NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 202, 21 May 1920, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY

1 On broad grounds the decision of Cabinet to prohibit for the time being- the erection of non-essential building commends itself as right and reasonable, but this policy will have to be administered with care if abuses are to be avoided which would tell against the whole community. Apart from the erection of dwellings and schools, a certain amount of building for commercial and industrial purposes is in the strictest sense essential. It would be a very short-sighted policy to hinder or prevent the extension of existing industries or the establishment of new industries by prohibiting the erection of buildings legitimately required in furtherance of these cnterprses. As it applies to buildings which would serve purposes only of entertainment or luxury, the prohibition, of course, will represont a clear gain, but the gain is likely to be smaller than some rocsnt Labour utterances may have led people to expect. One question that suggests itself relates to buildings intended to serve the purpose of war memorials. Is the prohibition to apply to such buildings, and if so, how long v is it to remain in force? While there may be some difficulty in determining the classes of buildings to be postponed, the administrative charges entailed ought not to bo very heavy. Since buildings are erected under permit from local authorities, it will be ;i fairly simple matter, once essentia] and _ non-essential buildings arc classified, to enforce the regulation now foreshadowed. • *• a • An unsatisfactory indofinitencs! still'clings to the public announcement of the results of the inquiries of the Anti-Profiteering Tribunal. In the statement made yesterday by the chairman, Mr. C.'M. Luke, we are told the prices charged for a lengthy list of articles have buen investigated. In one case a prose' cution is pending, in others refunds of over-charges have been order/id. This # information still leaves the public entirely in the dark an to what charges have been found reasonable and what have not. If *he nature of each charge dealt with and _ the findings on it wore summarised for publication, valuable guidance would be . afforded the public. What were the articles on which refunds were ordered, and at what price were they sold? Every householder for his or her own protection should be put in possession of this' information. All that is wanted is the ordinary trade description of the article, the price charged, and whether found reasonable, a refund ordered, or prosecution pending. Mr. Luke claims that the investigations of the tribunal have already been beneficial in causing a marking down of goods. Wc are glad to hear that this is so, but it is obvious that publicity on the lines wc have suggested would make the work decidedly more effective and at the same time enable the public to form some independent estimation of tht value of the work done by the tribunals. »• * * ' * Nothing is more valuable in Mr. Morton's report on civic affairs abroad' than his advice to Wellington to decide on the lines of its arterial highways in and but of ;he city, and to set about improving them. The Mayor some months igo devoted some attention to this natter, suggesting a new route to Karori and improvements in the 2onnecting links with the Hutt Road. The configuration of Wellington makes the planning of satisfactory arteries between city and suburbs a difficult matter, and it is me that needs going into more thoroughly than has yet been at;empted. The Hutt Eoad is a case particularly in point, and it might ie well worth considering whether ;he road could not be brought on ;he outside of the railway lines be:ore entering the city, and then coniinued via the Thnrndon Esplanade vith an easy curve on Waterloo 3uay. This would mean the crca;ion of an arterial highway up to ,hc Post Office, with little cross trafic and practically no tramlines. It vould involve taking the road over ;he railway or the railway over the ■oad—an expense, however, that vould be fully .justified by the clear run made available for incoming ;raffic right into the heart of tho :ity. * * # * In determining to build the bigrest Navy in the world the United States can only have one objective, ind that is to be in a position to nake the_ will of_ America supreme in maritime affairs. To-day tho American Navy is superior to that )f any other nation save Britain. 3f capital ships carrying guns of iver 12-inch calibre Britain possesses 23 battleships and five battlesruisers: the United States, nine battleships; and Japan, four battleships and four; battle-cruisers. If ill vessels building or projected to ie completed bv 1924-5 are included ,he position will be as under: Britain. U.S.A. Japan. Battleships 23 21 8 Battle-cruiser* .... 6 6 ' G [n. view of this . American programme and the strong anti-British lias of tho heads of the American Navy as disclosed in tho course of the Sims inquiry, the British Adniralty is not a whit _ beforehand in arranging for supplies _ of oil fuel independently of America. Alnost the entire modern fleet is oil burning, and we should look very lilly if our Navy came to a standstill because Mr. Rockefeller and lis business and political associates happened to disapprove of British policy.' The dependence of the Fleet oh oil fuel makes the monopoly of supplies by the two great iombincs—the Standard Oil and the Royal Dutch Shell—a vital danger to the Empire. In acquiring its interests in the Persian oilfields the Imperial Government has entered an the first stage of a contest with powerful vested interests that must oe fought to a finish. °«* # * The announcement from Madrid jf a national sensation in the death in the bull-ring of Joselito, the leading matador of the_ day, is a reminder that Spain still pursues the uneven tenor of her way, enveloped in the ideas of the Middle Ages. It is true that a modern touch was added during the war ivhen bull fights were given in aid af tho International Bed Gross Society. But the Spaniard js not jrcatly interested where the funds

go so long as the full programme of six bulls duly slaughtered in approved style is provided for his afternoon's amusement, to say nothing of the incidental fifteen or eighteen worn-out horses gored to death. Even across the Pyrenees the passion still persists, and at Bayonne, |in southern France, last year an arena was burned down by an infuriated crowd, as only three bulls were slain in place of the six promised. The dead Joselito is stated to have killed 1430 bulls since 1912, and to have earned £40,000. TTTs record is outdone by that of Bomlita, who retired in 1913 before having reached the age of thirty with 3000 bulls to his credit. Seventeen to eighteen thousand spectators is an average attendance at these entertainments in Seville and Madrid, and the fights arc discussed in the newspapers in from two-and-a-half to three columns of detailed criticism. It is noteworthy that a publie so relishing the shedding of other people's blood showed a decided aversion to losing any of its own in the late war.