NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 281, 22 August 1921, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY

Although a section of the railway servants have thrown in their lot with tho Alliance of Labour, the Post and Telegraph Officers’ Association appears to be extremely doubtful of the benefits to be derived by connection with that body. Attention was recently directed in these columns to the fact that railwaymen do not seem to realise the limitations on their powers of independent action imposed by the Alliance constitution. Iho Alliance is closely allied in principle with the New Zealand Workers’ Union and the one-big-union idea, and a formal amalgamation may presently be completed. The objective is an organisation of labour by which the unskilled wmrkers by sheer weight of numbers will be supreme over all other sections. It is government from the bottom. It is noticeable that it is the unskilled unions on whose executives the extremists are most commonly to bo, found. This is probably due, in part, to a tendency among the general body of members of such unions to go like a bull at a gate at industrial and political problems. It is obvious, also, that these unions offer a much more profitable field for exploitation by revolutionaries and extremists of all descriptions than is to be found among men in occupations where they are called upon to use their brains more, and look ahead and reason out cause and effect. To make the One Big Union fully effective, and to allow its organisers to dominate the community and override ordinary government, as is their objective, it is necessary for them to bring in the skilled and clerical workers, but it is for these to say whether they will accept the kindly invitation into the spider's parlour.

In his pithy advice to the speakers at Friday night’s Plunket Medal debate Lord Jellicoe laid stress on three points—"first, speak slowly; secondly, speak up; thirdly, shut up at the right, time.” Mr. Chapman, in judging the speeches, also dwelt on the common failing of speaking too fast, and put it down partly to the time limit imposed. A too rapid delivery is without question the outstanding defect of public speaking in New Zealand. Those who have had the opportunity of hearing Mr. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward speaking on the same platform in Britain with leading British statesmen will bear this out. The Englishmen, speaking at leisure, and with pauses as they made their points, were infinitely more pleasant to listen to, and made far more impression on their auditors than was possible by the rapid and breathless delivery of the two Dominion statesmen. The time limit on speeches in the New Zealand Parliament is possibly chiefly responsible for the hurried, speech of most of our politicians. They nre anxious to say as much as possible in a given time. Tho result is similar to what would happen if a writer, having an important announcement to make to the public, and a column of newspaper space at his disposal, used the very smallest size of type so as to get in as much, as possible. Those whom he sought to interest he would only weary. The fault is one against which young debaters, with so many bad examples before them, should be very much on their guard.

In deciding to leave air transport to private enterprise the Imperial Conference was acting wisely. None of the Governments of the Empire is in a position to go into the matter wholeheartedly at present, and an experimental undertaking of this kind is likely to be infinitely more successful in private hands. It is not going to be easy to maker it pay for a start, and no doubt any company taking the work up will look for subsidies from all tho different parts of the Empire benefiting. That will involve each Government in a definite liability in return for which, however, it will get a definite service. On the other hand, if the Statp undertook to provide air services, they would be under officials who would necessarily be allowed io draw freely on public funds for a start, and who could be relied upon to accept this as th? natural and proper order of things for all time. It is to be hoped that sufficient encouragement will be forthcoming to enable a service to be inaugurated between Britain and Egypt. With air transport for mails from London to the Suez Canal and vice versa, a great saving in time would be effected, of which business men throughout Australia and New Zealand, India and Eastern Asia should all feel tho benefit.

Marlborough and Nelson have long been dissatisfied with their steamer services across Cook Strait, which are today reduced below what they were fifteen or twenty years ago. In reply to a deputation on Saturday, Mr. Holdsworth stated the Union Company’s case for the present curtailment to two trips a week each way. The facts and figures quoted by Mr. Holdsworth show that it would have been unreasonable to expect the company to continue tho loss involved in running both tho Arahura and tho Mapourika. Blenheim and Nelson, bowover, will derive only cold comfort from Mr. Holdsworth’s explanation. The problem is not one that will be easily solved. If the passenger traffic, from the two districts could bo concentrated at one port the way would bo easier for improvement, but a Nelson-Picton railwaywill be about tho last line to bo built, and Nelson in addition has an exceedingly regular and well-maintained daily service by tho two small vessels of the Anchor Company. A better road through from Nelson to Picton might bring more traffic to tho latter port, but it looks as though tho preliminaries justifying a more frequent steamer service will bo either the development of Marlborough or a decrease in cost of running steamers.