Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star WEDNESDAY NOV. 28th, 1917 THE BRITISH ADVANCE.

Hokitika Guardian, 28 November 1917, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star WEDNESDAY NOV. 28th, 1917 THE BRITISH ADVANCE.

,’jlknebai. Haig has been highly pleased evidently by the. marked success attend ng the British advance near Cambrai lost week. He is reputed to be a “sil- ■ .-nt” man, lull on this occasion his general orders get beyond the usul record of stereotyped phrases, and ho indulges in open praise and general congratulations, on the all round success achieved in the important engagement of last week. He tributes General Byng, ind that officer who launched his avai ianehe of Tanks with such success, has i apparently been much extolled in Australia for. there they arc to have a joyiell day in honour of the victory. As far as the details of the advance have reached New Zealand the success indicated by the first glowing message from New York, has not been fulfilled. The Hindenburg line was supposed to be broken on a thirty mile front, and Jiousands of prisoners taken! The line was broken on a comparatively narrowfront, and the bag of prisoners has not reached 10,000 yet. The enemy were supposed to be back to their last line of defence, but there ha's not been any precipitate retreat, as there was at the Somme, a year ago, when the enemy got hack to the defensive lines now being assailed. But, we may take the joyous attitude of the, Australians as some indication, and General Haig’s statement as more amplifying, and certainly more satisfying, on the general outlook. The essential advantage seems to be the more excellent situation the British forces now occupy as a jumping off point for fresh objectives. A more dominating position is under command, and the military possibiltie s strike General Haig with soldierly delight. The surprise was the element of success in the capture, of Marcoing, and these tactics might not he repeated very : readily with the same degree of success. Nor is it- likely that General Haig would seriously presage an attack in ■ any region if such were contemplated, for in the latest thrust he congratulates all and sundry on the well-kept secret preparations. But there will he other moans of working out surprises, and in the uniform success General Haig has had, his dispositions and methods may be relied upon with confi- i dent trust. There, is one serious con- < tingency which he will not he able to avert, and that is the approach of win- ] ter. A year ago this month, the pall of < winter brought the Battle of the An- ] ere, the final phase of the Great Somme ( engagement to a stand-still. The Cam- ( brni region is not far removed from the \ centre of last year’s decisive fighting, | ,= so that similar weather conditions > < might descend at any moment, and f stifle the best laid plans of our ever f victorious general. If circumstances t such as these should arrest the British ' c advance the fate must he accepted, hut j there will be the satisfying knowledge t that once again the German hosts have c been shaken and disquietened, and giv- a en another serious reminder of the I ultimate fate before them at the hands d of the British and her loyal Allies. b

The people of Southland seemed to improve the shining hour brought about by the visit of Sir Joseph Ward to the province. The Minister of Fin- j ance was feted and made much of. He was met by deputations, and these and other functions were responsible for drawing Sir Joseph Ward on various subjects. It was not surprising to find the inevitable cost of living turning up in more than one form or another, and the Minister, according ito a press telegram expressed- himself in the following tabloid sentences : “The cost of of living was a difficult problem. It was largely contributed by high freights insurances, and other charges for everything we imported, while labour was scarce for things we produced; and it had to he remembered that our prosperity depended upon our exports.” The complexity of the situation will bo admitted, and eontravise conditions

emphasise the phase Sir Joseph speaks of. The cost of living in this country should be easier to handle than in the Old Land. There, the scarcity of commodities contribute materially to the stringency—the vast, population to ♦apply with a restricted freightage imposing the scarcity which lever up prices. There, too, there is not the same degree of prosperity as in New Zealand. Although wage s are high at Home, and earnings have increased manifold, there is not the same surplus of money relatively as in New Zealand, where money is flowing in for our products. If more freightage were available even at an enhanced price, there would be a difficulty in measuring the money prosperity of New Zealand with the abnormally high markets wanting our exports. The different set of circumstances here have a minimising effect- on the difficulties. The point is that the problem is not being tackled at all.

Apropos of the surplus wealth in the country, a Christchurch railway official of long experience was asked if, in lii s opinion, the rise in fares would tend to cause the holiday traffic to decrease appreciably and he replied with considerable emphasis, that he thought it would not. “Everyone seems to have plenty of money,’’ he said, “and they are spending it freely. Personally, T have seen n'o &j)gns of a. lessened traffic during the war, and I doubt very much if the added 10 per cent will make many people curtail tlieir travelling. They will argue something like this: ‘What’s the fare? Twentyfive shillings and 10 per cent. That’s twenty-seven and six; only half-a-erown ,moro. We’ll go! ; ” An they will go. However, the holidays are soon starting now', and it will he interesting to see whether I am right or not.” There is no doubt a good deal of truth in thi R statement, because of the surplus of money resulting from higher wages and more constant employment. But the change in the railway fares means more than a ten per cent rise for the holiday traffic. That is, in normal times, catered for at excursion rates. Take the HokitikaGreymouth journey for instance: The ordinary holiday excursion rates were (return fare's) first class 4/-; second class 2/->. Under the present tariff,' fares will be at holiday time and all times, first class 7/4; second class' 5/This indicates a. large increment oi revenue to the railway department, an increment which cotj>J he enormously added to still if the Department elected to meet popular demands in the running of the trains. There is the promise of a very handsome Departmental surplus from this added cost to the rate of living to which the Government, (of which Sir Joseph Ward is such a prominent member) apparently has no qualms of conscience in contributing to the difficulties of the problem. Before the whole question can he tackled clear sightpdly by the Government, it will require to get the beam out of its own eye—then the smaller irritating motes might he removed also.