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MAINLAND NOTES i
Prom b'fjtciri/
THE NEW AIR MAIL SERVICES
Victorian Business Men Not Wholly Satisfied
. . V ' MELBOURNE, Thiirsdwi . j
DISCUSSING the Commonwealth
.. . Government's air mail plan, Meir
bourne, business men have expressed
.satisfaction that attention has been
paid to representations of the Chamber
of Commerce that; no surcharge should
be imposed on inward mail. They find
cause for dissatisfaction, however/ in
tho. proposed outward surcharge of 3d.
Joz.. To.them it seems absurd that let-'
tera, sent by air from England to Aus-
tralia,-and from .New Zealand to Eng-
land, should \ost only ljd., while Aus-
tralians must pay Bd. for an air mail
letter to, England. In; this 'regard they
'point to the large surpluses disclosed
by the Postmaster-General's Depart-
ment each year. They contend that
If the Government "does not inten'd-^tq
reduce the ordinary rate pt internal'
postage from 2d. to ld. or lld.' it'should
at least lise part of its postal surplus
to dispense with áh air mall surcharge.
This, of- course,' must riot be taken to
Indicate that business men and the
Chamber of Commerce have lost hope
of reduction in ordinary postage. On
tho contrary,' the secretary of the
Chamber (Mr. T. A. Lennox-Bigger)
says they Intend to press for reduction
at every available opportunity. Speak-
ing for the commerçai community, Mr.
Lennox-Bigger today described as re-
trograde such expedients adopted un-
der the new scheme as delaying de-
liveries in Adelaide and Melbourne In
order that Sydnèy might receive its
mail on the same day. Every capital,
ho said, was entitled to receive Its
malls with the utmost possible speed,,
and the Government was not justified
in discriminating against any particu-
lar centre because of its accidental
geographical location. Inter- State
jealousy should not be allowed to regu-
late such things.
* ? ' * ?''?»"''
Extending Migration
'J^HOUGH they would naturally pre-
fer that future migration to Aus-
tralia should be predominantly British,
representatives of most Victorian or-
ganisations Interested In Empire de-
velopment and the increase of the
population of the Commonwealth are
prepared to accept the view expressed
in the report ot the British Oversea
Settlement Board just published in
London that the Dominions must in
future look more to foreign countries
for new settlers. The secretary of the
Royal Empire Society said today that,
although the policy of the Society was
to encourage British migrants, he saw
no reason why Scandinavian, Dutch,
and German immigrants, all good pio-
neering races, should. not be given
equal encouragement. The Victorian
secretary of the Big Brother movement
went slightly further in Baying that-in
the opinion of Government officials
who administered previous'migration
systems Germans and' Scandinavians
were-aa good,..if not better; .for . agriV
cultural'settlement 1 than British mi-
grants. :He added, howevetVi'tUat^ls
oi-ganisation had no ' intention ' bf- de-
parting ' from 'its.policy of-bringing
only British, youths-to Australia^' . .. ?'
. * ' - *'. . . ..* ... ?? ..
Paralysis Legacies '
J^S legacies, of the infantile paralysis
epidemic, officers bf the Education,
Department have two problems with
which to deal. Some nervous parents
are still unwilling to send-their chil-
dren .tb school because of fear of;; in-
fection, although they haye been . as-
sured by their doctors, and through the
newspapers by'the highest medical au-
thorities in the State, that they-haye
no longer any reasonable grounds for
-being so.fearful. The other trouble, ls
that some children, .after the enjoy-
ment of enforced holiday,, have been
unwilling to.return to school, and. are
either "wagging lt" In idleness or. have
obtained cnsual employment. A round-
up by. departmental inspectors of city
and suburban parks, and places where
the absentees are most likely, to find
employment, ls proving successful, and
attendance ot State schools is ap-
proaching normal.
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