NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 18, 16 October 1920, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY

Signs point to the post-wnr trade boom being definitely at an end. It cannot lie said that a serious slump is taking the place of. the boom, but tho indications are that things will.get worse before thoy got better. Tho lingo accumulation of surplus wool stocks and the weak demands for crossbred .wools make the outlook for New Zealand producers very uncertain, nnjl wo shall bo lucky if we pull through without a period of financial stringency. Wool accounts, for about a riuarter of. (ho total value of our exports, nnd now we hove expert advice from London'to Ihe effect that all growors financially able to do so should hold their wool until consumption has overtaken supply. About twolvo millions or more per annum conies in from wool, and if (ho country has to stand out of a good part of this for the time being the effect on business

generally will be far-reaching, and w shall have an object, lesson of how Intimately tho Dominion's prosperity is bound up with that of the fanner. Tho root cause of tho present reaction is that the war-damaged European countries are unable to pay for what they want in goods and materials. As a result tho British, and also tho American, export trade has not developed as was expected. At the same time tho homo demand is restricted by the high prices which cause purchasers to refrain from buying, and the retailers to avoid being caught with largo stocks in event of a slump in prices. In wool, fashion also is a principal factor in diverting tho demand from the New Zealand crossbreds to tho liner Australian sorts. Financial experts aver that a slump is most certainly coming in the United States and pretty certainly also in Britain. In many quarters in New Zealand tho boom idoa still persists, and it is time it was got rid of. Wo may escape more lightly than some other countries, but thero is need for caution and economy.

The Prince of Wales is now twentysix years of age and a highly eligible bachelor. The suggestion of tho London "Times" that ( his marriage should not be made a matter of policy is one that will have a wide backing of public BBntiment. That Royalty should marry only Royalty is an idea which has had a fairly long reign, but that now with changed conditions might conveniently be abandoned. Under' the Royal Marriage Act which George 11. had passed in 1772, it is provided that ho descendant of that King who is a British subject may marry without the consent of tho reigning monarch. This made tho King's consent necessary last year to the marriage of Princess Patricia of Connaught with Commander Ramsay, a younger son of the Earl of Dalhousie. •No objection was raised in this case to the marriage of a first cousin of the King to a commoner. Possibly it might be too great a.shock to conservative sentiment if tho Prince of Wales married outside of tho peerage, but even if his choice were confined to the ducal families only thero are twenty-six of these and several of them are of stocks that have supplied Britain with its kings and queens before to-day. King Cophetua and tho beggar maid makes a picturesque story—until the Royal mother-in-law is introduced on to the scene. At that point the romance has a tendency to evaporate.

As he is reported at timo of writing, Mr. Asquitli touched tho depths of futility in what he had to say at Ayr on the "Irish, question Ho urged that Ireland should be given.'Dominion Home Pule, "with complete administrative and legislative independence in local affairs, and absolute fiscal independence." Apparently he is. prepared to abandon all naval and military safeguards. In any. «ase his observation that "Irishmen would not quit the Euipiro because that would reduce Ireland to national insignificance" implies that he considers such safeguards unnecessary. His declaration in that case is truly amaaing. Apparently in Mr. Asquith's eyes the proclamation of the "Irish Eepublic" is a negligible fact. It is nevertheless quite plain that those who approve this proclamation—admittedly a numerous body in Ireland—desire, above all things, to leave the Empire. He also ignores the possibility that Sinn. Fein Ireland, might enter an alliance hostile to Britain. As a whole, his utterance suggests that he is quite prepared to ignore the merits of the case in order to say the things which ho thinks will most seriously embarrass tho Government. Ireland is offered by the Government practically anything she likes short of the control of naval and military affairs, which is important to the Sinn FeinersJ only if they desire to make war on Britain and perhaps offer a strategic base to some foreign Power similarly inclined. « * * *

Melbourne has -been perturbed by its Lady Mayoress inveighing against the drinking and cigarette smoking of young, women, especially in society. The picture painted is admitted to bo equally true of Sydney—in fact, more so.. No dance-is complete without the glass and "puff" that follows, and, indeed, tho habit is' not confined to Australia Instead of coffee and cakes for two it is a cocktail, a whisky, and wine, and smokes. It is staled that with tho majority of the women tho smoking habit does not last; and the thing is done merely as a piece of smartness in the shallowest sense of the word. The charge is made in Sydney that it is a common tiling for women to order in their stock' of liquor before sk o'clock lo bo sure of a "reviver" after His fatigues of the dance. Speciol.facilities are even pr.ovided for it, and young girls are enccuraged in it by thoughtless youths. They think l ■ it fashionable, risque, and all that sort of thing, and instances have been noted of late in Sydney of fashionably-dressed women finishing the evening alcoholically embarrassed; That stirrings of conscience are being aroused in older people is evidenced by the closer attention now being paid to ,tho lost art of chaperoning. Many of the girls who are nowadays going the pace were noted, as solid and conscientious war workers.' One of the worst effects of this .fashionable fad is tho' bad effect of example, and the Sydney police aver that hundreds of recently-opened women's parlours in small suburban' hotels around Sydney are a source of trouble to then). Australians are rightly and naturally fond of gaiety, but at the moment the tendency seems to be to se)t a pace that gives grounds for uneasiness amongst tho more thoughtful.

Although tho British miners have voted in favour of striking, there may be still hope of a peaceable settlement of tho dispute. In' February of last year the ballot gave nn even greater majority than the present one for a strike, but negotiation at the oleventh hour prevented a, rupture and the situation was saved for' tho time being. Tho point at issue is tho datum lino at which tho extra pay for increased output is to opemte. Mr. Lloyd George has announced his willingness k- explore every avenue of compromise, and tho miners' leaders appear to bo in favour of making further efforts to reach a solution before calling the men out Tho Government's scheme is a good one, but the extremists among tho men are spoiling for a fight, and Bolshevist revolutionary propaganda has a good deal to do with the tendency among some of the younger men lo adopt extreme courses. There is no doubt that tho open ballot in the miners' unions plays inlo Hie hands of a noisy minority, and often prevents n real expression of the men's views, as' many d;. not care lo incur the displeasure of the wild men. Last year the miners' ballot on the nationalisation of tlio mines gave anything but n clear .expression of opinion, as three other questions were .«e> down on I tho ballot paper, and one simple "yes" or I "W M to be given to tho four. Aftei

it was nil over one of the miners' leaders, Mr. Vernon Hartshorn, confessed thnt it was impossible to say whether the mon were in favour of nationalisation or not! Quite as vital issues depend nowadays on trade union ballots as on Parliamentary elections, and they should be conducted with oqual secrecy and freedom from intimidation.