NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 205, 25 May 1920, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY

Wiien referring yesterday to the trade between Wellington and the adjoining country districts, Colonel G. Mitchell, M.P., suggested that "a greater and more united effort" should be made by the Chambers of Commerce to conserve the interests of the city. Wellington, is the solo city in New Zealand possessed of -two distinct Chambers of Commerce, and the business men concerned might find it worth while to ask themselves whether or not this arrangement involves a dissipation of strength. The Wellington Chamber of Commerce and the Wellington- Central Chamber of • Commerce are both doing good and useful work. They must be moving along parallel courses, since they represent Virtually identical interests. ,But they operate independently of one another, except when they meet at. the annual conferenco of the ■Associated Chambers of Commerce, and if the business men of the city speak with two voices when their oommon interests are under discussion, they may not exercise all the influence that would belong to them if they were united. Auckland, Christchurch, and Dunedin have each a single Chamber of Commerce, which may speak for the city it rcoresents. Wellington's two Chambers may hamper t one another by differing upon points of detail or procedure when their aims really are the same The possibility of combination, for mutual advantage, ccems worth consideration.

The decline in prices originating in America is now spreading to Britain, and is likely soon to be worldwide. As the slump is apparently duo mainly to the forced unloading of stocks by speculative holders, it is reasonable to expect a recovery to a certain extent when the stocks have been absorbed. The evidence, however, all points to recent values in many lines as artificially created, and gives ground for hope that the peak of the price boom has been definitely passed. The steady drop in value of non-ferrous metals since February is a notable case in point. Although there have been slight fluctuations, the movement is fairly represented by the cabled quotations on the following three dates:—

Feb. 26. Apl. 12. May 20. ... 12H 102! 87?

Copper, spot

Tin, spot 405J 345J 283} Lead, spot 51J 37J 37J Silver G/10J 5/9£ 4/10J Phis remarkable decline was yes:erday represented by the British tfetal Corporation as due to overipcculation, the fear of a levy on war wealth,, and the restriction of bank credits. The position is stated to be now sounder as regards speculation, and it is evident that the collapse of famine values in America should here, as elsewhere, further assist in purging the market of the speculative element.

The affidavits filed in London by tho sister of the late Tsar definitely put an end to the rumours that cither the Tsaritsa or any of her children escaped. The Tsar was shot at Ekaterinburg in July, 1918, and the rest of the family were murdered in September of the same year. The end of Nicholas II was not heroic. Charles I and Louis XVI died without a quiver. This elementary first virtue of Kings failed the last of 'the Romanoffs. He could not rise from his chair when summoned by his executioners; he fell down on the way to the place of execution, and ho had to be propped against a post when he faced the firing squa'd. The fatal weakness of his character was dramatically evidenced jn his youth, when as a young man of- 23 he was attacked in Kyoto by a Japanese fanatic. On that occasion he escaped death by a headlong, flight into and out of shops along the streets until his assailant was stopped by the police. His weakness as a ruler, coupled with the proGerman intrigues of the Tsaritsa, herself a German princess, made his reign a prolonged wavering between progress and reaction. When the war came the backing and filling in his policy finally led to tho overthrow of the Throne and the "ollapso of Russia from absolutism into chaos.

To-day the Mangahno electric power works—or tho place where the works are going to be—arc _to bo inspected by a representative party of members of Parliament from tlie districts to be served by the scheme. The public.will earnestly hope that this visit will result in the formation of a solid phalanx in Parliament to insist on the adoption of more expeditious methods of construction than the Public Works Department has hitherto been ablo to devise. Tho urgency of the situation is emphasised by the difficulties now facing the City Council in the extension of its power plant. Until some reasonably accurate estimate is available for tho date of completion of Mangahno the council is working in the dark in making its arrangements for the future. The same thing applies in a lesser degree in other parts of tho districts to be served; _ "We do not want another Makohine, Viaduct at Mangahao, crawling through the years at snail-like pace.

Sir Edward Carson, in declaring that the disturbances in Ireland are being oncouragcd and engineered from New York as pari of a plan to ficrusi disaffection <ihrov.yhoub thb

British Empire, may or may not have been over-stating the case. It is freely admitted that no settlement of the Irish question on any terms at all would suffice to allay the hostility of a large section of IrishAmericans towards everything British. ' It is noticeable also, that MrColby, President Wilson's new Secretary of State, has informed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that there' are no diplomatic reasons why tho Senate should not formulate any attitude "it chose toward the Irish question. Mr. Cow is the successor of Mr. Lansing, whom Mn. Wilson charged with usurping the Presidential authority. The new appointee has been widely criticised in America as having no special qualifications for the position, and it is declared that he is required merely to act as a "rubber stamp" for the President. If'these allegations ave correct, there is more than _ usual significance in his invitation to the Senate to express their vimvs as to the way Ireland should'be governed. If 'the Senate has not enough business of its own to kcop it occupied, it seems rather a pity to go lookinp for trouble so far afield as Ireland when it has Mexico at its doors.

The Central Progress League is a body that has not arrived before its time, judging from the _ strenuous agitation now being carried on f»v local public works by .various organisations in the Auckland provincial district. Auckland has undoubtedly great claims for consideration when money is being allocated for developmental ..works, At the same time tho Auckland atmosphere ficems notonly to inspire a determination tr> press these claims to the uttermost, but to create an invincible inability to see that other, portions of the Dominion have any claims at all. Tho Auflhland Railway and Development League proposes to petition Parliament for allocations for works in the north,, and it is pointed out while the South Island has a mile of railway for every 270 persons, the North Island has only one milf. to every 544 persons. This difference it is desired to redrsss by ths building of new railways in tta North Island, which in Auckland 1 !? view appears to start at the North Cape and end somewhere about Taumarunui. Heaven helps ihose whehelp themselves, apd this laudable activity in presenting the claims of Auckland should not be lost, sigh* - , of by other provinces whieh have work's calling for attention,