NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 236, 30 June 1920, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY

Tlw farce staged hy Hie Labour faction in the House of Eepresentat'ves. yesterday was n poor thins of its kind. The want-of-confidenee motion was not taken seriously even by its ostensible supporters. At ii time when the country has so much need of earnest and unremitting (service from its legislators this class of clumsy political clowning l is particularly lmedifying, and the only redeeming feature of the affair is the celerity with which it was brought to a close. M'hile Botne Liberals voted for the motion, the Leader of the Opposition and several members of his party* refused, to their credit, to follow at Labour's heels in such a sorry parade. What is to happen when Mr. Mac Donald in his turn divides the House on a want-of-confiderice motion remains to be seen. As matters stand one section of the Liberal Party is hobnobbing with extreme Labour while other stands aloof, It is a state of affaire that will bear elucidation. Yesterday's incident in anv case makes it clearer than ever that the one essential line to be drawn is between those who want to work and those who are prepared in venting their partv feeling to turn tfte proceedings of Parliament into a oheap burlesque. » * * * *

People who anticipated the recent increase in tramway fares by buying a stock of concession tickets to last them u?er an extended period may havo shown exceptional enterprise, but there does not seem to bo any reason wnv the City Council should allow them to secure an unfair' advantage over those who uay as they go. The lino of action the council certainly ought to adopt was indicated by Councillor H'Konzio on Monday evening, when ho suggested that a time-limit should ho placed on the use of tickets sold before the fares were raised, and • that holders of surplus tickets should be offered a refund of tho purchase price. Councillor's Jackie's contention that this course would involve a breach of contract is evidently unsound.. The real position is that if the council does not impose a time-limit on the use of these tickets—and in justice to. tramway patrons generally, and not least to those who cannot afford to buy tickets in gross, the time-limit ought to be short—it will he conniving at shnrp practice and failing in its trust as custodian of the tramway undertaking.

The new regulations making the approval of the Board of Trade necessary before new buildings are put in hand are excellent in principle. They be equally excellent in practice if the applications are disposed of with efficiency ami dispatch. With the present acute shortages of material, priority for esseuHal buildings is a most desirable thing. It remains to be seen whether the board ian rise superior to the circumkcution, pigeon-holing, aud minuting so dear to the official mind. To strike this

rock will only mako confusion worse confounded. The Board of Trade has innumerable duties to perform, but it in of tho utmost importance that it should arrange for the bundling of all building applications with promptitude.

The City Council discussion on Monday night and the decision of Mr. Page iu the Magistrate's Court yesterday should provide: food for serious thought by the city milk vendors. If the vendors, as is alleged, are adopting an obstructive attitude towards the council's milk echeme they may be quite sure that it is they who will go, and not the scheme. Municipalised milk has been tried, and so far from having been found wanting, has proved 6uch a success that the consumer lias not the slightest desire for a reversion to the very indifferent article supplied in by-gone days. Tho vendors have been given a monopoly of the distribution on terms that should leave ample margin for profit. Some of them are prepared to-do the fair thing by the city, but as for those who are not—well, it is their own throats they are cutting.

An important principle is at issue at the Lyall Bay Schocl Committee election this evening—whether party politics shall bo allowed to intrude into the school domain; and householders in that district sliould have no hesitation in showing by their vote that their answer is a firm, negative. A candidate's political views should not constituto or qualify his fitness for office as n committee man. The decision, should rest on his pereonnf. rnerits —his ability to satisfactorily carry out the duties'devolving 011 a member of a school committee. At Lyall Bay the issue has resolved iteclf into a struggle between a self-styled "Labour" ticket and the rest of tho community. It is unfortunate that such an issue: should have been raised, but tho position lias to be faced by householders as they find it, aud they should have no hesitation in voting eolidly against the. introduction of the vicious system of sectional! politics into public school affairs. As a rule householders arc somewhat apathetic oyer school commit; teo elections, but recent happenings at Lyall Bay should serve to ensure that every householder who can possibly do so should as a matter of duty attend and vote at to-night's meeting. f

* * * * The decision of the British Government to hand the railways back to the railway companies raises the <iuestion of what will become of the vast organisation of the Ministry of Transport. Figures in March last showed the Ministry na possessing eleven departments, excluding a separate branch for Ireland, and a total staff of 758. In December, when

the staff 6tcod at only 449, the number of officials drawing .£IOOO a year and over totalled thirty. Sir Eric Geddes, as Minister of Transport, has throughout shown an intention of demonstrating his organising ability to the fullest limit

the British taxpayer can be induced to stand. How many thousand-pound-a-yoar positions- the Ministry has created by this time is a matter for conjecture. The puzsle to large numbers of people in Britain has been to discover what'all this expensive machinery is for if the . railways are net to lw taken over by the nation. The Ministry's vote on the Estimates for 1020-21 was All that it appeared to 'have, done was to approve of 128 schemes, to cost .£2,013,000, submitted by the railway companies and to be carried out by. tliem, leaving 154 schemes, costing under consideration, 'and to have distributed the Government rolling stock. -The case certainly seems to be one for the pruning knife.