WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 172, 21 July 1921, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

m RABBITS. | THE MINISTER'S CONCLUSIONS. (From Our F-p.r.UU Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, Wednesday. The Minister of Agriculture has : returned from his inspection of the rabbit infested districts in the South Island duly impressed by the gravity i of the pest, and fully determined to • employ every reasonable means within his power to bring about its extinction. He thinks the law compelling magis- , trates to record convictions on the i certificate of an inspector, whatever the character of the rebutting evidence may be. capable of operating harshly, but at the same time he realises that some measure of the kind is required to pro- : tect the interests of the countr}-, and , the interests of the settlers who are doing their best to get rid of the pest, from the apathy and neglect of land-holders who are making no serious eCort to clear their country. Mr. Nosworthy intends to introduce amending legislation during the approaching session, but he does not wish the settlers immediately concerned to imagine that he is going to ask Parliament to relieve them of any of their responsibilities, or to I make the way of the rabbit farmer easy. WAGES AND PRK'ES. The Minister of Public Works, like other members of the Cabinet, is having" some of the rudimentary laws of economics pressed upon his attention with increasing force. The other day the Auckland ironmasters and their men protested very strongly against the action of the Public Works .Department in deleting from contracts for steel girders the clause requiring that the girders should be manufactured in NewZealand. They pleaded the prevalence of unemployment, and urged that this work should not go out of the Dominion. Mr. Coates promised to con- | sider their representations, and now has ! done so, with the result that he has I come to tbe conclusion that in these times of stress the policy of preference to local manufactures must not be carried to an extreme. "Tf money were ' spent unnecessarily in tbe purchase of material," he putsyit to the. ironmasters and their employees, ''there would be so much less money available for the payment of wages-.'' This contention, of j course. i« logical enough, hut it is so widely at variance with some or tbe practices of the Department that the Auckland people may not be entirely convinced. UNEMPLOYMENT. It is suggested locally that *he cablegram dispatched !,-,- the Christchurch City Council to the Prime Minister eal'ino- his attention to *fee difficulty ofl finding employment in ihn southern'city and urging the un.KsiraWlHy of encouraging immigration at the present timei is mainly a demonstration by the Labour' and Independent members of the council! to celebratp their success at the roe-nt by-election. Independent Labour ap pears to be on the ascendant everywhere just now. and it is natural it should wish Mr. Mas-sev to be aware of the fact. But. the officers of the Labour Department, while admitting thnt the amount of unemployment is eonsiderablv greater than it was at this time la.st year. deny th.t it U threatening to bring about a serious ,-risis. So far the Oovcrnment's rc!:n eflort-n have worked smor.thiv audi with good results, and it is hoped tim't i„ another month or tw 0 .here will be J marked revival in the private demand! for lariour. rh;--, has lv-cn the experience in prev,ous years and it ..must be the experience again, unless all productive : effort is to cease, which is „i rap lv unthinkable. '