The Daily News. SATURDAY', NOVEMBER 30, 1912. MIXED BATHING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 166, 30 November 1912, Page 4

The Daily News. SATURDAY', NOVEMBER 30, 1912. MIXED BATHING.

Some controversy is going on in the south, as there has been in Sydney, on the subject of mixed bathing, and the good people of Sumner and New Brighton are divided into two singularly hostile camps where the matter is concerned. Their many miles of sandy beaches ought, we would have thought, to have allowed this matter to be settled without any material grievance to either sex, but that estimable old lady, Mrs. Grundy, dies very hard. Here, in New Plymouth, we are a little more fortunately circumstanced, for papa, mamma and the baby can disport themselves in the surf in happy contiguity without any fear of interruption from even the indefatigable Mr. Tippins. But we think that the City Council might go a little further. It is impossible for Stephen to teach Amaryllis how to swim in the breakers, or for Romeo to show Juliet how to float, when the long Pacific rollers are calculated to disturb both her equanimity and her balance. Under these circumstances they naturally cast envious eyes upon our delectable swimming baths, only to find that the doors are closed against them. There was a time when family bathing was allowed upon one afternoon a week at the Munnicipal Baths, but for some reason known only to those who reign in the seats of the mighty, this privilege has. been withdrawn. There arc dozens of sisters and cousins and mothers and aunts who would dearly love to swim if they could secure the co-operation of their masculine relatives, but who do not care to exploit cold water to a chorus of pure femininity. It is an extravagance of prudery to suggest that under proper supervision there is anything objectionable in mixed bathing, even within the sacred precincts of our public baths. Hie matter is, of course, one entirely for the people themselves, but the Borough Council would be conferring a boon upon many families if they were to reinstate the old system of setting apart a few hours once a week, when family bathing could be indulged in. THE YELLOW PERIL. Mr. E, A. Palmer, a member of the Sydney firm of Palmer & Son, has just returned from a business visit to Japan, the land of the lotus and of political intrigue. Interviewed by a Sydney pressman, he made it clear that lie believed Australia would have to contend with a Japanese invasion in the not distant

future. "Coming through China and Japan," hie said, "I saw population which was choking for an outlet. The people teemed in millions. On the little islands of Japan it seemed to me that they must soon slop over into the sea. And then, when I came down the coast of our great continent, where there is hardly a fly, let alone a man, to the mile, I saw the difference. These Japanese folk won't stand this sort of thing for long. If Britain gets her Navy tied up in the North Sea, where, will we be with our little squibs of warships?" The Japanese, he went on to say, bitterly resented Australia's exclusion policy, and their view was that they were regarded in Australia as "dogs and the scum of the earth." This, very naturally, did not predispose the Japanese to regard the Australians with any national amity. Mr. Palmer had also something to say regarding the prevailing belief that the Japanese is a somewhat slippery customer in business. This may have been, he said, ten or fifteen years ago. when business pursuits were confined to tho lower class Japanese; but to-day the educated Japanese were controlling the business interests, and their one aim was to remove the old stain and win the confidence of European merchants! Ip his own business relations with the Japanese, Mr. Palmer added, he had received nothing but the fairest and most honorable treatment. But there was an undercurrent of feeling that this attempt to win British confidence was not wholly from a commercial standpoint, but was a preliminary to attack upon some of the Empire's possessions. The story does not sound a very convincing one, but travellers in the East are so unanimous in their suggestion that Australia is threatened by the Japs as to justify the restrictive legislation '"of the Commonwealth. In any event, forewarned is forearmed, and it is better that tve should lock the stable door before the steed is stolen, rather than live to regret the capture of'the steed.