PRESS COMMENTS.

Hokitika Guardian, 2 September 1927, Page 4

PRESS COMMENTS.

THE IHI'UR HOUSE. An Upper I louse mole confident in itself would be a distinct advantage to the country whatever Administration happened to be in office. Such a House would have done only its duty in postponing lor tho deliberate judgment ol the elctorate more than one measure of the present Government. On the other hand it is certain that any attempt to increase the powers ol the Upper Chamber without profoundly modifying its character would cause a storm ot opposition such as would defeat the purpose of such action. Reform must accompany any readjustment of powers. But what do we mean by reform? There is much talk on vho lines so familiar in 1910 and 1911—tile of a mixture of hereditary members, nominated members, co-opted members members to represent Labour, science industry art, the Dominions, and so forth. But the reformer in this matter stands on an inclined plane, and once lie begins to move lie will, we think, he forced to move until lie goes far past all such compromises to a. purely or almost purely, elective Chamber, with practically no hereditary admixture. That is no reason why reform should not be undertaken if the arguments for it appear to overweigh the arguments against. But it is a reason foe taking into full consideration aIT. the implications before enunciating a j policy.—'The Evening Standard (Lon- i don). } MEAT IS THE LEAGUE FOR? 3

What are the prime functions of the League of Nations? To prevent war by a variety of means, to bring men together for the easier shouldering oT their common burdens, to bring to hear on world problems the combined intelligence and effort of the human family to secure the organisation of world power without waste or a clash of interests, to turn the militant activities of mankind to the fight against disease and vice, to prevent international misunderstanding, and to secure international amity. The ideals behind the League are noble. But there is none of them which conflicts with patriotism, which is itself a noble ideal' in all but the base.—“ The Yorkshire Post.” NEW TOWNS FOR OLD.

The Minister of Health, when lit. addressed n Region and Town-planning Conference at Birmingham, argued in favour of new towns as the remedy for old. To clear and rebuild slum areas is not only expensive; it may also be anti-social, since the sites of those may be quite unsuitable for residential purposes. The ideal is de-urbanisation by the creation of new urban districts. That may sound paradoxical, but it i?

obviously impossible to throw industrial workers into a rural society which neither needs nor understands them. New country towns, however, could be pi'arined and proportioned to house industry amid agriculture and to unite residential amenities with both. Many of the light industries ore expanding rapidly, as is shown by the new factories on the edges of large towns, and particularly around London, which is already far too large. The new towns could he built to. relieve the old and built to the general advantage if coordination of purposes could he effected. Are we to go on piling one marvel of mechanical organisation on top of another and leave our towns in anarchy and our si'ums in squalor?—“The Manchester Guardian.”

THE IDEALS OK EDUCATION. As a nation we have the peculiarity of making fun of all that we achieve; we take as the target for our epigrams our commence and our empire, our art, and our religion. Our education has been no exception to this .rule. It has through the centuries been something at which it was easy to poke fun, and yet from the start it has had a definite ideal, and has never at any time completely failed to produce what it L set. out to produce. It was enshrined at the very start in the motto which William of Wykcham gave to Winchester when ho founded the school, “Manners niakvth mail” ; from the start the object has been mainly to build character. Since bis day there have been bad points and good, hut the tradition has remained the same. It has rebooted flic national character, and has been responsive to the national needs. It has produced a typo of school, and a feeling towards school which is peculiarly English, racy of tlio soil, and not parallel in the social history of any other people. It is much to he hoped that all that is best in this tradition may be preserved, and may leaven the whole lump of the national character of the 20th century, however widely that education may extend.— Cyril Norwood in “The Quarterly Review.''' BUTLER V. BORAII ON PROHIBITION. Professor Nicholas Murray Butler: “The Eighteenth Amendment musi conic out of tho Constitution because it does not belong there. . . It contradicts every principle upon which the Constitution rests. . . ft represents the worst possible way of attempting to deal with the evils of the liquor traffic and the saloon. . It is in the Constitution as a matter of law, and it must be obeyed while it. is there. But it is not binding upon mv intelligence ov my conscience, and I shall leave no stone unturned to get it out. with the conviction that if it remains it will do the Government of the United States irreparable damage. Senator Borah answers ‘No’: If you repeal the Eighteenth Amendment you go directly back to tho saloon, whether it is Government control or the old State control and the oi'd State system. . . Government control means the old saloon hack again under another name. . . No State can be dry while the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution remains, unless there is a prohibition which covers all the States. . . The American people will never repeal the Eighteenth Amendment until its enforcement has had a fair trial, and it has never had fair trial If a groat party in this country will realty put itself behind this amendment, and in a quarter of a century even, so short, a time, it has made no progress, the:! it will lie time enough to talk about a

repeal. . ” —From the .“American Review of Reviews.” NAPOLEON’S MAXIM. “As Napoleon once said, ‘unless men are firm in heart and in purpose they ought not to meddle with war or government.’ In the last analysis the vital question is whether all classes have the same objectives in mind, even if they differ in their beliefs as to liow they can best be attained. There are, indeed, some aspects of the situation which are difficult to comprehend. For; instance, it seems strange that doles shout'd he paid to such a vast number of unemployed wnen Australia and Canada are begging for men who could find work and homes in those countries. Possibly that may be explained by the lack of any well-defined system of dealing with the subject, which is complicated on many sides; while certainly it is not every map who receives a dole to-day who would he welcomed as a suitable settler Jn the Dominions.” —From “England Day.” by tlio author of “When Free dom Falters.”