NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 305, 20 September 1919, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY

The suggestion that a special Board of Control should be appointed in. connection with the State hydro-electric schemes is so obviously sound that the Government should have no hesitation in coming to a decision on the matter. IBm William Piuser, while agreeing as to the necessity for such a board-at a later stage, expressed the opinion in tho House' ofUepreser.tativcs yosteiday that for the present the work being undertaken could be very well left "in the hands of the officers of tiio Public Works Department. On reflection he will probably realise that the sooner the hciard is appointed .the belter prospect I hero will be of lite work being pushed forward with all possible energy and dispatch. This may be said without reflecting in anv way on the Minister or the'officers" of the Public Works Department, The fact is that, those officers, arc or .should be ere long very "fully occupied on public works which have been in anoyance during the war period and which are quile .independent of the hydro-electric schemer. These works, as well, as the hydro-electric ■ ■ wovks, should have behind them all the driving power that it is possib'e to secure. A- board of .business' men and experts might be expected to "hustle" things- along, and. that is what is wanted. The initial difficulty—and it is no(. a light one—is fcer'secure the ris-lit stamp of men for the board. . . * *. * . * Those pven to a cynical analysis of the actions of party politicians will .be inclined to see in the discussion in. the.House of Representatives yesterday on the Government's soldiers' gratuities scheme' the bcginniiic's of a movement to attempt to .make. Warty capital _ out of .this issiic. It' is of course idle for Sin. Joseph Waijd or anyone else to pretend that the proposals require any great amount of time for consideration, for the miestion. has been before the public for wcaks. nast. [f .members have not already given consideration to the question of the approximate amount- which the country should pay, then they have neelc'eted their clear duty. No doubt the matter is ono on which differences' of opinion may reasonably occur, and no doubt also it is the duty of Ministers to supply the fullest 'possible information as to the detailed effect- of the proposals and the total cost, feut to hang the matter up as has. been done suggests either that members of the Opposition have up to the present neglected to give "the subject 'any serious consideration or that they hope _by delayto devise a means of securing ■a party advantage. It, may be taken for granted that whatever the Government had donc'ujtlsin the bounds of reason some popularity-seeker would have, proposed to go one bitter. That is party politics—and the country, which means the ordinary man and woman, has to pay for it. *•* * » Thk. new Minister of Justice, (Major Coates) has had insufficient time to take hold of the affairs of his Department, but ii is to be hoped that on reflection he will see the wisdom of taking a definite stand on the. question of removing prisons f\om the area or environs of populated centres. The. policy of establishing penal establishments, as.distinct from police gaols and depot prisons for the temporary accommodation of prisoners, well away from such centres is so obviously sound that nothing but lack of enterprise will account for the Prisons Department not being further advanced towards its general application. So far as Wellington is concerned, the exercise of ordinary foresight would prevent the Department from contemplating the erection of a, new prison on Point Halswell. Instead of adding to the prisons in the city and its near neighbourhood, the Department ought, to .be taking measures to vacate Point Halswell and also the. valuable Terrace site, which is now wastefully devoted to a small prison. When the Minister of Juscice was interviewed by a.local denutation on Wednesday, the Under-Secretary for Justice (Mn. Matthews) declared himself somewhat at a loss to find any site for a prison in regard to which objections would not b^raised by residents in the locality. . This no doubt is true enough'. It is quite obvious, however, that the right policy is to select.sites like that of the up-to-date reformatory at Waikcria, and that, in any ease the immediate neighbourhood of one of the biggest centres of population in the Dominion is as unsuitable a locality as could be found for the erection of a new prison. The fact that Point Halswell has long been a prison site does not make the project any less objectionable.

The early improvement of one of the two main highways out of Wellington, .the Rimutaka lload,' seems now to be 'reasonably assured. Although he did v >nqt commit himself to actual figures in answering, the deputation which interviewed him oa Thursday, Sir William Phaser said that he had dealt very generously with the llimutaka Hoad in framing his Estimates. In view of tho, great damage done to the road by Defence Department traffic, and i.i View of the fact chat the districtlocal bodies have agreed to meet half tho outlay involved, the Minister's assurance ought to mean that the Government is prepared to pay its fair share. It is satisfactory alsc (hat he signified his approval of a policy under which tho necessary re pair and improvement work will be undertaken on a considerable scale and not by slow, piecemeal methods. While (ho iirrangeinents tentatively made are- welcome, as promising s=ome early'improvement in eondi'ions of road tnnsnort over the Piimntak.'iß it is fairly evid"nt llvi.t such measures are at best a. makeshift. The only way to deal effectively with nation.- 1 ! hiirbways is to niak" them a SMc ''""swmsibilitv. a»d it is n t>'!l-v that, Ministers and ln-di'itr wilii-'eiaiis srenornjlv are as vdiifhinl.-jip thev mnnifesl.lv are to fare the fact ' . '