From the Islands Press

ONE cannot help but shudder at the doings of some land lords in the city of Suva, who, of late, have been demanding fan tastic rents for commercial premises.

Various tenants who had been previously paying rents from £4O to £5O a month have been ordered to pay £lOO to £2OO a month or vacate.

A committee should be ap pointed to investigate the situ ation.—Letter from “Bombshell Baby” in “The Fiji Times’Suva.

THE parking problem is one of the great evils in cities with heavy traffic. In Papeete, the problem is not yet serious, but it is beginning to make itself felt. —Editorial in “Le Journal de Tahiti”, Papeete.

DO the churches in Western Samoa teach kindness to all God’s creatures, including ani mals? I find it difficult to be lieve they do when I see the ghastly cruelty that daily occurs.

I have lived in many parts of the world, but nowhere have I seen such terrible sights as here.

Dogs walking quietly in the streets are, without reason, stoned on sight, stabbed with fish spears, and mutilated. Horses are thrashed and slashed with bush knives, eyes are knocked out with stones, or the horses are left tethered for long periods without protection from the sun or water to drink.

In practically every country of the world such cruelty leads to prosecution by the police. Why not here?— Letter from Alys Goodman in “Samoa Bulletin”, A pia.

A 30 FT. WHALE which was stranded on Tarawa on October 8 was in the first place suspected of being a wandering Russian submarine.— News item in the weekly Gilbert and Ellice Is lands Colony Information Notes.

IT is both objectionable and pathetic [in the Cook Islands] on Sundays, to see the drunks meandering from side to side of the main road in the village and

also to see the teenagers, com pletely at a loss as to what to do, throwing stones at any available target—rubbish tins, telephone posts, etc.—and booing, ya-hooing and generally whooping it up.

Sunday sport seems to be the answer—personally I would like to see the matches played on Sunday, with team practice on Saturday. This might not affect the older solid drinkers of bush beer, but it surely would provide either exercise or entertainment for a large majority of those who drink and/or roam the roads through lack of interests and through sheer boredom.— Letter from “Sunday Sports” in “Cook Islands News”.

I WAS amazed to see in Norfolk News, amongst other amend ments to the Liquor Ordinance, a recommendation by the Norfolk Island Council for the granting of a public hotel licence to hotels providing adequate accommoda tion for 30 or more guests.

This matter was referred to the people about eight years ago in the form of a questionnaire, which resulted in a rejection of public hotel licences. It must be only reasonable, therefore, to ex pect that no alterations in the present system should be made until the people are again given the opportunity to record their wishes at a referendum. — Letter from R. H. H. Nobbs in “Norfolk News”.

WITH only 76 square miles for its oversized mountains, rapidly increasing population and bigger homes, American Samoa is one place that ought to consider the advantages of limiting the im portation of bulky automobiles that take too much space on the highways and in the parking spaces, and require such big garages.

Before the establishment of regulations to control the prob lem of space on the streets and highways, it is best for the im porters and buyers alike to con sider the merits and advantages of a small car.— Editorial in “Samoa News”, Pago Pago.

PROBABLY every resident of Lord Howe Island at some time or other has been asked by a visitor: “What do you do with yourself ... it must be very quiet in such a small isolated place?”

Those who live here know very well that although we may escape the hurly burly of the city of Sydney, we somehow have one of our own, and if one chooses (and many do) to take an active part in this comparatively active com munity, there can be plenty to do and often not enough time to do it in.— Editorial in “Lord Howl Island Signal'”.

IN view of France’s determina tion to proceed with nuclear bomb testing in the South Pacific in which there is a real danger to the health and security of the Samoan people, we should lose no opportunity to show our dis pleasure.

There is, I believe, an honorary French Consul in Apia. This relationship should be broken off by order of our [the Western Samoan] Government. When France starts to take a reason able attitude to our protests about their forthcoming bomb tests, then perhaps we can resume friendly relations.— Letter from “Nationalist” in “Samoano”, Apia.

IT is staggering to realise that, administratively at least, Papua-New Guinea is fast catch ing up with countries which have had scores of years of develop ment, welfare, local government and constitutional advance, and from which had come, even be fore the Second World War, a nationalist unity which we have not yet begun to taste.— Editorial in “South Pacific Post”, Port Moresby.

As most of American Samoa looks like this, it's not surprising that Pago Pago's "Samoa News" is worried about the amount of space taken up

by big cars.