NOTES AND COMMENTS

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 16, 14 October 1942, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS

When it member of the Supreme Court Bench feels compelled to speak as forcibly as did Mr. Justice Blair, when sentencing to the maximum term of imprisonment a man found guilty of terrible offences against’ children, the matter surely cannel. be ignored by the Parliament of the land. The present Labour Government removed the punishment that might prove a strong deterrent and that decision should be honestly reviewed in the light, of after events. If those who barred a punishment that, to some extent at least, constituted ti measure of protection for the children, and possibly for others, will candidly examine the record of crime in the Dominion since then they will find ample ground for reversing their decision. Corporal punishment is. and has long been, regarded as a last resort, but there are occasions when it should be used, and there could be no better purpose than the protection of.the innocent. The judge has expressed the opinion that the amendment of the law that abolished corporal punishment was “a lamentable mistake.” and if anyone should seriously qnestion that conclusion the report, of the ease heard before him should lie sufficiently convincing Hint it was a right one. Tt cannot he said that this form of punishment was ever misused and if (lie tear of incurring it protected only one child, or woman, then it served a most worthy purpose. Let Parliament examine rite position and squarely face the fact that in this matter it made a serious mistake.

Because the price of New Zealand-grown oranges is not controlled, except that the retailer’s profit is limited “to a maximum of 40 per cent,,’’ the cost of this fruit to the consumer Ims soared to lOd. apiece. This is an extraordinary commentary on present-day market conditions. No doubt the scarcity of imported oranges is causing an unprecedented demand for the mediocre domestic prodtic!, supplies of which are meagre. But this is no excuse for the creation of a retail price which is more a ransom than anything approaching a value, and represents—in plain terms—gross wartime profiteering.