SCRIBBLING PAD NOTES

Hokitika Guardian, 19 July 1929, Page 5

SCRIBBLING PAD NOTES

' (By X.) A correspondent in a northern paper says: “New Zealand is suffering from over-government, too much officialdom, too much interference with private business and from crushing taxation necessary to maintain the ever-grow-ing army of government inspectors and officials. A person contemplating a start in business is faced by so many restrictions, taxes, fees and what not that he frequently abandons his project in disgust and seeks a “wages job,” not only, to .find that others have done likewise and that there are no jobs offering Soon we shall all be inspectors and there will be no one left to do the job.” The official journal of the P. and T. Department has an article headed “Has the Political Change Been to Our Advantage?” Of conrse this is a far .more vital question than whether the change has been to the advantage of the country! “What is the object of politics?” “The greatest good for the greatest number.” “What is the greatest number?” “Number One.” Satirical—but often too true!

The late Government started to build workers’ homes—a Socialistic undertaking which should have endeared them to the Labor Party, though it apparently didn’t Anyhow after showing a net loss of £54,172 in the yenr 1926-2?' and £68,080 in 1927-28 the factory lias been closed down. What a pity! A realv reputable loss might have been shown had time permitted. Education with an international bias! The Minister of Education has been asked to introduce Esperanto into the schools. Esperanto has been defined as the universal language which nobody speaks. It is improbable it will he introduced into New Zealand until we have a Socialist Communist Government, and are more closely in touch with the Third International.