TOPICS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume LXXXV, Issue 30, 5 February 1913, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY

"That this union , ._ , urges upon % t the citizens to do all in Kace-smcide their power" to lessen for Choice! the birth-rate until the k > Defence Act is repealed is part of a comical resolution adopted by the Christchurch General Labourers Union last night. This is equivalent to a declaration that race-Buicide is preferable to national defence; that death is better than life. It has to be noted that the union's appeal for racesuicide is not addressed to its members alone; the exhortation is directed at ''the citizens." It is the opposite of the l'rench national anthem "To arms, citizens ! Form your battalions I" The Labourers' Union cries : "To the grave, citizens ! Die out, citizens ! Leave your fields to aliens. Do not commit the horrible crime of preparing to spoil invaders' chances. Prefer death to that dishonour, that unpardonable sin against the laws of hospitality." Could madness further go? Of course, New Zealand will laugh at the invitation to put the cradle in the lumber room, and the queer Christchurch unionists, whose dread of war has been lost in a long peace, may be educated by ridicule into 1 better sense, when ordinary plain arguments have failed. It would evidently be a sad day for the country if ever such "little New Zealanders" gripped the reins of government. The Ministry ■might hope to keep out Asiatics by solemn resolutions, letters of protest, and indignation meetings. Meanwhile, however, New Zealand has a vast majority of people not favourable to stupid extinction of the race," and not willing to allow the country to drift into utterly helpless reliance on the overburdened Mother Country. "The executive committee of the carnival is anxious to A Common-sense hear from the variAppeal. ous shopkeepers' and retailers' associations, the drapers, tho butchers, and bakers, the hotelkeepers, and merchants," wrote "Wake-Up" in yesterday's Post. "Wellington's business people are credited with keen business acumen, but where is the evidence of it in this instance?" The writer showed plainly, as The Post has indicated more than once, that it would be profitable to the business folk to do everything reasonable to encourage the promoters of the gala. We do hope heartily that the- shopkeepers as a class will not lurk as spiders in their nets, while others have to buy and spread the sugar near for the flies. Palpably, the traders stand to gain by a large apcess of holiday population. The programme of amusements promises to hold here large numbers who would otherwise go to various places north and south for Easter entertainment. Therefore the commercial people should bestir themselves briskly to assist in the captivating plans. Tho movement is for a better Wellington and a bigger Wellington. It is a start with a long-deferred scheme of energy by citizens fov their own advantage. Success this year should assure another carnival for next year 1 , and the formation of a permanent public organisation for city-beautifyihg. Happily, large numbers of workers are out but the laggards are still in the majority, with only six weeks in which to bo l roused from _ their sluggishness. If the j sense of civic duty is nob a sufficient stimulus, then self-interest alone should 1 move them. Nobody can demonstratft (with solid argument) that the carnival will not be a material benefit to the city. Once more, at the risk of being wrongly accused of hostility to the The Zoo as a municipal instituBottomless tion, The Post has to refer Zoo. to the lack of a definite policy for the birds and ariimala at Newtown Park. Last night the Council of the Zoological Society decided to "ask the City Council to assist the society to obtain flamingoes, to increase the number of bower bads, to get scrub turkeys, and to procure a bear to occupy the accommodation proyiderl." What is the objective? What is the scheme? How Ark'like is tho Zoo to become as the years go on ? How many bears are desired? How many scrub turkeys? Already the park has two bears. " Does the tireless society yearn for a bruin of every species? We have only praise for the movement to buy the lioness lent by Wirth Brother*, as tho piirchase is being made by public subscription, and the citizen* generally wish to retain "King Dick's mate, but we see no excuse for agitations for other large creatuioa just now. The upkeep of the Zoo costs £1200 a year,

and extra tramway revenue is no sound set-off in economics Against that gum, as the people pay the £1200. plus the fares. It seems to be nobody's business on the City Council 10 think clearly about the Zoo and inform the public about uny well'considered lines of development, if the growth is to continue. The Reserves Committee is supposed to be responsible, but we have no know* ledge of any lucid statement issued by that body. Dogs anybody still hope to persuade the Government to put some of the burden on the general taxpayers' backs? Any such aspiration may as well be dropped, for the Government is not likely to give a subsidy. What progress is being made with the scheme to charge modest entrance fees to all except children on certain days? It is time some member of the City Council pressed for information about the Zoo, which grows quietly us a tree. Hataitai has some flowers, and needs more. Therefore tho Flow&rs formation of a Horticulfor _ tural Association is proHataitai. jected, and one pioposnl is a competition in home gardens^ with trophies for the best. This will be an excellent enterprise, good for Hataitai and the vholc of Wellington, if the floral activity spreads. People may be induced to rstuse flowers for a prize .and the joy of pre-eminence, but they will all rind that beauty can be its own reward, h is not easy to adorn the earth with bright rare blooms in ,some parts of Wellington, but it is not difficult to have Bomp colour in the harshest places. There are ha.rdy flowers, "common" perhaps, but very pleasant, which are grateful for even slight attention. Nasturtiums, geraniums, wallflowers, fuchsias, and some bushy species of .daisy will flourish oh clay if the ground is not totally neglected, j That emerald 6hrub, the taupata j (coprosma), will take root on a Btony patch, defy the wind, and proudly bear a feast of ruddy berries for the birds. By a single afternoon's work tho average resident of Wellington can ensure some ornament for a dismal frontage, but many hundreds of houneholders seem to be so inured to uglinoss that they do not bother to work on 6 i hour to make a change. The feordidness at the front is not relieved by | even a brilliant door-knob or a streak of bright paint. " What's the use of working for the landlord?" nay some, but surely a, man works 'for himself m making his abodp more pleasing to his own eye. If he shifts when his : modest garden is coming into bloom he I will have the comfort of giving delight to others, and, of <x)urse, if the gardeh habit becomes general, a migrating tenant will change from one garden to another. The ideal is a civic fellowship of gardeners, and the Hataitai Ratepayers' Association promises admirable aid.