NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 95, 15 January 1921, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY

Although it is not clear whether the "united action” to be taken by the coni miners means a strike or only an intensified "go-slow” policy, it is clear that a restriction of the industrial life of the country is planned and for a wholly inadequate cause. The public has come to look for these mining stoppages at short intervals. Yesterday it was because some miners with second-class tickets were asked to leave a first-class railway carriage. The day before it was because city suburban Tates did not; prevail on the railways in the vicinity of Huntly. Today it is because a miner who went for a trip to England was not given employment as a right on his return, and because another was dismissed." The returned traveller the company has offered to reinstate, but being dissatisfied in the other case it refuses to re-employ the dismissed man. It is alleged by the Miners’ Federation secretary that this pnan, who was at one time president of the Blackball Miners’ Union, has been "persistently persecuted.” Mr. Massey sent the Under-Secretary for Mines to the West Coast to investigate, but if tho miners are feeling indisposed to work another "grievance” may lie expected speedily to appear, should the present one be proved to be non-existent. There is undoubtedly “persistent persecution” in the mining industry, but it is persecution of the public by the miners. In other walks of life these difficulties occur, but' we manage to settle them and still net on with the job.

With a large army of unemployed, a Treasury in low water, and an expenditure running to close on a million a week, Mr. Storey, the Labour Premier of New South Wales, proposes to depart on a loan-raising expedition to Britain. Last year Mr. Theodore made the voyage on behalf of Queensland with negative results. Mr. Theodore's case was prejudiced by the Labour repudiation policy in his State, and it will be recalled that Mr. Storey was at some pains the other day to affirm that his Government will at no time be a party to repudiation in any form. Since it took office last year the Storey Administration has imposed about £3,000,000 of extra taxation, besides raising freights and fares on the railways and tramways. For three or four months daily appeals have been made for subscriptions to a local loan of £3,000,000. It budgeted for a revenue of £34,000,000 and nqarly £14,000,000 of loan expenditure, and as a Christinas box dressed its window with a project for a North Shore bridge and an underground railway in Sydney to cost a further £10,000,000. In addition a large number of entirely new works, the estimates for which total £6,000,000, have been sent on to the State Public Works Committee for consideration. Finally, there is a motherhood endowment scheme, to be financed by the inauguration of State lotteries unless' too much opposition develops. It is not sur. prising that Mr. Storey finds he requires more money than local loans will yield. Ixmdon has not had much to spare tor overseas loans of late, and Mr. Theodore’s exploits have created an »«ditionnl 1 " hurdle for the new Labour Government next door to get over.

One of the most difficult problems the Education Department has to face is the provision of teachers for sparsely settled country districts. Most of these children at present are in tho hands of teachers uncortificated and untrained, and it becomes increasingly difficult to secure any teachers at all for them. Mr. Parr proposes to solve the problem by appointing better qualified itinerant teachers who will give two or three days a week to half a dozen children in one locality, and two or three days to another half dozen a tow miles away, and so on. This is better than nothing, but it is questionable whether a day or two a week by a more competent teacher is a gain over a full five days a week by a Less competent one. Application and discipline is half tho battle in education, and what will happen to these children in the three or toiir days a week on which no teacher comes? In some cases parents will see that they do the work set, but in too many, either from lack of time or inclination by the parents, it will be a case of drift, nnd on each visit very much broken threads will have to be picked up by the teacher. Moreover. is it, probable that tho state of itinerancy will appeal to tho teachers, as presumably it will mean a- more or less continuous existence on shake-downs in farmhouses? Tho problem does not seem to be callable of any easy solution, but little end often will strike most people as a lietter principle in education than concentrated doses at intervals.

The war has left Europe with several aristocracies out of business, and these exiles, impecunious and otherwise, have flocked to Paris. The French have enough worries of their own and are now unkindly bringing forward proposals to expel all foreigners without means of subsistence and to tax thoaa who are

worth powder and shot. Like moths to the candle the habitues of courts fallen on evil days have nearly all a habit of flitting to Paris, even if it is only to drive a motor lorry in the slums. It is stated that a former Russian brigadiergeneral, Prince Duhinkus, is in the dairy business in Paris to-day. Prince Gondacheff, former Ambassador to the Court of Spain, with his friend Prince DadeskiL ian, has gone in for farming in a small way in France. Prince Boris and his Princess have opened a shop as interior decorators and painters. Prince Lyszgeyuski, who not so long ago stalked in gold lace through the Tsar’s palaces, counts francs and centimes in a Parisian bank. General Nicolaieff, who used to direct artillery, is behind the wheel of a motor truck and does his own loading and unloading.' Colonel Dovorschenik gets dirt all over his hands every day as a mechanic in a motor garnge. Colonel Skouiratoff'and his wife, who come of one of the oldest families of Russia, try to scrape together a living by growing salad greens in a small garden at St. Germain. Another exile of an earlier catastrophe is Don Pedro 111, who by descent is Emperor of Brazil. He lives obscurely on the fringe of Paris, but unlike most of the Russians, Brazilian royalty brought its bank book out of the scramble. Now not even Paris seems to want these unhappy people.

The figures of the Railways Working Account .just gazetted are for a period of thirty-six and a half weeks (to De cember 11, 1920), but it has to be borne in mind that increased charges were imposed from August 26 onwards, and therefore were in force for much less than half of the period to which the figures now presented refer. The operation of the new charges is responsible for an improvement in the ratio of rev enue and expenditure disclosed in the middle of the financial On Sep tember 13, 1920, when the new charges had been in force only for a week or two, receipts were shown to havo in creased by nearly £600,000 as compared with the previous year, but the balance of net revenue had fallen (on tho same basis of comparison) by about 28 per cent. The present position is shown in the following table: — Railway Working—Period to December 11. 1919. 1920 £ £ Revenue 3,583.440 4.475,955 Expenfliture 2.647.572 3,747,455 Net revenue £935,868 £728.500 As compared with the previous year, revenue for the period shows an increase of 25 per cent., but owing to the great, increase in expenditure, net revenue for the period shows a drop of about 22 per cent. Some improvement in this state of affairs is, of course, to be expected in ordinary 1 course by the end of the financial year.