NOTES OF THE DAY
But for the state of his health Mr. Downie Stewart would long before this have reached Cabinet rank. The report, from Dunedin that (Mr. Stewart is likely to be the new Minister required to bring the Cabinet up to strength may be taken as an indication that he has now in some measure happily regained his health and strength. Mr. Stewart is one of the clearest thinkers in Parliament, and has a wide and deep grasp of affairs that will make, him a valuable member of any Ministry. He is no prentice hand in public life, for besides his service in Parliament, he has also been Mayor of Dunedin, and has for many years been a close, student of pnbli- affairs, several publications testify. With Mr. Seddon he went into camp as a private soldier in 1915, and it is from the effects of his campaigning experiences in France that he has been suffering in recent years. His prospective elevation to the Ministry if confirmed will be welcome news to a large circle of friends and admirers on all sides in politics.
New Zealand has had many commissions that it could have done very well without, but there is justification for that which Mr. Massey proposes to appoint to inquire into the possibility of retrenchment in the Public Service without loss of efficiency. Civil services have a habit of continuous expansion, and thia habit exists in New Zealand in-a marked degree. From 1914 to 1919 the Public Service increased in personnel by well on towards 20 per cent. The Commissioners in their annual report last year wore obliged to admit that in some cases the reasons for the increases were not apparent. With a view to checking unnecessary waste before providing extra staff they asked for evidence that Parliament had authorised the increase or the Government was prepared to grant, the necessary funds. While this was a partial check, a- more effective method of control was needed in their opinion. This presumably the new commission is to find. It is a difficult and unpleasant task, and if it is to be taken up at all it is idle to attempt it in any other mood than one of unflinching deternrina'tion. As Britain is finding,’ limpets, in Government offices can only be pulled out by tnsf.i force. * * * *
A curious commentary on the Irish situation is the announcement that Mr. Daniel O’C'allnghan, Sinn Fein Mayor of Cork, now on a visit to the United States, intends to defy the order of the American Government to leave the country by February 11. This incident suggests that there may be something in the theory that it is not only the hated laws of England that the Sinn Reiners loathe, but law at all. A few sdiip>loads of Daniel O’Callaghans let loose in the United Slates might work wonders in altering the American view of the Irish problem. <• * * *
No subject is more surrounded with difficulty than the allotment of war badges and medals. Mr. E. Newman, M.P.. makes a plea for the issue of a badge or medal to the Home Service men. In the New Zealand forces the dividing line for the war medals has been embarkation. It is a rough-and-ready line, and individuals who are outside may feel that they deserve ati much recognition as many who will receive the medals. The same may be said of
anv other lino that could be drawn. If the medals are given tq everybody they become worthless and without significance. As a general thing, embarkation provides a definite and decisive line in the case of New Zealand soldiers. The embarked man voyaging overseas in war time faced a risk from which the soldier in New- Zealand was immune. That iu some cases he got- no further than Britaft, and may never at any moment been in actual bodily danger cannot alter this fact. At the same time no exception can bo taken to'tlVe issue of a separate commemorative badge or medal to those who served at home, provided the desire for it among the men themselves is sufficiently keen to warrant the expense.
The decision of the New South Wales Government to disband its State Orchestra is a to Australasia. New Zealanders who had been looking forward to hearing this fine orchestra again will be keenly disappointed. ~ln Victoria and Queensland projects for State orchestras have been under more ol& less favourable consideration for some months past, and the abandonment of the New South Wales undertaking will probably cause the Governments there to pause before embarking on their ventures. The intellectual level of a community is reflected- in its attachment to literature and art, but with politicians thinking of tho next election and not of the next generation—as a recent visitor observes —money can only go where the votes lie. Few votes will be lost to New South Wales Ministry by cutting off its State Orchestra, and several thousand pounds a year will be in. hand to expend, say, on a new public building that will plxcate a country town in a doubtful electorate, or reward the faithful. Mr. Verbrugghen, director of tlio orchestra, was under no illusions oivthe subject. Speaking in Brisbane on the Queensland project he said, flatly that ho did not believe there was a Ministry in Australia prepared to lose money for music or any other art, and if his orchestra did not pay its way his Ministry would have no compunction in disbanding it. 'That situation has apparently now arisen. With a 'small population scattered over a vast area the pathway z of the arts in Australasia is a stony one. Most of those among us whose genius impels them irresistibly forward, we must go on losing - to older lands for many years, while the rest take the advice of their relatives and 1 friends to go in for something more practical, above all, with “money in it." It .is a material ago. intent on material things, and not in a very good, temper about it either.
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Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 120, 14 February 1921, Page 4
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1,010NOTES OF THE DAY Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 120, 14 February 1921, Page 4
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