WHAT THE PAPERS SAY.

Hokitika Guardian, 24 September 1928, Page 8

WHAT THE PAPERS SAY.

If tlie letter pi4blisli-ecl in London with the story of Doninic Nolan said without qualification what the cablegram indicates, it is the grossest and most mischievous piece of misrepresentation New Zealand has suffered for a long time, It should be corrected ; the High Commissioner will surely see ..that it is, but such statements are difficult to overtake. , Nothing els© can .be done, but New Zealanders should note the manner in which this tragic affair has been used in Britain to the detriment of their country’s fair fame.—-“ New Zealand Herald.”

Christchurch is a prflud city on being able to offer them the tributes and the welcome the airmen have richly earned; but all that its citizens suy and do is said and done, too, for the w | hole '.Horn in ion.. Hopes that the Dominion airmen might be the first to fly the Tasman were broken on a day not long ago, to-day sadly remembered : but only the recent memory of that disaster touches with regret a day which becomes at once unforgettable in the lives of many thousands of people and a significant date in the s-+orv of New Zealand. Chiistchurch “Sun.” ' , '

Wo are dramatically reminded of the corning into the world’s life of a new method of transoortation that has enormous possibilities of good and evil. This .(conquest of tlie Tasman has a peculiar interest for us by reason ol •the breadth and often unfriendly nature of that sea. The Tasman supplied 1200 reasons why we should not join the Australian Federation. It is a region of storm, and the adventurer who after trusting himself to the air above it on a voyage to New Zealand gets* Into; difficulties, can find' no place of refuge on: the way; Now this barrier of the seaibas been made to look small and New Zealand "thrills - as it welcomes these men who. racing “just an inch from death’s black fingers,” have reduced it 1 so triumphantly,—Auckland

Canterbury lias lost, or almost lost, with the loss of its bush, birds of several species, such as the bush Canary, the brown creeper, the morepork, the South Island wood-robin, the red-frout-ed . aiid yellow-fronted paritkeet, the long-tailed cuckoo, and others. Perhaps it. is not easy to express in entirely rational language why the disappearance or rarity of these birds is to be regretted, but he must he a curon s ; person,’ whether it' scientist or quite‘unscientific in. his love o£ birds, who’ does not' admit the regret and would- not be glad to see them return to their old 'dominion. It is no small part of 1 -tlie acclimatisation societies’ service that they 'help to show how those 1 that still can .may be encouraged to do so.—-Christchurch .“Sun.”

A member of a Pahiatua dairy company has declared that the Dairy Control Board had jbeen captured by commercial interests, and that is now served no useful purpose. If, as was alleged, the board has got out of the control of the actual producer, whose fault is it, seeing that suppliers to dairy factories elect nine out of the twelve members?. This fresh discussion, however, may do good by reopening the question whether the board justifies its existence as a separte and expensive body. * We do not agree that the board reserves no nseful purpose Quite apart from the question of control of prices, it has benefited the country by its supervision of shipments and its handling of freight and insurance. All this however, hardly justifies the maintenance of a separate brt?trd. Now that full control as a policy has been definitely abandoned, there is no reason why the hoard should not be merged into the Meat Board. —Auckland “Star.”

The news that tlie Tongnriro National Park is to have a hostel at hvst is the , most welcome announcement concerning any New Zealand holiday resort for very many years. It has been long waited for; now that it is definitely on the way, with legal arrangements practically complete, plans made, and even a probable date of completion mentioned, the wearisome delays can be forgotten, in thankfulness that the finest mountain health and holiday resort the North Island contains will soon be developed in a way that should make for the realisation of its unlimited possibilities.— “New Zealand Herald.”

Tlie P rime Minister speaks very earnestly about the new spirit in industry, and clearly believes with most of his colleagues that the friendliness and reasonableness of the discussion at the iljrst conference might, if displayed again result in agreements that could be made the basis of a new industrial system. But there is no real hope of this—if indeed it were desirable, hut only for use in times of .emergency.

Normally industry should he free, but since disputes will arise whatever the system is, tho present Labour Disputes Investigation Act should be extended to cover all industries, which would then be compelled to refer their disputes to the judgment of public opinion if they became serious enough to: call for. public attentin.—Christchurch “Press.”

The history of politics in New Zealand since 1912 shows very clearly that each successive appeal to the country has found an increasing number of electors alive to the absurdity of keeping in. being the unwanted and aimless Liberal Party. This movement continues, and nothing can arrest it, and every sensible moderate voter ought, to realise that to vote for a Liberal or United Party candidate is merely to waste his vote and to help the,- Labour Party Christchilrch “Press.”

The people of New Zealand take a legitimate pride in the' prowess exhibited -by their players in a game which, more perhaps than any other game, demands tlie exercise of the qualities of skill, ' resourcefulness, unselfishness, alertness, and endurance. Among some of - the younger sons of the Dominion there may actually have been a tendency to regard a New Zealand representative team as such a combination, of all the Rugby talents as is not procurable anywhere else. The encounters between South Africa and New Zealand provided a useful corrective to too flattering impressions of this kind. They have afforded the proof that South. Africa has produced a type of;,player that fe to be held in the highest refepect. In one departments of the game the’ South Africans have generally, during this present season, proved that they were more than a match* for the- New ’Zealanders;— “Otago Daily Times.”

'Thik' -’producing .year'.) included the period 'of' drought drastically lilhitbd 'production principal dairying districts of the North Island; so that the establishment of a new record in the Circumstances is all the more creditable Steadily the standard of our dairy herds is being built Up, and culling is being adopted mo-re generally.' There is no .reason why, with 'the' 'climatic advantages w.e enjoy, ' the:' ■'Dominion should, not have dairy herds of a productive capacity unexcelled "in the world. It can he don© by breeding from, proved milking strains, and by ruthlessly culling the “robber” cows There are over 1,333,000 dairy Cows in the Dominion, and if we could raise the average production by only 101 b butter-fat per cow. the added income, at present prices for dairy produce, would be substantial. -Its can (lie dene,. it should be done,'- arid this is 'the country that should do it.—“Lyttelton Times.”

It is true that there is unemployment m the country, though relatively not much, as it is true aho that members of the Labour 'Party l ave made as much of it politically as they can ; hut we do not suppose the leaders of Labour wish to be associated with statements that everybody knows .to he without foundation in fact at all, and it will be interesting therefore to see how they will contradict them. The Government has 1 wisely checked immigration until the labour market is hack to normal, but .migration within the Empire, as the Labour Party lias admitted, can do much for Britain and for the Dominions and must be perservered with. There are many people in Britain who will believe the foolish lie printed by the “Daily Herald,” since there are many people everywhere who are both politically and geographically ignorant, and it is the plain duty of those Labour leaders here who know what the facts are to repudiate this libel without delay—Christchurch “Press.”

There is certainly evidence of the Dominion’s capacity to absorb a considerable volume of immigration in the fact that in the five years from 1923 to 1927 a total of 71,000 voluntary and , assisted immigrants entered the country. Comparison with such a number should give a better appreciation of the actual extent of unemployment, for the registrations at the beginning of June, the highest recorded, numbered only 3414. Nor is it correct to suggest as the Labour delegate quoted did that the placing of 6000 assisted immigrants on the land in four years had forced a greater number to look for jobs in the towns. There were mi June only 121 farm hands registered as unemployed; the dominant feature of the situation was, in fact that two thirds of the -unemployed. 2271, were hit-I- 'H'" 1 workers. The contrast, between the permanent absorption ot 71.000 immigrants and the unemployment of 3114 workers is further emphasised by the fact that many of tlie latter have not- been idle for a lengthy period. —“ The New Zealand Herald^’