THE LABOUR CONFERENCE.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 253, 24 October 1919, Page 4

THE LABOUR CONFERENCE.

Mr. Massey hae taken up an astonishing attitude towards New Zealand's representation at the World's Labour Conference to t>c held in connection with the Peace Treaty. It is not so much that he cays he doee not know whether tho conference is going to be held at the time and place arranged; no one seems to be sure of that, and already one of the British delegates has withdrawn on the assumption that the United States will not be represented. What we find surprising id Mr. Massey's delay and even indifference in this matter, and hie persistence in excusing himself by saying that Labour organisations in New Zealand have not approached him about the appointment of delegates. It was Mr. Massey'e business to approach them. He is not only the head of the Government,. but was the chief representative of New | Zealand at the Peace Conference, where ! the "Labour Charter" was drawn up. < Ho is also Minister of Labour. Under the circumstances Labour has justifiably looked to him for a lead in this important matter of representation at the international gathering in America. Labour! cannot possibly have the information on the subject that is at the Government's disposal. This is not a party matter, as ono would suspect that Mr. Massey thinks it is, but a national question. Mr. Maeeey ehould have begun to make arrangements for representation on his return from Europe; ho knew that the congress would be held. He should have announced the methods by which representation would be obtained, and have aaked the labour organisations to do their part. If this had been done representatives of capital and labour would have been ready to leave on receipt of definite information about tho date and place of the gathering. Aβ it was, Mr. Maesey seems to have known that the gathering was fixed for October 29th, but to have taken no steps to send New Zealand delegates to it. If the conference is held without New Zealand representation, a serioue injustice will have been done to this Dominion. No international congress to consider labour problems woyld be complete without representatives from the advanced democracies of Australasia. 1 I '■■•

This tate of a button found on the battlefield of Waterloo is scarcely so interesting as the story of another of these ornaments to military tunics, and indeed, almost a twin to that „from the fields of Waterloo. This button may ■be a souvenir, or it may be part of the equipment of an historic regiment. At any rate, it was picked up by a resident of Point Chevalier on the grounds where ; the troops had their camp in the Maori i war. The .button is as the other in '■ that it has "India," a tiger or lion, i " 14 " and " Waterloo " on its face, but ' the only decipherable letters on the back are "'London," the maker's name being : too much clogged by tilth. The finder of this button is of opinion that it is of great historical value, and he reads the inscriptions, together with the place i where it has been found, as meaning that the brass fastener has been through at least three campaigns. At the meeting of the council of the Waitemata Chamocr of Commerce last night strong support was given to a request made by the Waihi Borougli Council that, owing to the scarcity of timber the GovernmerU be urged to stop the export of it, as it was necessary owing to the acute shortage- to conserve all our timber for our own use. The president (Mr. J. Henderson) said he knew of many people who were anxious to build, but no builders would take on the work because of the uncertainty of getting building material. He thought it was a people's question, and that the Government should step in and stop all export. .Copies of the resolution passed are to ,be sent to Mr. Harris, member for Waitemata, and Mr. Hugh Poland, M.P. The great change that had taken place Jon the Devonport Domain since the 1 "boys" came back from the war was menI tioned by Mr. J. Henderson at the ChamI ber of Commerce meeting in Devonport J last night. For a long time pa.st every j square yard of playing ground had been lin use on a Saturday afternoon, and one could scarcely realise the number of clubs iffat were engaged in health-giving, body-DUJJding games. lie thought there : was no fear of our young manhood or . the future of our country while such a state of things existed, and he was sure - that we all hoped such a peaceful and • healthful state of things would long exist. Members cordially endorsed all the president had said. I Speaking at the sitting of the Anglican Synod in Christehurch in connection with the report of the Select Comaiit- . tee on Industrial Problems the Rev. F. IN. Taylor referred to the necessity for the establishment of communal kitchens, ■where dinners could be prepared all at once, instead of its being necessary to prepare hundreds of thousands of separate meals. Such a provision, Ihe though, was an imperative necessity. Business men would have to combine to cary it out. Besides any profit which mignt be made, it would be conferring a great boon. He i asked why the Church could not do the work. Why could they not have a com- . pany? The profits would be small, but those who wanted big profits could go in for pictures or something else. All they wanted -were a few business -heads. :i In the matter of synchonising the school holidays, a representative meeting •held in Wellington decided that all holidays should include the last two weeks in May, the last week in August and -the third week in December. It was decided to move in the matter of securing the co-operation of educational organisations in the Dominion. At the meeting there were present Professor D. M. Y. Sommer ville (Victoria College), Messrs. J. Tcnnant (principal of the Wellington Training College), G. 'Howell (director of the 1 Technical College), G. L. Stewart (secretary of the Education Board), W. Foster , (Headmasters' Association), A. McKenzie (Teachers' Institute), W. F. Ward . (chairman of the Board of Governors of , Wellington College), and A. J. White ij (School Committee' -Association). ; j In the course of an address on powi dcred coal at the annual meet-.ng of the , Philosophical Society in Wellington, the Hon. G. M. Thomson said that a large amount of good material was at present • going to waste in -New Zealand in the shape of pulverised coal. By pulverised coal, he did net mean sQack, 'but coal | from which all the moisture had "been extracted and pulverised to the finest 1 flour. Had such an industry been in ~ existence, the difficulty that had arisen •j in respect to the supply of fuel would , | h".ve been minimised. By the use of j pulverised coal complete combustion was obtained and it would prove an excellent ' fuel for the Xciv Zealand railways. When powdered coal was burnt with the . I right proportion of air, there was no I waste products left, and consequently no ' I clinkers. Being fine and dry, it was "j semi-liquid in nature, and could be fed i into furnaces by compressed air. Powi dered coal was not liable to spontaneous combustion to the same extent as other ' coal, and bins containing it may be kept close to the furnaces. Mr. Thorn• son explained that powdered coal was ! used to a large extent in America with 1 excellent results. J- Naval 'Reserve officers belonging to '_ New Zealand as follows are returning I by the Remuera, which is due at Auckj land on Sunday morning:—Engineer SubLieut. -G. S. Short, of Hastings;-Lieut. L M. G. Raymond, of Wyndham; Engineer ( Lieut.-C'om. G. D. Lidgett, of Tarakohe; I Engineer-Lieut. W. J. Ross, of Dominion Road, Auckland; Lieut. C. T. J. Hatifleld, j o£ Wellington; Engineer-Sub.-Lieut. W. D. Sullivan, of Wellington; Engineerj Sub-Lieut. J. K. L. Woebling, of Dun- , edin; Lieut. R. Pearson, of Christehurch. 1 Matters connected with the RepatriaI tion of soldiers and work at the vocai tional training classes were inquired into • yesterday by General'Rieh.irdson. Among - the places lie visited were the motor- ■' mechanics and sheet-metal classes con- ! ducted at the premises lately used by j Messrs. Dexter and Crozier iv Albert i Street, and also the factory where artii ficiat limbs are made. Next week the General will present the medals won by ! the boys of tlie Auckland Grammar • School at the recent group rifle shooting • meeting. . j "In spite of the disorganisation of j' the Old Country," reports Mr. Harrison , Watson, Canadian Trade Commissioner lin London, "the purchasing power of the people was never greater, and a piano > is one of the first luxuries sought under i such circumstances." li ,| The Northcote Borough Council -wrote .! to the Takapuna Council on Wednesday .1 intimating that a clause had been ap- , proved for insertion in the "Washings nip" Bill declaring Northcote and Birkenhead boroughs to be one continuous area for the purposes of the Education and ! Municipal Corporations Acts, and a ; similar one in respect of Northcote and Takapuna, and inviting the approval of ' the Takapuna local authority to the " proposal. The Council passed a reso- ! lution approving of the cla-use. ; Brigadier-General G. S. Richardson i speaks to secondary school and employed t boys to-night at 7.30 p.m. in the V.M.C.A. Concert Hall.

In our issue of 21st instant appeared the following paragraph in " Modern Motoring." Under the heading, "It is rumoured that": "All the large car cases j. which were recently carted through Queen Street as an advertisement did not contain motor cars." We h_ve ascertained that the statement that all the cases did not contain motor cars is incorrect. The Pacific Motors, Ltd., imported by s.s. Port Alma 25 "Chandler" motor cars, and that the 2t cases in the procession each contained one of these cars. Our original statement, implying that some of the cases in the procession were dummies, is, "therefore, incorrect, for which we express our regret. In connection with the Wellington municipal housing scheme, the question of •maranteeing the necessary labour is under consideration, and it is confidently expected that the efforts in this connection will be successful. It is understood, says the "New Zealand Times," that the carpenters have decided to co-operate and that so far as this particular branch of labour is concerned it will be available. This i's considered to be an important decision for the action of the carpenters may be a determining factor in tiie decisions of those engaged in a'Hed trades. No official information is available on tho subject, but the position ie as above stated. "There appears to be a good deal of misunderstanding," said the Commissioner of the North Auckland Land District (Mr. R. P. Grevillc) at a meeting of the Board to-day, "as to the standard required by the Board before it will sanction the purchase of an urban house property. A soldier's -wife recently came to mc and said that she and her husband had been told by a solicitor, before whom they had signed one of the declarations incident to the raising of a loan, that there was no use in their applying—that the Board would not consider their application for a moment." Mr. Greville said that this impression was increased by similar remarks on the part of various land agents. "I have made inquiries," concluded the Commissioner, "and I find that out of a batch of 780 applications we have refused but 55 applicants. When one considers the likelihood of unsuitable propositions being undertaken, this doe 3 not seem to mc to be an unduly large proportion of failures." The much-discussed Remuera estate has gone the way of most soldier areas, and is rapidly becoming a settlement of returned men, who have set solidly to work to earn a competence for themselves by the aid of its fruitful acres. It was stated at a meeting of the North Auckland Board to-day that the greater part of it was now taken up, and that the settlers had commenced milking. The supervisor of the various soldier settlements has paid it a visit, and is much pleased with tho progress of the settlers. The Board has secured a herd of cows at a rate which has enabled the settlers to procure their dairy herds at some 40 per cent less than they would otherwise have had to pay. From external appearances it may be that the North Auckland Land Board has followed scriptural example in keeping its best wine until the last. The opening up of the swamp property and the Takahue, Whangape, and Pareokawa blocks is now within hailing distance, the delay being* explained by the unwillingness of the Board to allow all the best land to be taken up before the return of all the soldiers. The Motutangi swamp will probably be inspected before Christmas, and will" then be balloted and settled. It is a rich tract of swamp land containing a little gum. The other block consists of 10.000 acres of good bush country, which has already been surveyed and subdivided, and, for the most part, roaded. It is proposed to fix mid-Decem-ber for the opening of ballot applications. A suggestion was made by Mr. W. Pinches, of the firm of Baldwin and Rav,ward, to the Prime Minister that the Government should establish a school of agriculture for returned soldiers. In reply Mr. Massey writes: "I have noted your representations, and am bringing the matter to the notice of the chairman of the Repatriation Board for the consideration of that Board. I thank you for the suggestion, which, I can assure you, will receive earnest attention." j "Keep Smiling" Pumice Soap, 4d; "Keep Smiling" Lino Polish, Sd "Keep Smiling" Boot Polish, Sd:—R. and R. Duder, Devonport.— (Ad.) A sudden chill may give you cold in the head, inflamed throat, or bronchitis Remember, if you should take -a chill don't wait until you are laid up, but use Nazol freely right away. Thousands know its value.— (Ad.) Costume week at the A.8.C., Newton. Smart costumes in tropical suiting, gabardine, and tussore silk, 10/11, 25/6, 29/0. Be sure to secure one of these I bargains.— (Ad.> j Rubbing" Laundry Help, with Golden Rule" Soap i= unchallengeable. for washing all clothes clean without l rubbing or injury.—Kane and Kemp, Newmarket (Ad.) , Visit the A.8.C., Newton, for best possible value in spring dres s goods . Navy prints, 1/2 A, 1/6*. 1/104; white pique, 1/Gl; floral muslins, neat patterns, IOJd to 1/3 J. Panamas with coloured tagel unders. 3/0, at McCabe's, Milliners, Newton. Ad. "Ozo;' Tooth Powder whitens the teeth invigorates the gums, and gives a sweet fragrance to tho breath; Gd tins everywhere.— (Ad.) 1500 pieces straw and cvin plait, 2/, KitiLta.,'* McCabe ' s - ™ li »-' Economical housekeepers are now preparing to put down their supplies of preserved eggs. There is no preservative like Sharland's "Moa' Brand E™ p re servative. Just try it.— (Ad.) M 1500 pieces straw and erin plait, 2/ 3/6 4/, 4/0 at McCabe's, Milliners. Newton. —(Ad.) When your little child is not, restless nnd feverish, with a fresh cold, don't delay, but immediately give Nazol on sugar and sprinkle freely a handkerchief with ISazol and pin to the dress, so that the child can inhaie it constantly.—tAd.) English ready-to-wears, bit; values, 15/0 to 30/. at McCabe's, "Milliners! Newton.—(Ad.) Every paper nowadays has daily reference to Bolshevism, but the reports are so conflicting that the majority of people cannot make head nor tail *of them. People are hungering for real facts about Russia and her internal troubles, and the opportunity of hearing of thorn first hand, from an Auckland boy, will be welcomed by thousands. Mr. Aubrew L. Williams, who knows Russia under the Czar and also under the Bolshevist, will ffive his experiences in the Town Hall on Monday night. On Wednesday he will lecture on "Russia, Past and Present." Seats may be reserved at Wildman and Arey's.— (Ad.) Visit the A.8.C.. Newton, for your cotton dress material. 40in poplins" all colours, 2/11; eolienne voiles, 2/G; plain coloured voiles, white cream Dink, helio sky, 1/11..