THE NEW K.C.'S

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 268, 8 November 1912, Page 4

THE NEW K.C.'S

ft is much to be regretted that any attempt should have been made in Parliament, or outside it, to utilize the appointment of the new King"? Counsel fnr the purposes of political controversy. In our opinion it is always just and wise to assume that a Government making such

appointments is actuated by the best possible motives, and those motives should not be impeached, unless very substantial evidence is forthcoming to sustain the cbaj-ge. In this instance we believe there is no possible justification for the attack made upon the Government by certain members of the Opposi I tion. In spite of the fact lii-at Mr Isittand Mr. Payne hare no knowledge oi the distinction that tli<* new K.CVs enjoy and the eminence Uipy have attained in iln'ir own profession, we believe that the country as a whole will heartily endorse these appointments a.s due to merit alone. So far as the new Auckland X.C.'s are concerned, it is ludicrous to suggest that "politW-al influence is required to explain them. As Dr. Banxford, speaking for the local Law! Society, points out in a. letter which we | publish elsewhere to-day, Mr -T. R. Reed and >Ir. F. Karl are, with the exception of the practisiuji lawyers already gazetted as X.C.'s," distinctly the leading members of the profession Tiere, the recognised heads of the Auckland Bar; and it is to oiir mind simply deplorable that tho question of political motive should have been raised in connection with their appointment. In the. ordinary course of a political contest, any legitimate -weapon of attack may be used without infringing the principle of fair play. But insinuations and innuendoes'of this kind are an indefensible abuse of the principles that should govern political controversy, and we regret exceedingly that any of the Liberal party should have stooped to employ them.

The following is Mr D. C. Bales" weather forecast for 24 hours from : .> ajn. this day. "Moderate to strong southerly prevailing, equally at time.-. Expect ehangcalble and showery weather, biit improving after a cold night. Barometer has a rising tendency. S?eas and tides moderate. An old resident of Auckland. Mrs Elizalbeth Hoyes, died a>t Devonport on the 6th of Noverrtber at the age of 81 v«»rs -She wa-S the. wWovv of the livte Mr J. B. 'Moves. For a long time, many years aco, Mr Hoycs was in -business in karangu.ha.pe Road, and kept the post office there before the late W. Swanson got the present office erected at the corner of Cobden Street.

A Sou-thlander, after a four months' visit to Sydney, said that he had observed two matters of moment.. affecting the New South Wales capital which mi£jht be of interest. The lirst was the traffic question, the proper conirol of which <was a. '"thing of some consequence.. "A man," he explained, "would need to have eves m the bark -of his head to tell just how he is to fare in crossing Sydney's main thoroughfares a<t .-orne periods of the day." The second, and perhap? a concern of primary importance. was the advantages that offered at present to ithp Now Zealand prodncer who felt disposed to export to the Sydney market. The returned colonist was very emphatic on ihks point, and his stay in Sydney had given him every opportunity to learn juat how things really stood. He was very optimistic as to the outlook ahead for the New Zealand producer who trafficked SydneyWards.

One. of the most-Utsed eirtrancce to tt* One-tree. Hill Domain is through the swing gate at the top of Golf Road, Epsom, and yet vistors cannot but notice the abse_nce. of a footpath leading "therefrom to the Domain drive, which winds around the hill on an ascending grade. The distance is less than 40yd3., and on showery daye. such as' yesterday, the long grass is unpleasant for ladies to walk through. An inexpensive pathway would provide a convenience much in excess of the cost, and as the route via Golf Road is a short cut from the tram line, it would benefit a large number of visitoire. polfers. and reside.nts of the snrroundinjc locality. The One-tree HUI Domain Board is charged with the care of the reserve.

iA telegram has 'been received by the Mayor from the Hon. W. H. Herries, Native Minister, relating; to the Ora'kei Bill, a.s follows: "As soon as the Court of Appeal has decided whether the land is alienajble or not 1 shall enter inta negotiations with the owners to see if they will The Mayor has wired to Mr Arthur M. Myers, -M.P.. as follows: "On behalf of the citizens I--thank you for your efforts to secure Orakei for the people. Though -by the ufle of obsolete forms of Parliament our opponents evadi-dii decision which no doubt would have passed the. bill into law, stHl Ministers" final declarations of Government policy clearly indicate that Orakei shall yet come to the people and not %a the speculator."

Replying to a suggestion by Mr. K. H. (.'lark Chalmers) that a sub-naval base might be established sit Port Chalmers, the Minister for Defence stated in the House of Representatives yesterday that Port Chalmers should not be considered as a sub-naval base, but as a harbour of refuge. Advice had already been given by the' Home authorities on the matter of the defence of the Otago Harbour, but for tbe present this must be considered confidential.

The Dominion conference of the. Girls' Friendly Society, which has been in progTesri since Monday in tjffi Cathedral. Library. Bishopscourt. was brought to a yestPrday. The subjects dealt with during the conference have be?n of much importance in (he organising of the Society's work amongst girls and young women in New Zealand, and mucil heiiftit is expected to result from their discussion. The next conference will probably W held at (hristchuroh in' N'ovpmbcr.. IPTo. A meeting of delejratos, branch secretaries, and heads of departments was lipid (it the lodge yesterdaj' aftenroon. when Mi-.-o Morrah. of Wellington, gave an addrrss on "Members' Commrttaes.' , the duties of which, .-he said, were to keep up interest in the branches, visit sick members, and arrange sociaJs. Tliere was a largely-af-tended meeting in St. Sepulchre's Parish Hall in the evening, when a number of papers .~ent in by the girl mejnbers were read. Addresses were delivered by Miss Morrah. Mrs. Charter, and Mrs. Cros3]py, who spoke on missionary work. Votes of thanks were passed to the Bishop and to all others who had assisted during the conference.

At tho Wellington Supreme Court, with a criminal career extending over nearly fifty years, George Lee, a smallbiiilt, jrrey-haired man, seventy-five years of age. was placed in the dock for sentence on a charge of breaking and entering and stealing money. He had pleaded •.aiilty in the Magistrate's Court to tbia charge, and also to one of having in his possession ".botisebreaking instruments. When lie was aboti!. twenty-eight yean, of age, prisoner set .out on a.'career of crime, and between that time and the present he had been given sentences aggregating fifty years and six months. On one occasion in Sydney he was sentenced to fourteen years' imprisonment, on two occasions be was sentenced to seven years, on three occasions to five years, once to three years, and onco to two years. He bad nothing to say why sentence should not be-passed upon him. After reviewing prisoner's past life, b.is Honor said there wns only one sentence to bo passed upon him. He was a very old man. His Honor did not know what pleasure he had got out of life-. For over fifty years he had been in and out r.f fraol. He to have tried to Jive, by burglary, with the result that at the end of fifty years hfl had spent nearly all his time in gaol. For breaking and entering he would lie sentenced to three years' hard labour, and declared an habitual criminal. For having liousebreakinpr instruments in bis possession he would be sentenced to a concurrent term of six months.

The Government has decided, as an experiment, to atiach a fruit van to the Main Trunk express from Auckland to Wellington, commencing on Monday next. Fruitgrowers have for some time been endeavouring: to get something in (this nature, as the Auckland climate U conducive to •the growth of soft.-perish-able fruits, for wbjvt Hi- desirable" to find a quicker and more ready sale than in t.ue local - market-. The. i-onsigmnente will consist lor the most part of strawberries and tomatoes, which cannot bo grown to any large extent in the South., and will be distributed into 'the Wanganui. Palmerston North-,. New Plymouth, Hastings, Napier and Wellington districts. Xo fruit, however, will be taken for .-itar.ions this side of Ohakiuie. The first consignment will probably amount to .ibout A ton or a ton paid a half, and will partly consist of new potatoes. which are in some demand in the South, the crop* being at present very slight.

The annual report, of the Chief Health Officer -tate.- that the names of--74 midwives were added u> the register last year, 55 having been trained in the Dominion. There is now some hope, the report continnes, of meeting the needs of the Dominion in this particular branch of work, '."specially as (hiring the ensuing year -three additional training schools for midwives may be provided. The total number of midwives now on the register is 1,097. of whom 41.'> art* fully trained, ami e<s2 untrained. On March 31st, l!) 07, the number \va.* 891, of which 102 were trained and 730 Untrained. Th? St. hieJe.ns Hospitals continue to do »Ood work, and the demands on these institutions are increasing every year. The jkctu-al co?r. lo the State of U>e*e. four maternity iiomes >v-,i.s £1,820. excluding capital exjienditure.

A peculiar Case of mistaken identity occurred at Newcastle (New South Wales i. on October DO. A young woman a,boux 20 years of age was seen to walk iuto a da.ru in a paddock, off Darby Street. A yotmg man dived in, and brought her out. but she was then dead. The body was taken to the morgue, and identified by a Mrs. King, of Merewether. a? that. <~,f her daughter Beryl. About half an hour afterwards Beryl heard of her reported death, and hurried to the po-lii-e. station, where she learned that her mother had jrone home, fully believing that she was drowmvl. In the meantime the police, at the reque-t of Mrs. Iving. had sent a. telephone to the Ma.itlanrl police to inform her husband, who is in Maitland, of their daughter's supposed dearth. The body of the dead woman was later identified as that of Mary Burrows, laf-ely residing , with • her parents at Jeamond, near Lamiton.

The annual meeting of the Ponsonby ' Swimming and Uie-saving Oub takes "'-place to-night, -it the Leys ■ Institate, 1 when, a large attendance of members is I desired. The question of a canuval at (-the opening of the swimming taths at • Shelly Beach and other topics of interest I will be discussed.

"One" of -tne nlosr important Hems of iwws of the week, from the farmera' standpoint (says the fanning contribute of the Daily Tc.lcgra.ph ), is the report of the success attending the special trial shipment of ba<on cured by Mr.- Prossor- at the Byron Bay and j Kyogle 00-operativ-e faetr>ries, to London, j The prices realised, to S 1-M. per 1b.,-may bo abnormal: hut-.the. fact that the rates were. "priiuUcaUy equal I to the highest prices obtained on the same market for Danish luutuji"' shows that the English expert lias, tieeii able to turn Qui, bacon from. Australian -pi.s* that, is up to the standanL of the market of Uir. jmrtropnlis of the worht: -The United - barrm. hams. and lard to the value of £-20:000.000 a I year, so the brjyinf: power -is arest enough to ebsOTb all that Australia, its Jikely 'to- produce for export for many a y-ear. even 'vere the consumption not growing, .-as is the-case. Ah-English authority says that the Home supply of fat -pigs cannot possibly overtake the demand should, the presout cutuUtiatf of the trtvdo continiic. whilst, tie ..pos-dbllity of receiving an increased riupplv. of park products from tike United States appears to be most remote, ninrc thie ordinary decreuse .that has tak£ii. place-in the supply has been enormously.- increased by the fearful prpv!ilr>nr-»» jn America of

hog cholera,, a distase -a : d to be similar to what we know as "t-win<v fereT.

Writes a leading VVhangamomona set- i tier to a Taranaki paper: "I see that, the--Government is redwing the men on the WhangamoOTjiß*-railway works, and; by Christmas the wprks will be prac tically stopped.. If. this. j?. so, the Stratford and New Plymouth business people should call me"atiriffs immediately, and strongly protest against thr stoppage nf .this important Jin.e. Jt slmplraneans if [ho works" are. delayed' nt this rjidand not at the Auckland side, the line ftoin Ongarue will he completed to the'Ohura before this end reaches Kohur.-rtatifc; then the whole of the King Country trade goes -to Auckland, and .Stratford'"-will "suffer considerably -through, the loss of business. .■ Two new sleeping-car.- for" the Auek- | land-Wellington Main Trunk - expresses have just been completed a.t the Petone raihvay workshops, and one of them mado its first journey in Auckland a few days a.£o. Although only minor alterations have been effected, the nftw cars aTe decidedly better than those formerly built. The main Tmprovftment is in the main abolition nf the annoying handrail running from the top folding berth in the caibins .to the carriage window sill. In the old type -t>f -car this rail mad" the bunks very much shorter than they should have been, and besides this, the opening of the window was a difficult matter-. 'Another rmprovempnt is that .the bunks in the. two. two-berth """cabins have J>een placed hack to back on the partition, thns affording, more seating room, when the sleepers arc not in use. A new dining-car has also beai placed on 'the. track., .. . . . -.

A definite-.jqow —in ihe direction of settling the question of whether the outer harbour" at Napier should be extended and made: "available for ocean steamers, or whether an innrr harbour capable ".of '. admitting -large steamers should bs cpnst'r'ucrexl. is {tbau.fe be taken, /Mr. J. J. "Siven having given notice to move at'-the. next meeting of the Napier Harbour Board, that, the j necessary steps be at once taken to place ! before ratepayers the proposal to raise | a sufficient sum of moaer to construct an inner harbour, and that the Public Works Department be immediately notified of the Board?, decision go that -all misunderstanding regarding the construction of the East Coast railway embankment may be removed, -nnd wryrk Carried on simultaneously with harbour construction. ■ An almost incrpflible story, trat Orie the truth of which is vouch'rcl for. is. told of a schoolmaster in one of the country districts 111 .the' Back-blocks of Uawke's Bay. It appears "..thair agricultural instrrreition is given +o the pupils, and that ft ta-kes a practical form. The soil in some of the "garden plo-fs was not sufficiently good to gro-w the desired crops, and application was made to the authorities for a supply of manure. In due time some superphosphate, arrived" at the school, and to the amazement and subsequent disgust of the scholars each one of those interested had a tiny particle of the preparation placed on the tip of his tongue: What for? The accompanying letter coiftain'ecl the following sentence "regarding the,manure: "Let the children test" this." and the only possible explanation of the guileless dominie's action isr-tlrat he misread the word "test" for "taste."

True.cconom.i-ts should take advantage of the liberal discount we are "ivinsr. Twopence returned on every. l/_spent, or a saving of 3/4 in the_ £. — Grey and Ford. Ltd.. Karangahape Road.— (Ad.)

Sec the new American coat shirt for gents. Open down front likp coat. Smart designs in cambric. 5/11 each.—Smith an-d Caughey, Ltd.—(Ad.)

Save money on that suit you are buying to-morrow. We are giving back 3/4 in the £~ or twopence on ever.v 1/ you spendr-Grey_ and Ford, Ltd.. "karangahape Road.~[Ad.)