NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 173, 16 April 1919, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY

In replying to a Canterbury deputation the other day, Sir William Fraser stated that schemes for the electrification of the Otira Tunnel had been submitted to the Railways Department. Decision on this matter, he said, really rested with the latter .Department, as it had to work the lino when the tunnel was completed. This obviously is a commonsense procedure. The strange thing is that although the Railways Department is given a voice in such detail matters as the electrification of a tunnel, it is given no voice in the much more important questions of the location of the lines it ultimately will have to operate, and the order'in which they shall be constructed. This is a glaring defect of tiie existing system of railway construction to which _ Mr. E. E. Hiley directed attention soon after taking up the position of General Manager of Kailways. Provision for consulting the Railways Department in regard to the planning of new railways is only one of a number of reforms needed to bring our public works system up to date, but it is not the least important. Obviously the result would be to provide a material safeguard against the construction of non-paying, and therefore largely useless, lines, and to ensure that public money voted for the construction of railways would be spent in such a way as best to advance the interests of the Dominion.

It now seems rather unlikely that the prediction of peace before Easter will be verified unless the proceedings of the Peace Conference are suddenly and unexpectedly accelerated. Messages which profess to forecast the decisions of the Conference on big issues are to be received with caution, but there is presumably some foundation for reports that questions affecting particular nations, as for instance that of the Adriatic settlement, are at present under discussion apart from the proceedings of the main Conference. With matters in this state it seems hardly possible that the Conference should formulate the final peace terras within tho next day or two. An American correspondent at Paris now states' that it is anticipated that the Allies will present tho peace terms to the German delegates on April 25. As matters are going it would be optimistic to expect tliis stage to be reached earlier. • * » • The claims of the nurses of the Dominion to better working conditions is stressed by a correspondent this morning. The case he makes out is one -which will meet with general approval and support. The strain upon hospital nurses, of course, varies, but it is obvious that it is in the interests of patients as well as of the nurses themselves' that the hours of attendance should be so regulated at all times as to enable the nurses to have ample opportunity of rest and recreation. Tho fact that in the past nurses have been accustomed to work seven days a week or for any other unduly long stretch without breaking down under the strain is, of course, no justification for continuing a practice which obviously is unfair and not calculated to secure the best results. So far as Wellington is concerned, we are not aware of any complaints on the part of the nurses in recent, times, but the question is one which might well receive the consideration of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board.

Various aspects of educational reform were raised at the meetings of householders held on Monday evening to elect School Committees, and as might have been expected strong emphasis was laid upon the necessity of speedily replacing some of the ancient, unsightly, and' unsuitable buildings which serve as schools in some of the most thickly populated parts of Wellington city. Several committees have taken oflice pledged to do their utmost to obtain new schools, and their efforts in this direction are entitled to all possible public support. For several years people have been told that the replacement of schools was a matter that must wait until after the war. The time has now come when it is reasonable to demand that an end shall be made of delays. One proposal which particularly deserves i. attention in this connection is that of securing the site of the Terrace Gaol for school_ purposes. Under a scheme of prison reorganisation which is ir. progress the Terrace Gaol is to be abolished, but no doubt the date of the event will depend largely upon the amount of public pressure brought to bear upon the Government. The site is as admirably adapted for the purposes of a school as it is ill suited for those of a gaol. If. it were made available the ground occupied by the Willis Street School could be turned to other uses and the financial problem involved in providing a new and up : to-clato- school ought thus to be greatly simplified.