NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 238, 2 July 1920, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY

Mr. Mac Donald's want-of-confidence motion fell very flat in the House of Representatives yesterday. Tho Government, liko all governments, lays itself open at times to criticism, but tho present Leader of tho Opposition haa not th« linppy knack—or ho had not got it yesterday—of seizing on his opponents' weak points and making the most of them. There was not a single new idea, not ono illuminating suggestion, not <"ven a touch of tho lash in the drab and hackneyed review of tho policy and administration of his opponents with which he sought to justify his no-confidence motion. Perhaps it would be unkind to take too seriously Mr. Mac Donald's first imnortant effort in Ms new rolo of leader of tho Opposition. His advisers presumably imagined that the moving of a no-confidence motion would give him a greater prominence than was likely to be secured by any other mea-ns, and perhaps they were right; but the outcome is not likely to have a stimulating effect on his party. It was a dull beginning to the no-conftdence debate, and tho speeches which followed did little to enliven the proceedings.

e*' * * ■Opinion in the Dominions will widely endorse the recommendation of tho Imperial Wireless Committee, which we publish this morning. It is much to be preferred that the Empire should erect and control its own chain of wireless stations instead of handing over the work as a monopoly to the Marconi Company. The cost of stations which it is proposed to erect is estimated at J!1,213,000. This is a modest sum when it is remembered thnt the Pacific cable from Australia and New Zealand to Vancouver coat jnst under two millions sterling. Tho annual charges on the wireless scheme are put at £125,000, and the anticipated revenuo at ,£325,000, leaving a loss of .£IOO,OOO to be covered by the taxpayer. The Pacific cable earned ,000 in 1918, while the expenditure was JJ385.000, leaving a profit of ,£25,000 odd. If the committee looks for a revenue of only JC325.000 from the great chain of wireless stations it proposes it must surely be on the basis of extraordinarily low charges for messages. It will be interesting to learn on what rate per word the estimates are based. Nothing will knit the Empire closer to. gether than cheap and rapid communication, and' the carrying out of this scheme 1 will mark a great atop forward.

It has bean noticeable that Mr. John Storey, the new Labour Premier of New South Wales, lias felt himself under no obligation to follow the lead of Mr. Peter Fraser, and. demonstrate Ms sincerity as a democrat by discourtesy to the Prince of Wales. So far from refusing bo sign an address of welcome to tho Prince, and withholding himself from the contagion of loyal enthusiasm, Mr. Storey, whose devotion to the Labour cause is above suspicion, .felt quite able to propose the toast of tho "Prince of, Wales" at .the State' banquet in Sydney on June 18.' It was, ,he said, a privilege that he Tcadily embraced..' Since he had had an opportunity of .closely scrutinising the beha. viour of tho Prince, he. was of opinion that nothing they could say was too good for him. The democratic movement witii which lie himself was connected had made groat progress in New South Wales during tho previoua thirty years, and they believed that the King shared in those, progressive ideas which made for the betterment of the, conditions of society. They aimed at obtaining whatever improvements they desired by constitutional means. No man need to resort to any other, for their destiny was in their own hands. Theso senti-. ments liavo a more sane and healthy flavour than the insulting references to the Prince of Wales which liavo lately disfigured tho columns of the official organ of Labour , in this Dominion.

But for the fact that it has a sorious ado, Iho vote of tho Jockeys' Union on tho question of striking might l>e regarded merely as « fitting* climax to a shrieking farce. By CD votes to 8 the jockeys havo now deoideil 'against striking—this after many weeks of disputation, during which Labour -unions all over the Dominion have been on the verge of striking in support of the jockeys. There lias,been a tramway strike at Auckland, threatened hold-ups of steamers carrying non-unionist jockeys, and similar threats have prevented tho carnage of racehorses. Racecourses have been declared "black," racehorso owners and the public inconvenienced, and a general state of unrest oreated, while the jockeys themselves, 'whose officials have been at the bottom of the trouble, have gone on riding and earning their. fees, and making money as usual. The truth of the matter, no doubt, is that a few mischief-making people have stirred up the trouble, and have succeeded in dragging into it a section of the Labour unions who know little ot nothing of tho merits of the points in dispute. The jockeys as a body have shown more sense than tlio6o who set out to champion their cause. They

can securo all the redress ■ thoy can legitimately claim at the hands of the Racing Conference, whereas tho course on which their self-constituted champions had embarked was more likely to injure the sport on which they depend for a living than to gain them any material benefits. . •** * * If the announcement of "Le Journal" is reliable, tho Germans would appear to be approaching the Spa Conference in a fnirly reasonable frame of mind. According to the previous messages, the Allies are generally agreed in demarttling a minimum annual payment from Germany of three milliards of marks. "Le Journal"

states that the German delegates will state that Germany is unable to find more than two milliards, owing to the losses of important sources of rcvenuo sncli as her moreantile marine, her colonies, and important mineral resources. •' Both sides are no doubt putting forward tentative figures with a view to nn eventual compromise. Under the Treaty the total amount of the German obligations lias to be fixed beforo May, 1921. Tho sums mentioned lis that which tho Allies will demand as tho grand total range from 120 to 150 milliards of marks—nominally equal to 6000 to 7500 millions sterling. Under the Treaty Germany can either pay, or biarsolf mako good the damage she has done. She has been invited to send .representatives to tho devastated areas to form their own estimates, but no move has been made in that direction. The new German Chancellor spoke a few days 'back in a much more satisfactory strain than has been heard previously as to Germany's future intentions, but it is the Spa Conference that will provide evidenco of his sincerity or otherwise.

The impending restoration of diplomatic relations between Franco and tho Vatican is nn event of more than ordinary interest. The' Holy Sco ig not among tho institutions imperilled by the war, but, on the contrary, has lately scored

a number of diplomatic triumphs. Since the dissolution of tho religious associations in France under tho law of 1901 and the separation of State and Church by that of 1905, diplomatic) relations between Franco and the Vatican havo been at an end. The French lave now passed a measure authorising the re-establish-ment of relations with tho Vatican, and it is this morning stated that the Popo reoognises the separation of State and Church as a fait accompli. Tho path is thus open for the dispatch of a Papal Nuncio to Paris, and the elder daughter of the Roman Catholic Church comes once again more <-r less within the fold. It Ims been noted that the British Government is showing no haste to withdraw the mission to tho Vatican dispatched during the war, although the Government has been at some pains to explain in Parliament thnt tho maintenance of relations constitutes no breach of the Act of Settlement. In Italy also it is freely stated that the Holy See will ultimately 'be given a seat on the Council of thie League of Nations. # * #. * Although the total losb of life in connection with the war hns been estimated nt 30,000,000, almost every country in tho world haa tin acute housing problem. At the rato of 1 five to a house, the deathroll should have released 7,200,000 homes. Where they are no ono has discovered. In the "Reader's Guide' to Periodical Literature" no subject to-day takes up moro space than housing, and to scan the list, of cities whoso housing problems are dealt with in magazine articles is like a lesson in geography. Christiania, Prague, Lisbon, Buenos Aires, Detroit— they aro all overcrowded. Britain's problem is acute. Brussols has a housing shortage, but only tho large towns in Belgium are troubled. Berlin has shunted railway trucks on to sidings for uso ad community sleeping quarters, and the German Government has a liugo house-building programme. Holland needs 250,000 houses for its towns. Canada has 6et aside 25,000,000 dollars for building purposes. In Stockholm in April there were 1058 applicants for six houses offered for letting. Iceland is building a suburban railroad to ease the congestion in its capital. Iff Jugo-Slavia the Minister of the Interior .declares that "the crying' need for houses in our cities must be met"—and it is being met by expelling Jews and' Germans. Is tho. truth of the matter that the war. has caused a universal rush to tjie cities? In the armies isolated country folk tasted tho attractions of community life for the first time. A big . percentage of them would seem to have found tho taste good.-