NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 42, 13 November 1920, Page 8

NOTES OF THE DAY

It is unfortunate that timo is so seldom found for any discussioa of Imperial affairs in Parliament. A question by Mr. Parry raised tho point in the dying hours of tho session,. and in response to - ; a suggestion by Mr. Malcolm, tho Prime Minister promised that ho would ask. the House next year to dovote one, or two, . <lavs to Imperial matters. Members of Parliament, with fow exceptions, are sadly lacking in Imperial consciousness, and they must continue bo lfnlcss brought into closer touch with what is going on. Those of us who endeavour to follow Imperial- affairs have to form our viows as tho result of our reading. We are unable to correct them by actual first-hand contact with representatives of other portions of the Empire, • and therefore cannot clearly judge what lines of policy almost likely io command general acceptance. Ministers who liavo represented this Dominion at Imperial Conferences have been brought into intimate personal touch with tho party leaders from etsewhere, and it is in tho light of their experience that wo must adjust our views if we are to find common ground for a closer development of Imperial relations. For lack of machinery "none of the Dominions is deriving all tho advantages it might from membership of the British commonwealth of nations. . Nor can we advance until there is inter-Imperial agreement as to the form those relations should tako.

A Hate and interesting development in tho Canadian Government's shipping enterprise is its conclusion of an agreement with a private shipping firm (Messrs. Holt and Co.) for tho establishment of a joint steamship service between Vancouver and tho Far Hast, to be maintained by an equal number of vessels owned by either part}'. The management of tho Canadian National Railways, as irell as Hie Canadian Government Mercantile Marine, is a party to the agreement, and it is provided that in respect of both its railway and shipping interests the Government shall Ix; represented in the Orient by the agents for the Holt interests: The Canadian Government thus secures the advantage of an did and powerful organisation, and tiio joint service on tlio Pacific Ocean will have the backing of a transcontinental system which includes more than 1-1,000 miles of railways. While it offers some obvious advantage, tlw merger may leave the Canadian Government less free than it would otherwise liavo beon to regulate rates, but apparently this consideration is subordinated to the desirability o£ opening up new channels of trade. ' "Its pcliicy," as the London "Times" observed recently in its commercial columns, "appears to be one of opening up new. services, of supplementing tho existing services, and of working '. happily with tho old-established organisations, knowing that 'what matters much in these days is to create and develop trado, and that organisations of well-managed private enterprises are assets of incalculable value to any nation."

To those who observed Captain Kussell takinsr off and landing in his constant daily flights at tho Hutt Piirlc and clsowliero flying began to seem a thing of almost prosaic safety. To-day that machino i» a wrcck and Captain Russell and two of his passengers are dead. Our sympathy goes out to tho bereaved, and we mourn, tho loss of a gallant airman, who hns made a niolio for himself as a pioneer in aviation over a great portion of tho North Island. In consequence of this accideait .many people will he inclined to think flying a most dangerous pastime. That it has an clement of danger is without doubt. The same may nlso bo said' of most forms of rapid transport. People are daily killed by rail, by road, by sea, and by a thousand mischances. ■ Yet tho rest of us will sit unooncerned in railway trains, and road ths most harrowing details of railway accidents, nor do we postpone a motor ride bocause of .news of a motor fatality. Tho air is dangerous, and as long as we have flying wo shall havo aviation fatalities. But tho risk is less than timid people imagine. If we want statistics of safety the first year of the LondonParis air service completed - in August provided them. Of 1535 schednrcd (lights, lilt were completed, 823,355 miles being oovered. There were 110 crashes or 'fatalities, only S3 journeys were prevented l>v weather, six' were prevented bv mechanical defect, and 30 were temporarily interrupted by conipulfiorily descent en route. The efficiency in round figures works out at (11 per cent.

Although refitted, at tremendous oxpenso. and placed in tho Cunard service across tho Atlantic, .the great ex-German

I liner Imnerntor' is proving a whit# elephant nndcr post-war conditions. Tho TiCvintlian. formerly the Vaterliind, tho lanrest of all the ships taken over from Germany by the United States, is being I allowed to rot in New York harbour, sinco slio stopped repatriating -troops, nor un to tlio middle of September wore [ anv of tlio largo ex-German - shipa acQtiired by America in commission. Apparently the speed and luxury provided bv the mammoth ships ara becoming eo costly to-day that noteven the war profiteers have money enough to pay for them. Two of Britain's great ship?, tlio Britannic. the largest White Star vessel, and tlm Canard's LusitaJiia ' wore lost by enemy action during Hie war, but the others—the' Aqnitania, Miuretaim; and Olympic, togothor with the Imperator itse,lf —were all in the usunl Atlantic services up to the end of September. If,as aliened in the cable message, the day of the big ship is over, its passing synchronises with that of another British luxury, the ijre.it country house. Day after day the stately homes of England are ooming tinder the. hammer. The democratising of Britain tlint life in tlie Army brought oil with a run the cost of living may finally oomplete. » . ».. * » A recent cablegram which gave figures of British trade for Octoter mentioned that as compared with the corresponding months last year imports had fallen by over 36 millions sterling, while exports had increased by more than .'l3 millions. This, of course, marks a very groat improvement. Taking account also cf :e----cxports, the adverse trade balanco against tho United Kingdom in Octobor, 1919, was 87.3 millions, as against 21.5 millions last month; Looking at the . course of trade during the' current year, however, the position is hardly iw favourable os the comparison from ono year lo tho other would imply. The following t!.ble gives particulars of trade from mouth to month in millions of pounds:— UNITED KINGDOM TRADE IN 1920. Jte-

It will be observed that exports havo not to any Appreciable extent increased since May, and that last month exports and re-exports combined wero less by'll millions than in May. At the same time they were less Tjy only 2.6 millions than in September, so that apparently the effects of the coal strike have not yet made therasolves fully manifest. The best feature of tho return is tlic sustained progress made in cutting down tho adverse balance of trado. * • • • Miss Sylvia Pnnkhurst, l»in; in gaol for'sedition, cannot bo held responsible for tho demonstration in her newspaper office during the two minutes' silenco on Armistice Day. By their behaviour the friends and supporters. of this organ of Bolshevism in Britain provided, further avidence that they are merely eccentrics and freaks. They are not only opponents of King, Parliament, and nil the institutions of. thoir country, but also of ordinary Christian decency. It is only tho sympathetic' instinct which teaches us to respect the feelings of 'others, mistaken and even foolish though ihey seem to us, that makos human intercourse possible, •inch feelings are apparently suptrfluous under communism, and"the dancing «nd 6inging in the office of tlie "Workers' Dreadnought" at eleven o'clock on Aumbtico Day is a sample of tho indocont pandemonium that Leninist crania would represent as an improvement on our present imperfect oivllisation.

It is like old limes to ha\ie an English cricket team touring Australia' with big contests for "thq ashes" in sight. After tlio long spell from first-class cricket"duo lo tlio war thero is mora .than tho customnry amount of speculation as to how the pick of Australia will compare with £ho lx'st. of the Homeland's players; and especially is there. conflict of opinion as to tho general (standard of the playors of to-day .as compared; with the gihnts of pre-war days, Tho fact that thore are veteran Test criokot players of pre-war days" still in the forefront of 'cricket ho) li in England and In the Commonwealth may s«ein to suggest that the in w Vood j's still suffering from the handicaps imposed by the war, 'hut the coming matches in the Commonwealth may shatter this view. At present England is the holder of ''the as'hos," and though cricket lovers in Australia are hopeful that the Englishmen will not carry them back home again on this occasion, to Iho <utsidor tho probability seems lo be tho other way. Though not as showy and spectacular as some previous English teams, the me? Douglas has to choose from for the Test games include a very sound uml solid Tot of batsmen, and some first-.'lass tc.wlcrs on English wickots. How the Ixwlers will shape on Australian wickers against (ho best batsmen the Commonwealth can produce has yet to be seen. Judging by their display.'in South Australia, the English batsmen are striking fr.rm early, but South Australia has a v.vak turn just now. It should bo possible to form a sounder opinion of the prospects of the tour after the match aiainst Victim.

extjorts of imExporta liort- Excess (British cd of Month. Imtits. coods) goods iniDta. January 133.5 1C5.9 25.5 . 52.1 February ... 170.5 W.O 22.6 61.9 March 176.6- 103.7 27.0 45.9 Aoril 167.1 106.2 20.4 40.5 May 166.3 119.3 20.3 26.7 Juris 170.5 116.4 20.1 .34.0 July L63.3 119.5 17.9 25.9 August- 153.2 -115.0 13.2 25.0 • September .. 152.6 117.4 13.3 21.9. October 149.8 112.2 16.1 21.5