NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 6, 2 October 1920, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY

Tho now member for the Bay of Plenty (Mr. If. S. Williams) is to be heartily congratulated upou winning that seat for the Eeform Party. Tho total votfe cast in the by-election was much smaller thhn at the last general election, but this is amply accounted for. by conditions of inclement weather in a district which is handicapped by very indifferent communications. There is every reason to believe that with a hea,yiier total poll Mr, Williams would have increased at least proportionately the substantial majority by whioh he was in any caso returned. Possessed of an extensive first-bond knowledge of the conditions of rural industry, Mr. Williams has also served a long and useful 1 apprenticeship on various local bodies end institutions, and has shown public spirit aid generosity in assisting to (promote soldier settlement in. the East Coast district, Ho is in all respects well fitted to become a useful member of Parliament. While his success impli|« a just recognition of his personal qualifications, he no doubtl owes something also to a growing perception that as matters aland the Eeform Government offers th|) only effectivo rallying'point for the constructive political forces of the Dominion. The extent to which unrest prevails amongst some limited sections of the community ho doubt strengthens and confirms the general tendenoy to'concentrate support upon the only political combination which can be relied upon to pursue. actively a safe though progressive policy. .

Some anxiety exists in Miramar at the absence of any steps to consumm?ito the amalgamation with the city carried at

the recent poll in the borough. Miramar residents are naturally looking forward to certain benefits in tramway fares and reduced rates when the borough is absorbed, and a, feeling is abroad among ,thein that the city authorities are lukewarm towards the amalgamation, and not likely to hurry on with the necessary steps to effect it. We do not know

whether thero is any justification for this view—we hope not-rbut it -undoubtedly prevails in Miramar,' and it is desirable that steps should be taken to remove it. A striking instance of the advantages

Miramar residents will gain by the union is provided by a case which has come under our notice. One Miramar ratepayer also owns property in the city of which the rateable value is identical

ith that of his Miramar section', slight-

ly over J!200. The Mirairinr rates are J!7 15s. 2d. and the city rates .£6 Gs, id., a differencs of £1 Bs. lOd. The city rate, moreover, provides an unlimited water supply for residential purposes,

whereas in Miramnr tho water is limited, and an extra charge is made for any excos?. It is natural that Miramar residents should bo keen to secure theso and other, distinct gains, and impatient of delay in the formal oompletion of the amalgamation for which thov havo voted. 8 u ' Wedded as they are to the idea of getting something for nothing, Labour t£presontatives are naturally dismayed when they fi.ro confronted by a positive demonstration that the idea will not ■work. Th'is was tho unhappy plight of tho Labour members of the City Council on Thursday .evening when that body was oalled npon to deal with Sunday fares on the tramways. The decision to eliminate tho nso of concession tickets on Sundays is certainly sweeping (although, according to tho Mayor, Wellington is only falling into lino in this matter with other cities in the Dominion), but on the facts and flgnree predated by tho tramway authorities, the only alternative is to mako tb J5 tramway undertaking a burden on tho rates. Tlio unpalatable fact hue to bo faced that although the city tramways are run for public convenience and not for profit, increased charges a& mado absolutely necessary iby increased wages and working costs. A vory important point which tho Labour councillors missed or ignored is the oxteut to which increased tramway charges, like many other InoiVased ohargss, reflect tho enormoMly insreassd cost ef

coal, for which tho country has to thank tho miners, who havo all once limited and needlessly raised tho price of tho local output, and m'ado it necessary to rely largoly upon dear imported coal. When they are, prepared to go into this and related aspects of tho sanation, tho Labour councillors may arrive at some practical result. They are merely wasting tirno in finding fault with a balaneesheot which quity obviously inclines the wrong way.

r # * * London has been mjich pertmbed over a suggestion that a national war memorial should be erected in the form of . gigantic pylon in the open space between Hvdj Park Corner and Burton's Arch at tho top of Constitution Hill. Tho design for this monument has' bpen prepared by Sir Frank ' Bainea, principal architect of tho Office of Works. It is in the Egyptian stylo, and comprises a central reotangular block of masonry, tho pylon proper towering to a height of 100 feet, and flanked by two temples. An immense bas-relief depicts in vague, cloudy forms tho disembodied spirits of tho dead sweeping up towards a symbol of immortality. On a pedestal before tho arch of the pylon 19 a solitary statue of a young man gazing upward, typifying the youth of Britain seeing the sacrifices of the war! The whola design has been severely criticised as being utterly alien to the British temperament. Tho Egyptian style is condemned as heavy, passive, and sulky, the stylo of a casteridden people. One • critio . pointedly asks' why must an architect designing a war memorial adopt some "stylo." If an author eat down to writ® a eulogy of our fallen heroes would he consider whether ho should writo it in the stylo of Burko. Swift, Macaulay, Froude, or Milton r Why cannot an architect say what he has to 6ay in his own natural way. J Judging from its reception, this Eiffel Tower in stone instead of iron will remain merely a project; It would bo grandiose and colossal enough, as grandiose and colossal as the National Debt, of which it would be decidedly more symbolical than of the idea, of sacrifice.