions and intrigues revived. We wnntcd so much to get away' from all tho evil influences of machine-made politics, with their subordination of every question to party advantage or personal ambition. We wanted the energies of the nation to be concentrated ongrent ends and disinterested policies; and instead we seem likely to get the old factions working for their own unedifying little ends. The result of the elections rather suggests that the public as well as a section of the 'Press were thoroughly sick of the . old party machine-made politics. A Government pledged to big, broad, national issues and unconcerned with party politics was returned with a majority that it might be safely said staggered the world. There is a lesson in this perhaps for our own politicians, some of whom a're ready to cjive first'consideration to party and personal ambitions , at the coming elections in New Zealand.