THE OTAKI MAIL. Published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, MARCH 8, 1920. EDITORIAL NOTES.

Otaki Mail, Volume XXVIII, 8 March 1920, Page 2

THE OTAKI MAIL. Published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, MARCH 8, 1920. EDITORIAL NOTES.

To-morrow's Licensing Election. The election of a Licensing Bench for'the Otaki electorate takes place tomorrow, the polling hour.-: being 0 a.m. to 'J p.m. Very little interest is being taken in the election, and the genera! opinion is that the election is u waste of public money. However, then.' are sis nominations for the five committeemen, and as none- has seen fit to jetiro from the contest, it will be necessary to hold a poll. Of the six candidates, only one (Mr W. Bowden, of Otaki) htis taken the trouble to announce his views, or to show any interest in his candidature. Jfr Bowden is contesting the seat as an independent, and should secure a good number of vote.-, as there is room on the Bench for a.n independent, outspoken man, who will watch the interests of the public without fet.r or favour. Four of the other Jive candidates have acted as committeemen for some time past, and the fifth, it iunderstood, will support them c-i ; "ticket." The functions of ;* Licensing Bench arc restricted, but, nevertheless, committees can do n considerable amount of good work in rcgulat-

{ ing the conduct of hotels, arid in seeing that the public interests are well served. At the same time, the present system of electing licensing committees is cumbersome and expensive, and the same ends might be secured in a mceh more simple and inexpensive manner. Tea-growing Industry. The scarcity of tea, coupled with consequent higher prices, has caused inquiries to be made whether this industry could not be introduced in V..-. South Pacixe Islands. As a matter of fact, tea is now grown and manufactured in Fiji. In 18S6 Mr K. Cliffe. who was curator for the Domain Gar dens in Apia, grew both Indian and Chinese teas. He even rolled and dried the leaves, and used it for making tea in hi? home. It would appear that tea could be grown satisfactorily in many of the Islands. The main difficulty in the way of building up a remunerative industry is the cost of labour, which would be high compared with that paid in India and China. Doubtless the matter will be fully gone into in the near future. Otaki's Peace Memorial. We are very pleased that Otaki citizens have not allowed the matter of a peace memorial to lapse altogether. with the failure of the first proposed big scheme for erection of municipal buildings. The newly-formed Batepayers' Association has brought forward another scheme, viz., the purchase of a section of land in a central position in the town, and making same a garden plot, for beautifying purposes, and to serve as -a resting-place. This latter scheme is one of several that was brought forward ar the its*.. public meeting held in connection with setting up a peace memorial. Vie favoured the inunkipa! building rosa! has teen killed by the lack of public support, we hope rftis garden j plot will be aeonired. It be ■'- I occasion, and the propel scheme, if

properly carried out, would make a worthy memorial, and at the same rime prove a great boon to local residents and visitors alike. It would also add considerably to the attractiveness of the town, and would probably prove the beginning of an extensive scheme of town beautifying on modern townplanning lines. We trust that local residents will muster in force at the public meeting convened for Wednesday night next, and that the scheme may receive such support as will ensure its complete success.

Housewives' Boycott. As a set-off to the extremely high prices ruling for till classes of goods, women are banding themselves together in all parts of the world, and, if report js true, they arc meeting with considerable success, In Sydney the Housewives' Association, which is

pressing for the institution of munici-. pal markets for the sale of fruit and vegetables, lately resolved to include all classes of goods, even clothing, in its crusade against high prices, being stirred to take this step by the statement of one member that good quality Japanese silk, which could be bought before the war for Is 3d per yard, now cost 7s lid. The meeting appears to have decided instantly to teach the Japanese: that profiteering was not io be encouraged. Front America come reports of four million women, representing ten national organisations, being organised by l.hu (Savings Division of the Treasury Department, to fight against tiic high cost of living. "Beginning January Jsi, and extending to April Ist, a great thrift campaign will be conducted in an effort to induce women to keep strict accounts of their expenditure in order by study of it to eliminate) unnecessary items. According to tho plan, amounts saved by this means will be invested in Government securities.''' The Christchurch "Press," commenting on this matter, says: — "What will happen after April Ist is left to the imagination. One can only hope the temptations of the shops may not prove too groat for the savings from three months' economies." Certainly women cm, if they unite, exercise an influence on the price of many lines of goods, and in any case the present is a good time in which to practise "doing without."