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Hokitika Guardian, 15 October 1924, Page 2

Tub suggestion that the development of Great Britain has been retarded by the employment of much of the surplus capital in oversea investments car scarcely lie supported, says the financial critic. Other things being equal, the ordinary investor will more readily subscribe to a new issue made by an undertaking in Britain than to one for the Colonies or a foreign State, and if the terms offered are undeniably attractive there is a ready response to the issue. It is also possible that if investors confined their investments to home enterprises an unsatisfactory economic condition would be produced, such as was experienced as a result of the great railway lioom many years ago, when there was a kind of inflation, with a great rise in prices of articles which Britain was compelled to import. It would seem that in these matters it would bo best to leave well alone, and if there is any evil to let time effect the cure. The Falls of Niagara, it is said, are threatened with extinction. Chicago's drainage and power canal diverts 10,090 cubic feet of water a second. Yet the power developed is inadequate, njid, faced by^the prospect of a power f:> mine, engineers and financiers are trying to obtain authority to divert nd-

dilionnl water above tlio falls. To too Niagara at its best one must visit it on a Sunday. During the week industry is in full swing. Hundreds of housewives in New York and Ontario have their electric irons at work. Great stretches of rock on the crest of the falls are uncovered and the water fall has retreated a considerable distance from the shore line. B.v a treaty with Canada in 1009 a limit to diversion of water for power purposes was set at JO.OOO cubic; feet a second. Tin's amount is one-fourth of the total average flow. The of>.ooo cubic feet now being diverted is not equally divided : Canada gets 3G.C00 feet ami tlie United States 20.000. The "War Department of the United States, which has jurisdiction over the matter on the American side, has arranged that so long as "the diversion every twenty-four hours does not exceed 20,000 c übic feet a second on the average, more may lie taken dining limited times. The construction is proposed, twenty-one miles above Niagara, of a. dam which would lie a submerged weir half a mile long with a scries of sluice-ways. It is estimated that this would raise the level of J,a!;c Erie by two feet, Lake Huron by one foot, and bring about an increase of 20 per cent in the lower-water flow over Niagara Falls.

Till) British elections, now fully launched, promise to la l of engrossing interest. till the decision is known, a fortnight hence. Despite the short notice of the polling date, the parties have not lost any time in developing their respective campaigns. Modern helps such as the cinema, amplifying speakers, and broadcasting, will assist to carry the political messages far and wide, and to vast numbers who without the aid of the agencies referred to, might never he reached. The light is going to ho short and sharp. Opinion seems to he fairly well formed that the Labor party has most to gain the fight, with the Conservatives next in order of merit, leaving the Liberals as the least important party, lint politics are often surprising and the quid mines are often astray in their calculations. It does not seem likely, however, according to the most favourable estimates that. Labor will secure a dominating position in a. full House, and in that respect the parlies will be largely as they were. Mr Ramsay MacDonald would still be called upon to form a Government, and if facing the now House with a minority there would he the possibility of a further deadlock. The Conservatives might then try their hand at Government again, before it would he possible to expect n further election, unless the Liberals agreed to support Labor as before, as a brake on the extreme policy. From the manifestoes issued, it would appear Labor designs to administer a fair dose of socialism to Great Britain if it may. The Conservatives are making an appeal thus time with the tariff as a question apart, lmt putting social legislation more to the lore. The Li'bcraJ.s are accepting the inevitable for the time being, and pose as a liuU’or between the two extremes in politics. It would appear that if the results fall out as seelil lo he predicted, the Liberals will continue to perform a u.sotill service to the country in applying the political brake as is thoi lght most desirable. Tims as matters stand the appeal to the country docs not at the moment promise a great deal in tin matter of a definite .settlement of Homo politics. The three parties involv complications as to results, for now there is a middle course between vea and nay which makes the position, at the outlook, rather confounding.