NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 284, 25 August 1921, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY

It was Britain’s seamen who built her Empire up, it is her seamen who bind it together, and when tho British people logo their sea-sense the end of their Empire will not be far away. That was the burden of Lord Jollicoes address to the New Zealand Club yesterday. This fundamental fact of our national existence is fully realised by the great bulk of tho people of New Zealand. There is, however, a new generation growing up all the time, and if the British Commonwealth of Nations is to endure it is important that these citizens of the future should understand from their earliest years upon what its security is founded. At tho back of any kind of government is force, and if the world is to progress it will bo only by the most advanced) and enlightened nations pressing a balance of force over backward and less enlightened peoples. That fact is unescapable, and those who would shut their eyes to it merely court destruction. In these days the last thing tlie British Empire whnts is a huge Fleet merely for the sake of having it and flaunting it, but what it does need and should not rest content without is a naval force sufficient to assure its security against any possible enemy or combination of enemies.

It is satisfactory to learn that the Public Service Commissioner is holding an. inquiry into the circumstances of tho recent defalcation in Christchurch. In an official statement this morning it is explained that the Public Service Act gives power to hold a full inquiry. On looking up the Act we find that since 1912 the Public Service Commissioner has had power to hold 1 inquiries on tho same footing as under the Commissions of Inquiry Act; . that, is to say, with the power and status of a Magistrate. It is desirable that further light should be thrown on this matter. Have such inquiries followed on cases of defalcation in the past, and, if bo, whut has been tho result of them? If inquiries have been held, and! no one has been found to blame it must have long ago become evident that the bookkeeping and accountancy system was glaringly inefficient. On the other hand, if inquiries wore held and controlling officers were found blameable, what steps were taken to enforce a greater vigilance, and is there any record kept whereby such lapses and) neglect are made to count against the officers concerned? The Commissioner’s statement that the increase in tlie number of defalcations is more apparent than real is disquieting. In the Christchurch case it is stated that the money was abstracted from a cash register operated by the young man now in trouble, and of which he had been given both tho ordinary key and the master key enabling him to manipulate the record at will. It is difficult to see what purpose is served bj putting an expensive cash register in an office and then presenting the master key to the operator. Is this permissible under the Public Service regulations for tho use of cash registers? Or are there no regulations on the subject?

It is an extraordinary thing that the Ifader of the Sinn Fein extremists should be an Englishman—or, rather, it would be had not the non-Irish element in tho direction, of that organisation been so conspicuous from time to time. A cable message this morning states that it is Mr. Erskine Childers who is the power behind Mr. de Valera, exerting pressure against acceptance of tho terms. Mr. Childers is best known to the public as the author of a readable and. sensational novel. "The Riddle of the Sands,” which caused a great stir at the time of its publication. In it he Bet out with great detail, and apparently a most intimate knowledge of his subject, that Germany was planning to run an army of invasion across to England in the event of war, and to this end was collecting enormous fleets of pontoons, etc., under the lee of tho little-frequented East Frisian Islands. Mr. Childers served in the South African War with the C.1.V., and in the Great War he was an officer in the Royal Naval Air Service, and gained the Distinguished Service Cross. When the Home Rulo Bill was before Parliament before the war. ho, wrote articles in the leading English monthly reviews strongly supporting tho granting of a liberal measure of self-government, and on occasion gave his "crowning reasons for confidence” that Ireland would "draw closer to Great Britain." To-day Ireland has an offer of self-government which General Smuts—against whom Mr. Childers fought in South Africa—says she would be mad to reject, and this same Mr. Erskine Childers is apparently exerting his very considerable influence with Sinn Fein to ensure its rejection. Perhaps the explanation is that Mr. Childers throughout his life has been a lover of wild adventure, and the wilder and madder tho better

Equality for all nations is the underlying principle of the League of Nations. One member one vote is the rule, and from the complaint of Mr. Hughes it would appear that small members are being called upon each to contribute large amounts towards the expenses of the League. Australia, Mr. Hughes says, is being asked to pay ns much ns Bri-

tain, and while Australia, in tho person of Mr. Hughes, Is always ready to speak with as big a voice as Britain, it finds tho presentation of a bill of equal size most objectionable. Article six of tho Covenant states that the expenses of tho League secretariat are to be borne by members on the same basis of apportionment as the expenses of the International Bureau of the Postal Union. What Now Zealand’s share of the bill is likely to be lias not yet been revealed. Canada, Australia, ais South Africa have all been insistent on their rights to full membership. At tho meeting of tho Assembly Canada asserted herself to such an extent that she assumed a position of leadership, and tho Dominion delegates generally insisted that they should also have representation on the International High Court of Justice and power to take cases direct to it. The time is now arriving to pay for these privileges, and it begins to look as if the size of the bill may lead to a revaluation of their worth. Let us hope that tho Dominions’ attitude towards their new status will not be one of grasping the privileges and seeking to evade the responsibilities.