PRESS COMMENT

Hokitika Guardian, 29 December 1928, Page 8

PRESS COMMENT

Tlie Prime Minister, from the platform himself and through the words of his candidates, stood irrevocably committed to providing money for advances, up to £60,000,000 at 4:[ per cent There was no reservation, no saving clause, no limit of time in which to work the miracle. Ho said, “I have done it before, .1 can do it’ again.” His candidates said, “Sir Joseph Ward can do it.” Now, faced with reality, he says lie ‘‘hopes gradually” to reduce the lending rate. Ho does not even say he will do gradually what he promised to do at once. He only hopes to do it gradually. There were many people who doubted whether the rabbit would really be t produced from the top hat but nobody surely expected so prompt and complete a recantation as that made by the Prime Minister.—“ New Zealand Herald.”

Hoginning with the rates of pay, and passing 'on to the system ol emilovment, the whole question of relief work is going to be a thorny problem for the new Ministry to handle. It should not, be difficult to devise a better arrangement than the makeshift scheme operated under the Reform Government, which was handicapped, until the very last weeks ol its command, by lack of statisical information,'and the ever-changing volume of unemployed to be assisted. The rates of pay afforded only meagre relief in a number of cases, but the Government that, sets out to bring them up to a uniform union standard, and at the same time undertakes to meet the exacting demands ol unionism, with the provision (if living facilities that often would never be demanded ol the pri J vate employer, is placing a terrific burden on its beneficence. —Auckland ‘‘Sun.”

With modern architecture, 'modern drainage, modern drying and heating •Did cooling and. cleansing systems we ••in all he quite healthy if we do what nrudcnco requires. But we cannot, unless by accident, remain healthy it we are careless and unclean. Flies, alone as Dr Lester reminded us yesterday threaten us every hour of the day right through the summer, and although we all know this, or should, very few ol •is make a really sustained and intelligent effort to destroy Hies whenever and wherever they appear. H olso the case that the methods by which rubbish is removed and destroyed in all New Zealand towns are “lamentably ‘ primitive and inefficient. Although we. may have to ‘gift up with these methods a little longer we should make it clear that we do not approve of them, and in the meantime bestir ourselves as individuals to nullifv thoir cvfi.l effects. —Christchurch •‘Press.’’

Explainng his plans to deal with unemployment. Sir Joseph Ward may have swept broadly past the details which define their practical working nr may "hot yet have worked them out. U any rate, the House of Representatives appears to have been presented

with a scheme easier to see and ad mi rein the largo than to understand as, ? working machine. Broadly, what the now Prime Minister plans is to push on vigorously with railway construction, to put 3000 unemployed on the job and to pay them a minimum rate of ].4s a day. Most people will agree with a policy which at once puts a great body of labour to use, frees the cities of a labour surplus they cannot carry, and urges on national development; but Sir Joseph may he making trouble for himself. At least, he has not. yel shown how he is to avoid it. Christchurch ‘'Sun.'’

The ultimate solution of the unemployment problem, of course goes much further than the provision of relief work, but when it happens that in summer, a lime when as a rule there in ample einnloyinent, some hundreds of men are idle, the organisation of special relief work is fully justified. !he reopening of the meat freezing works and other seasonal occupations will subsorb some of those at present unemployed, hut by 110 means all, and that, is why this effort is demanded. — Lyttelton Times."

The Act which reduced the Civil List allocations also withdrew a Civil Service bonus, given on account of the cost of living, hut regarded by the Service as an increase of salaries, and if one “cut” is now to be restored the strongest argument will undoubtedly bc> raised for restoration of tire other The Service complained that it dm not get its increase based on the cost of living, till a considerable time after most other workers, and that it lost it earlier. For some members the loss which obey (suffered has 'boon made good bv regrading and impioMmont in salary scales, but the mattei has continued to be a grievance of the Service and a bone of contention between it and the Government so far as the rest are concerned. It is a large "question, therefore, which *Sii Joseph Ward will have to inquire into when his consideratou is given to the subject.—Dunedin “Evening Star’.

There are two difficulties before the United Party. The first will apse .should they face the necessity of re-

sisting a Labour demand clashing with their oven principles. The second will come when, assuming they can accept what Labour presses on them they find the task of grappling with two programmes combined too heavy for them. The problem then will be whether the jettison proposals of their own or to defy the Labour Party and bake the consequences. It is no use trying to predict what will happen. The certain tiling is the United Party cannot stand alone. Anyone imagining that the support essential to it will come from the Labour side wlhout a price being demanded in return is Living in a fool’s paradise. How far the price will he one the United Party feels it can legitimately pay and what will happen if it finds the demands excessive are the two uncertain doctors of the future.—“ New Zealand Herald. ’

The claim that the system of acrcditing in lieu of the matriculation examination would ho abused by some schools granting certificates of educational fitness without proper discrimination has not in practice been substantiated. In Victoria, only a few large well-established schools with excellent teaching facilities and experienced instructors have been approved by the Educational Department’s inspectors and the students who have matriculated from these schools on the headmaster’s reports have compared very favourably with those from lionapproved schools who have successfully negotiated the external examinations. The University of New Zealand has this matter under consideration at present, and there is little doubt that the svstem described would he found satisfactory in this Dominion. Many parents would welcome this reform as the host available means of ensuring that the whole future of a child should not hang, as it frequently does, upon a few tense hours spent in an examina..oll room. —“Otago Daily T iinos.”

One may complain that the Deform Government, under the pressure of the whole public, with the approval of all Parties, pushed capital expenditure rather further than was wsie, hut for this the public must blame itself. When this is allowed for the fact remains that despite a trying financial period the Government balanced its Budgets, lias begun to taper off borrowing, and had set 011 foot a distinct movement towards the ending of any upward trend in the New Zealand Public Debt. The Government which succeeds Mr. Coates will have a sound wicket to play on and its work will lie judged, not by the state of the wicket, hut upon the way it plays.—Christchurch “Press.”

Whatever the faults of the Government it cannot he charged with imprudence or carelessness in the management of the public purse. The general complaint that it was borrowing • ton much has been abandoned since its opponents have pledge themselves to the raising of loans of unprecedented volume'. Its conservative policy lias involved onerous taxation, but again its opponents contemplate measures that cannot he financed without as much and probably more taxation. It has striven consistently to maintain a balanced Budget, with a substantial annual surplus and has succeeded in a period of stress and difficulty while many other countries have had^ to admit successive delicts. Especially it has devoted its attention to the maintenance of the Dominion’s credit for sound and prudent financial administration. With such a record of tea l achievement Mr Stewart may resign the keys of the Treasury without apology and without reproach.—“ New Zealand Herald.”

Two New Zealand University graduates having enjoyed the advantages offered by the Rhodes Scholarship and other travelling scholarships available to them, and having com pie ted at Home their academic preparations for a professional caret:', have returned to their own country to assist in its educational work and tc confer on others some of the benefits that they have themselves enjoyed, this, it seems to us. is as it should be. The great founder of the Rhodes Svhnlarhips assumed Hint those who profited by his princely endowment would go hack to their own people to spread abroad the advantages of. “an Imperial culture” in the Dominions overseas. Rut he must, also have *icsumed that our graduates, retaining from their “years of wandering.” would he aide to find sufficiently con genial and lucrative occupation in their old homes. These two conditions have not been frequently ieulised hitherto. But the appointments made at the University College yesterday appear to indicate that so Inr as Auckland is concerned the dream of Cecil Rhodes may yet come true. •‘Auckland Star.”

While Sir Joseph Ward and his colleagues eai he offered congratulations on the turn of fate that has placed then in a positin they themselves did not expect a month ago. it would ho idle to hope for them a tranquil and untroubled tenure of office. They will not have it. The hour of their triumph is also the hour when their troubles begin. Seme are tho p,ifts of fate, more are of their own making. In the first classification fall the consequences that will follow being in office without an assured majority ol the House. These are self-evident, and need no further discussion here than the remark that they promise to endure throughout the life of this Parliament. The second crop of troubles will spring from the effort that must he put forward to fulfil certain promises made during the campaign, made in far too much detail to lie oomlortable companions in office. —“New Zealand Herald,”