PRESS COMMENTS.

Hokitika Guardian, 11 January 1927, Page 3

PRESS COMMENTS.

Some time ago the Government wisely appointed a number of women to be associate members of Children’s Courts and these associates and a number ol women prominent in municipal and social work have now been selected as New Zealand’s first women justices. The list is an excellent one; indeed, m capacity and character we would hack it against some lists of men that have been”gazetted. We are sure that these women will justify the trust of those who have fought to have this right conceded.—Auckland ” Star.”

To he within ten days of England means much beyond the gam ol ready access by regular air mail. It should stir the whole current of thought even in this distant part of the world. U may incite many from this distant 1 <>- million to journey thither in search ol the secret of the revered city s inherent greatness. Lord Macaulay s tin\ oiler"from New Zealand” is placed i" the midst" of a vast solitude, taking h.s stain! on a broken arch of London Bridge to sketch the ruins of St. 1 aul s. Acres before that can happen, Lord Thompson’s prophecy coming true, manv other and better employed New Zealanders will walk thoughtful* about that venerable church of the Empire. ere they catch the an- express again for their Dominion home.— ‘New Zealand Herald.”

It is very much open to question whether wireless is likely to supersede the cables as a means of communication for business purposes. irpless undoubtedly is valuable tor the transmission of news, hut the difference m time between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres places a difficulty, the wav of the use of the wireless bv commercial people, wl.de its nek of seercev is smother objection. Erohuh y the cables will have to continue to serve the needs of the business world and on that account the duplication of the Pacific cable is especially to he welcomed in this country. Wanganui “ Chronicle.”

Despite the activities of the immigration authorities to secure agricultural labourers for the Dominion, the Year Book shows that the number employed when the latest returns were compiled was about 5200 below the total for 1925. and nearly 9000 below that of 1923. It would be of interest a „'d value- to know to wliat extent the use of modern machinery has affected the position. The figures relating to machinery employed serve to show that the farmers have lost no time in securing electric power for their farms, pnd realise ihe importance pf modern

methods. All told, there are over 140,000 machines and engines employed in the various branches of. farming, and the time is approaching when the economic aspect of this development should he made the subject of dose study.—“ Lyttelton Times.” The country or industry which now looks for big profits and easy returns is courting disaster. Competition in all industries is likely to bo fiercer than ever, demanding that cost and returns lie kept in true relation. Close observers of trade conditions predict that the opportunities for commercial expansion in the coming year will he ample, bat it is futile to hope that high prices will counterbalance deficiencies in production and industrial inefficiency.— Christchurch “Sun.” The policy of mortgaging the future is practised in Xew Zealand as well as in Australia. A great deal of borrowed money lias been expended in this conntry on undertakings from which tho returns are wholly prospective. We have every faith in the eventual tiveness of the important hydro-electric schemes which constitute the principal features of the present programme of public works, land we recognise that most of the other public undertakings that are being carried on will prove indirectly productive even if they may not be directly so. In the meantime, however, taxation is pressing severely upon industry and checking private enterprise, and the possibility that reasonable relief may he afforded to taxpayers cannot he regarded as very bright until some ol the imposing State ventures couse to exact a toll on the public revenues.—“Otago Daily Times,’’