FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 16, 9 April 1927, Page 8

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

By

the LOOK-OUT MAN

IRELAND AND ”THE OATH ”

Those who dig up isolated instances of Irishmen who have refused to take the Oath of Allegiance in the hope of proving all the Irish disloyal will doubtless be disappointed to learn o* the action of the Irish Free State Parliament. The Dail refused leave to introduce a bill designed to -e al the Oath of Allegiance provided for in the Irish Constitution —by 47 votes to 17, the proposed bill didn’t even get a hearing! How times change. Some years ago an Irishman was refused leave to land in Australia and was deported from Commonwealth waters because he refused to take the Oath of Allegiance. Only last year he returned as a member of the British Parliament and of the Empire Parlia mentary Delegation, and there was none to say him nay. When we hear of an occasional Irishman “kicking over the traces” it is as well to remember that “one swallow* doesn’t make a summer,” and that 60,000 Irish men were among those who died for the Empire in the Great War. And you will find Irish names whenever you read of famous sailors, soldiers, judges and statesmen who have enriched the pages of British history. THE JOURNALISTIC TRACK The work of the journalist is not only hard, but perilous. Mr. Gedge, of the London “Daily Mail,” who had been writing from Bucharest more about King Ferdinand’s illness than the authorities desired, was told that if he did not get over the border he would be escorted there by the gendarmes —which the Chief of Police described as “a very painful process.” In America, when an editor offends a citizen, the citizen drops into the office and shoots him. In China, editors who publish what the authorities disapprove of have their heads chopped off. In Japan, they are frequently gaoled. However, they have a way of keeping things going in Japan. They

employ editors whose sole job it is to assume responsibility for anything that is published, and these editors “take it out,” while the writing editors keep on writing. It is a system whici* if introduced into New Zealand, would give an extended liberty to a Press whose freedom is somewhat restricted THE LUCKY OPAL The opal, most beautiful of precious stones, is now being found on a new field near Walgett, in New South Wales, and a “rush” has started. One stone from this field has been sold in Sydney for £450. The opal is old in history as a lucky stone. The way it splashes colour makes it especially attractive; its hues are ever-changing and it seems often to emit sparks of fire. There were thousands of men digging for opal at White Cliffs, in the far nor’-west of New South Wales, once, but these diggings were worked out, and White Cliffs is now only a name. There is a jeweller in Sydney who makes a specialty of opals, and his window display is a blaze of mag nificence. BRITAIN'S MOTORS The decreased cost of British motorcars is responsible for a tremendous increase of motor licences in Britain. When British manufacturers go after things, they get them. Slack postwar trade taught them that they could no longer cling to the “take-it-or-leave-it” attitude, so they scrapped their inadequate machinery, went in for the methods of standardisation they had hitherto despised as merely “something American,” and consented to give the prospective purchaser what he asked for. The result is cheapei production and better selling, and the motor industry in Great Britain is beginning to boom as it never boomed before. So it is with other British industries, and with the new era comes promise of a great prosperity for the land that has ro bravely endured years of trade stagnation.