THE PICTURE CENSORSHIP.

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 160, 8 September 1916, Page 5

THE PICTURE CENSORSHIP.

HALF-HEARTED ADMINISTRATION. (Special Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, Sept. 6. Neither the picture-show proprietors her e nor their patrons—those of their patrons, that is, who take any interest at all in the matter—are very favourably impressed by the arrangement the Minister of Internal Affairs has made for the censorship of films. The proprietors smile incredulously at the idea of one censor, a perfect stranger to the business, getting through, the work without tiresome delays, and their pati rons laugh outright at the notion of a I cursory inspection by an inexperienced official producing any marked improvcj ment upon the present state of affairs. The truth of the matter is that the Minister rushed into this task with the average layman's hazy conception of what it involved, and only now is beginning to discover the difficulties that beset his path. Many thousands of feet of film are imported into New Zealand every week, many of the pictures being good, others indifferent, and a few positively bad, and it is of the utmost importance that some effective supervision should be exercised over their production. The cultivation of the country's taste in matters of this sort cannot be safely left to the judgment of enterprising American dealers, and if Mr Russell really wishes to keep the picture shows free from reproach he ought to see that th e work he has taken in hand is done thoroughly enough to ensure this very desirable result. The Social Habit. Now that th e hotel-keepers arc calling out against the "anti-shouting" regulation, and declaring it to be more injurious to thir business than the shortening of the hours of sale would hav e been, it is interesting to recall that the Minister of Justice, whom the prohibitionists stigmatised at the time as an advocate for the "trade," was the only member of the House of Representatives who confidently predicted that the suspension of the "pleasant social habit" -during war-time would lead to a substantial diminution in the amount of drinking. Other members, : including Mr . Massey and Sir Joseph Ward, believed it would teud in that direction, but they were not half so optimistic as Mr Hcrdman .was;'and "the majority of the other members, who supported the proposal accepted it merely as an escape from what they regard as a worse interference with, popular rights. Nor did the members of the "trade" have the least apprehension that .the temporary prohibition of the "social habit" would seriously affect their profits. It is being said

they thought the enforcement of such a regulation impossible, and therefore contemplated the proposal with equanimity, but this assumption : does them an injustice. They knew the Minister well enough to be sure he would frame a regulation that would leave no loophole for evasion. Simply they did not realise any more than their friends in Parliament did that shouting was one of th e bulwarks of their business. They know all about it now. National Efficiency. In introducing a deputation from the West Coast to the Minister of Education yesterday, Mr P. C. Webb, the member for Grey, strongly emphasised the need for mor attention being given to vocational education in New ealand. The mission of th e deputation was to extract from the Minister a pro- { mise that provision would be made for the construction of a new technical school at Greymouth, and Mr Webb took the opportunity to let Mr Hanan upnerstand that Labour,, "believing in intelligent, efficient, and skilled work-' manship," was "in close sympathy with industrial education.*' which it regarded as the birthright of the masses and the road leading to the salvation of the nation. The Minister, after congratulating Mr Webb upon his eloquent exposition of Hi? gospel of efficiency, proceeded to state i some views of his own on the subject J which are worth recording. "This country," h e said, "cannot hope to reach a reasonable standard of efficiency unless her industrial workers receive a better technical training. The State has been increasing expenditure on academic high schools simply to prepare boys for Public Service clerkships or to lead them into 'blind alley' occupations." Having elaborated this point to the apparent satisfaction of the members of the deputation, he bluntly confessed that the authorities so far had only tinkered with the subject, and had spent a good deal of money in obtaining very small results. Mr Hanan has frequently spoken in this strain of late with an unmistakeable ring of sincerity, and the public are beginning to hope that at least the Dominion has a Minister determined to give technical training its proper place in the educational system of the country. \ A Moderns Dia-Ke. Sir Ernesv Shackletoii made, so many close friends during his visit to New ft Zealand in connection with AntaTetic . exploration that it is not surprising to find his admirers in every centre of the Domnion displaying a kind c'f personal pride in his latest achievement. As the man who Mazed the trae¥ to the

South Pole, makng the way to this "extremity of the earth" comparatively easy to the brave spirits that followed him, he, of course, has a world-wide reputation which will endure ms long as deeds of daring appeal to the hearts and imaginations of virilt. people: but his friends like best to remember him as the loyal comrade, the generous rival, and the bluff, unaffected sailor with all the faults and failings of his qualities and his very human nature. One of these friends, who has kept in constant, communication with him since his last visit to New Zealand, says the greatest disappointment he ever encountered was when the King and the Admiralty expressed a wish that he should go South after th outbrak of war. He had hoped to find employment for himself and his companions in the greater adventure opening up in Europe, and it was with a sad heart he left all its possibilities belling to follow 'the royal command. Who can say what he might have achieved if he had been given the opportunity he desired? To those who know him intimately it is easy to think of him winning at the battle fron even greater distinction, than he has wrested from the harden and crueller paths of exploration. Perhas the impossible by rescuing his men from that wind-swept rock in the frozen sea, and seen the dispatch of succour to the rest of his party assured, his chance yet may eonre. How eagerly it would be seized only his friends can tell.