NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 80, 29 December 1920, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY

. In the distribution of war medals now proceeding it appears that those of deceased soldieTa are being sent to their I next-of-kin through the post. A correspondent who has received his dea'd son's 19M Star in this manner writes asking whether it would not be more fitting that such medals should be presented to the next-of-kin by the Governor-General. N*w Zealand's casualty iist is a lone one, and there aro nearly 17,C00 next-of-kin due to receive the medals of fallen men. To ask His Excellency to present I all these might be placing too heavy a I tax on him, but wr certainly think the medals of deceased men in tho various districts throughout the Dominion should be allowed to accumulate until all hare boon prepared, and then presented publicly to the parents or other relatives who are to receive them. This would involve delay, but so much time has necessarily elapsed already that a little more will not greatly signify. In default of a 'better plan, we would suggest that the mayors of tho various centres, and in rural districts the county chairmen, be asked to mako the presentations of the medals and plaques- to all ncxt-of-;kin in.thoir districts. If tho medals aro likely to bo ready in time their presentation in public ceremonies throughout the country on Ansae Day in April next would be especially appropriate. Tho casual dispatch through tho pest of these last records of the war service of the men who fell should certainly cease. They will be very sacred to those who recoive them, and it must be painful lor the recipients to ice! that thoy are lightly given. Wo aro euro that it is only necessary for attention to be directed to thematter for it to be rectified.

Reference has been made several tunes lately to the great wave of crime sweeping over the United States. America is not alone in this respect, but she aims at giving short shrift to undesirables, and appears of late to have been, deporting large numbers of them. These deportees have to go somewhere, and concern' has been expressed in Australia lest the present intensified epidemic of crime is, to lead to the appearance of more American undesirables in tlio Commonwealth. There have been'cases before of individuals travelling backwards and forwards across the Pacific unwanted at either end. Last session our immigration laws wore amended with a view to preventing the landing of undesirables, and in the face of the American deportation policy it is as well that this is tho cose. America is constitutionally addicted to "gun-play," and the sensational American film etorie,s of murder, lust, and burglary must have an insidious influence in confirming the habit. It is unfortunate that so much of this American sensationalism finds its way ncross the Pacific, but af we have to put up with the pictures wc shall bo glad, with the tightened meshes of the immigration law, to escape an influx of practical exponents of the art.

Although the extremists appear to ho in tho ascondant at tho opening of tho French Socialist Congress at Tours, they received a decided set-back at the .French Labour Congress at Orleans in October. Beneath all t'ho tivlk of freedom find liberty a distinct muttering of tyranny was to be heard, and the French working man likes that sound as .little from the Extreme Left as from the Extreme Itight. Tho Labour extremists may not havo hoped for a victory at Orleans, but they were clearly discomfited by their sweeping defeat, and the result was token in France as a very certain indication that working-class opinion there is antiMoscow. At Tours, wo are told that delegates from rural districts declaroii for Bolshevik principles. There may be some few Bolsheviks among the French peasantry,' but anyone with an acquaintance with that countrywill require much inoro convincing evidence before believing that Bolshevism has any hold in rural Franco. The French small-holding system has its defects. It keeps the yeoman and peasant industrious and' poor, it makes them greedy, but it gives every one of them something to own. Almost every servant girl has a share in some company, or receives some portion of the output of a farm which she and her brothers and sisters have inherited. There, are very few French people who have nothing but what they earn. As Bolshevism means the end of rent and dividends, tho thrifty French peasantry aro likely to think twice, and several times more than that, before throwing all their nest eggs into its bottomless £it..

A few months ago Russia was' glad enough to negotiate for a settlement with Poland. This morning we arc informed that the Soviet'delegation has cynically announced that the Russian international situation Is now ec good that "the question of fulfilling obligations to Poland is no longer important," and the negotiations aro officially declared at an end. Those who liave clamoured for peace at any price with Russia will perhaps now realise the principle on which Bolshevism works. In Britain its emissaries— or at any rate certain ot their entourage -while conducting professedly friendly negotiations with the British Government were also covertly carrying on soditious propaganda against it. It is the old doctrino of "to hell with agreements"- writ lave. So long as something of advantage to 1110° Bolsheviks can lie secured by negotiation they are all fair words and promises, but if later the advantage appears to bo in the opposite direction the whole undertaking is impudently-"repudiated. It is hardly to be expected that Russia will secure either internal or external stability by such means. But pofwiWy or.

dered stability would mean the end of tho architects of Russia's colossal ruin. Tho reported preparations for a. Russian offensive against Rumania may be taken as indicating a pressing need for fresh loot and plunder for the Red Army. When that fails the cup of Russia's misery will be full.

Although a report! that Gabriel D'Annunzio has been killed awaits confirmation, it now seems clear, that a period has been set le- the strange adventure in which the poet-airman for more than a year past has been holding the ci;y of Fiume in defiance of his own country and the Allies. There are detailed reports of a determined attack on the city by Italian regular forces, and the outcome is hardly in doubt. Only amazing tolerance on ifne part of tho Italian Government—tolerance variously ascribed to weakness ami to subtle policy—enabled D'AnmuuioUo maintain, himself-so long as dictator of Fiume. While his culminating adventure offered from its inception not the siiglubst prospect of any useful or desirable result, D'Anmmzio is, or was, a man of great gifts, and one who had given signal proofs of personal courage. "No one," it was writton of him recently, "did more to bring Italy into tho war, and some of his speeches tlieji, like his Fiume orations nW, will endure as long as tile Italian language. He fought on land, at sea, and in the

air. -He was severely wounded, and eyon after the loss of his right eye ho remained in the fight. He had always dreamed of a greater Italy, supremo in the Adriatic, and extending its influence over the Balkans." The poet-airman tinned his gifts to poor account, however, 'in the Fiume adventure—an affair which' in, its early stages wore the aspect of comic opera, and 13 now, if reports are to be trusted, reaching its conclusion in tragedy. Fiume, presumably, will now become a free city and port in terms of the Allied decision which D'Annunxio challenged' nml defied, and Ahe loss of life in conflicts between the legionaries, and the Government troops can, only.be regarded as an absolutely wanton and unwarranted sacrifice.