WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 22 February 1926, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS

SCHOOL HOOKS. THK COST to parents. (Special to " Guardian.”) WELLINGTON. February 10. The re-opening of the schools ior the new year has brought the customary complaints ill regard to the tax imposed upon parents and guardians in the cost of school books. It is, of course, an old story, hut it loses nothing in the re-telling. A child passing from a primary school to a secondary school with a proficiency certificate must he equipped with books costing something in the neighbourhood ol tld, more or less, with material, appliances, and. in many eases, tram or rail fares to he added to this very substantial outlay. The children going to the primary schools escape with a considerably lighter toll, but on an average they must cost their parents L2 or e;> a year in this respect, a big slice off a worker’s wages, ff parents were satislied that this expenditure was necessary for the propel- teaching ol their children there would he little complaint on their part. Rut there is a very general feeling among them—particularly among those who have children taking the secondary course—

that the multiplication of costly school hooks is being carried to an inordinate length. The matter lias been mentioned in Parliament on many occasions mid it will not he surprising if it is revived with some emphasis next session. EGG CONTROL. The announcement that Australia expects to export a hundred million eggs to England next season lias set some of the local poultrymen talking alresh of what they conceive to he the advantages of control. They maintain, without submitting any very impressive evidence in support of their case, that if the poultry-men were given such facilities for organisation as are enjoyed bv the dairymen and the meat producers they would speedily place their industry upon a fooling that would make it a great national asset. Just how control would over-come the difficulties which at present beset the industry is not explained. The duel trouble of the poultrymen is that the price of fowl-wheat is so high that it cannot, he profitably converted into eggs. So far control —at an\ into tin kind of control the wheat-growers have secured—has noi suggested that it lias

nnv great advantage to bestow upon the poultrymen. On the contrary, it lias so enhanced the price of wheat, an article, it seems, indispensable to their industry, that many of them have been driven out ol business. I lie new Minister of Agriculture, however, gave a sympathetic reply to the deputation of poultry-men that waited upon him shortly after his assumption of ofiler and it still rests with him to propound a solution of the problem. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

Though there is no disposition among the politicians here to promote such a wrangle as is going on in New South Wales concerning the second branch ol the legislature, the happenings in the •' Mother State ’’ naturally have re-

vived some local interest in tho constitution and functions ol the Dominion’s own Legislative Council. An open-minded member of the House, discussing the position to-day. with due respect to the “ other place ” and with warm appreciation of its leader, gave it as his opinion that the retirement of Sir Eraneis Hell would he a very grave loss to the Council and the country. "It is bound.” he said, "to bring about a reconsideration of the position by all serious people. Sir Francis practically lias been the Council for a decade at least and the representation of the country in Hie Chamber has been simply a myth. The appointments made by the Reformers, speaking generally, have been no better than those they denounced when out of ofiire and it L 1 fI remains to lie seen if they will make any amends in

selecting ;i succossor Lo Sir !•'rmn-is Bell. This may lie the test by which Air Coates will decide 1 1 i- own politico! fate.” Roughly tliis represents the view <>F :i majority of tlie critics. On the question of nomination or election they .approach less nearly to unanimity. LAND SETTLEMENT. In tlie public speeches that have been forced upon him during his tour through the Dominion the Hon \\ . Rember Reeves has been careful to avoid trenching noon anything in the slla pc of parte politics. It is evident from the report of an interview he granted to a representative of one of the Auckland papers the other day, however, that he is not entirely in agreement with the view reiterated by the Minister of Land to the effect that .Vew Zealand is not in a position to open its doors widely to British immigrants wishing to make homes for themselves on the land. Mr Reeves has travelled through almost every part of the Dominion during the last two or three months and he has been struck, as most other observant visitors from the Mother Country have been, by the large areas of land here still awaiting close occupation and more thorough cultivation. Mr McLeod, one might imagine, judges the productive capacity of the Dominion rather by the number of sheep it will carry than by. the number of settlers it will support in comfort. Mr Reeves having travelled more widely and observed more closely does not accept t'hc Minister's interpretation of the facts. He has vision and imagination beyond IHe magnitude of flocks and herds, and rabbits and blackberry are among the scourges of the country proving hint to he right.