WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 4 October 1930, Page 2

WELLINGTON TOPICS

POST AND TELEGRAPH DISMISSALS. (Special Correspondent.! WELLINGTON, October 2. The presentation of tho Post and Telegraph Estimates in the House on Tuesday led to a spirited and not very edifying discussion concerning the dismissal of several employees oi the Department for having divulged tiie contents- of certain messages dealing with racing 'and racing affairs either entrusted to them or communicated to them by other offenders. Those of the Labour members who took part in the discussion held strongly that some o; the offenders, at any rate, had been harshly treated and that their caseshould be reconsidered. The Post-master-General,- Mr J. B. Donald in replying to an early question, however, said the Government had decided to make no further action in regard tc the matter. To this Mr R, Semple, the impetuous Labour member for Wellington East, retorted “Then we will keep you here till Christmas,” and Mr P- Eraser, the member for Wellington Central exclaimeu, “A miserable Government.” And so threat ftiul innuendo weilt oil until Labour bud exhausted its resources,

T.HEI ONE PENALTY, The ‘'Dominion” in the course cf an editorial this morning does not hesitate to applaud the political lenders it has consistently denounced for their consistency and courage in this matter. “The the case under discussion,” it says, “the Government will have the support of the great majority of tbo electors in the stand it lias taken, It is a fundamental fact that secrecy should be preserved as to. the messages which the public entrust to the Pest and Telegraph Department for transmission. Any leakage of information, , even the suspicion of leakage, would be ruinous to the Department’s business which is based on public confidence in its probity. How can professed Socialists take the .Labour members of the House excuse so patent an attempt to undermine the foundation of a State enterprise?” It is easy to sympathise with thowo of the offenders who were drawn into their lapse by more culpable companions; but in cases of this'kind the regulations provide no modification of the- prescribed punishment. EDUCATION REFORM. The Hon. Atmore the Minister of Education, who has devoted a great deal .of attention and labour to the reviisibn of the Dominion’s education system during the last two years, is beginning to reap some encouraging appreciation of his, efforts. Report-'' ing upon the Ministers proposals before the Association of Philosophy and Pyscbologjv at Victoria College last evening, Mr G. R. Kidson said, “To as. it offers most of the reforms for which we have been agitating for many years.” National scholarships, Mr Kidson went on to say, were no longer necessary since universal secondary education had come into being. Mr W. A. Armour could see the value of agricultural bias in the country districts, but he could not admit it in the larger centres. His vision must have been strangely restricted. Professor Hunter, speaking from the standpoint of the accomplished scholar, favoured the proposal for two universities in the Dominion, and Dr (Sutherland endorsed . the assertion that that Workers’ Educational Association was “a wholly commendable organisation.” THE SESSION. The' Hon. E. A. Ransom, the Acting Prime Minister, is, pushing on the work of the expiring session, in the hope of bringing it to a conclusion at the end of next week. There are a number of matters still requiring attention, however, and among them is a Workers’ Compensation Bill, promoted, presumably, by the new Minister of Labour, which has been printed and handed to Ministers, hut not yet distributed to private members. It is said to be of a controversial nature, and unlikely to proceed further than a first reading this year. A number of other Bills that have obtained a first reading during the session are definitely held up for a more convenient occasion, Notwithstanding all these delays and postponements the session cannot be numbered among the unfruitful ones, and Mr Ransom may take credit for having kept the wheels going round to some purpose in the face of a capable opposition. Mr Forbes, when he returns will have no occasion to complain of the work that has been done.