CURRENT TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 268, 22 April 1915, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

WAITARA HARBOR IMPROVEMENTS. The meeting held at Waitara on Tuesday for the purpose of considering the proposals of the Waitara Harbor Board as to borrowing '£13,000 to be oxiiendcd in the purchase of a dredge and do necessary work for improving the port, was a tribute to the energy and progressive spirit of the residents of the district, and especially of the members of the Board. The chairman took a couimendably broad view of the position when he »said that he wished it to be perfectly understood that Waitara was not antagonistic to New Plymouth harbor, it being realised that there was room for both. We heartily endorse that statement, and welcome* every step that is taken for the advancement of every portion of Taranaki. Waitara, Patea, and Opunake ports have all a useful mission to fulfil, and it is only right and fair that the. settlers in those districts should be encouraged to make the best of any facilities for the shipping that they can. In no way will these subsidiary landing and loading places militate against the utility of the main port and harbor of the province at Moturoa.. We have always advocated the sinking of all parochialism, recognising that the best interests of the province will assuredly be' forwarded by unity rather than by senseless factious opposition. The fly in the ointment at the meeting was Mr. Dugdale, who while graciously opining that no doubt a few Home liners Wiould be berthed at New Plymouth, went out of his way to make ii statement that we will charitably assume was the outcome of the excitement of the moment, or was attributable to a misguided and warped sense of veracity. Hi! said that the port would be unreliable for big steamers could not. be berthed there in all weathers, and this uncertainty was always going to be against New Plymouth as "long as the harbor existed, unless it was rebuilt at a _eiist of at least three-quarters of a million. There is an old proverb that "yon should nevei' guess unless you know." The statement made by 'Mr. Dugdale proves conclusively that lie revels in an ignorance in which the wish is father to the thought. Moreover, that ignorance is inexcusable in the face of the expert opinions of the New Plymouth Board's harbormaster and engineers. Apparently these gentlemen, in Mr. Dugdale's eyes, do not know their business, but he may rest assured that his erratic and uncalled for remarks will weigh very lightly in the balance against the assurance on expert authority' that the ocean liners can work the port of Now Plymouth at any time and find safe berthage. We can only regret that tho excellent example of Mr'. Hine (chairman of the Waitara Board) was not taken to heart by Mr. Dugdale.

THE SILLY CENSORSHIP. Protests are made almost daily by the London newspapers against the vagaries of the censorship, and it is easy even at ; this distance from the heart of the Empire to understand the footing of exasperation that prompts the complaints. The censorship persists in being childish in its methods and its rulings. During ivcont weeks anv person who cared to stroll upon the Wellington wharves could see certain steamers being prepared for service as transports (writes our Wellington correspondent). The purpose to which these ships were being devoted was indicated in large lettering on their sides. The casual observer could stroll aboard, or count the horse-boxes or examine the piles of equipment on the wharves. There was no i pretence of secrecy at any point. On Saturday certain troops marched through the streets of Wellington. Privileged people who held tickets were admitted to the wharves where the transports lay. Other people who did not possess tickets, but who wee very enthusiastic (and occasionally, rather tearful), pushed their way through the newly-erected barriers in spite of all that burly policemen could do. Then the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence made speeches, everyone cheered, last messages were' shouted—but the censorship decrees that no mention may be made of what happened to the troops and the transports. So the newspapers next morning reported the speeches, and said how nice the soldiers looked, and left the rest to the inference of the intelligent reader. Now what good purpose is served by this particular prohibition? If there is a (lorman spy in New Zealand, there is nothing to prevent him having counted the troops and seen what happened to them for himself. The censorship has not kept a secret. Apparently it did not want to keep a secret, or else Wellington would not have been invited to eonie out and see on Saturday. All that the censorship did was to annov people.

CAN A POLITICIAN UK A. CHRISTIAN? This was a question tliat was recently put to a number of well-known Americans. One can readily imagine that, with tlie inlluences at work in a graft-ridflt-ii country, the life of a politician who entlcavored to live up to the Christian standard would become intolerable. The experience of politics in A<. w Zealand lias not been quite the same as that in America. Still, we have heard ' men say that Parliament, in this country is no place for a Christian man, particularly under our 'party system of Government. The measures employed for the attainment of party ends are of so devious a character that they « 0 perilously elose to the brink of inimori'lity. A man of liiff'h moral attributes may unronsc.iously ho converted into a deep-dyed hypocrite. The whole bustness smacks of hypocrisy. How, then, can a man be a Christian and a successful politician? Tn theory, our laws are based upon the Christian code. Tn practice, they are constructed on the lines of party preservation. If Christian tolerance were more commonly practised, ami "selF" were eliminated, 'the laws of the country would he less oppressive than at present. So long as the party svstein obtains, and manhood is sacrificed for political aggrandisement, so Ion"will the Christianity of politicians be a doubtful quantity .—Wairarapa Age.