LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume XCVI, Issue 21, 24 July 1918, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The question of the interning, of, all enemy aliens came before the Lower Hutt Borough Council last evening, and on the motion of Councillor J. Br^ell, seconded by Councillor W. Cotton,', it was decided to recommend the Government to take action in this direction. Councillors S. Clendon and A. J. Hobbs dissented, contending that" such matters did, not come within the scope of borough councils, .but should be left entirely to the people's representatives.

The love we bore to Prance, remarked Hon. J. A. Hanan, Minister of Education, in an address at Auckland, was not only because of her heroism, but because many of our loved ones lay there—sleeping their last long sleep. So close did these ties bind, us that we claim France to be part of New Zealand. Many a father and mother after the war would visit France to see that little bit of the country where their loved one was sleeping. When France drew the sword she determined not to sheath it till victory was won—rather would she die. To-day they were in a position to say that France was driving the Germans back. (Applause.) There could.'be no peace until complete victory.

Commenting on,remarks recently attributed to the Hon. A. L. D. Fraser, to the effect that Australia is "seething with disloyalty," The Post's Sydney correspondent writes : —"The country is by no means seething with disloyalty. The total, of enlistments under the voluntary system is, in itself, 'sufficient evidence of. that. The trouble is that the peculiar* superstitions which govern public life in this country allow freedom of speech where, under war conditions, thci'e should be strict control, with the result that cranks, fanatics, and irresponsible politicians of all descriptions, who never at any time exhibit any sense of public decency, make the day_ hideous with the mouthings and mutterings of their socalled propaganda. They appear to be anti-war, and anti-British—but one must remember that they are anti-everything. They also appear to be a disconcertingly numerous tribe, but as a fact they represent a very small proportion of the Australians, who, as a whole, are loyal and in favour of the fight until victory is won. Visitors to Australia who see only the populous portions of the Eastern States, are very liable to lose peTspec : live."

Lieutenant Salmond, reported "miss-, ing, believed killed," is a son of Sir John Salmond, aiid in his twenty-sixth year. At. the outbreak of the war he was an under-graduate at Cambridge University, studying law. A fortnight after relations were broken between: Germany and Great Britain, Mr. Sallnond enlisted with the 9th Lancers, Eng- j lish cavalry. He transferred to the New j Zealand Infantry afterwards. During the earlier stages of the war he was \ g!isj.p.d, and subsequently wounded. Hay- j in,'; recovered from his" wounds, he re- j turned to the front three months ago. Lieutenant Sslnior.d was born in New Zealand, but received the earlier part of his education in Adelaide. Later he continued his studies at Wellington Col- j lege. From that institution he proceeded to Victoria University College, and for a time was connected with the firm of ■ Messrs. Skerrett, Tripp, and Blair, of this city. His younger brother, Mr. E.-j Salmond, enlisted, and went through 'Ao j Gallipoli campaign. At the evacuation.,-' he was returned to New Zealand with the other medical students, and at the present time is completing his course of study for the M.B. degree.

Mr. J. P. Matheson, goods' agent 'of the Railway Department, Christchurch, died suddenly on Saturday last. He came from Scotland under engagement to the New 1 Zealand Government nearly forty years ago, and had been in the railway service in the South Island ever since. • ■

The increasing difficulty of finding work for returned soldiers .was referred to by Mr. E. F. Andrews, secretary of the Auckland Returned Soldiers' Association, and Mr. B. E. Feuton, officer in charge of the Discharged ; Soldiers' Employment Bureau, when seen by a Herald representative on Saturday. Mr. Fenton stated that ho had about 150 men on 'his list awaiting employment, and of these he could safely say there were at least 100 who were anxious to start work. The lis6 included clerks, carpenters, men \villing to act as storemen, or liftmen. Others were anxious to enter engineering shops ,'to learn the trade, and otEers wished to qualify as motor mechanics. The present difficulties were likely to become greater wlieii the main body of the men at the front returned, it was :a general feeling among returned men that the Government should accept more responsibility in finding men employment on their return, ,and, as in Australia, way a conditional pension until a suitable position had been found. It was also felt that the Government should bring forward a more comprehensive scheme for training soldiers in the different trades. In Sydney, among other Government establishments for ; training soldiers, was a large technical school which had been turned into, a complete boot factory with the latest machines, and soldiers went through the different departments and learned the whola trade. Many men joined the forces whilo apprentices, at 19' and 20 years of age, and came back married or with greater responsibilities. They could not be expected to go back to their old wages f and some definite provision should be made for them. The Government had introduced a scheme whereby a man could enter private employment to learn a trade and to make up his weekly wages while so doing to £3 .for a certain period, j in addition to any pension he was receiv- J ing. This was a good scheme, but the trouble was that opportunities for making such an arrangement with a firm were very few and far between, and thus so far the scheme had not proved of much benefit.

News has been received in Wellingtxffii that Mr. A. G. Wise, formerly of the commercial staffs of the Dominion aod! the Wairarapa Daily Times, who has been the.manager of the Melbourne Herald' and Weekly Times Co., Ltd. for som* time past, has been promoted) to the position of general manager ia succession to Mr. J. E. Davidson,' who lias _ retired from the service. Mr. Davidson was also editor-in-chief for the past seven years, and in that positaora he has been succeeded by Mr. Guy littles-, who has been news editor for' some years. Mr. Wise is n.t preeent on tour in America.

In his zeal to indicate the bigness andi police business of Palmerston North, the Mayor, Mr. J. A. Nasa, prepared some comparative figures of arrests and summonses, as an argument for th© establishment of District Headquarters of Police at that town. Palmercton North ia shown with 538 arrests and 66S summonses, a total of 1206, for ths year 1917. This aggregate is given as . 248 more than Invercargill's, 300 more than ■ Wanganui'sj 450 more, than 1 Napier's, 479 more than Hamilton's, and 1 648 more than Greymoutb-V " The climax comes in this passage, which seems to be a tribute to the comparative la>wabidingness of the Southern people:—• "The Dunedin figures, with a populatianf five times greater than that of Pahnerstoni North, were only 2322. (arrests and (sunn monses), only 1116 more."

Faults of style, arrangement, and expression are copiously described in the reports issued by the examiners of candidates for both matriculation and the University entrance scholarship examinations held at the end of last year. These blemishes are especially emphasised by the examiners in English. The examiner has derived some amusement from replies to a question designed to test the candidate's appreciation of literary style. Commenting upon it he says: "Some candidates were evidently on the watch for a piece of prose in bad style—a trap which unfortunately for them, the paper did not contain. On this principle one of Burkes greatest passages was deßCribed as a 'a poor attempt at fine language,* while an extract from 'Klia' was stigmatised as 'rambling and doggerel—very bad style.' Another candidate with more sagacity remarked 1 on a passage from the 'Merchant of Venice'—'this seems td b&fs very capable writer.' "

Sir Robert and Lady Stout are expected to return to Wellington from Rotorua on Saturday next. ,- . .

The shield of photographs of members of the King's Empire Veterans was unveiled by His Excellency.tihe Governor* General at the Art Gallery, Kitchenerstreet, Auckland, on Saturday afternoon in the of a large gathering of veterans and^the general public.. Prior to the ceremony the veterans, who paraded under Major John Grant, were inspected by the Earl of Liverpool. His Excellency said he was very sorry to see that the veterans were fast becoming a diminishing band, and that Crimea men were becoming very scarce: His Escellency made brief reference to the medals worn by the veterans on parade, referring especTally to . the Chillianwallah decoration of. Captain Bailey and those possessed by Sergeant Rowley Hill, * who holds the New Zealand Cross and eight other medals. He assured the veterans that he was at all times aimous and desirous of mingling with them and associating himself with them in their aspirations in every possible way. His Excellency tien unveiled the shield, and asked the Mayor to re^ ceive it on behalf <?f the citizens.

In the Magistrate's Court. this mornning, before Messrs. J. W. Ellison a-ndi I. SaJek, J.P.s, Hugh Walker pleaded guilty to a charge of having used indecent language to two military police in T&raßa&i-street yesterday afternoon. Inspector Maratck 'remarked' thai tho oriilitary 1 police had rather onerous duties to perform, and were subject to all kinds <x abuse. Mr. P. W. Jackson, who appeared for the defaidant, said te stemod oxkordinary that the iE*n Khoald, -without auy provocation from ■file military police,. use tie language. 7.toft masi be some reason for it, ami the laauon was that Walker was a re-tui-D«i soldier, who had suffured from, trench fever and shell sbock, and ha said 1 such things without having any idtea of what he was doing. He had jus* left his (Mr. Jackson's) office, aud without rbyifto or reason he shouted thfe language to the police on lie other side of the street. There was no occasion far it at all. If he took only one glass of drink his head went The Bench accepted counsel's view and imposed a fine of 10s, with the alternative! of forty-eight hours' imprisonment.

Mr. William J. Adams, manager of the Waitangi Mine, at. the Thames,. died suddenly last Sunday, when driving home from church. The, deceased, who was 60 years of age, has left a widow, two sons, and foar daughters.