CANADA'S VERDICT.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 303, 20 December 1917, Page 4

CANADA'S VERDICT.

j Sir Robert Borden has won a clear-cut victory on a clear-cut issue. He appealed to the country to endorse the Military Service Act, which empowered the Government to use compulsion to bring the Canadian Army up to the required strength, and the country has responded by giving him a majority of fifty or sixty in the. new. Parliament.. The majority for the Coalition Government corresponds to the majority for the Military Service Bill in the old House. The Bill passed its! third reading by a majority of 58, twenty two Liberals voting for it. The Conservative leaderj having failed to form a coalition on the Asquith model, that is, a Minietry which would include all the leading lights of both ■ parties, formed one on the Lloyd George model, taking j the Liberals that he could get. But as tie says in a message published to-day, the victory is not a party one, for Liberals united with Conservatives in impressing lon Canadians the necessity for doing their full duty by themselves and the Empire. The franchise under which the election was held had some new and interesting features. As in the Australian elections, soldiers had, under an Act passed at the end of the session, the right to vote, and the franchise was also conferred upon the wives or widows, mothers, daughters, and sisters of men jwho had left Canada for the front. Tho came Act disfranchised a considerable body of voters. It disqualified, with exceptions, men of enemy and other European origin who had been naturalised since 1902, certain classes who had been exempted from military service, and all persons who had been exempted on conscientious grounds. J The defeat of the Coalition Government ■J in Canada would have been a calamity, i making it most difficult or impossible . j for Canada to fulfil her obligations, depressing British feeling, and encouraging . the enemy. The difficulty with Quebec i remains. The French-Canadians have ■ I apparently voted eolidly against con- > conscription, and it remains to be seen , whether the threats of resistance to the .conscription law, and of civil war, will, be carried out. Sir Wilfrid Laurier "has ! promised to accept the verdict of the i • country, but he may find himself Jess : influential with the French-Canadians'

, than men of fche Bourassa type. The rest of Canada is not in a mood to stand' much more opposition from Quebec. 1 Xowhere in the Empire has the result . of the elections been awaited with ( greater interest than in Australia, and [ the victory of the Canadian "jusqu'aboutists" should influence some votes in Australia to-day. It is curious that L while Mr Hughee sent a message to i Cnnada in favour or conscription. Sir ; Wilfrid Laurier a few weeks before used Australia's experience as an argument against conscription. Tt is chari--1 tolble to nesume that Sir Wilfrid did not ' know the facte. Canada's decision makes ' it all the more necessary that, for her I self-respect, Australia should carry con- . scription to-day. Tf stie does not, her '. moral isolation will Ibc tragic. 1 ! The weather forecast is as follows:— . " Indications are for moderate to strong i south-easterly winds, backing by east i to north. There is a prospect of fair to :" cloudy weather, and weather will prob- . ably become warmer. Barometer has a falling tendency. Tides good; sea . moderate."' i There will be a total eclipse of the moon (visible throughout New Zealand) ' on the 28th inst. The moon will enter 1 the penumbra at 6.23 p.m., and enter the shadow proper at 7.35 p.m. The total . eclipee will begin at G. 23, reaching the . middle at 9.16, and the total eclipse will end at 9.25. The moon will leave the 'shadow ut 10.57, and the penumbra at ' 0.9 a.m. on the 20th; i A lad of sixteen years wlio, when em- . ployed as an office boy by a city firm, had stolen small sums of money in order ! to buy himself a bicycle, came before : Mr. Wyvern Wilson, S.M., this morning, ■ and was put on probation for six months t in whicn time the stolen money must be repaid, while the lad must satisfy the ' proDation officer by his conduct of full 5 repentance, and desire to keep the ; straight path. > The Mayor of Birkenhead (Mr. J. P. , McPhail), informed the Council last night that in the hope that he would be able to intimate definite information at > the last meeting of the year, that a ' grant for a new school for Birkenhead r had been made, he had wired the Minister of Education on' the subject, who had replied that the amount involved ' necessitated the approval of Cabinet, be- - fore whom it would be placed at a meeting this week. The annual meeting of the Kauri Timber Company Accident Benefit Society ' was held at the Social Hall, Customs 1 Street West, yesterday afternoon, the 1 president (Mr. J.' Stevens) presiding. In - presenting the annual report, the secretary (Mr. R. S. Smyth) said that the ,' receipts during the past year amounted to £185 5/1, and the expenditure £120 r 11/8, of which £115 11/8 had been paid f' to injured members. During the year „ there had been twenty-four accidents, mostly with machinery, but not due to any fault of the machine. Mount Eden 0 paid in £20 7/6, and took out,for accio dents £10, this being the heaviest year f since joining. The rebate to. members j amounted to. 6/6, leaving £20 to be carried on to the next year. ■ j A largely-attended deputation, repre--3 senting the whole of the Canterbury ■• province, waited on Sir Joseph Ward at o Ghrietchurck yesterday urging. the reine statement of the train service between , Chrietchurch and Lyttelton. The Minister said he would place their viewe before '■- jthe Minister of Railways. ......

' The : Takapuna Borough; Council last! evening discussed the question of providing .bathing , facilities at Takapuna. The Council decided to lease Mrs. Crowthci c kiosk and property on The Strand, with a purchasing clause of £1,600.. Mr. May, architect to the . Council, is to be asked to prepare the • necessary plans. A scheme for bathing ! and sanitary conveniences at , Milford was also placed before the Council, to be j considered at the next meeting. I As more room is required for the re-j turned -wounded eoldiere at the Hospital Annexe, in the Domain, the Minister for Defence (Sir James Allen) has written to the Auckland City Council asking per- j. . mission to erect quarters for bbc nurses | adjoining the present building. It is I proposed to construct a building 120 ft in! length for that purpoee, fehe use of the land being asked for two years, with the right of renewal. The Deputy-Mayor (Mr. A. J. Entrican) replied that the j. Council would be willing to accede to the request, provided it -was safeguarded ■ by the words that the renewal was to . be for war purposes only. \ Speaking to a deputation in Christchurch yesterday Sir Joeeph Ward stated that the New Zealand Government in the last two years had not allowed a day to pass without impressing on the Imperial Government the need for a regular steamship line to carry away the food in storage in the Dominion, but the matter, was not in the hands of the shipping com- j panics or of those in charge in New Zea- : land, being entirely dependent on the Ministry of Shipping. "I am able to state, however," Sir Joseph added, "that within the next month or two, say with- ; in the next three months, everything that is in the freezing works in New Zea laud will be cleared" out." (Applause.) Sir Joeeph said that he was not in a position to give the number of ships, but some of them from Australia would have their general cargo space filled up, and their freezing chambers kept empty for New Zealand produce. i A conference, presided over by the Concilation Commissioner (Mr. T. Barle | Giles) was heldi in connection with the I dispute between the Auckland General j Labourers' Union against Leyland and | Co., Ltd., contractors for the construction of Nihotupu dam. There were no assessors. Messrs. Donald McLean i (chairman) and Charles C. P. Stannard (secretary) represented Leyland and Co., and Messrs. W. E. Richards and A. O'Xeill the union. A full agreement was arrived at. Wages were increased i by 2d per hour to l/ 5» per hour, and Anniversary Day was added to the holidays. The agreement is for one year | from December 3. A memo was attached | stating that the increased wage agreed to was due to the abnormal conditions prevailing and to increased cost of living caused by the war. A hearty vote of thanks was accorded Mr. T". Harle Giles. Fox the past two years the Newmarket Borough Council has 'been endeavouring to have the stop at the junction of Park Road West made a compulsory one for all tramcars oh the outward journey from Auckland via Khyber Pass to Newmarket and ad-

jacent suburbs. .At the meeting of "the Council held last evening a letter, forwarded to the Minister of Public Works, dealing with the question was read. ' It was stated that during the past two years there had been two or three accidente which the Council, thought could have been averted., had i there.-, beeir a . compulsory stop, and it was pointed out' i that since the completion of the Grafton Bridge the majority of the traffic, both motor and vehicular, took this route, or" ' Carlton Road, and thereby greatly increased the danger at this particular ■ point. The Council requested that the matter be given careful and favourable .consideration in the interests of public safety. Writing with reference to the above, the Minister of Public Works eaid that he was obtaining a report on the matter. Much has been written about Hun brutality, but there have been instances ' during the war of kindness by Germans to British wounded soldiers. The following is an extract from a letter written to his mother by Private Campbell,' , of Great North Road, who has now put ; in three years at the front, and has been twice wounded: "We have had rather an exciting time lately. My battalion went over the top, but I got off unwounded, although I had several narrow escapes. I had rather a strange experience next day. Some of our wounded were crying for help during the night, and when morning dawned I went out ■ with a R.A.M.C. bearer to pick up some of them. While we were wandering about ■ with the stretcher a German called out to us to come over as one of our men was badly wounded. We went across without hesitation and found one of our ' men whom they had picked up during the nignt. They had given him hot i soup, and some whisky, and offered to ' let him bo taken back to the British r lines if anvono would come for him. The s.' German officer and men never said a 1' word till we started back with the s wounded soldier. Then the officer said, 1 1 " Silence regarding this strong point." ! T saluted him, and think he was well t worth it." A suggestion was made at the annual meeting of the Auckland Co-operative , I Terminating Building Society in May, • I that the directors should formulate a i i scheme for the closing of some of the , i older groups. At an extraordinary geni eral meeting held in St. James' Hall last ■ evening, the result of the directors': noni sideration of the shareholders' suggest tions was put to shareholders. Mr. J. F. • I Buddie presided, and explained that the directors were averse to the compulsory closing of the older groups as being un- ; < fair to those expecting appropriations. . I However, a means -of putting the ; matter on a hotter footing had been t agreed upon by his co-directors. This [ was that the surrender value of the pro- . fits in groups twenty years old and over , should De increased from half to three- ( quarters of such profits. The meeting . unanimously adopted the suggestion put . "in the form of a motion. Gl Camp has been placed on record in the form of a neat booklet published by , Messrs. Whitcombe and Tombs, - and , edited by Mr. H. H. Bolitho, journalist, , a member of the Auckland " Star " litert ary staff. It contains interesting read- . ing matter in relation to camp life and , soldiering generally, and is illustrated by I some excellent protographs and sketches ) of camp incidents. It is a highly creditI able production, a fact already recogr nised by those moat interested, ac the whole issue was sold out in the camp J immediately it wae offered for sale. i Good progress is being made-with the - work of kerbing and forming the footr paths in Anzac Avenue. Now that the 3 lower portion of .Short' Street has been 3 closed and the Avenue metalled in the centre from Beach Road up-to the tJnij. versity buildings, a better idea. can be „ obtained of the comparatively easy grade t of this new eastern outlet from the t . wuarves-to the higher belt of' thorough- „ «ares. i. The Point Chevalier motor service 8 holiday time-table ia published by advertisement to : day. ' " '

i The. Conciliation Council will resume I sitting on January 10, 1918, when the Auckland Creameries, Cheese and Butter Factories' dispute will be heard at Hamilton. On the 23rd it will be continued at VVhangarei, and then adjourn .to Auckland on the 28th. The Auckland i City United Storemen's dispute will be 'heard at Auckland on January 17, and the Colonial Ammunition Co.'s dispute jon the 31st of that month. I It would simplify the work of the Military Service Boards, and facilitate the [hearing of appeals of reservists, if men who claim to belong to classes later than A .Class.. of the Second Division would produce marriage certificate and birth 'certificates of children. The Boards require the latter documents as proof, and they may be produced by appellants 'when in the box. ■ For failure to close their business pre- : rniees in Ponaonby Road at 9 p.m. on j Friday, November 9, in accordance with I'the grocere , requisition, Wheeler Bros., I who wrote the Court admitting the \ offence, were to-day fined £3 and coete [in the Magistrate's Court by Mr. E. C. fCutten, S.SI. Thomas Pow, dairyman, whp employed a lad retailing milk at 3/6 per week, instead of at the award rate (£2 10/), did not appear, but sent a letter of admission, and was fined £2 and costs. Mr. G. R, Whiting conducted the prosecutions for the Labour Department. • j j The Conciliation Council sat until 5 j I p.m. yesterday, considering the dispute \ filed by the employees of the Colonial Ammunition Company. Finally the matter was adjourned by the Commissioner (Mr. T. Harle Giles) until January 31, 1918. In the interim the union assessors will consult members a,j to the proposals submitted by the" em- ! ployers. The city police lock-up and appurtenant offices, which for about nine months ■ have been temporarily located in Chan- \ eery Street, pending alterations to the I j police station buildings in Princes Street, I were . to-day _ removed to their proper I location in Princes Street. The Chan- ! I eery Street premises, which many years ' : ago had been the police station of the j city, will probably he taken over by Mr. ; John Cullen for the purposes' of adminie- : j tering the military regulations, as they I I apply to the Jugoslavs of the Auckland province. ■ A lad of fifteen years, who had-ab-sconded from the Burnham Industrial School, and made his way to Auckland, I where his parents live, was arrested yesI terday, and wag this morning brought before Mr. Wyvern Wilson, S.M.. and . ordered to be'returned to the industrial school. I Special Christmas greeting telegrams are being accepted by the Telegraph Dei partment up to the 31st inst. at a uniI form charge of 6d for each message up ,to eleven worde. Telegrams should be

lodged not later than Friday, the 21et, to ensure delivery by Christmas Eve. Details have been received by Mr. ( George George, Director of Technical Education, regarding the circumstances conected with the death in action of • Lieut. H. A. E. Milnes. Two' trains arrived in' Auckland this , morning, bringing 'men on Christmas , leave froni Tre'ntßa'm" by the firet, and' Featherston Camp on a later one I arriving about 6 a.m. ; i Gifte for men! See our-fine array of suitable items, as shirte, sweaters, ewiin- . ming costume*, and fancy eox.—Gco. '■; ' ; Yoiir new ;euit i snould be .a. "Foot- { bailer" brand euit. There is none to i equal it'in fit, style "and!'finish, and the •1 price-is equal only to ordinary readymade cloth—39/8, 45/, 55/, 75/.---J. H. • Dalton and Co., Ltd., Tailors arid ! Clothiers, 276, Queen Street, Auckland.— i (Ad.) - . '■';'• '■ Glovee pb gifts. All classes stocked, '• and great business done.at The Big Store, i Karangahape Rodd.—(Ad.)' 1 Bring the children to onr Monster Toy Bazaar. It will delight them. First floor. —Smith and Caughey, Ltd. ' The ■ great shopping centre.— (Ad.) Presente for men! Nothing better than one or more of our ties, eoft collars, 'belte, eete of brushes, links, etc.—Geo. ' Fowlds, Ltd.—(Ad.) Our toilet requisite department Is ; fully stocked with latest novelties from London and Paris. Inspection invited. Smith and Caughey, Ltd.—(Ad.) Buy your holiday suit at J. H. Dalton's. There is still time to make [ you a sports coat and trousers for the I Christmas holidays; over- 800 different : patterns to chose from, and prices range " from £3 3/.— J. H. Dalton and Co., i Ltd., 276-278, Queen St.—(Ad.) • Silk hosiery is in great demand at The 1 Big Store, Karangahape Road.—(Ad.) A «bit for your eon Iβ; a present that would please, and if selected here would \ be sure to satisfy you all.—Geo. Fowlds, ' Ltd., Juveniie Outfitters.—(Ad.) ; Ladies' bags, party cases, gloves, hand , kerchiefs, silk hosiery, always make I welcome gifts. You are cordially invited , to inspect theee. —Smith and Caughey, Ltd. Auckland's great shopping centre. ; (.\d.) I Pretty.silk blouses in cream, at 7/11 each—a special Christmas price.—The Big [ Store, Karangahape Road.— (Ad.) ! Let your summer suit tea Dalton suit. , Don't put it olt till next week, you may ibe disappointed. Sports ' coat and ! troueers, from £3 3/, to order.— J.- H. • Dalton and Co., Ltd., Tailors and t clothiers, 276, Queen Street, Auckland.— " (Ad.) . Do your Xmas shopping at Auckland's • great shopping, centre. - Smith and ' Caughey, Ltd. Famous for good value. ' (Ad.,Xmas Note Paper in boxes with envelopes to match is a great feature at ; Wildman end Arey's Xmaa Card Store, 1 Shortland Street.—(Ad.) Two-piece Suits.—Stylieh sports suits, , ready to put on for the holidays, 42/6, . SO/, 57/0. —At J. H. Dalton and Co., , Ltd., Tailors and Clothiers, 276, Queen I Street, Auckland.—(Ad.) The beet all-round hat for men who i care ie a'soft felt. See our new shades.— r Geo. Fowlds, Ltd.—(Ad.) 1 Ladies'cretonne hate the rage. Splen- . did for holiday wear; 13/6.—At The Big - Store, Karangahape Road.—(Ad.) The men's shop and the boye' store is 1 Geo. Fowlds, Ltd., Victoria Arcade. The r popular outfittere and the reliable 9 clothiere.—(Ad.) Boys' knock-about hate for the "harnm A great variety at The Big 8 Store, Karangahape Road.—(Ad.) Do your Xmas shopping at Auckland's great shopping centre. — Smith and Caughey, Ltd. Famous for good value. I (Ad,) .: n .For fit, style and finish, "Footballere brand clothing stands alone. Tnere is i- nothing better in New Zealand, and the c price ia the same as the ordinary readye made 45/, 55/. Sold only c toy the H. Dalton and Co.. i- Ltd., 276-278, Queen Street, Auckland.— (Ad.) c In almost confusing profusion. Greet :- ing cards at special prices at The Bij Store, Karangahape Road.-— (Ad.)